| The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the embedded language approach is effective in teaching the traditional language arts curriculum, and whether it holds any advantages over the more traditional approach. Twelve teachers in ten different schools taught language skills using the embedded language approach, while twelve matched teachers explicitly taught the same skills using traditional workbook practice activities for six weeks. Treatment efficacy was assessed using gain scores between pretest and posttest using a battery of informal and standardized measures. In addition, weekly comprehension probes were administered to examine whether language arts skills taught during the week generalized to the target context of reading.; Results of the mixed design Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) indicated that scores for classes receiving the embedded language lessons were statistically different from scores of the classes receiving the explicit language lessons for the informal pre and posttest measurements, but not for the standardized subtests measurements. Also, findings revealed that the embedded language group and the explicit language group performances were similar and did not favor either group for the comprehension probes. |
