Effect of Incorporating Academic Vocabulary Instruction on Academic Achievement for General and Special Needs Students By Josh Lullmann

Academic vocabulary can be divided into three categories: General, academic, and technical Academic Vocabulary—high frequency words used across academic disciplines Technical Vocabulary—low frequency words used within a single content area. Research on academic vocabulary instruction suggests that when providing meaningful instruction, all students demonstrate a deeper comprehension of content reading and experience greater academic success. Previous research has focused on the effects of academic vocabulary instruction on ELL and low SES students, most commonly in diverse urban elementary and middle schools.

The purpose of this proposed study is to determine the effect academic vocabulary instruction has on student achievement with students classified as special needs compared to students who are considered general education. The study will also explore if providing specific academic vocabulary instruction causes an increase in academic achievement in content classes. More research is needed to determine if similar results on academic achievement can be obtained by instituting vocabulary instruction to general and special education students in a high school social studies class.

Levels of Academic Vocabulary Recent research has commonly referenced Beck, McKoewn, and Kucan (2002) three- tiered system of vocabulary classification: General, Academic, Technical. Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List is a list of over 500 high frequency words that are used across disciplines. Technical vocabulary provide the greatest challenge to students because they are content specific and low in frequency. Depth of Engagement of Instruction A limited number of terms should be introduced to students each week or unit of study. The focus should be on depth of understanding beyond the basic definition. Lesaux, Kieffer, Faller, and Kelley (2010) explain that a multifaceted vocabulary program will help students learn vocabulary in depth which leads to improvements in reading academic texts but also improved engagement in academic talk and writing. Silbold (2011) suggests that depth of understanding of technical vocabulary improves comprehension of academic texts, which is content knowledge and leads directly to academic success.

Effects of Academic Vocabulary on English Language Learners and Low Socioeconomic Status Students According to the National Assessment of Education Progress, language minority students and students who are living in poverty continue to perform below their peers in literacy development.(Townsend 2009) ELL and low SES students demonstrate greater growth than their peers on standardized tests, multiple choice tests, measure of words taught, and the ability to break down words when they were subjected to an academic vocabulary instruction program. Comprehension of Academic Vocabulary Is Essential to Academic Success Vocabulary used in academic setting and academic texts is critical for academic success (Townsend and Collins, 2008) Cunningham and Moore (1993) concluded that students who did not understand the academic vocabulary used in comprehensive test questions saw a 7.6% mean difference in their test performance.

The research design is quantitative quasi-experimental study. Two whole groups of previously assigned classes will be randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group. A pretest will be given to ensure the two groups begin as equals. The independent variable is academic vocabulary instruction. The dependent variable is academic achievement measured by the academic vocabulary posttest and summative assessment. Both the vocabulary and the summative unit assessments will be researcher created and will examined by the researcher’s colleagues and pilot tested for reliability and validity.

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford Press. Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), Cunningham, J. W., & Moore, D. W. (1993). The contribution of understanding academic vocabulary to answering comprehension questions. Journal of Reading Behavior, 25(2), Lesaux, N. K., Kieffer, M. J., Faller, S. E., & Kelley, J. G. (2010). The effectiveness and ease of implementation of an academic vocabulary intervention for linguistically diverse students in urban middle schools. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(2), Sibold, C. (2011). Building English language learners' vocabulary. Multicultural Education, 1(1), Townsend, D., & Collins, P. (2008). Academic vocabulary and middle school learners: An intervention study. Springer Science + Business Media B.V., 1, Townsend, D. (2009). Building academic vocabulary in after-school settings: Games for growth with middle school English-language learners. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(3),