Running a Vocabulary Intervention

Purpose This study evaluated the effects of an automated, small-group intervention designed to teach preschoolers challenging vocabulary words. Previous studies have provided evidence of efficacy. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the program after doubling the number of words taught from 2 to 4 words per book. Method Seventeen preschool children listened to 1 prerecorded book per week for 9 weeks. Each storybook had embedded, interactive lessons for 4 target vocabulary words. Each lesson provided repeated exposures to words and their definitions, child-friendly contexts, and multiple opportunities for children to respond verbally to instructional prompts. Participants were asked to define the weekly targeted vocabulary before and after intervention. A repeated acquisition single-case design was used to examine the effects of the books and embedded lessons on learning of target vocabulary words. Results Treatment effects were observed for all children across many of the books. Learning of at least 2 points (i.e., 1 word) was replicated for 74.5% of 149 books tested across the 17 participants. On average, children learned to define 47% of the target vocabulary words (17 out of 36). Conclusions Results support including 4 challenging words per book, as children learned substantially more words when 4 words were taught, in comparison to previous studies. Within an iterative development process, results of the current study take us 1 step closer to creating an optimal vocabulary intervention that supports the language development of at-risk children.

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Prologue to the Forum: Vocabulary Across the School Grades

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/2019_lshss-19-00007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 461-465 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Suzanne M. Adlof

Keyword(s):

Word Learning ◽

Vocabulary Instruction ◽

Elementary Grades ◽

Reading Disorders ◽

Vocabulary Intervention ◽

New Words ◽

School Grades ◽

Grade Levels ◽

Ability Levels ◽

Instructional Settings

Purpose This prologue introduces the LSHSS Forum: Vocabulary Across the School Grades. The goals of the forum are to provide an overview of the importance of vocabulary to literacy and academic achievement, to review evidence regarding best practices for vocabulary instruction, and to highlight recent research related to word learning with students across different grade levels. Method The prologue provides a foundational overview of vocabulary's role in literacy and introduces the topics of the other ten articles in the forum. These include clinical focus articles, research reviews, and word-learning and vocabulary intervention studies involving students in elementary grades through college. Conclusion Children with language and reading disorders experience specific challenges learning new words, but all students can benefit from high-quality vocabulary instruction. The articles in this issue highlight the characteristics of evidence-based vocabulary interventions for children of different ages, ability levels, and language backgrounds and provide numerous examples of intervention activities that can be modified for use in individual, small-group, or large-group instructional settings.

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Successful Implicit Vocabulary Intervention for Three Cantonese-Speaking Toddlers: A Replicated Single-Case Design

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00087 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (12) ◽

pp. 4148-4161

Author(s):

Christine S.-Y. Ng ◽

Stephanie F. Stokes ◽

Mary Alt

Keyword(s):

Single Case ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Neighborhood Density ◽

Expressive Vocabulary ◽

Single Case Design ◽

Vocabulary Intervention ◽

Phonological Neighborhood Density ◽

Phonological Neighborhood ◽

And Control ◽

Case Design

Purpose We report on a replicated single-case design study that measured the feasibility of an expressive vocabulary intervention for three Cantonese-speaking toddlers with small expressive lexicons relative to their age. The aim was to assess the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic feasibility of an intervention method developed for English-speaking children. Method A nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design was used with four baseline data points and 16 intervention sessions per participant. The intervention design incorporated implicit learning principles, high treatment dosage, and control of the phonological neighborhood density of the stimuli. The children (24–39 months) attended 7–9 weeks of twice weekly input-based treatment in which no explicit verbal production was required from the child. Each target word was provided as input a minimum of 64 times in at least two intervention sessions. Treatment feasibility was measured by comparison of how many of the target and control words the child produced across the intervention period, and parent-reported expressive vocabulary checklists were completed for comparison of pre- and postintervention child spoken vocabulary size. An omnibus effect size for the treatment effect of the number of target and control words produced across time was calculated using Kendall's Tau. Results There was a significant treatment effect for target words learned in intervention relative to baselines, and all children produced significantly more target than control words across the intervention period. The effect of phonological neighborhood density on expressive word production could not be evaluated because two of the three children learned all target words. Conclusion The results provide cross-cultural evidence of the feasibility of a model of intervention that incorporated a high-dosage, cross-situational statistical learning paradigm to teach spoken word production to children with small expressive lexicons.

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

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/2019_lshss-voia-18-0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 562-578 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

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.

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Effects of individualized word retrieval in kindergarten vocabulary intervention

School Effectiveness and School Improvement ◽

10.1080/09243453.2015.1114500 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 441-454 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Carmen M. P. Damhuis ◽

Eliane Segers ◽

Femke Scheltinga ◽

Ludo Verhoeven

Keyword(s):

Word Retrieval ◽

Vocabulary Intervention

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Narrative and Vocabulary Intervention for Middle School Students

Word of Mouth ◽

10.1177/10483950211049638b ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 8-12

Author(s):

Carol Westby

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Middle School Students ◽

School Students ◽

Vocabulary Intervention

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Examining Performance on a Process-Based Assessment of Word Learning in Relation to Vocabulary Knowledge and Learning in Vocabulary Intervention

Seminars in Speech and Language ◽

10.1055/s-0039-1688447 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (05) ◽

pp. 344-358

Author(s):

Elizabeth Spencer Kelley ◽

Howard Goldstein

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Preschool Children ◽

Young Children ◽

Word Learning ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

Semantic Knowledge ◽

Learning Opportunities ◽

Vocabulary Knowledge ◽

Vocabulary Intervention ◽

Knowledge Based

AbstractVocabulary knowledge of young children, as a well-established predictor of later reading comprehension, is an important domain for assessment and intervention. Standardized, knowledge-based measures are commonly used by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to describe existing vocabulary knowledge and to provide comparisons to same-age peers. Process-based assessments of word learning can be helpful to provide information about how children may respond to learning opportunities and to inform treatment decisions. This article presents an exploratory study of the relation among vocabulary knowledge, word learning, and learning in vocabulary intervention in preschool children. The study examines the potential of a process-based assessment of word learning to predict response to vocabulary intervention. Participants completed a static, knowledge-based measure of vocabulary knowledge, a process-based assessment of word learning, and between 3 and 11 weeks of vocabulary intervention. Vocabulary knowledge, performance on the process-based assessment of word learning, and learning in vocabulary intervention were strongly related. SLPs might make use of the information provided by a process-based assessment of word learning to determine the appropriate intensity of intervention and to identify areas of phonological and semantic knowledge to target during intervention.

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