scholarly journals Exploring the importance of vocabulary for English as an additional language learners’ reading comprehension

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-376
Author(s):  
Gavin Brooks ◽  
Jon Clenton ◽  
Simon Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Word Decoding ◽  
Decoding Skills ◽  
General Linguistic

This exploratory study represents an attempt to investigate the factors that may affect the reading comprehension abilities of English as an additional language (EAL) learners. For this study, we examined a participant group of 31 (25 EAL and 6 first language English) learners studying at an international school in Japan. We assessed the participants according to four factors shown to influence reading comprehension: vocabulary knowledge, word decoding skills, reading fluency, and general linguistic ability. Our results show that differences in vocabulary knowledge show more variance in reading comprehension scores than the other factors examined in this study, highlighting the importance of vocabulary knowledge for reading comprehension. However, other factors such as reading fluency and general linguistic knowledge are also shown to be moderate to strong predictors of reading comprehension. Based on these results, we suggest that EAL learners need targeted language support to enhance academic text comprehension.

scholarly journals Predictors of Latino English Learners’ Reading Comprehension Proficiency

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa A Grasparil ◽  
David A Hernandez
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Oral Reading ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Oral Reading Fluency ◽  
Reading Program ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Literacy Achievement ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
Latino English Learners

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.

scholarly journals Task-induced Involvement Load, Vocabulary learning and Reading Comprehension Among Iranian Intermediate English as a Foreign Language Learners

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 210-218
Author(s):  
Seyedeh Mitra Khodaparast ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Keshmirshekan
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
High Involvement ◽  
Involvement Load ◽  
Experimental Group

The importance of vocabulary in a second language is so self-axiomatic that it renders learning and teaching a must. The present study aimed to explore whether the manipulation of the task components, as proposed by Laufer and Hulstijn, affected the acquisition of English vocabularies by EFL learners. The present study followed an experimental design in that it used pre-test and post-test to collect data from the participants. The current research included 50 EFL students from two private English language institutions in Yazd, Iran. The study included two distinct reading tasks that placed varying loads on participants. The two reading texts were controlled for their difficulty level: one with the high level of involvement load and the other with lack of involvement load, thus two experimental groups. There was a reading comprehension exam for those who participated in the first experimental group (with a high involvement load). Reading comprehension was assessed using the first Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS1), which measures vocabulary knowledge. The second reading comprehension assignment was simultaneously presented to the second experimental group (the one with a low involvement load). After two weeks, they were administered VKS2, and their results were recorded. Analyzing the data was done by using independent t-tests. Exposure to high levels of involvement load has been shown to impact vocabulary development in English learners. This is despite respondents being able to recall more words from high-involvement vocabulary acquisitions than from low-involvement vocabulary acquisitions. Findings from this study may be used to construct practical tasks of reading with suitable degrees of difficulty for English language learners (EFL/ESL) teachers and vocabulary instructors.

The Effect of Vocabulary Intervention on Text Comprehension: Who Benefits?

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawna Duff
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Classroom Instruction ◽  
Vocabulary Instruction ◽  
Clinical Intervention ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Vocabulary Intervention ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Difference

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.

scholarly journals Exploring the Cross-Linguistic Contribution of Spanish and English Academic Language Skills to English Text Comprehension for Middle-Grade Dual Language Learners

AERA Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 233285841989257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Phillips Galloway ◽  
Paola Uccelli ◽  
Gladys Aguilar ◽  
Christopher D. Barr
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Academic Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Dual Language Learners ◽  
English Reading ◽  
English Reading Comprehension

In this study, we examine the unique and shared contributions of Spanish and English core academic language skills (CALS) to English reading comprehension in a population of Spanish-English dual language learners in Grades 4 and 5 (n = 165). We focus on cross-disciplinary CALS, operationalized as sets of high-utility lexical, syntactic and discourse resources prevalent in school texts. This study finds that Spanish and English CALS are positively and significantly related, and, further, that both sets of skills exert a unique positive influence on English reading comprehension. Aligned with an interpretation of linguistic interdependence between Spanish and English academic language skills, results document their cross-linguistic contribution to reading comprehension for students enrolled in educational programs that foster literacy and content learning regularly in two languages.

scholarly journals The interface between spoken and written language: developmental disorders

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1634) ◽  
pp. 20120395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Hulme ◽  
Margaret J. Snowling
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Phoneme Awareness ◽  
Rapid Automatized Naming ◽  
Decoding Skills ◽  
Learning To Read

We review current knowledge about reading development and the origins of difficulties in learning to read. We distinguish between the processes involved in learning to decode print, and the processes involved in reading for meaning (reading comprehension). At a cognitive level, difficulties in learning to read appear to be predominantly caused by deficits in underlying oral language skills. The development of decoding skills appears to depend critically upon phonological language skills, and variations in phoneme awareness, letter–sound knowledge and rapid automatized naming each appear to be causally related to problems in learning to read. Reading comprehension difficulties in contrast appear to be critically dependent on a range of oral language comprehension skills (including vocabulary knowledge and grammatical, morphological and pragmatic skills).

Hiding in Plain Sight: Text Comprehension, Hyperlexia, and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 438-446
Author(s):  
Shari B. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Decoding Skills ◽  
Adolescent Readers ◽  
Adolescents With Autism ◽  
Comprehension Deficit

Purpose Reading comprehension is a critical skill for success in academic, social, and vocational settings. However, comprehension problems for readers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often overlooked during the period when most children are learning to read, masked by strong early decoding skills, a good memory for specific facts, and an understanding of concrete content. As students progress through the grades, the content of what they must read to be successful becomes increasingly complex and the comprehension deficit, present but unrecognized from the earliest interactions with text, is revealed. This article provides an overview of how the core deficits of individuals with ASD impact on the reading comprehension and academic success of older students. Conclusion Identification and intervention to address the underlying comprehension deficit has the potential to provide benefit in academic and personal pursuits of adolescent readers with ASD.

Decoding Skills vs. Reading Fluency in Korean High School EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 123-143
Author(s):  
강유선 ◽  
Boram Moon ◽  
Yeoeun Park ◽  
허윤지
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Decoding Skills ◽  
Efl Learners

Skill Moderators of the Effects of a Reading Comprehension Intervention

2018 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan H. Clemens ◽  
Eric Oslund ◽  
Oi-man Kwok ◽  
Melissa Fogarty ◽  
Deborah Simmons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Struggling Readers ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Oral Reading ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Moderation Effect ◽  
Experimental Intervention

This study utilized secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial and investigated the extent to which prestest word identification efficiency, reading fluency, and vocabulary knowledge moderated the effects of an intervention on reading comprehension outcomes for struggling readers in sixth through eighth grades. Given that the experimental intervention included components that targeted word reading, reading fluency, and vocabulary, we hypothesized that students with lower pretest performance in those skill domains would benefit more from the intervention compared to students with relatively stronger pretest performance or students who received school-implemented (business-as-usual) intervention. Results indicated that pretest word identification efficiency and vocabulary did not moderate the effects of the intervention; however, moderation effects were observed for pretest oral reading fluency such that reading comprehension gains of students with lower pretest fluency were greater in the experimental intervention compared to students with higher pretest fluency or in the comparison condition. Reasons for the moderation effect are discussed. Findings underscore the use of moderation analyses when evaluating multicomponent interventions.

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