The Effectiveness and Ease of Implementation of an Academic Vocabulary Intervention for Linguistically Diverse Students in Urban Middle Schools

Abstract

The present study aims to advance the extant research base by evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of an academic vocabulary program designed for use in mainstream middle school classrooms with high proportions of language minority learners. The quasi‐experimental, mixed‐methods study was conducted in 21 classes (13 treatment matched to 8 control) in seven middle schools in a large district, with 476 sixth‐grade students (346 language minority learners, 130 native English speakers). Classroom observations and teacher logs indicated the 18‐week program was implemented with good fidelity and that the approach contrasted sharply with the standard district English language arts (ELA) curriculum. Multilevel modeling indicated that the program resulted in significant effects on several aspects of vocabulary knowledge, including meanings of taught words (d = 0.39; p < .0001), morphological awareness (d = 0.20; p = .0003), and the word meanings as presented in expository text (d = 0.20; p = .0227). The program also yielded marginally significant, but promising effects on a depth of word knowledge measure (d = 0.15; p =0.0830) and a norm‐referenced measure of reading comprehension (d = 0.15; p = .0568). No effects were found on a norm‐referenced vocabulary measure. These effects were comparable for language minority learners and their native‐English‐speaking classmates. Data from teachers shed light on the challenges of meeting students' diverse instructional needs and the roles of curriculum and professional networks in building instructional capacity. The findings show promise in developing effective multifaceted vocabulary instruction for implementation by ELA teachers in middle school classrooms with high numbers of language minority learners. [Note: Nonie Lesaux discusses the research presented in this article in a podcast from the “Voice of Literacy”: http://www.voiceofliteracy.org/posts/40678.] تهدف الدراسة الجارية لتقديم قاعدة الأبحاث العلمية القائمة الآن بواسطة تقييم تنفيذ برنامج المفردات الدراسي وفعاليته المصمم للاستخدام في غرف صفوف المدراس الإعدادية الخاصة بعامة الناس التي يوجد فيها نسبة عالية من متعلمي اللغة من الأقليات. لقد أجريت دراسة متعددة الطرق شبه الاختبارية في 21 غرفة صف (13في المجموعة المعالجة مقابل 8 في المجموعة الضابطة) في سبع مدارس إعادادية في محافظة كبيرة يشمل فيها 476 طالب في الصف السادس (346 متعلم لغة من الأقليات و130 ناطق بالإنكليزية). وقد أشارت مراقبات غرف الصفوف ومدونات المعلمين إلى أن البرنامج الذي استغرق 18أسبوعاً تم تنفيذه بجودة عالية وأن هذا المدخل في متناهية التفاوت تجاه منهاج الفنون اللغوية الإنكليزية المعيارية. وقد أشار التقليد المتعدد المستويات إلى أن البرنامج أنتج تأثيرات ذي شأن في عدة أوجهة من معرفة المفردات بما فيها معاني الكلمات المتعلمة (درجات الحرية = 0.15 والقيمة الاحتمالية < 0.0001) والوعي الصوتي (درجات الحرية = 0.20 والقيمة الاحتمالية = 0.0003) ومعاني الكلام كما وردت في النصوص الشرحية (درجات الحرية = 0.20 والقيمة الاحتمالية =0.0227). وأنتج البرنامج أيضاً تأثيرات لها ضربة من الأهمية ولكنها مشجعة بالنسبة لمقياس عمق فهم الكلمة (درجة الحرية = 0.15 والقيمة الاحت...

Differential effects of a systematic vocabulary intervention on adolescent language minority students with varying levels of English proficiency

“…In their study on the effectiveness of an after-school program for Spanish-speaking middle school LEP students, Townsend and Collins (2009) showed that a well-designed research-based intervention can be beneficial for enhancing academic vocabulary knowledge of language minority students. In other studies (August et al, 2009;Lesaux et al, 2010;Proctor et al, 2011), researchers found that the effects of their treatment did not differ according to the language minority status of the students. Both EO and language minority students benefitted equally from the intervention.…”

“…Though various intervention studies have shown success in supporting students to learn academic words, only a handful have demonstrated effectiveness for language minority students in the middle grades (Carlo et al, 2004;Snow, Lawrence, & White, 2009;Proctor et al, 2001;Lawrence et al, 2012;August, Branum-Martin, Cardenas-Hagan, & Francis, 2009;Lesaux, Kieffer, Faller, & Kelley, 2010;Townsend & Collins, 2009;Vaughn et al, 2009). In their study on the effectiveness of an after-school program for Spanish-speaking middle school LEP students, Townsend and Collins (2009) showed that a well-designed research-based intervention can be beneficial for enhancing academic vocabulary knowledge of language minority students.…”

Desarrollo de la lectoescritura en español en alumnos bilingües

“…Otras actividades requerían que los estudiantes clasificaran las palabras según su familia semántica o sus afijos, solicitando igualmente que analizaran los morfemas de las palabras (es decir, raíz y afijos) en relación tanto a la creación de significado como al análisis estructural. Todas las actividades incorporaban métodos que se han mostrado eficaces en el aprendizaje de idiomas, tales como el uso de elementos visuales y de visualización; estrategias de aprendizaje de palabras; juegos de rol con palabras; la escritura de oraciones e historias incorporando las palabras; ejercicios de rellenar huecos con palabras; la creación de un muro de palabras; requerir a los participantes que desarrollen y mantengan tarjetas con palabras o un cuaderno con un diccionario del vocabulario; juegos de palabras; y la revisión explícita de vocabulario clave al final de cada lección (Beck et al 2002, Graves 2006Lesaux et al 2010b). Por último, las tareas asignadas se centraron en la promoción de la conciencia léxica, solicitando a los estudiantes que identificaran las palabras objeto de estudio fuera del aula (por ejemplo, en casa, en el periódico o en la televisión).…”

Classroom-based L2 vocabulary learning and comprehension: Replications of Lesaux, Kieffer, Faller & Kelley (2010)

“…We suggest Lesaux et al's (2010) quasi-experimental study of the effectiveness of an academic vocabulary program in multilingual, urban middle-schools be replicated to find out if the positive results hold in different language learning contexts. The original study is described in sufficient detail to allow for replication.…”

“…The replications conducted in varied settings will not only test the effectiveness of the original framework but also indicate which aspects of the original intervention will need to be modified for a particular context. Indeed, the research reported in Lesaux et al (2010) has been cited to develop the justification for using similar vocabulary teaching with vastly different populations. For instance, Tighe & Schatschneider (2015) leverage the Lesaux et al research to make the case for fostering morphological awareness as a predictor of adult reading comprehension abilities, despite the fact that this work was carried out largely with children.…”