We report on a meta-analysis designed to test the theory that instruction that involves direct teaching of academic vocabulary and teaching strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words develops students' abilities to infer new words' meanings and builds students' overall vocabulary knowledge. We meta-analyzed 39 experimental and…

Building vocabulary knowledge, especially breadth and depth of word meanings, is a crucial step in assisting students to read and comprehend print independently. A large body of research has documented the low reading achievement levels of a number of Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students. The goal of the present study was to examine the effects…

Acquiring L2 Persian vocabulary is the main hurdle for foreign students who wish to pursue academic studies in Iranian universities. This study explored the effect of the cooperative learning approach and semantic mapping strategy on the acquisition of L2 Persian vocabulary. The study had a quasi-experimental design and included a control group…

Although numerous studies have identified a correlational relationship between vocabulary and comprehension, we know less about vocabulary interventions that impact reading comprehension. Therefore, this study is a systematic review of vocabulary interventions with comprehension outcomes. Analyses of 36 studies that met criteria are organized…

The extent to which learners benefit from instruction may be largely dependent on their individual abilities. However, there is relatively little work on the interaction between instructional effectiveness in second language learning and learner individual factors. In this study, we investigated the relationship between instruction, individual…

Students entering school with limited vocabularies are at a disadvantage compared to classmates with robust knowledge of words and meanings. Teaching a few unrelated words at a time is insufficient for catching these students up with peers and preparing them to comprehend texts they will encounter across the grades. This article presents…

A variety of research has pointed to the interdependent linkage among vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension, and level of literacy. With this point in mind, the present study addressed the question of whether student vocabulary acquisition could be accelerated by using a multi-part, semantic word-family-oriented learning strategy to…

The current study investigates the effect of adding a semantic component, in the form of vocabulary, to the incremental rehearsal (IR) procedure. Sixty-one second- and third-grade students in a suburban elementary school were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: IR or IR with vocabulary. Each participant was taught seven previously unknown…

This article examines how a second-grader demonstrates that reading is not about decoding letters and words in linear order but is a more complex activity involving the reader's decisions with respect to several aspects of their knowledge of their language and how comprehension is key to transacting with texts. The paper observes and documents the…

An experiment examined whether metalinguistic awareness involving the detection of semantic ambiguity can be taught, and whether this instruction improves students' reading comprehension. Lower SES third graders from a variety of cultural backgrounds (M = 8 yr. 7 mo., N = 46) were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Those receiving…

The study found that an interactive vocabulary instructional strategy, semantic-feature analysis, significantly improved the social studies content area text comprehension of 25 learning disabled adolescents. Prior to reading the text, students receiving the experimental instruction completed a relationship chart relating important ideas to key…

Interactive Semantic Mapping is presented as an interactive instructional strategy developed from multiple theoretical bases to aid reading comprehension in students with learning disabilities. It involves students in predicting relationships among concepts and sharing knowledge to facilitate comprehension of text-related concepts. This article…

The study, involving 61 learning-disabled junior high students, compared the short-term and long-term effectiveness of definition instruction with interactive vocabulary strategies (semantic mapping, semantic feature analysis, and semantic/syntactic feature analysis). Students participating in the interactive strategies demonstrated greater…

A meta-analysis of 21 instructional treatments aimed at enhancing the skill of deliberately deriving word meaning from context during reading shows a medium effect size of 0.43 standard deviation units. Exploratory multilevel regression shows that clue instruction appears more effective than other instruction types or practice alone. (Author/SLD)

Ten students (ages 10-12) with severe written and spoken language difficulties were provided explicit instruction in phonological processing skills and semantic-syntactic skills. Results indicated that phonological and semantic-syntactic deficits could be remediated successfully, and improvement in these skills had significant positive effects on…