Vocabulary & Reading Comprehension

The authors in these investigations have similar goals for their research. Aarnoutse et al. sought to study the effects of decoding (word identification) training on subjects' performance of four text comprehension strategies. This performance was measured in a listening setting. The four text comprehension strategies tested were: questioning, clarifying obscurities and inconsistencies in a text, summarising, and predicting how a text will continue after reading a paragraph. Easton et al. sought to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary using a curriculum with semantic and phonological features. Of note is the criticism of Aarnoutse et al. regarding the instruction of vocabulary absent the context of reading comprehension: "As long as decoding i

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s. A total of 47 students were selected for the study, and divided into an experimental group and a control group: "The selection criteria were low scores on a standardised decoding test and low or normal scores on a standardised listening comprehension test" (Aarnoutse, 1997, p. 215). The experimental group received 20 lessons (two per week), which incorporated instruction in text comprehension strategies. The control group attended regular reading lessons which did not include such strategies. Easton et al. employed a single case design for their investigation. The subjects were three males and one female, taught in a group setting. The authors acknowledged that the small size of the group limited the study somewhat: "It was not possible to use a comparative experimental design due to the small number of subjects available" (Easton et al., 1997, p. 129). The curriculum developed by Aarnoutse et al. used the direct instruction model as well as the reciprocal teaching method. Students were trained using a step-by-step approach that encompassed the strategies in an instruction phase, guided practice phase, and application phase: "Compared to previous research, the present study distinguishes itself in a number of way
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Approximate Word count = 1558
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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