Shelly Cloke 30033911
Learning Task 3 Task Analysis
EDPS 693.29
Brain/Behavior Relationships Part II
Dr. Anna Rissanen
Brain Friendly Vocabulary Building Strategies
Examining the brain structures and functions that underpin vocabulary building strategies in adolescent readers
Introduction
Read any journal article about reading comprehension deficits in adolescents and you will find that the ability to acquire a rich academic vocabulary is a central feature of this struggle. According to Starling, Munro, Togher and Arciuli (2011), "there is a continuous introduction of domain-specific academic vocabulary across the secondary school curriculum" that is challenging for adolescents since the "amount and complexity of the unfamiliar vocabulary can interfere with their access to curricular information across subjects" (p. 27).
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The goal of this website is to analyse the brain structures and functions that underpin two vocabulary strategies designed to improve adolescent students' ability to attach meaning to unfamiliar words in a reading passage. Direct teaching of meta-cognitive and meta-linguistic strategies that students can use to address unfamiliar words during reading can improve reading overall comprehension. This will benefit all students but in particular, students with poor language skills, so they will have an "increased opportunity to access across subject-curriculum content and improve their overall receptive and expressive language abilities" as well as their reading comprehension (Starling et al., 2011, p. 27).
The Importance and Function of Vocabulary in Reading Comprehension
The ability to acquire vocabulary is essential to reading comprehension. When children begin to read, it is their print knowledge that limits their comprehension but as they progress, it is vocabulary that can hinder their understanding of what they read (Seidenberg, 2017). Castles, Rastle and Nation (2018) concur that "low vocabulary constrains comprehension" (p. 31) as does Páez, Bock and Pizzo (2010) in their assertion that one of the best predictors of reading comprehension in monolingual and bilingual children is vocabulary. Further, a key characteristic of dyslexia is poor fluency and word automaticity which leads to a"reduced vocabulary and strategies for text comprehension" (Gabrieli, 2009, p. 280).
Seidenberg (2017) describes the relationship between vocabulary and reading as biodirectional which means that a "larger, richer vocabulary facilitates learning to read and skilled reading, but reading also promotes vocabulary development" (p. 116). Castles et al. (2018) conclude that "intervention improved vocabulary and growth in vocabulary supported reading comprehension" (p. 36). Seidenberg (2017) also maintains that many kinds of specialized vocabulary are acquired through reading. So how exactly does a student acquire vocabulary through reading?
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Starling et al. (2011) outline three tiers of words that can be taught through direct vocabulary instruction. Tier 1 words are every-day words while Tier 2 words are high frequency words found in many forms of communication but they are not as likely to be learned without instruction as are Tier 1 words. Tier 3 words are very specific to an academic domain and are low frequency. They maintain that instruction be focused on Tier 2 words and words that teachers identify as important to understanding new topics (Starling et al., 2011).
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Ambruster, Lehr, and Osborn, (2006) in their publication for The National Institute for Literacy identifies vocabulary as an area of reading instruction that develops both along with and as a result of phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency, all of which lead to the ultimate goal of text comprehension. The writers differentiate between oral and reading vocabulary while asserting that word learning can be both indirect (through oral speech, reading and being read to) and direct (through specific word instruction). Ambruster et al. (2006) emphasize that "students need to be able to determine the meaning of words that are new to them but not taught directly to them" and thus, "need to develop effective word-learning strategies" (p. 32). This point is also reinforced by Castles et. al (2018) in their examination of studies which show that vocabulary instruction on specific words only benefits comprehension when those words are in the passage being tested. Their analysis revealed that "instruction that taught multiple and flexible strategies for establishing word meaning showed a more general treatment effect" (Castles et al., 2018, p. 36).
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This website will outline two word learning strategies that students can use to determine the meaning of a word without the aid of a reference aid like a dictionary and without the benefit of direct instruction.