Browsing by Subject "vocabulary"
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Item A two-study investigation of research on vocabulary strategies and their implementation in fourth grade social studies classrooms(2009-05-15) Hairrell, Angela R.Among the multiple dimensions of reading, vocabulary knowledge and strategies are essential to skilled reading. As a result, this two-part dissertation (a) systematically examines the vocabulary intervention research, in both content and methodology, published since 1999, and (b) documents the implementation of evidence-based vocabulary strategies in fourth grade social studies classrooms. Twenty-four studies were included in the systematic literature review. Results of this study corroborate findings of past studies that several vocabulary strategies have emerged that are effective for increasing students? vocabulary knowledge. Findings further reinforce the National Reading Panel?s recommendations regarding the context and magnitude of studies needed. Additionally, results of the analysis of the methodological characteristics of the 24 studies revealed mixed alignment of research methods with standards recommended by educational and research organizations. A study of 26 fourth grade social studies teachers? use of vocabulary strategies was conducted based on an existing data set acquired as part of a larger professional development study. In that study, teachers were randomly assigned to either a typical practice or professional development group. Analysis of teachers? instructional practice revealed that few of the vocabulary strategies identified in the literature are used in typical fourth grade social studies classrooms. Teachers who received professional development used a wider array of strategies. Controlling for teachers? preknowledge of vocabulary strategy instruction, results of a MANCOVA showed that the professional development group was statistically different from the typical practice group in terms of overall instructional quality, time allotted for vocabulary instruction, and variety of strategies. Additional analyses were conducted comparing the findings of Durkin?s study of comprehension in fourth grade social studies classrooms to the current practices of nine fourth grade social studies teachers. Findings showed little change in teachers? reading comprehension instruction even though the knowledge base of effective instruction has increased in the past 30 years.Item An Alternative Oral Proficiency and Expressive Vocabulary Assessment of Kindergarten English Language Learners(2011-02-22) Walichowski, Miranda FernandeThe data used in this study were secondary, kindergarten data from a longitudinal, five-year, federal experimental research project: English and Literacy Acquisition (ELLA) (R305P030032). The overall goal of ELLA was to examine the impacts of two different programs (Bilingual and Structured English Immersion) on the performance of Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) in grades K to 3. My first research question was to determine to what extent a curriculumbased measure could be developed and validated to measure oral proficiency and vocabulary knowledge among ELLs who are participating in a controlled oral language development intervention. In addressing validity the scores of the S4 were compared with the scores of the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery - Revised (WLPB-R) and the IOWA Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) language and vocabulary subtests. The correlations were .283 to .445 and they were statistically significant (p<.01). The S4 underwent several iterations. With each iteration intrarater reliability improved (Kappa .817 to 1.00 and Cramer's V .330 to 1.00). Interrater reliability also improved (Kappa .431 to 1.00 and Cramer's V .616 to 1.00). The second research question was to determine to what extent teachers could use the Semantic and Syntactic Scoring System (S4) for the STELLA vocabulary fluency measure with minimal training to accurately assess students' vocabulary knowledge and oral proficiency. The teachers' Kappas ranged from .786 to 1.00 and Cramer's V from .822 to 1.00. On average they were able to score a given student measure in under 22 minutes. The third research question was to determine to what extent the Semantic and Syntactic Scoring System (S4) differentiates the level of knowledge regarding expressive vocabulary and oral proficiency of kindergarten students under two different program placements: enhanced Traditional Bilingual Education and the enhanced Structured English Immersion Program in comparison to the WLPB-R (language and vocabulary subtests). The S4 was able to distinguish between the control and experimental groups (unlike the other subtests); but was not able to distinguish program type (bilingual and structured English immersion).Item An Exploratory Study of a Shared-Book Reading Intervention Involving Spanish-Speaking Latino Families(2014-11-19) Vaquero, JuanaThe present pilot study examined the effectiveness of a 12-week parent-delivered shared book-reading curriculum in Spanish using a pre-, post-between-groups, with a 12-month follow-up test design. Twenty Spanish-speaking mother-child dyads were assigned to one of two conditions (shared-book reading curriculum, or control condition). Child participants were tested at three points in time on general Spanish receptive and expressive vocabulary, knowledge of targeted words taught by the shared-book reading curriculum, knowledge of concepts about print (CAP) and oral narrative abilities (microstructure and macrostructure elements). Based on prior research, it was predicted that children in the intervention group would outperform their peers in the control group on all outcome variables at post-testing and at the 12-month follow-up. Results at post-testing revealed positive effects of the Spanish shared-book reading curriculum on measures of generalized receptive vocabulary, targeted receptive vocabulary, CAP, microstructural oral narrative skills (lengthier mean length utterances; MLU) for the story retell task and macrostructural oral narrative skills (story grammar) for the two oral narrative tasks (story retell and story spontaneous). Results at the 12- month follow-up revealed a positive impact of the intervention for the story retell task. Although we were unable to detect long-term sustained effects of the intervention on all child outcome variables, the pilot study makes a contribution to the literature by showing that teaching Low-SES Spanish-speaking parents how to use a scripted shared-book reading curriculum that incorporates cognitively complex questions about words and stories before, during and after reading, can produce positive impacts on children?s oral language, CAP and narrative skills at short-term. Implications, limitations and directions for future research are discussed.Item From research to practice: the effect of multi-component vocabulary instruction on fourth grade students' social studies vocabulary and comprehension performance(2009-05-15) Graham, Lori DearThis study was designed to demonstrate the effect of implementation of multicomponent vocabulary strategy instruction in fourth grade social studies. The components used included explicit instruction, student study teams, active engagement in learning tasks, vocabulary maps, connections webs, and semantic feature analysis. The focus was on using direct, explicit instruction of vocabulary strategies and the resulting outcomes. Curriculum was designed for a six-week period using the district curriculum and state-required knowledge and skills for fourth graders. Teachers were randomly chosen for assignment to the group receiving the intervention and/or to the control group. The curriculum for this study was designed to actively engage students and to reinforce retention of word meanings in isolation as well as in context. The study included three different school districts, five separate campuses, and a total of 375 students in grade four. There were 23 teachers in the study with students in 29 separate classes. Measures were employed to determine if there was an effect on the students in the classrooms receiving the intervention versus those receiving regular classroom instruction. Measures used included a comprehension test, a content test, a curriculum-based measure, checkpoints for content, similar to a unit test, the TORC3 vocabulary subtest for social studies, and the Test of Silent Contextual Reading Fluency (TOSCRF). A preliminary analysis included reliability coefficients of all instruments used in the study. Difference score analyses and descriptive statistics, along with a one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and a repeated measures MANOVA were completed using the effect for group, effect for time, and the interaction effect. The final analysis included a plot of classroom means for each of the instruments used in the study. Outcomes were consistent across all administered measures. Although growth was demonstrated in both the group receiving the intervention and the group receiving regular classroom instruction, the gains were consistently greater overall with the classrooms receiving the intervention. Experimenting with practices to determine their effectiveness is critical for improving classroom instruction, and this study demonstrated that students were retaining knowledge even after six weeks post-intervention.