There are certain ways of reading to young children that are more effective than others in increasing language, vocabulary, and building early literacy skills. Dialogic reading is a method to enhance shared book reading by providing a context for dialogue and interaction between the adult and the child. Dialogic reading has been shown to have positive effects on young childrens’ early literacy and language skills. Thus far, parents and teachers have used these techniques in the home and school in one-on-one or small group settings. However, results have been variable due to inconsistent implementation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of implementing dialogic reading techniques in a preschool setting via cross age tutoring by fifth grade students. Students in preschool and fifth grade were recruited from a school in Eastern Maryland. Fifth graders served as tutors and were trained to use dialogic reading techniques with preschool students in the same school. The tutoring dyads met three times a week for 30 minutes for 8 weeks. Preschoolers’ receptive and expressive language skills as well as their readiness to begin school were assessed before and after the intervention, and fifth grader’s attitudes towards reading prior to and after the intervention were measured. Data on the preschool students were analyzed using an Analysis of Covariance and the results indicated significant changes in receptive, expressive and school readiness in comparison to the control group with medium to large effect sizes (.402 - .640). Furthermore, data on tutor attitudes toward reading were analyzed using two-sample paired t-tests. Results revealed an increase in positive attitudes toward recreational reading, with an effect size of .653, and an increase in general reading attitudes with an effect size of .421. Finally, teachers reported observable differences in their students and expressed interest in continuing this project. Fifth graders maintained adequate treatment integrity and felt positive about their experiences. Preschoolers reported positive experiences in reading with their tutors. Further interpretation of results, implications for practice, and future directions are discussed.

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The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of professional development designed to enhance vocabulary instruction on four first-grade teachers’ vocabulary instructional practices. The study incorporated a formative design methodology and the collection of baseline data on current instructional practices to inform the design of the professional development and subsequent intervention. According to Nagy and Scott (2004), word knowledge encompasses aspects and stages that surpass the common acceptance of what it means to know a word, definitional knowledge, and into the incorporation of that word into a child's working vocabulary knowledge. The teacher participants were provided with vocabulary instructional strategies through professional development with the goal of improving their vocabulary instructional practice. Following the professional development, the researcher initiated an eight-week intervention including observations, group meetings, and interviews to evaluate the impact of the professional development. Findings indicated that the professional development and intervention positively impacted the vocabulary instructional practices of the four first-grade teachers. Implications for future research include the benefit of using effective practices in professional development and a formative design framework to impact the instructional practice of primary teachers. / Ph. D.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Socorro G. Herrera / This quasi-experimental study was designed to measure the effects of a research-based intervention on fourth and fifth grade culturally and linguistically diverse students' vocabulary development. Through the extensive review of literature on vocabulary instruction and second language acquisition, a substantive theoretical framework titled the IBA Framework was developed. The IBA Framework incorporates characteristics of effective vocabulary instruction by accessing students' background knowledge, connecting unknown vocabulary words to known knowledge, ensuring opportunities for meaningful use of the vocabulary words, providing multiple exposures, and focusing on higher-level word knowledge. The IBA Framework also addresses second language acquisition by incorporating the linguistic, academic, cognitive, and sociocultural processes of the prism model. The IBA Intervention, derived from the IBA Framework, examined the affect of targeted vocabulary strategies on the overall vocabulary development of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were utilized for data collection and analysis. Quantitatively, the affect of the IBA Intervention was measured by the Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment and the Ecobehavioral System for the Contextual Recording of Interactional Bilingual Environments (ESCRIBE). MAP assessment scores were used to measure the overall literacy achievement of CLD students. Analysis of the data indicated that the treatment group made greater gains than the control group. ESCRIBE was used to measure students' overall engagement. The affect of the IBA Intervention was measured by combining the results of three student variables: language initiating/responding behaviors, oral responses, and activity-related responses. The overall engagement scores indicated that CLD students who received the IBA Intervention had higher levels of engagement than the control group. Qualitatively, the affect of the IBA Intervention on students' vocabulary retention was investigated using student documents, participant observation, and informal interviews. The emic perspective that emerged from the data suggested that students in the intervention group demonstrated their vocabulary retention by building vocabulary knowledge, clarifying vocabulary knowledge, extending vocabulary knowledge, and using vocabulary knowledge across settings. Exemplars from each of these categories were provided as evidence of the CLD students' attainment of a deeper level of permanent vocabulary knowledge.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a storybook retell technique to facilitate vocabulary acquisition in children educated in Māori immersion class settings. A second aim of the study was to explore the cultural responsiveness and pedagogical appropriateness of the intervention approach and the importance of relationship building (whakawhanaungatanga) to successful interventions. Nine children participated in the study. These children (aged between 5 and 8 years) were recruited from two Kura Kaupapa Māori settings in differing urban areas in New Zealand. The children entered the study on a rolling basis in groups of three. The first three participants to enter the study were recruited from the one classroom on the basis of their demonstrating specific language impairment (SLI). The second group of three participants attended a different classroom and these participants were recruited into the study as a result of identified delayed reading development (RD). The third group of three participants from a third classroom was selected as the participants exhibited typical spoken and written language development (TD). The intervention technique utilized in this study adopted a structured approach to teaching the meaning of pre selected vocabulary items that were embedded in class story books. Three different books were selected and each book was read by the teacher to the whole class three times during a one week period. The target vocabulary was highlighted each time it occurred in the story through the following techniques: an adult definition was given for the word, an antonym or synonym was given, and the meaning was acted out by the teacher or the picture detailing the meaning of the word in the book was highlighted. A single subject research design using pre-intervention, intervention and post intervention assessment probes for the target vocabulary items was employed to examine the effectiveness of the intervention in teaching the children the targeted vocabulary. Teacher interviews were also carried out to assess the appropriateness of the intervention in relation to the philosophy of the Kura Kaupapa and its pedagogical appropriateness and cultural responsiveness. The results suggested that the children in all three groups (SLI, RD and TD) made moderate gains in the acquisition of the target vocabulary supporting the hypothesis that targeting vocabulary in story book retelling at a whole class level will lead to acquisition of the vocabulary by the participants' exposed to the intervention. However, using a Two Standard Deviation method to evaluate the significance of each participant's change, the gains made for the RD and SLI participants were not significant. The TD participants did demonstrate a significant difference in the number of words correct. The teachers of the participants involved in the study reported positively on the effectiveness and appropriateness of the intervention for inclusion within the Kura Kaupapa and classroom programme. In particular, teachers' reported that as the intervention included each child in the class (as opposed to a withdrawal intervention model) the intervention was more appropriate for the philosophy of the Kura Kaupapa. The teachers' also reported the effectiveness of the intervention for the development of collaboration and relationship building between the teacher and researcher (a speech-language therapist. The data showed that the intervention investigated in this study was culturally responsive and pedagogically appropriate. It could be included as a component of the class programme as it was responsive to the philosophy of the Kura Kaupapa. The participants' did make moderate gains in the acquisition of the vocabulary (although not at a level to be considered significant for children with delayed development). Further research is necessary to explore the effectiveness of what may potentially be a useful intervention to enhance vocabulary development for children in Kura Kaupapa.

The problem of this study was to measure the impact of a read-aloud approach combined with direct teaching methodology on student achievement/attitudes and school expenditures. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the study was to determine the relative impact of three treatments on student reading and listening skills, vocabulary development, and attitude towards reading. The first treatment was read-aloud based on specific recommended texts combined with direct teaching methodology. The second treatment was read-aloud based on specific recommended texts. The third treatment, the control, was simply a read-aloud-based program. The second purpose of the study was to compare the relative cost and effort required by the three treatments. The 226 subjects in this study were selected from the population of third—grade students from three metropolitan early childhood centers. The subjects were pretested and posttested with the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), a criterion-referenced vocabulary test and the Estes Attitudinal Scale. Analyses of covariance and after F-test multiple comparisons were used to compare the relative impact of the three treatments on a preselected set of criterion variables.

The purpose of the study was to examine the feasibility of a dialogic book-reading intervention for bilingual preschool children with expressive vocabulary delays. The intervention was provided in English and Spanish concurrently to an experimental group of six children, while six children were in a delayed treatment control group. Dialogic book-reading has been shown previously to be effective with monolingual children, and the current study was the first to extend it to bilingual children. The children participating in the study were 22 – 41 months-old and were recruited from the waiting list of an agency providing speech-language services. The intervention was provided in English in the children’s homes by the primary investigator and in Spanish by the children’s mothers, who were trained in the techniques of dialogic book-reading. Thirty fifteen-minute sessions in each language using dialogic book-reading strategies were provided to each child in the intervention group over six weeks. The study examined the acquisition of ten target words selected for each child in English and Spanish separately, in addition to overall increases in the children’s vocabularies. The children in the intervention group learned significantly more target words in each language following the intervention than did the children in the control group. The children in the intervention group were also able to produce the acquired words at a delayed posttest six weeks following the posttest. The intervention also led to an improvement in the ability of the children in the intervention group to stay focused on book-reading tasks. The gains in the overall vocabulary of the children in the two groups did not differ significantly. The mothers’ evaluations of the intervention revealed their satisfaction with the approach. The mothers were successful in learning dialogic book-reading strategies and stated that they felt empowered to improve their child’s vocabulary development.

The purpose of the study was to examine the feasibility of a dialogic book-reading intervention for bilingual preschool children with expressive vocabulary delays. The intervention was provided in English and Spanish concurrently to an experimental group of six children, while six children were in a delayed treatment control group. Dialogic book-reading has been shown previously to be effective with monolingual children, and the current study was the first to extend it to bilingual children. The children participating in the study were 22 – 41 months-old and were recruited from the waiting list of an agency providing speech-language services. The intervention was provided in English in the children’s homes by the primary investigator and in Spanish by the children’s mothers, who were trained in the techniques of dialogic book-reading. Thirty fifteen-minute sessions in each language using dialogic book-reading strategies were provided to each child in the intervention group over six weeks. The study examined the acquisition of ten target words selected for each child in English and Spanish separately, in addition to overall increases in the children’s vocabularies. The children in the intervention group learned significantly more target words in each language following the intervention than did the children in the control group. The children in the intervention group were also able to produce the acquired words at a delayed posttest six weeks following the posttest. The intervention also led to an improvement in the ability of the children in the intervention group to stay focused on book-reading tasks. The gains in the overall vocabulary of the children in the two groups did not differ significantly. The mothers’ evaluations of the intervention revealed their satisfaction with the approach. The mothers were successful in learning dialogic book-reading strategies and stated that they felt empowered to improve their child’s vocabulary development.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a storybook retell technique to facilitate vocabulary acquisition in children educated in Māori immersion class settings. A second aim of the study was to explore the cultural responsiveness and pedagogical appropriateness of the intervention approach and the importance of relationship building (whakawhanaungatanga) to successful interventions. Nine children participated in the study. These children (aged between 5 and 8 years) were recruited from two Kura Kaupapa Māori settings in differing urban areas in New Zealand. The children entered the study on a rolling basis in groups of three. The first three participants to enter the study were recruited from the one classroom on the basis of their demonstrating specific language impairment (SLI). The second group of three participants attended a different classroom and these participants were recruited into the study as a result of identified delayed reading development (RD). The third group of three participants from a third classroom was selected as the participants exhibited typical spoken and written language development (TD). The intervention technique utilized in this study adopted a structured approach to teaching the meaning of pre selected vocabulary items that were embedded in class story books. Three different books were selected and each book was read by the teacher to the whole class three times during a one week period. The target vocabulary was highlighted each time it occurred in the story through the following techniques: an adult definition was given for the word, an antonym or synonym was given, and the meaning was acted out by the teacher or the picture detailing the meaning of the word in the book was highlighted. A single subject research design using pre-intervention, intervention and post intervention assessment probes for the target vocabulary items was employed to examine the effectiveness of the intervention in teaching the children the targeted vocabulary. Teacher interviews were also carried out to assess the appropriateness of the intervention in relation to the philosophy of the Kura Kaupapa and its pedagogical appropriateness and cultural responsiveness. The results suggested that the children in all three groups (SLI, RD and TD) made moderate gains in the acquisition of the target vocabulary supporting the hypothesis that targeting vocabulary in story book retelling at a whole class level will lead to acquisition of the vocabulary by the participants' exposed to the intervention. However, using a Two Standard Deviation method to evaluate the significance of each participant's change, the gains made for the RD and SLI participants were not significant. The TD participants did demonstrate a significant difference in the number of words correct. The teachers of the participants involved in the study reported positively on the effectiveness and appropriateness of the intervention for inclusion within the Kura Kaupapa and classroom programme. In particular, teachers' reported that as the intervention included each child in the class (as opposed to a withdrawal intervention model) the intervention was more appropriate for the philosophy of the Kura Kaupapa. The teachers' also reported the effectiveness of the intervention for the development of collaboration and relationship building between the teacher and researcher (a speech-language therapist. The data showed that the intervention investigated in this study was culturally responsive and pedagogically appropriate. It could be included as a component of the class programme as it was responsive to the philosophy of the Kura Kaupapa. The participants' did make moderate gains in the acquisition of the vocabulary (although not at a level to be considered significant for children with delayed development). Further research is necessary to explore the effectiveness of what may potentially be a useful intervention to enhance vocabulary development for children in Kura Kaupapa.

No description available.