A Comparison of Multiple-Strategy Methods: Effects on Fourth-Grade Students’ General and Content-Specific Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Development

Abstract

In this study, we compared the effects of two experimental multiple-strategy approaches (content-area comprehension and vocabulary) to typical fourth-grade social studies instructional practices. An 18-week, cluster-randomized study was conducted to estimate effects measured by normative-referenced reading comprehension and vocabulary measures and researcher- and district-developed measures of social studies vocabulary and content. Forty-eight teachers and their respective 903 students from 15 schools were randomly assigned by school to one of three conditions: content vocabulary, content reading comprehension, or typical practice. Experimental teachers participated in 6 professional development sessions over 21 weeks. Structural equation modeling results indicated reliable differences favoring both experimental conditions over typical practice on the social studies content measure and substantively important effects on content and standardized vocabulary measures. Students in the vocabulary intervention also outperformed typical practice peers on the curriculum-based vocabulary assessment. Effects of the comprehension and vocabulary conditions were comparable except for the significant effect of vocabulary on the curriculum-based vocabulary measure. Effect sizes for teaching quality on the standardized comprehension measure ranged from d = .26 to .32; however, these effects were not statistically significant.     

词汇搭配与英语词汇教学

词汇教学愈来愈引起教学界的关注,词汇搭配的学习对学习者至关重要。面对影响学生词汇搭配学习的诸多因素,教师在其教学实践中不仅要注意其广度还要注意其深度,要注重提高学生学习词汇搭配的意识,并运用一定词汇搭配的课堂教学技巧,帮助英语学习者更迅速、更高效地掌握英语词汇和语言。     

Developing Low-Income Preschoolers’ Social Studies and Science Vocabulary Knowledge Through Content-Focused Shared Book Reading

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of integrating science and social studies vocabulary instruction into shared book reading with low-income preschool children. Twenty-one preschool teachers and 148 children from their classrooms were randomly assigned at the class level to either the Words of Oral Reading and Language Development (WORLD) intervention or a practice-as-usual condition. Children were screened and selected to approximate three vocabulary levels (15th, 30th, and 50th). WORLD teachers implemented the intervention in small groups of 5 to 6 students, 5 days per week, 20 minutes per session, for 18 weeks. Findings from multilevel models indicated statistically and practically significant effects of the WORLD intervention on standardized measures of receptive vocabulary (δ_T = 0.93) and on researcher-developed measures of expressive (δ_T = 1.01) and receptive vocabulary (δ_T = 1.41). The WORLD intervention had an overall main effect, regardless of entry-level vocabulary, a finding that speaks to its potential applicability in preschool classrooms.     

Evaluating the efficacy of using sentence frames for learning new vocabulary in science

Science students are increasingly challenged to use technical language related to the topics that they are studying, and therefore, science teachers benefit from knowing which tools are effective to support students in learning to use new terms. This study examined the impact of using one such tool—sentences frames—to teach science vocabulary, as measured through a science-writing task. Using an experimental approach with extant middle school science classes that offered a sample of 75 mainly Latino school students from grades six through eight, the researcher together with participating teachers identified 10 essential terms per science unit. The teachers used vocabulary-focused sentence frames for teaching the terms in one science unit, and a more traditional science text-based approach for teaching vocabulary in another unit. The writing task required at the end of the units consisted of essays in response to science-based prompts that directed students to use as many target science words as possible; matching/cloze format quizzes were also used to measure pretest and posttest receptive vocabulary knowledge. Findings indicated that there were advantages for teaching new science vocabulary via sentence frames as measured by use of the words in writing, but there were no advantages for sentence frames on quizzes measuring receptive vocabulary. Advantages of sentence frames for writing approached but did not reach statistical significance. There was some evidence that current and previous English language learners benefited more than initial English speakers from sentence frames, implying that utilizing sentence frames to teach science vocabulary might offer needed support especially for these subgroups. Limitations of the study included the sample size and the possibility that the strategy utilized in the comparison group might have offered some of the same advantages in producing language with technical vocabulary that the sentence frames unit offered.     

The relation between exposure to sophisticated and complex language and early-adolescent English-only and language minority learners' vocabulary

This study investigated the relation between teachers’ (N = 22) use of sophisticated and complex language in urban middle‐school classrooms and their students’ (mean age at pretest = 11.51 years; N = 782; 568 language minority and 247 English only) vocabulary knowledge. Using videotaped classroom observations, teachers’ speech was transcribed and coded for their total amount of talk, vocabulary usage, and syntactic complexity. Students’ vocabulary skills were assessed at the beginning and end of the school year. Results showed variation in students’ vocabulary skills and teachers’ language use. Hierarchical linear modeling techniques revealed that after controlling for classroom and school composition and students’ beginning‐of‐the‐year scores, students’ end‐of‐the‐year vocabulary skills were positively related to teachers’ use of sophisticated vocabulary and complex syntax, but not teachers’ total amount of talk.     

Experimental Effects of Word Generation on Vocabulary,Academic Language,Perspective Taking,and Reading Comprehension in High-Poverty Schools

Abstract

With a sample of 7,752 fourth- to seventh-grade students in 25 schools which were randomized at the school level to condition, this article reports experimental impacts of an enhanced version of Word Generation on student outcomes at the end of Year 1 and of Year 2. Word Generation employs analysis, synthesis, critique, and problem-solving activities to build students’ academic language, perspective taking, and ultimately their reading comprehension. Results indicate that the program improves the proximate outcome of academic vocabulary included in the curriculum after the first and second year of implementation for all students (Y1 effect size (ES)?=?.22, Y2?=?.28 for fourth and fifth graders; Y1 ES?=?.13, Y2?=?.16 for sixth and seventh graders). For those in the fourth and fifth grades, their perspective positioning skills also improved at the end of the first year (ES?=?.14), and their academic language skills (ES?=?.06), perspective articulation and positioning skills (ES?=?.12, .19), and reading comprehension (ES?=?.15) improved at the end of the second year. Among sixth and seventh graders, there were improvements in perspective positioning skills (ES?=?.19) and reading comprehension (ES?=?.10) at the end of Year 2. Effects after both Years 1 and 2 were stronger in high-exposure classrooms.     

The Poor Get Richer: Heterogeneity in the Efficacy of a School-Level Intervention for Academic Language

We investigate the impact of a relatively brief cross-curricular intervention, Word Generation, on middle school students' development of taught academic vocabulary. Students (n = 8382) in forty-four middle schools in three urban districts were randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Treatment teachers implemented the program with minimal support and varying levels of commitment. Students in treatment schools scored almost a point higher on the curriculum-based vocabulary posttests than those in control schools (Hedges's g = 0.094, p < 0.05). Though there was no main treatment effect on the standardized measures of students' general vocabulary knowledge or reading comprehension, baseline-by-treatment interactions at the school and student level acted to attenuate the Matthew Effect in reading and vocabulary growth.     

Effects of a Supplemental Vocabulary Program on Word Knowledge and Passage Comprehension

Abstract

A cluster randomized trial estimated the effects of a supplemental vocabulary program, Elements of Reading®: vocabulary on student vocabulary and passage comprehension in moderate- to high-poverty elementary schools. Forty-four schools participated over a period spanning 2 consecutive school years. At baseline, 1,057 teachers and 16,471 students from kindergarten, first, third, and fourth grade participated. The schools were randomly assigned to either the primary or intermediate grade treatment group. In each group, the nontreatment classrooms provided the control condition. Treatment classrooms used the intervention to supplement their core reading program, whereas control classrooms taught vocabulary business-as-usual. The intervention includes structured, weekly lesson plans for 6 to 8 literary words and aural/oral and written language activities providing multiple exposures and opportunity for use. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to estimate both proximal (Year 1) and distal (Year 2) effects on vocabulary and passage comprehension. The intervention had positive and statistically significant proximal effects but no statistically significant distal effects. The results indicate that the intervention can improve targeted vocabulary and local passage comprehension, but expecting global effects may be overly optimistic.     

基于构词法谈大学英语词汇教学策略

词汇是英语学习中的基础,在质量上或是数量上的缺乏都会引起学生英语应用能力的欠缺,若只是单纯地重复记忆单词的拼写和汉语翻译,很少有学生能长期坚持下去,而且也容易造成学生对单词意思的片面理解,因此在教学过程中教师若能多多讲解词汇的拆解方法和联想方法,引导学生运用构词记忆的方式记忆单词,在平时多多思考研究单词之间的关系,以此刺激学生的学习英语的兴趣,进而使学生掌握记忆单词的窍门,那么学生的英语应用能力也就随之达标了。     

Impact of a Technology-Mediated Reading Intervention on Adolescents' Reading Comprehension

In this experimental study we examined the effects of a technology-mediated, multicomponent reading comprehension intervention, Comprehension Circuit Training (CCT), for middle school students, the majority of whom were struggling readers. The study was conducted in three schools, involving three teachers and 228 students. Using a within-teacher design, middle school teachers' reading classes were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 9) or business as usual (n = 7) conditions. In the CCT condition, students received, on average, 39 lessons of video-modeled instruction in word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension instruction during reading intervention classes. Results of multilevel structural equation models indicated statistically significant effects favoring the CCT condition on three measures: reading comprehension latent variable (ES = 0.14), proximal vocabulary (ES = 0.43), and silent reading efficiency (ES = 0.28). Subgroup analyses indicated that students with lower entry-level reading comprehension tended to benefit more from the CCT intervention in reading comprehension, silent reading efficiency, and state test scores.     

Prior knowledge and its activation in elementary classroom discourse

The purpose of the current study was to: (a) examine the frequency of prior knowledge (PK) activation in elementary classrooms while students were engaged with text, (b) investigate the relevance of students’ responses to teacher prompts, (c) explore the nature of teachers’ and students’ prior knowledge activation utterances, and (d) investigate whether there were discernible routines in the interactions between teachers and students when activating PK. Participants were 6 teachers and 99 students from a private elementary school in the mid-Atlantic. An analysis of classroom discourse suggested that teachers infrequently prompted students to activate their prior knowledge during reading. Yet, when teachers did prompt PK, they asked about a prior lesson most often, or about a specific text, students’ world knowledge, or their personal experiences. Students then responded to their teachers according to the prompted referential frame. Additionally, four routines of classroom discourse were identified in the data including nonresponsive, question–answer, simple feedback, and interaction routines, with less elaborate routines being most common and primarily occurring at the beginning of lessons.

     

The Effect of Information Framing on Academic Task Completion

Information framing was investigated as a classroom management technique for academic task completion. Framing effect refers to the finding that people's choices are affected by how pre‐decisional information is framed (Tversky & Kahneman, 1984). In five 3rd and 4th Grade classrooms, teachers observed task completion rates of their students under five different framing conditions: unframed instruction; positively framed instruction with (a) group and (b) individual consequence; negatively framed instruction with (a) group and (b) individual consequence. Task completion rates were significantly greater under all framed instruction conditions than unframed, with effect sizes ranging from 0.21 to 0.32 and much greater at the class level. Improvement rates corresponding to effect sizes ranged from 20% to 70% at the class level, showing the usefulness of framing instructional directives.     

实验对比研究英语词汇习得策略

对两个医学专业大专班学生 ,在英语学习中两种词汇策略即上下文策略和背单词表策略的运用进行了对比研究 ,结果显示 :学生在学习词汇过程中 ,运用不同的学习策略会导致不同的学习效果 ;比起背单词表 ,在上下文中学习英语单词被证明是更为有效的学习策略     

Using Games for Vocabulary Teaching and Learning

Vocabulary acquisition is increasingly viewed as crucial to language acquisition.Meanwhile,learning vocabulary is often perceived as a tedious and laborious process.Chinese students usually feel bored in vocabulary lessons because they have not changed their learning habits,such as writing word on paper,trying to learn by heart.To help students find vocabulary lessons more interesting,we can use games.This paper analyses the traditional method of teaching vocabulary is not effective,whereas there are some advantages of using games,such as,games bring in fun,games are motivating and create context for language use and then gives two examples of applying games in my vocabulary teaching.Students prefer games and puzzles.Games motivate and entertain students but also help them memorize and recall the material easily.The conclusion is that learning vocabulary through the games is an effective and interesting means which should be used in any classrooms.     

Generating Vocabulary Knowledge for At-Risk Middle School Readers: Contrasting Program Effects and Growth Trajectories

We tested whether urban middle-school students from mostly low-income homes had improved academic vocabulary when they participated in a freely available vocabulary program, Word Generation (WG). To understand how this program may support students at risk for long-term reading difficulty, we examined treatment interactions with baseline achievement on a state standardized test and also differential effects for students with (n = 398) and without (n = 1,395) individualized education plans (IEPs). Students in this unmatched quasi-experiment (5 WG and 4 comparison schools) completed pre- and postvocabulary assessments during the intervention year. We also retested student vocabulary knowledge after summer vacation and the following spring on 11 target words to construct a longitudinally consistent scaled score across 4 waves of data. Growth models show that students experienced summer setback. Although there were no average underlying differences in growth or differences in summer setback for students by baseline achievement, better readers improved more from program participation. IEP status did not predict differential benefits of program participation, and students with IEPs maintained gains associated with participation in WG; however, participation in the program did not change underlying growth trajectories favoring students who did not have IEPs.     

谈语境对多义词学习的重要性

多义词的具体意义,只能靠语境才能确定,离开语境孤立地看一个词,就很难准确地理解该词的真正含义。语境是确定和理解词义的必要前提,因此,联系上下文、结合具体语境学习词汇是一种有效方法。教师应尽量在语境中讲解词汇,让学生倍加注意多义词的语境关系,真正理解词的确切含义及用法,帮助他们掌握更多必要而常用的多义词,才能有效地扩大词汇量。     

基于学习策略研究开展“以学生为中心”的英语词汇教学

词汇在英语学习和教学中非常重要,它是学习英语的基础,但许多学生反映词汇难记,今天背明天忘,导致对英语缺乏信心。在词汇教学课堂上,大多数教师以自身为主向学生灌输词汇知识,没有调动学生自身的主动性和积极性,导致词汇教学的沉闷和低效率。笔者通过探索学习策略,根据研究者对学生学习策略的调查研究及对学生词汇学习的观察,发现学生在词汇学习上存在的问题,并在此基础上提出教师应调整学生学习策略,开展以学生为中心的词汇教学,从而减少词汇教学的盲目性,提高学生学习词汇的积极性和效率,进一步提高学生的英语成绩。     

Effects of Technology-Mediated Vocabulary Intervention for Third-Grade Students with Reading Difficulties

Abstract

In this experimental study, we examined the effects of a technology-mediated intervention to improve students’ understanding of academic vocabulary and its impact on measures of vocabulary and comprehension. The Vocabulators program was implemented in two states involving 24 teachers and 200 third-grade students identified as in need of supplemental vocabulary instruction. Individual students within each classroom were randomly assigned to treatment (n?=?100) or typical instructional practices (n?=?100) conditions. In the treatment condition, students received, on average, 29 lessons on vocabulary and comprehension. Results of linear regression analyses showed statistically significant and practical effects on experimenter-developed proximal measures of decoding (ES = 0.52), expressive vocabulary (ES = 0.78), receptive vocabulary (ES = 0.51), and near transfer measures of understanding vocabulary in sentences (ES = 0.65), and informational text comprehension (ES = 0.28). Group performance did not differ statistically on near transfer measures of sentence verification with vocabulary and narrative text comprehension as well as distal standardized measures of general vocabulary or reading comprehension. Findings suggest the potential impact of technology-based vocabulary/comprehension lessons to supplement typical instruction.     

How to Teach English Vocabulary Effectively in New Ways

There are many important factors to help learn English better.In learning English, vocabulary could be very important part because it is a fundamental element to form a sentence. So many English teachers try very hard to use different and new ways to make their vocabulary teaching effective, and also improve students' ability of using the language. Here we are going to see what kinds of new ways an English teacher can use to help students to learn English vocabulary better.