scholarly journals The Contribution of Understanding Academic Vocabulary to Answering Comprehension Questions

1993 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Cunningham ◽  
David W. Moore

This study was designed to investigate whether the vocabulary of written comprehension questions is an independent factor in determining students' reading comprehension performance. The factors controlled were reader characteristics, text characteristics, and question-text-answer relationships. Sets of matched comprehension questions differing only in type of vocabulary (academic vs. everyday) were answered by 106 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students. Subjects' scores on the ITBS meaning vocabulary subtest and an informal measure of academic vocabulary knowledge were also collected. Differences between means indicated that academic vocabulary in comprehension questions significantly decreased question-answering performance. To shed additional light on this decrease, a series of simple, multiple, and semipartial correlations between vocabulary measures and comprehension question scores were computed. These correlations consistently supported the interpretation that differences in terminology between the matched sets of questions accounted for the difference in performance on the questions. Possible directions for further research and implications for practice are discussed.

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawna Duff

Purpose Vocabulary intervention can improve comprehension of texts containing taught words, but it is unclear if all middle school readers get this benefit. This study tests 2 hypotheses about variables that predict response to vocabulary treatment on text comprehension: gains in vocabulary knowledge due to treatment and pretreatment reading comprehension scores. Method Students in Grade 6 ( N = 23) completed a 5-session intervention based on robust vocabulary instruction (RVI). Knowledge of the semantics of taught words was measured pre- and posttreatment. Participants then read 2 matched texts, 1 containing taught words (treated) and 1 not (untreated). Treated texts and taught word lists were counterbalanced across participants. The difference between text comprehension scores in treated and untreated conditions was taken as a measure of the effect of RVI on text comprehension. Results RVI resulted in significant gains in knowledge of taught words ( d RM = 2.26) and text comprehension ( d RM = 0.31). The extent of gains in vocabulary knowledge after vocabulary treatment did not predict the effect of RVI on comprehension of texts. However, untreated reading comprehension scores moderated the effect of the vocabulary treatment on text comprehension: Lower reading comprehension was associated with greater gains in text comprehension. Readers with comprehension scores below the mean experienced large gains in comprehension, but those with average/above average reading comprehension scores did not. Conclusion Vocabulary instruction had a larger effect on text comprehension for readers in Grade 6 who had lower untreated reading comprehension scores. In contrast, the amount that children learned about taught vocabulary did not predict the effect of vocabulary instruction on text comprehension. This has implications for the identification of 6th-grade students who would benefit from classroom instruction or clinical intervention targeting vocabulary knowledge.


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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-29
Author(s):  
Gustian Pelani

Thisstudyaims toinvestigatewhetheror nottheuseofsubtitledanimated cartoonvideosaffectstudents’ reading comprehension and to findoutinwhat performanceof reading comprehension aspectstheexperimentaland controlclassdiffer. ThepopulationincludedallthesixthgradestudentsofSDITAlHasanahKotaBengkulu in  academic  year  2015/2016,  which  consisted  of  77  students.  The  sampleswere  52 studentsthatwere taken fromtwo classes.Theexperimentalclass receiveda treatmentby usinganimatedcartoonvideoswithbimodalsubtitles, while thecontrolclasswas taught byusinganimatedcartoonvideoswithoutsubtitles.A pre-testwasgiven tobothclasses beforetreatment.Thedata wereanalyzedbyusingSPSS16for t-testformula.Theresults show that, firstly, therewasa statistically significantdifferencebetween thegroups in readingcomprehension scores.Therefore, itwasconcluded thattheuse ofsubtitled animated cartoon videoscould improvestudents’ reading comprehension. Secondly, for reading  comprehension  aspects,  the  experimental  class  and  the  control  class  were different inthe literalperformanceaspect.However,intheinferenceperformance,it showed  no  significant  difference.  Based  on  the  results,  it  wasrecommended  to  use subtitled animatedcartoonvideosastheteaching aidinteachingreadingcomprehension


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-141
Author(s):  
Tareq Mohamad Alyatim ◽  
Wail Muin (Al-Haj sa'id) Ismail ◽  
Muhammad Azhar bin Zailani ◽  
Ala Muhammad Al Saadi

Purpose of the study: This study aims to measure the effectiveness of using P.O.S.S.E strategy in the development of teaching to improve reading comprehension skills for sixth-grade students. Methodology: The procedure used is an experimental method based on Stratified Sampling which consists of 43 students divided into two groups – a control group of 21 students and an experimental group of 22 students- and a lesson plan was designed as a tool. Main Findings: The outcomes of the study indicated that the POSSE strategy has a positive effect on the development of reading comprehension skills over its five levels among the representative sample of sixth graders. Applications of this study: It is an essential reference in the development of teaching and training teachers to adapt to the P.O.S.S.E strategy for teachers, student educators. Novelty/Originality of this study: The result of this study is consistent with previous studies, which investigated the efficacy of POSSE strategy on the development of reading comprehension skills.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hung Tan Ha

AbstractThe article presents an empirical study that investigates the single- and cross-modality relationships between different dimensions of receptive vocabulary knowledge and language skills, as well as the importance of academic vocabulary knowledge in academic listening and reading comprehension. An Updated Vocabulary Levels Test (UVLT), a Vietnamese version of the Listening Vocabulary Levels Test (LVLT), an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) listening test and an academic IELTS reading test were administered to 234 tertiary level Vietnamese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Research findings showed that (1) orthographic and aural vocabulary knowledge were strongly correlated (r = .88) and of equal significance to L2 listening and reading comprehension, (2) receptive vocabulary knowledge was a very powerful and reliable predictor of learners’ receptive language proficiency, (3) knowledge of academic vocabulary strongly correlated with academic listening (r = .65) and reading (r = .60) comprehension and the mastery of the Academic Word List (AWL) could suggest a band score 6.0 in both the IELTS listening and academic reading tests.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-46
Author(s):  
Rochana Purba Nurfauzi ◽  
Joko Priyana

This research aims to: (1) describe the effect of GIR as a part of extensive reading; (2) compare the effectiveness between GIR and conventional learning; and (3) compare the effectiveness between GIR variation 1 and 2 on motivation, vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension ability. The data were analyzed using: (1) the one sample t-test to investigate the effect of GIR; (2) the Helmert Contrast to investigate the difference in the effectiveness of GIR as well as the conventional technique; (3) the post-hoc test involving the Tukey to analyze which was more effective between GIR and conventional technique in students’ motivation, vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension ability. The results of the study show that: (1) GIR has a significant effect on all dependent variables; (2) GIR is more effective than the control group in improving all dependent variables, except GIR variation 1 in reading comprehension ability has equal effect with conventional technique; (3) there is no difference in the effectiveness of GIR variation 1 and 2 in terms of improving students’ motivation, vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension skills.  Key words: GIR, extensive reading, motivation, vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension ability


Author(s):  
Rula Mohammad Mahmoud Hmeidan

This study aims to find out the impact of the repeated reading strategy on improving reading comprehension and development vocabulary in the English language of the sixth-grade students in Jordan. The study was applied to 60 students of the sixth-grade students in Wadi Al-Seer secondary girl's school. On section consisting of 30 students was classified as an experimental group, whereas another section consisting of 30 students was classified as a control group. The experimental group was taught a short story by using the repeated strategy. To measure the effect this story on improving reading comprehension and development vocabulary the researcher used two tools: they are reading comprehension test, which is an essay test consisting of 10 questions and vocabulary test, which also is an essay test consisting of 10 questions. After conducting the study and conducting the appropriate statistical analyses, the results of the study revealed that there is a statistically significant difference at the (α = 0.05) between the two means for the performance of the participants in reading comprehension and vocabulary. This result is ascribed to the teaching strategy and to the group members who received teaching the story by adopting the repeated reading strategy.


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