ACTION RESEARCH PROJECTSecond Language Acquisition

PROBLEM STATEMENT

A principle goal of any secondary language learning class is to improve oral skills of the students in the target language. When instruction is given, students often feel challenged or confused. The result is a slower acquisition of the target language; this often results in the student resorting to the native language.

The development of secondary language vocabulary acquisition is crucial to improving the overall language skills. The goal of this study is to employ successful strategies focusing on the expansion of vocabulary.

CAROLYN K. KING Second Language Acquisition- Vocabulary

Vocabulary words were used from the first grade word wall list. The following slides reflect the pre-assessment and post- assessment results.

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Ke Ci Jov Jos Or Je

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Pre-Assessment of Vocabulary Words Mean Score – 5.76

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Re To Sa Cr Va La Ca

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Title One School

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Pre- Assessment - Disaggregation of Boys and girls Mean score - boys – 5.0 , girls 6.66

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Pre- assessment - disaggregation by LanguageMean score –Spanish 5.12 , other 6.8

Spanish Others

DISAGGREGATION BY SCHOOL MEAN SCORE -TITLE ONE - 2.8, NON TITLE ONE - 8.28

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PRE-ASSESSMENT AND POST-ASSESSMENT OF VOCABULARY WORDS – PRE -5.76, POST – 9.0

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Ke Ci Jov Jos Or Je

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Re To Sa Cr Va La Ca

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PRE AND POST ASSESSMENT MEAN SCORES – BOYS AND GIRLSPRE- BOYS 5.0,POST -8.5, GIRLS –PRE -6.66,POST -9.5

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Pre- and post assessment - disaggregation by LanguageMean score pre – Sp. 5.12 , post 9.5, other pre – 6.0, post -8.6

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DISAGGREGATION BY SCHOOL PRE MEAN SCORE -TITLE ONE - 2.8, POST 8.5PRE MEAN SCORE NON- TITLE ONE 8.28, POST 9.5

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ANDREW ‘S ACTION RESEARCH

Results of study to improve vocabulary retention in French class

« Il faut prendre le taureau par les cornes. »

« À DURE ENCLUME, MARTEAU DE PLUME » Vocabulary quizzes:

Students evaluated regularly: 1-2 times per week Not retaining words and failing quizzes

Research: MacQuarrie, L., Tucker, J., & Burns, M. (2002). Comparison of Retention

Rates Using Traditional, Drill Sandwich, and Incremental Rehearsal Flash Card Methods. The School Psychology Review, 31(4), 584-95. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from Education Full Text database.

Intervention: Provide note cards and class time to make flash cards

Due day before the quiz Explain incremental rehearsal and provide 15 minutes

of class time to practice vocabulary words in groups.

VOCABULARY QUIZ RESULTS BY GRADE

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VOCABULARY QUIZ RESULTS BY EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

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VOCABULARY QUIZ RESULTS BY COMMUTE TIME

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QUIZ RESULTS BY SPORT

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« NOUS SOMMES SUR LA BONNE VOIE! »

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Summary of quiz results:

Pre-Assessment Post-Assessment

MAHVASH‘S ACTION RESEARCH

Results of using vocabulary introduction in the Urdu language

INITIAL DATA

Student Identification

Age(years)

Grade level gender

ZI 13 9 F

IshI 11 7 M

IsmI 6 1 M

HI 4 Pre-K F

Demographic Information Parents:

Native Language: English 2nd Language: Urdu

PRE-TEST RESULTS & DISAGGREGATED DATAVocab. Words Student: ZI Student: IshI Student: IsmI Student: HI

Ceiling & Roof X * * X

Window X X X X

Wall * * * X

Door * X X X

Floor & ground * * X X

Bed * * X X

Desk & Table X * * *

Chair * * * X

Curtain X X X X

Pillow X X X X

Drawer * * X X

Light * * * *

Kitchen X X X X

Bathroom * X X X

room * * * *

RESULTS 9/15 9/15 6/15 3/15

Ages 3 to 6 Ages 11+

% Correct (average) 30% 60%

Male Female

% Correct (average)

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Age/Grade Level

Gender

PLAN OF ACTION/INTERVENTION First Step - Teach vocabulary:

Taught orally by physically seeing the actual places (used an audio and visual learning technique). Introduced the terms twice at an interval of three weeks.

Second Step - Test the Vocabulary Retention: see chart below for results

Vocab. Words Student: ZI Student: IshI Student: IsmI Student: HICeiling & Roof * * * * * * *Window * * * X * X *Wall * * * * * X *Door * * * * * X XFloor & ground * * * * * X *

Bed * * * * * X *Desk & Table * * * * * * *Chair * * * * * X *Curtain * X X X X X *Pillow * * * * pl-X * pl-X X *Drawer * * * X X * *Light * * * * * * *Kitchen * X * X X X XBathroom * * * X X X Xroom * * * * * * *RESULTS 15/15 13/15 14/15 10/15 11/15 5/15 12/15

POST INTERVENTION DATA:

Test 1 – indicated in yellow cells Test 2 – indicated in orange cells

OVERVIEW OF FINAL SCORESStudent ID # Words Correct Total Words Percentage

ZI 9 15 60%

IshI 9 15 60%

IsmI 6 15 40%

HI 3 15 20%

Student ID # Words Correct Total Words Percentage

ZI 15 15 100%

IshI 13 15 86%

IsmI 10 15 66%

HI 5 15 33%

Student ID # Words Correct Total Words Percentage

ZI n/a n/a n/a

IshI 14 15 93%

IsmI 11 15 73%

HI 12 15 80%

Pre-test

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Test 2

FINAL RESULTS

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HEATHER‘S ACTION RESEARCHUsing nursery rimes to improve language skills

Nursery rhymes help young students develop oral language skills. Additionally, nursery rhymes can be used to teach vocabulary and rhyming words.

Students in kindergarten and Pre K struggled to learn the rhymes through traditional recitation methods.

THE PROBLEM…

STUDENT DISAGGREGATION

35 students total

Gender: 12 boys, 23 girls

ESOL Status: 20 ESOL students, 15 non-ESOL students

Language Spoken at Home: 21 speak Spanish, 3 speak Amharic, 7 speak English, 3 speak another language

SCORING RUBRIC

3 Able to fully sing or recite nursery rhyme with use of visual aids

2 Able to sing or recite nursery rhyme with use of visual aids, making a few errors or pauses

1 Little or no response

PRE-INTERVENTION SCORESALL 35 STUDENTS

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HumptyDumpty

Jack BeNimble

Hey DiddleDiddle

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PRE-INTERVENTION BY LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME

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Jack andJill

Mary Had aLittle Lamb

Itsy BitsySpider

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Post-Intervention ScoresAll 35 Students

POST-INTERVENTION BY LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME

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ESOL STATUSPRE- AND POST-INTERVENTION

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ESOL (pre) ESOL (post) No ESOL (pre) No ESOL (post)

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NEXT STEPS…

Continue to expose students to high frequency words from the word wall list using the same skills in order to increase their vocabulary.

Continue to use class time for vocabulary review and search for new pedagogical strategies to help with retention: www.quizlet.com

Share with other ESOL teachers and explore other ways to incorporate music into other subjects (beyond vocabulary)

RESOURCES:

Helman, L., & Burns, M. (2008). What does oral language have to do with it? Helping young English-Language Learners acquire a sight word vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 62(1), 14-19.

MacQuarrie, L., Tucker, J., & Burns, M. (2002). Comparison of Retention Rates Using Traditional, Drill Sandwich, and Incremental Rehearsal Flash Card Methods. The School Psychology Review, 31(4), 584-95. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from Education Full Text database.

Fisher, D. (2001). Early language learning with and without music. Reading Horizons, 42(1), 39-49.