The purpose of the study was to assess the volume of academic vocabulary in elementary grades disciplinary textbooks. Academic vocabulary was examined in a corpus of best-selling elementary grades ...textbooks in three disciplinary areas-science, mathematics, and social studies. Academic words in texts were determined through automated procedures involving statistical modeling. Four academic vocabulary variables were created: Total Academic Words; Discipline-Match Academic Words (science domain-specific academic words in science textbooks, and so on); High Challenge Total Academic Words; and High Challenge Discipline-Match Academic Words. Longitudinal multilevel Poisson regression was conducted for selected research issues. Main conclusions were: (a) The estimated overall elementary grades volume of academic vocabulary in disciplinary textbooks was relatively high. Summed across all grades and disciplines, 31% of all of the estimated unique word types in the textbooks were academic word types. By the end of elementary school, children who read or listened to disciplinary textbooks like the ones in the present study corpus would have been exposed to approximately one academic word type for every three unique word types encountered. (b) Moreover, approximately one or two of every four or five academic word types was estimated to be a word that would present challenge to typically developing and struggling students. (c) For all three disciplines, with minor exception, the estimated volume of newly-appearing academic words in a grade increased through the earliest grades, tended to peak in third or fourth grade, and then decelerated slightly thereafter.
Educational Impact and Implications Statement
Elementary grades science, mathematics, and social studies textbooks contain a relatively high volume of academic vocabulary. By the end of elementary school, students may be exposed to approximately one academic word for every three unique words in disciplinary textbooks. The relatively high rate of academic vocabulary exposure may pose substantial opportunity for students' disciplinary knowledge advancement. However, for some students, especially struggling readers and children learning English as a new language, it could present significant challenge to learning.
This study describes the creation and validation of an adaptive and self-applied test of lexicon in Spanish for kindergarten to eighth-grade basic school students. Using a corpus of 1,000,000 words ...from school texts, some words with different frequency and difficulty were selected. The test items were prepared according to the test format PPVT representing each word with pictures. The distractors were generated randomly from the same corpus. The construct validity, concurrent validity and internal consistency were determined. EVOC is a valid and reliable instrument to evaluate the lexicon in Spanish that allows adapting the pedagogical practices to the student’s needs.
Academic vocabulary networks were examined in 3 elementary grades textbook programs (first through fifth grade) in 3 domains-science, mathematics, and social studies. Within each program, a given ...network consisted of a focal domain-specific academic word and the collection of words from all grades that overlapped in meaning with the focal word. Academic words and the networks for each domain-specific academic word were computationally determined. For each network, the time at which the first network word appeared represented the inception of the network. The network's expansion across the grades was tracked as additional words appeared. The main research questions were as follows: (a) Did network growth patterns across grades vary according to domain? and, within domain, (b) Did network patterns vary according to two focal domain-specific academic word characteristics? The two focal word characteristics were the age at which the focal word's meaning was typically known and the timing of the introduction of the focal word. Multilevel growth model analyses were conducted. The dependent variable was number of words, called nodes, in a network at each time point across the grades. Main conclusions were the following: (a) network patterns varied across domains, with social studies networks most different from those in the other two domains; and (b) network growth pattern varied according to selected focal word characteristics, and the focal word characteristic effect varied by domain.
Educational Impact and Implications Statement
Elementary grades textbooks expose students to disciplinary-specific vocabulary that is embedded in networks of related words. Social studies textbook academic vocabulary networks were formed across the grades differently from those for science and mathematics. Differences in textbook network formation imply the need for different instructional emphases. For example, as compared to science and mathematics, intermediate grades social studies textbooks presented many new words simultaneously. In that case, teachers could consider added instructional support to ease the vocabulary burden.
This study investigated the effectiveness of the Model of Reading Engagement (MORE), a content literacy intervention, on first graders' science domain knowledge, reading engagement, and reading ...comprehension. The MORE intervention emphasizes the role of domain knowledge and reading engagement in supporting reading comprehension. MORE lessons included a 10-day thematic unit that provided a framework for students to connect new learning to a meaningful schema (i.e., Arctic animal survival) and to pursue mastery goals for acquiring domain knowledge. A total of 38 first-grade classrooms (N = 674 students) within 10 elementary schools were randomly assigned to (a) MORE at school (MS), (b) MORE at home, (MS-H), in which the MS condition included at-home reading, or (c) typical instruction. Since there were minimal differences in procedures between the MS and MS-H conditions, the main analyses combined the two treatment groups. Findings from hierarchical linear models revealed that the MORE intervention had a positive and significant effect on science domain knowledge, as measured by vocabulary knowledge depth (effect size ES = 0.30), listening comprehension (ES = 0.40), and argumentative writing (ES = 0.24). The MORE intervention effects on reading engagement as measured by situational interest, reading motivation, and task orientations were not statistically significant. However, the intervention had a significant, positive effect on a distal measure of reading comprehension (ES = 0.11), and there was no evidence of Treatment × Aptitude interaction effects. Content literacy can facilitate first graders' acquisition of science domain knowledge and reading comprehension without contributing to Matthew effects.
The Vocabulary of Core Reading Programs Graves, Michael F; Elmore, Jeff; Fitzgerald, Jill
The Elementary school journal,
03/2019, Letnik:
119, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This study described and analyzed the vocabulary of 4 current, best-selling core reading programs and developed word lists based on these analyses. Results showed a good deal of similarity but also ...some significant differences among the programs. Across grades 1-6, all of them included a substantial number of tokens (approximately 380,000-660,000) and a substantial number of types (approximately 18,000-21,000). Approximately 90% of words were quite frequent, among the 4,000 most frequent English words. Most words were not repeated frequently; about 45% occurred only once or twice. Approximately 3,500 words were identified as relatively frequent and widely dispersed and about 1,000 words as relatively frequent, widely dispersed, and likely to be unknown. The lists developed include types in the programs, word families in the programs, frequent word families, general-utility word families, and challenging general-utility words families. The discussion centers on educational uses of the findings and the lists.
The purpose of the present study was to examine possible shifts in the presence of academic vocabulary across the past six decades for a continually best-selling first-grade core reading program. The ...authors examined seven program years dating from 1962 to 2013 and computationally determined four categories of academic vocabulary (science, mathematics, social studies, and general academic) in each program. The primary research question was, Did the volume of academic words in a program year rise with advancing years? A secondary supplementary question was, Did the propensity toward academic affinity of a program considered as a whole rise with advancing years? The authors employed two types of academic word measures: (1) A word was deemed to be academic or not, and if it was academic, it was assigned to one of the four academic categories, and then academic words were counted; and (2) a novel measure, academic affinity, was a continuous measure of the probability that a word was academic (in each of the four academic vocabulary categories). The authors conducted Poisson regression modeling and hierarchical generalized linear modeling. The main conclusions were that later first-grade core reading program years included a moderately higher volume of science, social studies, and total academic words as compared with earlier years and that the science, social studies, and general academic affinity of the program as a whole was statistically higher in later years, but in practical terms, the change was not remarkable.
The researchers explored the conceptual complexity of vocabulary in contemporary elementary-grades core science program textbooks to address two research questions: (1) Can a progression of concepts' ...complexity level be described across grades? (2) Was there gradual developmental growth of the most complex concepts' networks of associated concepts from the beginning of a program to the end? That is, for the most complex concepts, did associated concepts begin to appear in the early grades, with gradual cumulative addition of associated concepts throughout the elementary grades? Gradual accumulation of associated concepts could enable students to progressively construct a mental network of concepts within which a more complex concept could be situated, a network that could facilitate learning of most complex concepts. Two best-selling, contemporary elementary-grades core science programs constituted the data source. The researchers employed two measures: a conceptual complexity measure and the number of associated concepts (called nodes in concept networks) for each of the most complex concepts. The researchers conducted multilevel modeling and found that, on the whole, the programs exposed students to increasingly complex concepts with the rise of grades. Few highly complex concepts appeared in the earliest grades. Similarly, few associated concepts for the most complex concepts appeared in the earliest grades. Instead, associated concepts tended to be introduced simultaneously with the most complex concepts in the later grades. That is, on the whole, the programs did not expose students to the opportunity to construct strong affiliated concept networks (clusters of associated constructs) prior to introduction of the most complex concepts.
The Common Core set a standard for all children to read increasingly complex texts throughout schooling. The purpose of the present study was to explore text characteristics specifically in relation ...to early-grades text complexity. Three hundred fifty primary-grades texts were selected and digitized. Twenty-two text characteristics were identified at 4 linguistic levels, and multiple computerized operationalizations were created for each of the 22 text characteristics. A researcher-devised text-complexity outcome measure was based on teacher judgment of text complexity in the 350 texts as well as on student judgment of text complexity as gauged by their responses in a maze task for a subset of the 350 texts. Analyses were conducted using a logical analytical progression typically used in machine-learning research. Random forest regression was the primary statistical modeling technique. Nine text characteristics were most important for early-grades text complexity including word structure (decoding demand and number of syllables in words), word meaning (age of acquisition, abstractness, and word rareness), and sentence and discourse-level characteristics (intersentential complexity, phrase diversity, text density/information load, and noncompressibility). Notably, interplay among text characteristics was important to explanation of text complexity, particularly for subsets of texts.
The purpose of the study was to address possible text complexity shifts across the past six decades for a continually best‐selling first‐grade core reading program. The anthologies of one publisher's ...seven first‐grade core reading programs were examined using computer‐based analytics, dating from 1962 to 2013. Variables were Overall Text Complexity Level and nine text‐characteristic operationalizations: number of Syllables in words and Decoding (word structure); Age of Acquisition, ness, and Word Rareness (word meaning); and Intersentential Complexity, Text Density, Phrase Diversity, and Noncompressibility (discourse level). Multilevel modeling was conducted. There were three main conclusions: (1) Overall Text Complexity levels trended toward more complexity in more recent years. (2) For four of the nine text characteristics, program years were different in the text characteristic progression from the beginning to the end of the first‐grade year. Initially in the fall, programs of later years exposed children to word structures (Syllables and Decoding) that were as easy or easier than in earlier years, but there was intense, and incomparable, control over gradually increasing the complexity of word structures throughout the year, ending the first‐grade year with the most complex word structures of any year. Simultaneously, as compared with earlier years, there was a pronounced diminished emphasis in the later program years on selected aspects of repetition and redundancy (Text Density and Phrase Diversity) across the first‐grade year. (3) Two of the six text characteristics, Age of Acquisition and Word Rareness, trended toward more complexity on average in the later program years.
Chinese
本研究旨在探讨横跨过去60年,在持续畅销的小学一年级核心阅读课程读本中,文本复杂性可能出现之转变。研究者使用基于计算机的分析方法,考查一个出版商从1962年至2013年所出版的七个小一核心阅读课程选集。变量包括整体文本复杂性水平和九个文本特征操作化变量:字词中的音节数量及字词解码(字词结构);习得年龄、抽象性和字词生僻程度(字的意义);句间复杂性、文本密度、短语多样性,以及不能压缩性(语篇层次)。经进行多层次建模分析后,有三个主要结论:(1)较近年的整体文本复杂性倾向较高复杂性水平。(2)就九个文本特征其中的四个来说,文本特征在整个小一学年里从学期初至学期末的进展,因课程年份不同而出现了差异。较近年出版的阅读课程,先让儿童在秋季学期初时接触的字词结构(音节和解码),其容易程度跟较早年出版的课程相若或更容易,但其后就逐渐出现了强烈无比的控制,增加了全学年字词结构的复杂性,结果小一年级课程中的字词结构是所有年级中最为复杂的。同时,与早年出版的课程相比,较近年的整个小一课程,明显地减少强调一些选定方面的重复和冗余(文本密度和短语多样性)。(3)六个文本特征其中的两个,即习得年龄和字词生僻程度,较近年出版的课程平均来说均倾向更多复杂性。
Spanish
El propósito de este estudio fue el de plantear posibles cambios en la complejidad de los textos en las últimas seis décadas en busca de un programa best‐seller común de lectura de primer grado. Se examinaron las antologías de siete programas comunes de lectura de una editorial usando analíticas computarizadas, entre los años de 1962 al 2013. Las variables fueron Niveles de Complejidad Textual Global y nueve procesos de funcionamiento característicos de los textos: el número de Sílabas en las palabras y Desciframiento (la estructura de la palabra); Edad al Adquisición, Cuán a, y Rareza de la palabra (el significado de la palabra); y la Complejidad Entre Oraciones, la Densidad Textual, la Diversidad Fraseológica, y Falta de Comparación (nivel de discurso). Se hicieron modelizaciones de múltiples niveles. Se llegó a tres conclusiones importantes. (1) La Complejidad Textual Global se fue haciendo más compleja en los últimos años. (2) Para cuatro de las nueve características textuales, los años del programa eran diferentes en la evolución de las características textuales desde el principio hasta el final del primer grado. Al principio, en el otoño, los programas de los años subsiguientes exponían a los niños a estructuras de palabras (Sílabas y Desciframiento) que eran tan fácil o más fáciles que los años anteriores, pero incluían un control intenso e incomparable sobre el incremento gradual de la complejidad de las estructuras de palabras al correr el año, terminando el año del primer grado con las estructuras más complejas de palabras de cualquier año. Al mismo tiempo, al comparar con años anteriores, se vio una marcada disminución en el énfasis en los siguientes años del programa en ciertos aspectos de repetición y redundancia (Densidad Textual y Diversidad Fraseológica) a través del año de primer grado. (3) Dos de las seis características textuales, la Edad de Adquisición y la Rareza de la Palabra, se fueron haciendo más complejas por lo general en los programas de los siguientes años.
Arabic
الغرض من هذه الدراسة هوه بحث تطور تعقيد النصوص الذي حصل في العقود الستة الماضية وذلك لبرنامج القراءة الأساسية للصف الأول واللتي كانت مبيعاتها جيدة و باستمرار. تم فحص المختارات من سبعة برامج للقراءة الأساسية الصف الأول من ناشر واحد وحللت باستخدام الحاسوب، ويرجع تاريخها 1962‐2013. وكانت المتغيرات لمستوى تعقيد النص الكلي في تسعة مميزات للنص هي: عدد المقاطع في الكلمات، تحليل بنية الكلمة، السن الذي بدأ فيه الإستيعاب، تجريدية الكلمات، ندرة الكلمة (معنى الكلمة)، تعقيد وتداخل الجمل، كثافة النص، تنوع العبارات اللغوية، عدم الإستيعاب (مستوى الخطاب). وقد أجريت النمذجة المتعددة المستويات. كانت هناك ثلاث نتائج رئيسية: (1) اتجهت مستويات التعقيد للنص في العموم لنحو مزيد من التعقيد في السنوات الأخيرة.(2) لأربعة من الخصائص النص التسعة، كانت سنوات البرنامج إختلفت في تطور مميزات النص من بداية وحتى نهاية السنة الدراسية للصف الأول. في البداية في فصل الخريف، كانت البرامج الدراسية للسنوات الأخيرة تعرض الأطفال لهياكل الكلمة (المقاطع اللفظية وفك الأحرف) والتي كانت سهلة أو أسهل مما كانت عليه في السنوات السابقة, ولكن كانت السيطرة على زيادة تعقيد هياكل الكلمة تدريجية وكثيفة، وغير مقارنة، في على مدار العام. وتم الصف الإول بهياكل الكلمات الأكثر تعقيداً من أي صف آخر. في نفس الوقت، بالمقارنة مع السنوات السابقة، كان هناك تقلص واضح في التركيز على جوانب مختارة في التكرار والمثابرة (بالنسبة لكثافة النص وتنوع العبارة) في البرنامج السنوات اللاحق عبر الصف الأول. ( 3) اثنين من خصائص النص ستة: عصر اقتناء وكلمة وندرة الكلمة، اتجهت نحو مزيد من التعقيد في المعدل في برنامج السنوات اللاحقة.
Russian
В исследовании рассматривался уровень сложности текстов популярной базовой программы по развитию чтения у первоклассников и все изменения, которые претерпел этот уровень за шесть десятилетий. Антологии текстов, собранные с 1962 до 2013 год одним издателем для семи программ чтения, были проанализированы компьютерным способом. Учитывались следующие переменные: общий уровень сложности текста и девять текстовых параметров: по структуре слов – число слогов в словах и возможность декодирования; по смыслу слов – возраст усвоения, степень абстрактности и редкость употребления; по дискурсивности – синтаксическая структура, плотность текста, разнообразие фраз и “несжимаемость”. Было проведено многоуровневое моделирование. Получены три основных вывода: (1) общий уровень сложности в последние годы возрос; (2) Показатели по четырем из девяти текстовых параметров разительно отличались в разные годы – программы выстраивались по‐разному с начала и до конца первого класса. В сентябре первого класса программы последних лет знакомят детей со структурой (слоги и декодирование) слов столь же простых или даже проще, чем в предыдущие годы, – но в течение года происходит постепенное усложнение структуры слов, и первоклассники заканчивают год, разбираясь в структуре слов, рассчитанных на любой возраст. Одновременно, по сравнению с более ранними годами, сейчас явно меньше внимания уделяется избеганию повторов и избыточности (плотность текста и разнообразие фраз); (3) два параметра – возраст усвоения слов и редкость употребления – в среднем имеют тенденцию к усложнению в более поздних версиях программы.
French
Cette recherche avait pour but d'appréhender d’éventuels changements de complexité textuelle au cours des soixante dernières années dans un programme de lecture de base pour la première année qui s'est toujours bien vendu. Nous avons examiné les anthologies des programmes de lecture de base d'un éditeur lors de sept années, de 1962 à 2013. Les variables ont été le niveau de complexité générale et neuf opérationnalisations caractéristiques du texte : nombre de syllables par mots et décodage (structure du mot) ; âge d'acquisition, ion et rareté des mots (sens des mots) ; complexité interphrastique, densité du texte, et non‐compressibilité (niveau du discours). Nous avons réalisé une modélisation hiérarchique. Trois conclusions principales en ressortent : (1) Le niveau de complexité générale tend à augmenter les dernières années, (2) Pour quatre des neuf caractéristiques du texte, les années de programme diffèrent dans la progression des caractéristiques du texte entre le début et la fin de l'année. Au départ, en automne, les programmes des dernières années présentaient aux enfants des structures de mot (syllables et décodage) faciles ou plus faciles que les années précédentes, mais avec un contrôle intense et incomparable de l'augmentation progressive de la complexité de la structure des mots au cours de l'année, conduisant en fin de première année aux structures de mot les plus complexes qui aient jamais été. En même temps, par comparaison avec les années antérieures, on note une baisse prononcée les dernières année de l'accent mis sur des aspects définis de répétition et de redondance (densité du texte et diversité des phrases) pendant la première année. (3) Deux des six caractéristiques de l’âge d'acquisition et de rareté des mots tendent en moyenne à plus de complexité dans les programmes des dernières années.
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