The Effect of a Social Studies–Based Reading Intervention on the Academic Vocabulary Knowledge of below-Average Readers

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 322-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy K. Scammacca ◽  
Stephanie J. Stillman
Author(s):  
Ahmed Masrai ◽  
James Milton ◽  
Dina Abdel Salam El-Dakhs ◽  
Heba Elmenshawy

AbstractThis study investigates the idea that knowledge of specialist subject vocabulary can make a significant and measurable impact on academic performance, separate from and additional to the impact of general and academic vocabulary knowledge. It tests the suggestion of Hyland and Tse (TESOL Quarterly, 41:235–253, 2007) that specialist vocabulary should be given more attention in teaching. Three types of vocabulary knowledge, general, academic and a specialist business vocabulary factors, are tested against GPA and a business module scores among students of business at a college in Egypt. The results show that while general vocabulary size has the greatest explanation of variance in the academic success factors, the other two factors - academic and a specialist business vocabulary - make separate and additional further contributions. The contribution to the explanation of variance made by specialist vocabulary knowledge is double that of academic vocabulary knowledge.


1974 ◽  
Vol 38 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1271-1274
Author(s):  
Robert M. Alworth

This research was intended to investigate the difficulty experienced by retarded readers in acquiring associations between auditory and visual information. First- and second-grade above- and below-average readers ( ns = 41, 42) were presented paired-associate tasks involving: (a) simultaneous and delayed stimulus presentation, (b) visual-visual and visual-auditory stimuli, and (c) stimuli in which within-stimulus element sequence was and was not relevant in determining the associated response. Inferior paired-associate learning was noted in below-average readers, delayed-presentation tasks, and sequence-relevant tasks. No significant interactions were noted.


Author(s):  
Theresa A Grasparil ◽  
David A Hernandez

Poor literacy achievement among English learners has contributed significantly to their high dropout rates, poor job prospects, and high poverty rates. The National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth has suggested that English learners benefit from the same direct, systematic instruction in the five essential components of reading shown effective for native-English-speaking students: phonemic awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Implementing effective reading instructional practices for English learners may reduce the literacy achievement gap between English learners and native English speakers. In this study, we used multiple regression to examine data for 1,376 third-grade Latino English learners to determine the strength of oral English proficiency, oral reading fluency, and academic vocabulary knowledge as predictors of reading comprehension proficiency. Findings of this study indicate a mismatch between English learners’ instructional needs and a widely used reading program component, assessment of words correct per minute (as a measure of oral reading fluency). Significant conclusions of this study suggest that educators seeking to promote the reading comprehension proficiency of Latino English learners consider using WCPM assessments and activities cautiously and strive to allocate more time for instruction and assessment of the prosodic dimension of oral reading fluency and academic vocabulary knowledge and skills.


2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (11) ◽  
pp. 3237-3258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Goldstein ◽  
Robyn A. Ziolkowski ◽  
Kathryn E. Bojczyk ◽  
Ana Marty ◽  
Naomi Schneider ◽  
...  

PurposeThis study investigated cumulative effects of language learning, specifically whether prior vocabulary knowledge or special education status moderated the effects of academic vocabulary instruction in high-poverty schools.MethodEffects of a supplemental intervention targeting academic vocabulary in first through third grades were evaluated with 241 students (6–9 years old) from low-income families, 48% of whom were retained for the 3-year study duration. Students were randomly assigned to vocabulary instruction or comparison groups.ResultsCurriculum-based measures of word recognition, receptive identification, expressive labeling, and decontextualized definitions showed large effects for multiple levels of word learning. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that students with higher initial Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Fourth Edition scores (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) demonstrated greater word learning, whereas students with special needs demonstrated less growth in vocabulary.ConclusionThis model of vocabulary instruction can be applied efficiently in high-poverty schools through an automated, easily implemented adjunct to reading instruction in the early grades and holds promise for reducing gaps in vocabulary development.


Author(s):  
Sophia Skoufaki ◽  
Bojana Petrić

Academic vocabulary instruction can be beneficial to students in EMI universities since academic vocabulary knowledge predicts performance in academic tasks. With the aim to inform EAP materials design, this study examines the occurrence and repetition of high-frequency academic vocabulary in the printed teaching materials used in a presessional EAP course at a UK university. Findings indicate that even when EAP teachers do not design materials with the intention to include high-frequency AVL lemmas, as indicated from the interviews, they do include many. However, the average repetition rate of academic vocabulary was below 10 occurrences and, hence, unlikely to lead to incidental vocabulary learning. Implications for research and pedagogy are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 259-270
Author(s):  
Colby Hall ◽  
Sharon Vaughn ◽  
Marcia A. Barnes ◽  
Alicia A. Stewart ◽  
Christy R. Austin ◽  
...  

Inference skill is one of the most important predictors of reading comprehension. Still, there is little rigorous research investigating the effects of inference instruction on reading comprehension. There is no research investigating the effects of inference instruction on reading comprehension for English learners with reading comprehension difficulties. The current study investigated the effects of small-group inference instruction on the inference generation and reading comprehension of sixth- and seventh-grade students who were below-average readers ( M = 86.7, SD = 8.1). Seventy-seven percent of student participants were designated limited English proficient. Participants were randomly assigned to 24, 40-min sessions of the inference instruction intervention ( n = 39) or to business-as-usual English language arts instruction ( n = 39). Membership in the treatment condition statistically significantly predicted higher outcome score on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test Reading Comprehension subtest ( d = 0.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.16, 1.03]), but not on the other measures of inference skill.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Joanna Newton

Academic vocabulary knowledge is central to reading and academic achievement. Largely based in the lexicons of Latin and Greek, academic vocabulary comprises morphemic structures. Many teachers devote little time to focused instruction in this area because they may lack pertinent morphological and pedagogical knowledge. This article reports findings from a broader three-year longitudinal qualitative case study that explored the experiences of three elementary teachers who engaged in professional development that included study of the morphemic features of academic vocabulary and instructional techniques. This article describes changes teachers made to practice because of their deeper understanding of Latin and Greek morphology and how to teach it. Data sources included in-depth and semistructured interviews, direct observations of classroom practice, and analysis of instructional artifacts. Data analysis revealed that all three participants moved from teacher-centered, definitional approaches towards instruction that was student-centered and focused on developing metalinguistic awareness. Instructional shifts reflected participants’ new understandings about metalinguistic awareness, student-directed problem-solving, and collaborative talk in vocabulary learning. Instructional shifts address metalinguistic awareness, morphology, word consciousness, and Spanish–English cognate instruction—areas that may be overlooked in many classrooms.


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