A still-widespread perspective on "academic language" is that the most important dimension of language used for academic purposes is the extent to which its linguistic features contrast with "everyday language" used outside of school. But focusing on the unique linguistic features of written academic texts ignores the important…

High school classroom teachers with English language learners (ELLs) assigned to their classrooms might not be using effective instructional strategies to increase reading comprehension scores of ELLs. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the use of strategies that high school classroom teachers use to teach cognitive…

Background: Morphological analysis skill is the ability to problem-solve meanings of unfamiliar words by applying knowledge of morphological constituents. For vocabulary words from the academic layer of English, the major, meaning-carrying morphological constituents are Latin roots (nov meaning 'new' in innovative). The degree to which…

Previous research on the development of second language (L2) reading comprehension among adolescents and adults has looked at the relative importance of students' second language (L2) linguistic skills and home language (L1) reading comprehension skills in the development of L2 reading comprehension, with many studies finding a more important role…

In a district where only 5% of ELLs were deemed language proficient, the problem was the need to understand teacher perceptions of best practices to increase English language learner (ELL) achievement in reading and writing. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine teacher perceptions of best practices to support ELLs in improving…

Few studies have considered academic vocabulary interventions for students who have learning disabilities (LD) and also are English learners (EL). This research explored the effects of the third year of the Creating Habits that Accelerate Academic Language of Students (CHAAOS) vocabulary intervention for eighth-grade students who received English…

Vocabulary is a building block of understanding, especially in science classrooms where language abilities are mixed. To reduce academic inequalities, approaches to vocabulary instruction need to demonstrate benefits for students across learning contexts. We summarize the results from the first unit, "Earth Systems and Catastrophic…

In this article we critically evaluate the case made by proponents of academic language (AL) that AL is functionally necessary for schooling due to specific functional advantages of AL. We consider three examples of AL introduced by AL proponents in order to show (1) that AL proponents have been too quick to accept the ALH, (2) that functional…

Few studies have considered academic vocabulary interventions for students who have learning disabilities (LD) and also are English Learners (EL). This research explored the effects of the third year of the CHAAOS (Creating Habits that Accelerate the Academic Language of Students) vocabulary intervention for eighth grade students who received…

This paper reviews findings from four research syntheses that report the effects of academic language and/or reading interventions on language and reading outcomes for English learners who have or are at risk for learning difficulties. Studies included in the syntheses varied in research design and addressed multiple areas of reading and language.…

Improving vocabulary and reading comprehension is critical to students' academic success, particularly for English learners who may have less exposure to academic language than native English-speaking students. "Word Generation" is a supplemental program that aims to improve students' reading comprehension by building students'…

Improving vocabulary and reading comprehension is critical to students' academic success, particularly for English learners who may have less exposure to academic language than native English-speaking students. "Word Generation" is a supplemental program that aims to improve students' reading comprehension by building students'…

Improving vocabulary and reading comprehension is critical to students' academic success, particularly for English learners who may have less exposure to academic language than native English-speaking students. "Word Generation" is a supplemental program that aims to improve students' reading comprehension by building students'…

In this multi-year study, we taught English/Language Arts teachers of students with learning disabilities in middle school to incorporate 15 min of daily vocabulary activities with students in their intact special education English/Language Arts classes. During Year 1, teachers taught 48 words to their sixth grade students, who learned and…

Simultaneous development of academic language and reading comprehension is critical for emerging bilingual students' academic success. With a focus on reading comprehension, this study extends the research on self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) to include emerging bilingual students with learning disabilities. Through a multiple probe…