| This study examined the effectiveness of an intervention using word explanation and repeated reading supported by audio taped books, to increase knowledge of targeted vocabulary words. Participants in the study attended an inner city school in a metropolitan Canadian city. A total of 24 grade one and two ESL students with early reading delays participated. Pre-test measures included the PPVT-III (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Third Edition, Dunn & Dunn, 1997) and Memory for Digits subtest (Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, Wagner, Torgesen & Rashotte, 1999). A 58-item Target Vocabulary "Pest of words selected for study in the intervention was given pre and post-test to all participants. Twelve students were assigned to the intervention of shared reading, word explanation and home practice using audiotaped books. Twelve students in the control condition received their regular language arts program. Repeated measures ANOVA of pre and post-test target vocabulary scores found an overall significant pre-test-post-test effect between intervention and control groups. An interaction between pre-test-post-test and treatment groups was also found, with the intervention group showing a larger post-test score. Variables of grade, book level and parts of speech were examined using repeated measures ANOVA with no significant effects found on target vocabulary gain scores. Pearson correlation between word gains on the Target Vocabulary Test and short term memory scores on the Digit Span subtest (CTOPP) found a positive and near significant correlation for the intervention group. Four case studies of students in the intervention group illustrated a relationship between higher short-term memory scores and larger target vocabulary gains. Results suggest that word explanation and repeated reading combined are effective for increasing vocabulary among grade one and two ESL students. |
