The method described here requires one student to develop knowledge of unfamiliar words within a text, in order to then teach the meanings to a small group. This method was successful with a small group of ESL students in sixth grade.
Eminent researcher Andrew Biemiller, expertly assisted by Jody Panto, carried out this study in 2010. I recently asked him more about it, and he provided me with a brief excerpt/ summary for this blog, shown below.
A Procedure for Promoting Student Awareness for Unknown Word Meanings
excerpt from Biemiller, 2010
In a preliminary study with 6 ESL sixth grade students in 1 class for 16 weeks, my assistant, Jody Panto, and I undertook to increase students’ vocabulary. Most of the students in this class spoke English as a second language and spoke their native language at home. Our general goal was to encourage a higher level of asking about unfamiliar words.
Panto’s basic routine for a reading session involved having each student in a reading group take responsibility for the vocabulary on one or two pages of text. The texts were somewhat more complex than these students would be expected to read on their own. The program emphasized seeking direct assistance for unfamiliar words, both from peers and from teachers when necessary.
As the students read, they were instructed to mark words when they weren’t sure of the word’s meaning. After reading one or two pages, one student would be invited to ask the teacher for any meanings of which she was not sure. (Reading assistance was given when needed, but was rarely needed. These were fluent readers.) The other students in the group could then ask the first student about any other words on the pages they had just read.
The assumption was that the first student was competent with words not yet discussed. After this, the instructor might ask about words identified as difficult, which have not been mentioned by any of the students. (In this study, we identified as difficult words which are not on the 3,000 word list used by Dale and Chall (1995) to assess readability. For the most part, this meant word meanings tested at level 6 or higher in Dale and O’Rourke’s Living Word Vocabulary.)
Initially, students were often embarrassed by being unable to answer other children’s questions (i.e., they had failed to ask about all words they needed to know about). However, after about 3 weeks (6 sessions), the students asked if they didn’t know, and knew appropriate meanings for words they didn’t ask about.
Overall, the effect of this approach was to make the students more responsible for both monitoring their word knowledge, and being prepared to explain word meanings to others. The students acquired meanings of about 80% of the words they asked about (when tested a month or so later).
Reference:
A.
Biemiller, (2010). Vocabulary Development and Implications for Reading
Problems, which appeared in A. McGill-Franzen and R. Allington (Eds),
Handbook of Research on Reading Disabilities, pp 208-218. New York,
NY: Routledge.
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My own thoughts:
Having been a middle school teacher, I see this method as worthwhile and intriguing. First, it addresses a vital vocabulary skill. Not only that, becoming alert to unknown words in any passage, and querying their meaning, is critical to comprehension. Unknown meanings may not be a deal breaker for comprehending the passage -- but what if the whole house of cards rests on a few key words? Unfortunately, skipping over unknown words -- reading it but not thinking about its meaing -- happens all too often in the classroom, in my experience.
After the initial groundwork, this method should be relatively easy to put into practice. Once the foundation is in place, it could become an effective routine. In other words, this method should yield results after an initial adjustment period, as the students come to grips with their role and responsibility as group teacher (they all take a turn at that). This method should become useful after students learn how important it is to ask in advance for unfamiliar word meanings, so they can field any questions their group asks.
I envision a lively little lesson, with the group asking their "teacher" about unknown words drawn from the text. What does "flabbergasted" mean? How do you say it? "Flab-ber-gast-ed" (syllable by syllable). Could you use it in a sentence? How would we draw it or act it out? Tone of voice? Facial expression? (All of this is effective with learning a language.)
This means teaching the group how to ask questions of this nature, with explicit instruction, including modeling how to ask questions about word meanings. We want one member of the group to assume the teacher role -- but they take turns at this. We also want to teach the "students" how to be actively engaged, asking keen and pertinent questions.
I see the actual teacher's role as key. It would probably not be very effective if the group leader was merely told to consult a dictionary for any unknown word meanings. A computer and/or a dictionary is a good starting place, and may be sufficient for some words -- especially concrete words that are depicted in a good ESL picture dictionary -- but for more abstract terms, talking it over with the teacher and with others should add a great deal. These small coaching sessions might even boost self-confidence, leadership, interest, etc.
It is possible that the entire class could be divided into several groups, all of them employing this strategy. I see no downside, once the method has been learned and the routines are in place.
What do you think? Would this work for your grade level? Could it become a streamlined routine?
