Impact of Direct Vocabulary Instruction on Comprehension Levels

Problem

• Reading is a challenge for ELL students
• Limited comprehension ability due to the lack of vocabulary background
• No enjoyment or motivation to read if they don't understand the text

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this study was to integrate direct vocabulary instruction into the students' daily schedule to evaluate the impact it had on the proficiency of students' comprehension levels and their motivation to read.

1. What impact will direct instruction have on ELL students' reading comprehension levels?

2. What effect will comprehension levels have on student motivation to read on their own?

Literature Review

• Vocabulary growth largely determined by parental practices until 3rd grade (Biemiller, 2003)
• By age 3, children from professional families - 1100, working families - 750, welfare families - 500
• Gap widens to nearly 4000 words by 2nd grade

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• Vocabulary is one of the key elements in learning how to read and reading to learn (Pullen, Tuckwiller, Konold, Maynard, & Coyne, 2010)
• Children use their oral vocabulary to decode words
• Vocabulary demands increase in text in upper grades making comprehension difficult

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• Very few studies address vocabulary instruction with elementary children
• National Reading Panel (2009) found trends across studies - vocabulary needs to be taught directly and indirectly
• Not a single method to teach but should include active thinking and multiple opportunities to use them

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• EL learners lack incidental exposure
• Large gap of vocabulary knowledge between EO students and EL learners does not diminish so important for EL learners to receive vocabulary instruction (August, Carlo, Dressler, & Snow, 2005)
• EL learners need instruction in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 words

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Weekly Schedule for Vocabulary Instruction

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Day 4

• What does the word ____ mean?
• How would you use the word ___ in a sentence?
• Is the word ___ a noun or a verb?
• What is the antonym/synonym of ___?
• Which word means _____?

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Findings

Vocabulary Assessment Week 3

Vocabulary Assessment Week 5

Findings

• Week 3 (12 words) - median score 62.5%
• Week 5 (18 words) - median score 78%, 4 students below the median
• Explicit instruction, daily activities, and spiral review helped students retain knowledge of vocabulary words

Performance on Comprehension Questions

Findings

• Baseline data - 80% of students answered 2 or less questions correct
• 20% to 60% increase of students answering 3 or more comprehension questions correctly
• students gained more meaning of words to understand text and more confidence as they identified words they knew

Conclusions

• Direct vocabulary instruction increased comprehension levels but did not increase motivation levels
• Marzano's six-step process did help students gain vocabulary knowledge to help understand text better
• Students were motivated to learn new words but increase in comprehension did not motivate them to read on their own