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Instructional Challenges and Effective Methods: Teaching Vocabulary and Academic Language
Seminar 4March 3, 2008
Jeannette Mancilla-MartinezGutman 303
Seminar 1:Educating L2 Learners
in the U.S.
Seminar 2:Pedagogical Models
Seminar 3:Reading Words &
Comprehending Text
Seminar 4:Vocabulary &
Academic Language
Seminar 5:Spelling, Grammar, &
Writing
Seminar 6:Disability vs. Exposure
Simple View of Reading (SVR)Decoding Linguistic Comp. = Reading Comp.
+ + Secure
+ - Impaired
(“hyperlexic”)
- + Impaired
(“dyslexic”)
- - Impaired
(“garden-variety
poor readers”)
(Gough & Tunmer, 1986)
Vocabulary Development
Relation to readingEarly reading (lexical restructuring)Later reading (reading comprehension)
Large social class differencesRelated to density of word exposureRelated to quality of word exposureRelated transactionally to literacy experience
The Importance of Vocabulary for Very Young Children
Vocabulary skills during preschool later reading skillsOn average, vocabulary delays for children from low-income and language minority homes by age 3 ( but lots of variation in vocabulary among children in these populations)Cannot assume vocabulary skills in one language reflect those in the other so it is important to monitor development in both languages over time (e.g., Pearson, 2002)For bilingual children, parent reports alone and reports on only one of child’s languages (Oller & Eilers, 2002) may be insufficientTeachers may observe children using words not used at home, especially in English
Total Conceptual Vocabulary (TCV)Sum of Spanish and English vocabulary checklist scores minus equivalent vocabulary items
Provides single credit for words known in both Spanish and English (e.g., mesa and table counted as one concept) and additional credit for words known in Spanish or EnglishImportant for evaluating “conceptual knowledge”
Sample Student ScoresSpanish CDI total 300/680 words
English CDI total 200/680 words
Equivalent Items 100/537 mapped words
TCV score 400/824 concepts
RQ3: How do scores on measures of young Spanish speakers’ vocabulary in English and in Spanish (i.e., English CDI score, Spanish IDHC score, and derivation of a conceptual vocabulary score) compare to established monolingual vocabulary norms?
Mancilla-Martinez, Pan, & Vagh (under review)
Analysis Currently Underway
Videotaped interactions between parents and children
These spontaneous language measures will help minimize the limitation of using only standardized vocabulary measures to assess the concurrent validity of the CDI/IDHC, and particularly of the integrated conceptual vocabulary score
Continuing our collaboration:Head Start University Partnership-English Language Learners Grant (2007-2010)
GoalsTest whether shorter vocabulary checklists provide information that is just as valid as the longer checklists. Pilot Spanish version of CDI-III for older preschoolersDetermine the age range for which each checklist is appropriate for ELL EHS/HS childrenRefine parent and teacher brief questionnaires about children’s exposure to and use of their two languages at home and school Together, this information on vocabulary and language use at home and school could become part of the child’s record and help inform decisions about special services for some children (HS Performance Standards 1304.20(b)(1))
Small Group Work
Review of vocabulary curricular materials
Complexity of Word Knowledge
Incrementality
Polysemy
Multidimensionality
Interrelatedness
Heterogeneity
IncrementalityDale’s (1975) four stages:
Never saw it beforeHeard it but don’t know what it meansRecognize it in context; has something to do with…Know it well
Paribakht and Wesche (1997) added:I can use this word in a sentence
Multiple interactions with words needed to learn it incidentally (4 encounters improves comprehension; 40 needed to attain a ceiling of knowledge)
Polysemy
Multiple meaningsCan be completely unrelated vs. can be so close that it’s a matter of subtle shades of meaning
Meanings change over time
Figurative language
Multidimensionality
Word knowledge represents a continuum
Consider the types of relationships:Morphological relationships (prefixation, suffixation)
Semantic relationships (antonyms, synonyms) and categories (verb, noun, adjective)
Graves (1986) word learning tasks:New concepts
New labels for known concepts
Moving words to productive vocabularies
Interrelatedness
Words are not isolated units of knowledge
Importance of linking what is learned with what is known
Exposure to text can contribute to one’s understanding of words in the text (building background knowledge), and even words not in the text
Heterogeneity
Knowledge of a word depends on what kind of word it is (e.g., if vs. hypotenuse)
The same word can require different types of learning depending on the learner and on what he/she knows about a word
The Scope of the Word Learning Problem
Only about 5-10% of class time devoted to vocabulary instruction
Minimal attention to word meanings, and often non-essential words
Labels vs. concepts
For native English speakers = 5-16 for receptive knowledge (Nation, 1990)
New Vocabulary Challenges for Adolescents
They usually know the easy words alreadyBasic object terms Brief/monomorphemic formsReally frequent wordsMinimally polysemous words
Much word exposure comes through readingThey need content-area technical termsThey need all-purpose academic words
Category labelsWords for thinkingAbstract, low imageability terms
And if their L1 is not English…
They must learn English at the same time they are studying core content through English
They must perform “double the work” of native speakers to keep up, and at the same time be accountable for adequate yearly progress (AYP)
About 60% do not graduate from high schoolAnd about 85% do not if limited English proficient
The Challenge for Teachers
Must balance comprehensible input and rich challenging vocabulary (i.e., academic language)!
Academic Language
Different from ‘everyday’ conversational language
Specialized registers, specialized knowledge
Explicit instruction needed, helping students become meta-cognitive about the difference between speech and print
Three Tiers (Beck et al., 2002)
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3Basic More Content Specific
Words Sophisticated Words
baby negotiate litigation (law)
happy tolerate troposphere (science)
bad maintain isotope (math)
So what about cognates?
Many require sophisticated knowledgeVenomous, venenosoGrotesque, grotescoLament, lamentar
False cognatesLibrary, libreriaExit, exitoMolest, molestar
Mancilla-Martinez & Spencer (2007)
Teachers expected difficulty in reading comprehension and vocabulary, but relative strength in listening comprehension
Surprised to learn listening comprehension was a relative weakness and wanted to know why
GRADE Listening Comprehension Subtest
Task: Students listen to a sentence(s) that are read aloud to the class. Students select 1 of 4 pictures
that best matches what was read by the examiner (17 items)
Measure of: Student’s ability to understand orally presented, connected speech without printed cues
Not intended as a measure of: short-term memory, background knowledge, advanced vocabulary
GRADE Item Type ClassificationVocabulary
Understanding of basic word, uncommon vocabulary word, or a word with multiple meanings by context of the sentence(s)
GrammarUnderstanding of the structural aspects of language (e.g., word order, clauses, verb tense, subordination)
Inference Understanding of the unspoken message based on information given or the context of the situation provided (drawing conclusions)
Idiom Understanding of common idiomatic expressions that have a meaning different from the literal interpretation
Nonliteral Understanding of the nonliteral rather than literal meaning of the spoken message (“reading between the lines”)
Item Characteristics (17 items)
Grade Level Very Easy Items (>.90 correct)
Low Total Test Correlations
(<.30)
4th 7 7
5th 7 9
6th 7 10
7th 3 8
8th 5 9
Item Type and Average % Correct by GradeVocabular
yGrammar Idiom/
NonliteralInference
Grade 4 489%
880%
2
65%3
81%
Grade 5 3
64%8
87%3
74% 3
87%
Grade 6 6 74%
5 86%
488%
2 84%
Grade 7 4
61%4
57%6
60%3
75%
Grade 8 4
59%4
71%6
70%3
83%
What’s Hard About Listening Comp?
Inferential questions are relatively unproblematic
Grammar items are problematic for older students
Vocabulary and idioms/nonliteral items are common trouble areas
But …what do their errors tell us?
Do the distractors provide additional insight about students’ performance on the test?
Types of Distractors (researcher-coded)Grade Level
Vocabulary
Grammar
Idiom/Nonliter
al
Inference
Global Comp
4 17% 37% 10% 18% 20%
5 22% 33% 16% 6% 24%
6 41% 22% 18% 4% 16%
7 35% 24% 20% 6% 16%
8 35% 24% 20% 6% 16%
Selected DistractorsGrade Level
Vocabulary
Grammar
Idiom/Nonliter
al
Inference
Global Comp
4 17%
4%37%41%
10%
15%18%29%
20%12%
5 22%
37%33%24%
16%
25%6%7%
24%7%
6 41%
55%22%23%
18%13%
4%0%
16%9%
7 35%
27%24%23%
20%
31%6%9%
16%11%
8 35%
31%24%27%
20%22%
6%11%
16%9%
Distractor Analysis Conclusion
Patterns (e.g., distractor not selected at all, distractor selected more often than the correct response) suggest that listening comprehension is breaking down similarly for these students Vocabulary and idiom/nonliteral distractors are disproportionately troublesome
Idioms tend to be interpreted literally, suggesting vocabulary constraints
Beyond HearingListening comprehension involves multiple dimensions
What do we mean by listening comprehension? This task requires students to process oral input and match it to the most precise representation
Vocabulary and idioms/nonliteral items are challenging across grades
interventions geared toward increasing vocabulary, implicitly (engaging in rich oral language interactions) and explicitly (teaching words and about words), seem necessary
Psychometric properties of a test normed on a national sample do not necessarily apply to a particular sub-population
5th Grade Word Generation ClassroomMs. Ross’ 5th grade class of 24 students 100% former English Language Learners Ms. Ross teaches all five days = 100
minutes/week of instructional time devoted to Word Generation
Multiple Choice Test Comparison
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Pretest Posttest
Intervention Group
Comparison Group
Top 3 Words Students Learned
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
hypothesis project monitor
pretest
posttest
And what have we learned about vocabulary development?
The principles established in research with pre-school aged and younger school-aged children workBut there is much more to learn about teaching ‘academic words’As always, implementation is a bigger challenge than developing curriculaVocabulary instruction carries broader academic language skills with it
Monday/Tuesday: informal assessment, theories of word meaning, reading of passage, talk about topic, scanning of text/annotation
Tuesday/Wednesday: informal assessment, group work relating words to world
Friday: essay writing
Wednesday/Thursday: debate