The impact of a systematic and explicit vocabulary intervention in Spanish with Spanish-speaking English learners in first grade

The Effectiveness of Reading Interventions for English Learners

“…This is consistent with previous research with English learners on the weak association between language proficiency and reading growth in the early grades, particularly on foundational measures of reading, such as phonemic awareness and decoding (Chiappe, Siegel, & Wade-Woolley, 2002;Gersten et al, 2007). However, it differs from more recent research that found that language proficiency appears to affect early reading skills (D. Baker et al, 2013;Kieffer, 2008). On the other hand, in the Lovett et al (2008) study, which targeted English learners in Grades 2 through 8, the finding was that students who began the intervention with higher levels of language proficiency responded more positively to the interventions based on measures of phonemic blending and passage comprehension than students who began the intervention at lower levels of language proficiency.…”

“…These additional opportunities may help English learners develop their English language proficiency, an important component of comprehension (D. Baker, Park, & Baker, 2013;Farnia & Geva, 2011;Gottardo & Mueller, 2009).…”

Building the Oral Language of Young Hispanic Children Through Interactive Read Alouds and Vocabulary Games at Preschool and at Home

“…Our findings, however, corroborate the findings by Cena et al (2013), where first grade Spanish-speaking students living in the U.S. who received a vocabulary intervention in Spanish, made significant gains in their vocabulary knowledge in Spanish. Although the students in the Cena et al, (2013) study were older than the students in our study, both interventions focused on vocabulary, and they both included Hispanic students whose native language was Spanish. Nonetheless, further research needs to be conducted to better understand the transfer of Spanish to English vocabulary knowledge, and vice versa.…”

“…A plausible explanation for the lack of effects in English could be that (a) our intervention was shorter and less structured than the instruction in the Barnett et al study; (b) young ELs in our study might not have reached a level of vocabulary knowledge in their native language that would allow them to transfer this knowledge to English, confirming Cummins (1979) threshold level hypothesis suggesting that bilinguals need to come to a threshold in their native language to see differences in their second language; (c) vocabulary knowledge does not transfer as easily as other skills such as phonological awareness and decoding (Baker, D. L., Burns, Kame'enui, Smolkowski, & Baker, 2015;Bialystock, Luk, & Kwan, 2005); and (d) in order for transfer between two languages to occur, young EL's English vocabulary knowledge needs to be at a certain level of proficiency (Baker, D.L., Park, & Baker, 2013;Lindsey, Manis, & Bailey, 2003). Our findings, however, corroborate the findings by Cena et al (2013), where first grade Spanish-speaking students living in the U.S. who received a vocabulary intervention in Spanish, made significant gains in their vocabulary knowledge in Spanish. Although the students in the Cena et al, (2013) study were older than the students in our study, both interventions focused on vocabulary, and they both included Hispanic students whose native language was Spanish.…”

The Effect of e-Book Vocabulary Instruction on Spanish–English Speaking Children

“…Much of the literature addressing shared storybook reading has focused primarily on monolinguals (Justice, 2006;Justice et al, 2005;Whitehurst et al, 1988). However, there is sufficient evidence to expect that shared storybook reading is also an effective and engaging approach to introduce novel vocabulary and develop emergent literacy knowledge in young ELs (Cena et al, 2013). Findings in the literature suggest that shared storybook reading facilitates learning when the context is meaningful, interesting, and motivating to young children (Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn, & Cole, 2008).…”