Optimizing Vocabulary Instruction for Preschool Children

Abstract

A cluster randomized design was used to investigate the effects of the Story Friends vocabulary curriculum on learning of 84 preschoolers in 24 classrooms who were at risk for language difficulties. Children in the treatment condition received explicit vocabulary instruction of 36 words during small-group storybook listening centers with extended practice opportunities in the classroom and at home. Children in the comparison condition were exposed to the same words in stories without explicit instruction or extended practice. Children ( n = 16) with average or above language skills from six treatment classrooms were included to examine the impact of extended practice. Children at risk in treatment classrooms learned significantly more words (52%) than children at risk in comparison classrooms (12%). Children not at risk learned vocabulary equal to children at risk. A tiered approach to implementing Story Friends appears feasible for enhancing the vocabulary learning of preschoolers with and without language delays.

Psychometric Properties of a Preschool Language, Literacy, and Behavior Screener

“…Participants were enrolled in two randomized controlled trials that investigated the effects of a vocabulary learning intervention program, Story Friends TM . Participants included 137 children from 19 preschool classrooms for the first study (Kelley et al, 2020) and 176 children from 17 preschool classrooms for the second study (Madsen et al, 2022). All classrooms provided a full-day early childhood program that was funded in part through Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) program.…”

“…Vocabulary Learning. Our dataset included vocabulary learning scores of children who participated in two randomized trials of the Story Friends TM vocabulary intervention study (57 children in the experiment condition and 60 children in the control condition) (Kelley et al, 2020;Madsen et al, 2022). These replication studies evaluated the effects of the Story Friends TM vocabulary program on child academic vocabulary learning in preschool classroom settings.…”

“…Each item was rated on a 3-point scale: 0 points were rewarded for an incorrect response, 1 for partial response, and 2 for a correct response. This measure and response scale was widely used in our previous research and by other researchers, and offers advantages compared to other receptive word knowledge measures where children are forced to point a response between given choices (Beck et al, 2013;Kelley et al, 2015Kelley et al, , 2020Madsen et al, 2022). When administering the definitional task, children are asked to demonstrate decontextualized word knowledge that is an indicator of later child academic and language skills (Quinn et al, 2015).…”

Advances in Vocabulary Instruction: Can We Bridge the Word Gap?

“…Our approach has been to reduce the demands placed on adults; the primary instruction is delivered via recorded stories with embedded vocabulary lessons and adults are responsible for monitoring and encouraging small groups of at-risk children (Goldstein et al, 2016). More recently, we have incorporated ways to augment learning through review and practice at school and at home (Kelley et al, 2020; Madsen et al, 2022).…”