ADULT LEARNERS

The Most Effective Ways Of Teaching Vocabulary To Adult Learners



Abstract

This study investigates the effects of rich explanation, baseline vocabulary, and home reading practices on English language learning (ELL) adults sophisticated vocabulary learning from book reading. Eighty typically developing adult learners were pretested in L1 (Portuguese) and L2 (English) receptive vocabulary and were assigned to experimental or control groups. Eight books were selected and paired. Experimental participants heard books read three times over a 3-week period with rich explanations of target vocabulary. Controls heard stories read without explanations. Teachers completed questionnaires about the frequency, content, and language of home reading practices. Rich explanation, initial L2 vocabulary, and frequency of home reading make significant contributions to sophisticated word learning from story reading. Findings have important implications for L2 vocabulary acquisition in ELL adult learners.

Table of Contents

Introduction5

Vocabulary development6

Vocabulary Strategies8

Implementation9

Vocabulary and Comprehension10

Adult monolinguals and ELLs11

Present study14

Method15

Participants15

Design17

Procedure18

Materials20

Texts20

Target words21

Measures23

English receptive vocabulary23

Portuguese receptive vocabulary24

Home reading practices24

Target vocabulary test (TVT)25

Results26

Pretest and TVT data26

Discussion30

Rich explanation31

Baseline L1 and L2 vocabularies33

Home reading practices35

Educational implications and future directions35

Limitations and conclusions38

References39

Appendix43

The Most Effective Ways Of Teaching Vocabulary To Adult Learners

Introduction

Since 1970, the number of English language learners (ELL) in the United States has increased threefold. Nearly 20% of adults are of nonnative speakers of English (Kindler, 2002). Many ELL adults under five do not attend prekindergarten programs (Capps et al., 2005). For these adult learners, exposure to English in school settings does not begin until kindergarten; therefore, they must develop English at a faster rate than monolinguals if they are to understand the language of instruction and be facile users of English. When adults enter school with limited exposure to English, they are at risk for reading difficulties (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). Of those at risk, more than 50% do not learn English to proficiency levels even after several years of schooling (Capps et al., 2005).

Paramount to meeting the educational needs of English learners is the knowledge of skills related to later reading comprehension and of contexts for developing these skills as early as possible—before formal schooling.

Vocabulary knowledge is one of the strongest predictors of monolinguals' reading achievement in middle grades ([Dickinson et al., 2003] and [Snow et al., 2007]). Robust early vocabulary in the preschool years predicts reading comprehension in third and fourth grades (Storch & Whitehurst, 2002). Vocabulary acquisition rate differences begin in early childhood, and, once established, are difficult to change (Hart & Risley, 1995).

Most of our knowledge of the role of vocabulary in ELL adult learners's reading achievement comes from research on school-age English learners. Recent research identifies the primacy of English (L2) vocabulary knowledge to L2 reading comprehension ([Carlo et al., 2004], [Ordónez et al., 2002] and [Proctor et al., 2005]), even in ELLs with large first language (L1) vocabularies (Goldenberg et al., 2005). These findings underscore the importance of ELLs' English vocabulary knowledge to later reading and of probing vocabulary knowledge prior to formal schooling, an endeavor undertaken recently by only a few researchers (Tabors, Páez, & López, 2003) yet called for with increasing ...