Prominent content vocabulary strategies and what secondary preservice teachers think about them
Abstract
This investigation focused on two research questions. The first question examined what specific instructional strategies for teaching vocabulary appear most frequently in current content area textbooks. The second question built on the first and used that information to develop a survey that was administered to secondary-level preservice teachers to examine their familiarity with the particular strategy, to rate the strategy's usability within their content area, and to rate whether they would use the strategy in their future teaching. The top-five most prominent strategies found across the textbooks were morphemic analysis, contextual analysis, semantic feature analysis grid, semantic mapping, and vocabulary self-collection. The student survey revealed the most familiarity with contextual analysis and semantic mapping. These two strategies also were favored in the usability and the intention to use in future teaching promptings. Using a chi-square statistical procedure we found that seven statements were differentially affected by the reported content area of the teacher.
Reference
Hedrick, W. B., Harmon, J. M., & Wood, K. (2008). Prominent content vocabulary strategies and what secondary preservice teachers think about them. Reading Psychology, 29(5), 443-470.
Journal
Reading Psychology
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
yes
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
- qualitative content analysis
- Quantitative
Geographic Setting
- East Coast
- Southwestern United States
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
Preservice Sample Size
226
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- Survey
- Vocabulary chapters from content literacy textbooks
Data Analysis Tools
- chi-square test
- Qualitative Content Analysis
- Statistical analysis
Researcher Positionality
Research Questions
The first question examined what specific instructional strategies for teaching vocabulary appear most frequently in current content area textbooks.
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
The second question built on the first and used that information to develop a survey that was administered to secondary-level preservice teachers to examine their familiarity with the particular strategy, to rate the strategy’s usability within their content area, and to rate whether they would use the strategy in their future teaching.
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes