A Systematic Review of the Research on Vocabulary Instruction That Impacts Text Comprehension

Abstract

Although numerous studies have identified a correlational relationship between vocabulary and comprehension, we know less about vocabulary interventions that impact reading comprehension. Therefore, this study is a systematic review of vocabulary interventions with comprehension outcomes. Analyses of 36 studies that met criteria are organized around (a) type of comprehension measure (i.e., comprehension of passages that included taught words or more generalized comprehension measures) and (b) type of intervention (i.e., direct teaching of word meanings or word‐learning strategies). The authors looked for patterns in characteristics of vocabulary instruction within these analyses. Their findings led to four major themes: (1) Teaching of word meanings supported comprehension of text containing the target words in almost all cases; (2) instruction that focused on some active processing was typically more impactful than a definition or a dictionary method for supporting comprehension of text containing the target words, but we do not know how much instruction is sufficient; (3) there is very limited evidence that direct teaching of word meanings, even long‐term, multifaceted interventions of large numbers of words, can improve generalized comprehension; and (4) there is currently no empirical evidence that instruction in one or two strategies for solving word meanings will impact generalized comprehension. However, studies that actively teach students to monitor their understanding of vocabulary and to use multiple, flexible strategies for solving word meanings are a promising area for future research. The authors discuss the implications of these themes, as well as critical avenues for future vocabulary research.

A Synthesis of Quantitative Research on Reading Programs for Secondary Students

“…Findings of four studies of these programs, shown in Table , found a mean effect size of 0.06 (n.s. ), corresponding to the outcomes on general comprehension reported by Wright and Cervetti (). For example, Academic Language Instruction for All Students is a vocabulary intervention designed to be used in regular English language arts classrooms with many language‐minority students.…”

“…Vocabulary proficiency has been shown to have a relation with reading proficiency (Oslund, Clemens, Simmons, & Simmons, ; Uccelli, Phillips Galloway, Barr, Meneses, & Dobbs, ). In their review of research on vocabulary interventions in grades K–12, Wright and Cervetti () found positive effects on comprehension of passages containing specifically taught words but not on generalized comprehension.…”

Empowering Students With Word‐Learning Strategies: Teach a Child to Fish

“…The WLS program included robust instruction that extended over 15 weeks. The program is also consistent with Wright and Cervetti's () observation that teaching students to use multiple strategies flexibly is a more promising approach than simply teaching one or two strategies. All in all, the instructional approach used in our program builds on previous research by using robust instruction over a substantial period of time to teach students to use multiple strategies and to use them flexibly.…”

An Analysis of the Features of Words That Influence Vocabulary Difficulty

“…Such strong relationships raise the question of whether vocabulary instruction, particularly interventions, that use data on students' knowledge of the core vocabulary could influence comprehension performances. To date, vocabulary interventions have been surprisingly ineffective in changing student performances on generalized comprehension measures [89]. One explanation is that interventions have typically not focused on the words most prominent in the lexicon at different developmental levels.…”