Paucity and Disparity in Kindergarten Oral Vocabulary Instruction

Wright, Tanya S.; Neuman, Susan B.

doi:10.1177/1086296x14551474

Cited by 90 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Therefore, it is not surprising that even a small amount of information about the meaning of unfamiliar words in a text-and particularly about the specific meanings intended in the text-might give students a boost in their comprehension of a text containing the taught words. In light of this finding, it is particularly concerning that studies have repeatedly documented little vocabulary instruction in schools (Carlisle, Kelcey, & Berebitsky, 2013;Scott, Jamieson-Noel, & Asselin, 2003;Wright & Neuman, 2014).…”

Section: Theme 1: Teaching Word Meanings Supports Text Comprehensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Wright

Cervetti

2016

Reading Research Quarterly

Self Cite

177

136

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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.

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Section: Theme 1: Teaching Word Meanings Supports Text Comprehensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Wright

Cervetti

2016

Reading Research Quarterly

Self Cite

177

136

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although U.S. preschool teachers have been found to use relatively richer language, ask more cognitively challenging questions, and use more decontextualized language during book reading, there appears to be limited and inconsistent explicit attention to vocabulary in both preschool and kindergarten classrooms (Al Otaiba et al., ; Dickinson, Hofer, Barnes, & Grifenhagen, ; Gerde & Powell, ; Gest et al., ; Hindman, Wasik, & Erhart, ; Massey, Pence, Justice, & Bowles, ). In one study of a socioeconomically diverse sample of 55 kindergartens, only eight episodes of vocabulary instruction occurred per day, on average, and these did not focus on sophisticated words (Wright & Neuman, ). Another statewide sample of 81 early childhood classrooms saw less than 30 seconds focused on vocabulary during 20 minutes of language and literacy instruction, on average (Pelatti, Piasta, Justice, & O'Connell, ).…”

Section: Vocabulary Support In the Chilean Classroom Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships of Teachers’ Language and Explicit Vocabulary Instruction to Students’ Vocabulary Growth in Kindergarten

Bowne¹,

Yoshikawa

Snow³

2016

Reading Research Quarterly

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This study evaluates the relationships between aspects of Chilean teachers’ explicit vocabulary instruction and students’ vocabulary development in kindergarten. Classroom videotapes of whole‐class instruction gathered during a randomized experimental evaluation of a coaching‐based professional development program were analyzed. The amount of conceptual information about words made available during these discussions was the only significant predictor of students’ end‐of‐kindergarten vocabulary, when controlling for the density and diversity of teachers’ language and time spent in explicit vocabulary support, as well as child and teacher demographics. Each additional standard deviation of conceptual information about words provided predicted a 0.11 standard deviation increase in students’ vocabulary outcomes. Practice and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

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“…Yet, studies demonstrate that both oral language and content area learning are neglected areas of focus in the early years of schooling. Confirming U.S. national data (e.g., Blank, 2012), a recent observational study found that students received, on average, only 2.3 minutes per day of science in their kindergarten classrooms (Wright & Neuman, 2014). Likewise, studies have demonstrated that students rarely receive high-quality oral vocabulary instruction in the early primary grades (Carlisle, Kelcey, & Berebitsky, 2013;Wright & Neuman, 2014).…”

Section: Supporting Disciplinary Talk From the Start Of School: Teachmentioning

confidence: 87%

Supporting Disciplinary Talk From the Start of School: Teaching Students to Think and Talk Like Scientists

Wright¹,

Gotwals²

2017

The Reading Teacher

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In this article, the authors first review the research literature to show why supporting talk from the start of school is important for students’ long‐term literacy development. The authors then define and describe disciplinary talk and argue that it is an important entry point into science and disciplinary literacy learning for young students. The authors briefly describe their research project, which found success in improving students’ science talk: SOLID Start (Science, Oral Language, and Literacy Development from the Start of School). The rest of the article describes the SOLID Start instructional strategies for supporting disciplinary talk: the research that supports these strategies, examples of what each strategy looks like in primary‐grade classrooms, and how‐tos for teachers to start using these instructional strategies.

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Paucity and Disparity in Kindergarten Oral Vocabulary Instruction

Cited by 90 publications

References 56 publications

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

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

Relationships of Teachers’ Language and Explicit Vocabulary Instruction to Students’ Vocabulary Growth in Kindergarten

Supporting Disciplinary Talk From the Start of School: Teaching Students to Think and Talk Like Scientists

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