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Results
The results were staggering! One hundred percent of the class improved their
vocabulary and were able to speak in depth about the words that they were taught.
The growth from the pretest to the posttest each week ranged from 4 to 7 points,
which equated to 100% to 700% growth! Most of the class increased by 7 points
from the beginning to the end of the week. Even those who had been absent for a
portion of the teaching showed growth, and the students who had the lowest pretest
scores were the ones who had the highest growth overall. Results for individual
students were nearly identical for both weeks because it was a new set of words and
not incremental learning.
Provided with a framework to use in the classroom, teachers were able to learn
how ELs need additional or different methods of instruction in the classroom and
received the tools needed to teach this group of learners who have different needs
than their English-speaking peers. Research has shown a correlation between an
increased vocabulary and increased reading proficiency (Wood et al., 2021). Students
with a larger vocabulary lexicon are better equipped to decode unfamiliar words and
to comprehend passages in more detail, allowing them to create mental models of
the story action and better understand the background knowledge that makes a story
more relatable. The fact that every student made such gains in vocabulary shows
that this approach works for ELs. The increased vocabulary should equate to better
reading. The results show the opportunity that exists for a leader to increase reading
proficiency in a school, especially one with a large EL subgroup.
Furthermore, although this study only looked at students learning English, this
research would be beneficial for any student who has a limited vocabulary, not just
ELs. Many of the native-English speakers in our district with limited vocabulary
would be able to use the same techniques to increase their word comprehension. In
addition, this would work with English speakers who wish to learn another language,
such as Spanish. The technique could be used in any language acquisition. The steps
for explicitly teaching vocabulary are just the tools that unlock the learning.

References
Grabmeier, J. (2019, April 4). A “million word gap” for children who aren’t read to at home. Ohio
State NEWS. https://news.osu.edu/a-million-word-gap-for-children-who-arent-read-to-at
-home/

Moats, L. C., & Tolman, C. A. (2019). LETRS: Language essentials for teachers of reading and
spelling. Sopris West Educational Services.
Sibanda, J., & Baxen, J. (2018). Third-grade English as a second language teachers’ vocabulary
development practices. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 8(1), 2–9. https://
doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v8i1.545

Wessels, S. (2011). Promoting vocabulary learning for English learners. The Reading Teacher,
65(1), 46–50. https://doi.org/10.1598/rt.65.1.6

Wood, C. L., Schatschneider, C., & VelDink, A. (2021). The relation between academic word use
and reading comprehension for students from diverse backgrounds. Language, Speech, and
Hearing Services in Schools, 52(1), 273–287. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_lshss-19-00099

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