The Effects Of Rich Vocabulary Instruction On Students .

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The Effects of Rich Vocabulary Instruction on Students’ Expository WritingbyLisa Marie YonekBachelor of Science, California University of Pennsylvania, 1991Master’s in Reading, California University of Pennsylvania, 1993Submitted to the Graduate Faculty ofSchool of Education in partial fulfillmentof the requirements for the degree ofDoctor of EducationUniversity of Pittsburgh2008

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGHSchool of EducationThis dissertation was presentedbyLisa Marie YonekIt was defended onNovember 11, 2008and approved byDr. Rita Bean, Professor, Instruction and LearningDr. Linda Kucan, Assistant Professor, Instruction and LearningDr. Elaine Rubinstein, Assistant Professor, School of Health and Rehabilitative SciencesDissertation Advisor: Dr. Isabel Beck, Professor Emeritus, Instruction and Learningii

Copyright by Lisa Marie Yonek2008iii

The Effects of Rich Vocabulary Instruction on Students’ Expository WritingLisa Marie Yonek, Ed.DUniversity of Pittsburgh, 2008Two approaches to vocabulary instruction, rich instruction and traditional instructionwere examined to compare their effectiveness in assisting students in developing wordknowledge and transfer of that knowledge to use of target words in expository writing. Fourthgrade students in an urban school district were taught twelve Tier Two words over the course offive days using either rich instruction or traditional instruction. Rich instruction consisted ofexposing students to both definitional and contextual information, multiple exposures and activeor deep processing of each word. Traditional methods included dictionary definitions, matchingactivities, cloze sentence activities and sentence writing. Outcomes were measured on tasks ofword meanings, depth of word knowledge, writing quality and number of target words used inwriting.There were no differences between groups on knowledge of word meanings butstudents who received the rich instruction outperformed students who received the traditionalinstruction on all other measures suggesting that rich instruction is more effective in helpingstudents to deepen word knowledge and utilize newly learned words in complex literacy actssuch as writing. Interpretations and implications are discussed.iv

TABLE OF CONTENTSPREFACE.XIII1.0INTRODUCTION. 11.1THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE. 31.2PURPOSE OF THE STUDY . 41.3RESEARCH QUESTIONS. 52.0REVIEW OF LITERATURE . 62.1THE READING AND WRITING CONNECTION . 72.1.1The Historical View of Reading and Writing. 72.1.2Shared Knowledge and Language Competencies Between Reading andWriting 82.1.3Evidence of Shared Knowledge and Processes in Reading and Writing102.1.4Differences in Reading and Writing. 112.1.5Summary of the Reading and Writing Connection . 122.2VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE AND READING COMPREHENSION. y–ReadingComprehension Relationship . 132.3EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION AND COMPREHENSION15v

2.3.1Instructional Implications . 162.3.2Automaticity and Multiple Exposures to Words . 172.3.3Degree of Word Knowledge . 182.3.4Active and Deep Processing of Words . 202.3.5Motivational Techniques . 212.3.6Selection of Words to Teach. 212.3.7Summary of the Relationship Between Reading and Vocabulary . 222.4VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE AND WRITING . 222.4.1Hypothesis Underlying the Relationship between Language and Writing . .233.02.4.2Effects of Vocabulary Instruction on Writing. 252.4.3Summary of the Vocabulary and Writing Relationship . 27OVERVIEW OF THE METHODS. 293.1PARTICIPANTS . 303.2MEASURES . 323.2.1Multiple Choice Pre and Post Test . 323.2.2Depth of Word Knowledge Vocabulary Assessment . 333.2.3Pre and Post Treatment Writing Assignment . 353.3SELECTION OF VOCABULARY WORDS. 363.4GENERAL PROCEDURES . 403.4.13.5Materials . 42TRADITIONAL CONDITIONS. 423.5.1Traditional Instruction and Procedures Followed. 43vi

3.5.2Traditional Instruction Days 1 and 3: Introducing and Defining TargetWords . 433.5.3Initial Activities to Reinforce Words. 443.5.4Traditional Instruction, Days 2 and 4 . 453.5.5Traditional Instruction Day 5 . 463.6RICH INSTRUCTION. 483.6.1Rich Instruction Procedures Followed. 483.6.2Rich Instruction Days 1 and 3: Developing Initial Word Meanings andInteracting with Words . 494.03.6.3Rich Instruction Days 2 and 4. 513.6.4Rich Instruction: Day 5 . 533.6.5Summary. 53RESULTS . 544.1MEASURES OF WORD KNOWLEDGE. 554.1.1Multiple Choice Measure . 554.1.2Degree of Word Knowledge Measure . 564.1.3Comparison of Results from the Two Vocabulary Measures. 584.2THE EFECTS OF VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION ON WRITING . 594.2.1Number of Target Words Used in Writing. 604.2.2Quality of Writing. 614.2.3Analysis of the Quality of Writing. 624.2.4Student Examples of Pre and Post Writings . 634.2.4.1Experimental Student #12. 63vii

4.2.4.2Experimental Student #18. 654.2.4.3Experimental Student #3. 664.3SUMMARY OF DATA . 684.4ITEM ANALYSIS . 685.04.4.1Item Analysis of Multiple Choice Measures. 694.4.2Item Analysis on Degree of Word Knowledge . 714.4.3Item Analysis of Target Words used in Writing . 774.4.4Summary of the Item Analysis. 79CONCLUSIONS . 815.1MAJOR FINDINGS . 815.1.1Direct instruction of Tier Two vocabulary words is effective in helpingstudents learn meanings of unfamiliar words . 825.1.2Rich instruction is superior to traditional instruction in facilitatingdepth of word knowledge . 835.1.3Rich instruction is superior to traditional instruction in the applicationof newly learned words to the expressive domain of writing . 915.2IMPLICATIONS . 945.2.1Implications for Instruction . 945.2.2Implications for Further Research. 96APPENDIX A . 98APPENDIX B . 100APPENDIX C . 109APPENDIX D . 110viii

BIBLIOGRAPHY . 125ix

LIST OF TABLESTable 1. Mean Level of Reading Proficiency at Baseline for Experimental and ControlGroups. 31Table 2. Degree of Word Knowledge Rubric . 34Table 3. Themes from Student Essays and Tier Two Words Selected . 39Table 4. Additional Tier Two Words Selected . 40Table 5. Sequence of Words Introduced. 41Table 6. Instructional Schedule for Both Conditions . 41Table 7. Mean Scores and Standard Deviations from Multiple Choice Pre and Post Test byCondition . 55Table 8. Mean Scores and Standard Deviations from Degree of Word Knowledge Pre andPost Test by Condition. 56Table 9. Examples of Student Responses to the Degree of Word Knowledge Assessment by. 58Table 10. Mean number of target words used in Pre- and Post-test by Condition. 60Table 11. Pre- and Post-test Mean Scores and Standard Deviations on Writing Quality byConditions. 61Table 12. Percentages of student scores on writing task by condition. 63x

Table 13. Pre and Post Percentages for Multiple Choice Assessments by Condition. 69Table 14. Percentage of Degree of Word Knowledge for Each Word Pre and Post Tests byCondition . 72Table 15. Post Test Percentages of Degree of Word Knowledge of the Three Least KnownWords by Condition. 75Table 16. No. of Words Used in Post Writing by Condition . 77Table 17.Number of time Most Unfamiliar Words at pre instruction were used in PostWriting by condition. 79Table 18. Sample Activities for Traditional Group Using Imperative. 86Table 19. Sample Activities of Rich Instruction Using the Word Imperative. 89xi

LIST OF FIGURESFigure 1.Mean Scores from the Degree of Word Knowledge Pre and Post Test byCondition . 57Figure 2.Mean Scores from the Writing Quality Assessment Pre and Post Test byConditon. 62xii

PREFACEI would like to thank my family and friends for their constant support and encouragementthroughout this process and dedicate this to the memory of my father and his passion for reading,writing, and acquisition of a robust vocabulary.xiii

1.0INTRODUCTION“People with an impoverished vocabulary live an impoverished emotional life;people with rich vocabularies have a multihued palette of colors with which to paint theirexperience, not only for others, but for themselves as well.” (Robinns, 1991).Vocabulary knowledge has been linked to intelligence, academic success, and identified as oneof the five essential components of reading (NICHD Report of the National Reading Panel,2000). Even though students may successfully decode and read fluently, knowing the meaningsof words contained in text that they encounter is critical to comprehension, thus makingvocabulary a crucial part of the reading process. The National Reading Panel (2002) has referredto vocabulary as the ‘important middle ground in learning how to read’.Widely connected to reading is writing. Written language, because it is decontextualized,usually contains richer vocabulary than oral language (Hayes & Ahrens, 1988) so comprehensionis heavily reliant upon word knowledge. Therefore, vocabulary knowledge is equally importantto the writer as it is to the reader.The problems associated with helping students increase their oral and readingvocabularies are complex. One problem is the prevailing language gap that exists betweenchildren from different socio economic backgrounds. Hart and Risley (1995) found that children1

from advantaged or professional homes had receptive vocabularies as much as five times largerthan children from welfare homes, and that these early differences influenced readingperformance throughout the years. Stanovich (1986) has labeled this pattern as the Matthewseffect, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, i.e., the more words you know, the more wordsyou learn.Adding to the problem is the large number of words that need to be taught and learnedduring the course of a school year. Confounding this issue is the complexity of word knowledge.Beck, McKeown, & Omanson (1987) describe word knowledge as a continuum that ranges from: no knowledge, general knowledge, narrow or context bound knowledge, having knowledge but not enough to recall it and use it readily in appropriatesituations, rich and decontextualized knowledge of a word’s meaning.Evidence from many studies (Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, 1982; McKeown, Beck,Omanson, & Perfetti, 1983; McKeown, Beck, Omanson & Pople, 1985) prove that the rich anddecontexualized word knowledge is what readers require for comprehension of text containingnewly learned words. Thus it is hypothesized that deep word knowledge is also necessary foruse in expressive communication.What is the implication of this on students, specifically those who suffer from thelanguage gap? Current research shows that during the course of a school day, less than 6% ofinstructional time is spent on vocabulary instruction (Scott, Jamieson- Noel, & Asselin, 2003).Of the instructional time devoted to vocabulary learning, most is in the form of traditional2

methods, such as memorizing dictionary definitions and relying on context, both of which areproblematic (Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2002,; Scott, et al, 2003; Stahl & Nagy, 2006). Closingthe language gap and helping all students increase their vocabularies with deep word knowledgeis not possible if traditional methods prevail.1.1THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVEBecause of the problems associated with learning word meanings through context, indirectmethods of learning vocabulary through wide reading are not reliable, especially for poor orstruggling readers. For this reason, this study is based on the assumption that direct instruction,specifically, rich instruction, can affect students’ vocabulary growth in a way that facilitatesword knowledge deep enough to be actively used in their expressive language.This belief is based on research about the features of vocabulary instruction thatpositively influenced text comprehension. Mezinski (1983) and Stahl and Fairbanks (1986)concluded that vocabulary instruction needed to include: (1) both definitional and contextualinformation for breadth of knowledge; (2) multiple exposures; and (3) active or deep processingof words. Rich vocabulary instruction (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002) an approach tolearning robust information about words and their uses through frequent and various activeopportunities, contains the features identified by Mezinski (1983) and Stahl and Fairbanks(1986) for effective vocabulary instruction.If rich instruction can positively influencecomprehension, a complex cognitive process, it is hypothesized that it can have the same effecton writing, an equally complex process.3

1.2PURPOSE OF THE STUDYThe purpose of this quasi experimental study was to compare the effects of two instructionalvocabulary approaches, rich vocabulary instruction and traditional vocabulary instruction onstudents’ knowledge of Tier Two words and their abilities to use the target words in expositorywriting. The study compared students’ knowledge of target words through the use of twoinstruments: a multiple choice assessment designed to measure basic knowledge of target words,and an open ended assessment designed to measure precision of word knowledge. Additionally,the study investigated whether rich vocabulary instruction had any effect on the quantity of targetwords used as well as the quality of student writing when presented with a persuasive writingtask.4

1.3RESEARCH QUESTIONS1.

five days using either rich instruction or traditional instruction. Rich instruction consisted of . word meanings, depth of word knowledge, writing quality and number of target words used in . this study is based on the assumption that direct instruction, specifically, rich instruction, .

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