This study reports on the use and benefits of fiction as a method to teach English as a second language in primary school. The study was conducted by reading previous research and conducting one-on-one interviews with six active teachers. The teachers all taught English in first to third grade, and they all had received education for it. The interviews contained questions about the use of fiction in both English and Swedish education. The results show that the general idea of using fiction to teach English is positive; however, only one teacher used it in practice. The other teachers list films and speaking exercises as their main tools for teaching English. According to previous research and interviews, the results of using fiction are positive, as it enhances vocabulary, comprehension and pronunciation. It has been shown that reading fiction enhances vocabulary, as the children are interested in what they read and therefore learn more as it engages them.

Getting students actively involved in acquiring new vocabulary creates more interest and better learning than presenting words from external sources.

No description available.

No description available.

Nicole Wilton is the program manager of the Community Music Education Program at the University of Saskatchewan. Huili Hong and Renee Rice Moran are assistant professors who teach literacy classes in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (CUAI) at East Tennessee State University. LaShay Jennings is a clinical instructor in CUAI who works with field-based student teachers. Ed Dwyer is a professor who teaches literacy classes in the same department. Nicole, Huili, Renee, LaShay and Ed have a great deal of interest in integrating artistic, social, and experiential strategies within instructional programs designed to enhance literacy achievement. According to these experts, students need to become physically, experientially, and emotionally as well as academically involved when learning sight words and in learning in general. Emphasis is placed on encouraging teachers and other instructional personnel to foster self-efficacy among their students through activities that generate success through products produced and learning experienced. Preparing a sturdy and attractive book focused on sight vocabulary in context is presented herein as a key strategy for both promoting self-efficacy and enhancing reading competence among students in the primary grades. Although the activity presented focuses on promoting sight word acquisition among primary grade readers, the strategies are adaptable to a wide variety of learning endeavours.

Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att beskriva hur lärares högläsning kan stötta yngre skolelevers ordförråd. Undersökningen fokuserar på elever från förskoleklass upp till årskurs tre. Litteraturstudien baseras på 11 vetenskapliga artiklar som har hittats genom digitala och analoga sökningar. Urval och avgränsningar har genomförts.     Resultatet i litteraturstudien visar att lärare bör inkludera facklitterära texter och ordförklaringar i sin högläsning. Det har även visat sig vara gynnsamt att lärare arbetar med repeterad läsning samt att inkludera multimodala verktyg i högläsningen då detta bidrar till att elever utvecklar sitt ordförråd.

A large body of research relates families’ socioeconomic status (SES) to child language development (Hoff & Tian, 2005). Results from these studies indicate preschoolers from low SES backgrounds may have underdeveloped linguistic foundations required for future academic success (Sirin, 2005; Lacouri & Tissington, 2011). These differences have been said to create a 30 million word-gap between the language experiences of low and middle to high SES children by the age of 3 years. Thus, children who come from lower SES backgrounds often lack the vocabulary knowledge used in school and in textbooks (Hart & Risley, 1995). One index of SES is parental level of education, specifically maternal education (Hoff & Tien, 2005). The current study compared the language processes related to word knowledge of 17 preschoolers who live in lower maternal education attainment (LEA) homes and 17 preschoolers who live in higher maternal education attainment (HEA) homes. An event related potential (ERP) thought to index semantic congruity and comprehension monitoring, the N400, was used. Preschoolers listened to nouns and verbs presented aurally that matched or mismatched with pictures to understand how preschoolers from varying SES backgrounds process linguistic stimuli. Additionally, participants completed an Auditory Oddball Paradigm, or tone judgment task, to evaluate how preschoolers categorized and judged non-linguistic stimuli (e.g., standard and target pure tones). Tone judgment results revealed a Group x region midline interaction, indicating that the groups may recruit different neural resources to judge tones. The noun picture task results indicated that the HEA group processed familiar object labels more robustly and quicker than the LEA group. N400 results did not differ for the verb picture task. These results may indicate that both groups require more neural resources to process action labels and that perhaps verbs represent a higher level of linguistic complexity for young children. These results provide preliminary evidence of neural linguistic processing differences between preschoolers from varying socioeconomic backgrounds. Because of the lack of minimal differences on associated behavioral measures of language, one may speculate that ERP underpinnings as exemplified in the current study may hold promise for identifying subtle underlying differences in the processing of language among preschoolers

Children with hearing loss have limited auditory access to their native language and struggle to develop appropriate language skills. These children consistently demonstrate less complex oral language output, smaller vocabulary inventories, and delays in overall communicative proficiency. With the extensive implications hearing loss has on language development, a child with hearing loss requires immediate access to appropriate and effective intervention to address deficits and curb long-term language delays. However, there is a paucity of research investigating the effects of various language intervention programs with children with hearing loss. Much of the existing research focuses on the consequences of a selected language modality or lacks the rigor needed to produce conclusive evidence. While it has not been extensively investigated with children with hearing loss, narrative language intervention has been effective at improving a number of language skills of children with a variety of disabilities and language needs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of narrative language intervention on the narrative retelling skills and vocabulary use of children with hearing loss. To do so, a multiple baseline research design and a repeated acquisition research design were implemented. Participants included two children ages 5 and 9 diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and fitted to an amplification device. Each child received weekly, individualized narrative language intervention with a focus on use of target vocabulary words. Both participants demonstrated weekly increases in narrative retell scores and repeated pre-test to post-test gains in the use of targeted vocabulary. Results suggest narrative language intervention improved the narrative retell ability and vocabulary use of children with hearing loss.

Keywords: Advanced learners, bilingual students, vocabulary, student vocabulary size, case study, receptive vocabulary, productive vocabulary Secondary-school teachers at Czech schools are encountering an increasing number of students who are significantly ahead of their peers. These students are either bilinguals or advanced learners. Regardless of the students' proficiency, the Czech education system enforces these students to keep attending further English classes, which often positions their teacher before a burdening question of what to teach these students. Scientific research postulates that a potential weakness of the said type of students could be vocabulary. This hypothesis was verified in this thesis, with the aid of Paul Nation VLT and Laufer & Nation Productive Vocabulary tests. The second goal of this thesis was to set a typical profile of advanced-learner and bilingual student through a survey. Results from the tests confirmed a significant deficiency in all of twelve test-subjects' productive vocabulary. Receptive vocabulary tests nonetheless revealed large receptive vocabulary size with eleven of tested subjects. Based on these findings, the recommended method for students this advanced is to allow them more autonomy, particularly through extensive reading, and to assign them...

Morphological awareness (MA) is the knowledge of word structure and capacity to manipulate the meaningful parts of words (Kuo & Anderson, 2006). This study examined derivational MA in the English reading processes of 85 linguistically diverse middle school students in grades six through eight. 56 participants had a native/home language (L1) of Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Haitian Creole, or Cape Verdean Creole (CVC) and were acquiring English as a second language (L2). 29 participants were L1 English speakers, which facilitated comparisons between L1 and L2 English readers in how three predictors—MA, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge—related to English reading comprehension. Tests were administered in English to assess word reading, reading comprehension, MA, reading vocabulary, and silent word reading fluency for all 85 participants. The study a.) Explored the unique contribution of English MA to English reading comprehension; b.) Examined this relationship in light of English word reading and English vocabulary knowledge; c.) Compared linear regression models to examine which factor (or combination of these factors) explained the most variation in English reading comprehension; d.) Looked at differences in the relationships between the reading variables for L2 English readers, based on L1 background; and e.) Explored L1 background as a possible moderator between MA and L2 English reading comprehension; and e.) Observed potential differences in these relationships between L1 and L2 English readers. All four measures correlated with L2 English reading comprehension for the combined group of L2 English readers, yet MA showed the strongest association. MA was also found to predict L2 English reading comprehension—as did word reading and vocabulary knowledge—when controlling for grade/ time of testing, district, and socio-economic status (SES). Using the same control variables, the bivariate model of MA and English word reading was equal in strength to the model combining MA, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge to predict L2 reading comprehension. Vocabulary knowledge did not add significant predictive value. Differences by L1 background were seen in correlations and in various regression models predicting L2 English reading comprehension. Controlling for grade/time of testing, district, and SES, MA alone created the best model to explain variance in L2 reading comprehension for Chinese speakers. For Portuguese speakers—using the same controls—the combination of MA, word reading, and vocabulary created the best predictive model for L2 English reading comprehension. The bivariate model of vocabulary and MA and the combined model with all three variables equally predicted English reading comprehension for Spanish speakers. No models effectively predicted English reading comprehension for Haitian Creole speakers. The model combining all three predictors explained the most variance in L2 reading comprehension. Additionally, L1 did not moderate the relationship of MA to L2 English reading comprehension. For L1 speakers of English, MA uniquely predicted English reading comprehension—as did word reading, and vocabulary—when controlling for grade/time of testing, district, and SES. However, the best predictor of L1 English reading comprehension was the combined contribution of MA, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge. L1 and L2 English readers differed in the correlations between variables and in how well the various regression models explained variance in English reading comprehension. The controls of grade/time of testing and SES were significant as predictors in models of L1 English reading comprehension. Z- tests did not reveal significant differences when comparing the correlation coefficients of independent variables in the regression models. Implications for instruction and future research are presented.