Developing Assessment and Teaching Program for Learning Hiragana Letters

本研究旨在制定评估与教育计划，并将其应用于有阅读困难的儿童和成人，包括平假名字母。首先，基于90名正常4- 6岁儿童的数据（Sakaguchi, et al'91）被用于修改最初为失语症患者设计的双音节单词测试（Tezuka, 1987）。然后利用FCAI（堀口，1995）将修改后的版本转化为计算机软件程序。因此，我们再次对失语症患者和智力低下的高中生进行了第二版双音节单词测试（Sato, et al, 1996）。本软件对弱智儿童及失语症患者的平假名阅读进行评估及教学。这个FCAI程序随后发展成为其他教育程序，如“shiritori”（查找单词的最后一个音节，并以最后一个音节开头形成一个新词）（Kobayashi, et al, 1995）。也有报道称，“shiritori”游戏在教育发育障碍儿童中的应用（Iitaka等人，1995年）。最终报告是这样写的，特殊教育教师和语言治疗师可以利用FCAI程序在他们的教学或治疗。

The present study aimed at developing assessment and educational program as well as applying them to those children and adults with reading difficulties including hiragana letters. First, data which was based on 90 normal 4-to-6 year olds (Sakaguchi, et al'91) was used to modify the Bisyllable Word Test originally designed for aphasic patients (Tezuka, 1987). This modified version was then transformed into a computer soft program by using FCAI (Horiguchi, 1995). Thus, the Bisyllable Word Test, version 2 was again administered to the aphasic patients and high school students with mental retardation (Sato, et al, '96). This soft was found to be useful in assessment and teaching reading hiragana letters to the developmentally handicapped children and aphasic patients. This FCAI program was then developed into other educational programs, such as "shiritori" (finding last syllable of a word and making into a new word which starts with that last syllable) (Kobayashi, et al, '95). Application of "shiritori" games in teaching a developmentally handicapped child was also reported (Iitaka, et al, '95). The final report is written in such way that special education teachers and speech therapists could make use of FCAI program in their teaching or therapy.