This paper details a literature review of mathematics vocabulary intervention studies for students with mathematics difficulty. The primary aim was to identify instructional practices that support mathematics vocabulary development. We conducted a database search to identify mathematics intervention studies either focused exclusively on vocabulary…

Topics presented in content area courses at the secondary level are often comprised of specialized and/or multiple-meaning vocabulary terms that can challenge students' understanding. Additionally, gaps in relevant knowledge from prior learning experiences in earlier grade levels may further impede comprehension of content area concepts. This is…

This paper presents data capturing Korean university students' familiarity with English online acronyms, examines factors that may predict this familiarity, and presents an explicit instruction intervention involving vocabulary knowledge of online acronyms. The Vocabulary Size Test (VST) measured students' vocabulary size, while a self-report…

Schema instruction improves word-problem solving for students with mathematics difficulty (MD; e.g., Powell et al., 2015); however, prior research suggests that students need word-problem-specific language comprehension in addition to schema knowledge to build word-problem models (Fuchs et al., 2015, 2018). Students have general word knowledge…

Early and explicit vocabulary instruction is one important way teachers can support early readers for later reading comprehension success (Duncan et al., 2007; Marulis & Neuman, 2010; Neuman & Dwyer, 2011; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), 2000); however, some observations indicate that early childhood and…

Children from backgrounds of poverty often lag behind more advantaged peers in early language skills, including breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge. We report the results of a pilot study of an explicit and elaborated vocabulary intervention in preschool classrooms serving children from lower-income backgrounds. The intervention used…

Some children come to school with a smaller vocabulary than their peers. If children do not have knowledge of the meaning of the words they read in texts, they will fail to comprehend those texts and struggle to keep up with their peers. This is critical because the link between vocabulary and comprehension is very clear (Sticht et al., 1974, as…

The demand for confident reading teachers is greater than ever before. To guarantee successful reading instruction, teachers across the nation are being trained in the science of reading, which focuses on explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Large reading initiatives are tirelessly working on…

We report on a meta-analysis designed to test the theory that instruction that involves direct teaching of academic vocabulary and teaching strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words develops students' abilities to infer new words' meanings and builds students' overall vocabulary knowledge. We meta-analyzed 39 experimental and…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if a direct, explicit method of teaching vocabulary with the Vocabulary Scenario Technique -- General Education 16 Encounter (VSTGE16) protocol would yield gains in the vocabulary knowledge of fourth grade students in a general education classroom. Two research questions examined whether fourth…

With the growing number of non-native English speakers, improving communication through direct vocabulary instruction (DVI) is important. The problem investigated in this study was that English as a second language (ESL) teachers were not using the strategy DVI, in the ESL classroom. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore ESL…

Two single-case studies examined the effects of a vocabulary intervention on K-second grade Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) children's vocabulary learning. The intervention consisted of (a) explicit instruction that included fast mapping, and drill and practice games and (b) in-context activities that included book reading, conceptual activities,…

Evidence-based literacy instruction can be tailored to individual learning needs. This Spotlight empowers with strategies to support students with dyslexia; research exploring the potential benefits of the Orton-Gillingham method to teach reading; an analysis of morphology and its ability to help develop students' vocabularies; insight into…

Middle school students with learning disabilities often struggle with reading and literacy skills, including vocabulary, and require support in content-area classes such as mathematics where weak vocabulary knowledge can negatively affect learning, achievement, and deep understanding. However, in general, middle school mathematics teachers do not…

Reading comprehension seems to be a significant challenge for rising fifth graders with limited vocabulary knowledge. A possible solution is to provide them with explicit vocabulary instruction which may positively impact their reading comprehension. This action research aimed to evaluate the effect of implementing explicit vocabulary instruction…