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The Effect of Definitions, Contextual Support, and Cognate Status on 4th Grade Spanish-Speaking English Learner's Understanding of Unfamiliar Words

This is a Goal 1 Exploration project funded by the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES) of the US Department of Education that is focused on how word definitions, contextual support, and cognate status affect 4^thgrade Spanish-speaking English learners’ understanding of unfamiliar words in text.  The inclusion of monolingual and bilingual dictionary definitions as a support for independent word learning is a ubiquitous practice in EL instruction, yet, the field lacks experimental work that isolates and tests the effect of dictionary definitions on EL vocabulary learning. Research on effective vocabulary instruction for ELs has typically relied on interventions that include multiple teaching strategies, each considered exemplary of best practice, but that lack evidence of their unique contribution to EL vocabulary learning.  Thus, the project examines the extent to which Spanish-speaking ELs benefit from English and Spanish definitions during independent learning situations and how ability to use definitions to understand English text interacts with other potential sources of information about word meaning, namely sentence context and cognate status.

Description of Project:

We are conducting two experiments to answer the following research questions:

1. Do English definitions increase 4th grade Spanish-speaking ELs’ receptive knowledge of English words and understanding of their meaning in text relative to a no support condition?  Is the effect moderated by English language proficiency?
2. Do Spanish definitions increase 4th grade Spanish-speaking ELs’ receptive knowledge of English words and understanding of their meaning in text relative to a no support condition and/or English definitions?  Is the effect moderated by Spanish language proficiency?
3. Does ability to use definition information vary as a function of contextual support? Is the effect of context moderated by English proficiency?
4. Does ability to use definition information vary as a function of cognate status? Is the effect of cognate status moderated by Spanish proficiency?

Participants:

We are recruiting 1032 4th grade Spanish-speaking ELs enrolled in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) to participate in two measurement studies and two experiments.  The experiments employ a mixed factorial design to compare the effects of definition and its interaction with context and cognate status.  Two measures of target vocabulary learning are being developed and piloted prior to use in the experiments.

Partners:

• University of Miami School of Education and Human Development
• Miami Dade County Public Schools