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Article Review Content Area Vocabulary Strategies

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Article Review: The Effect of a Social Studies–Based Reading
Intervention on the Academic Vocabulary
Knowledge of Below-Average Readers
By Nancy K. Scammacca & Stephanie J. Stillman
Brandy Lee
Liberty University
EDUC 656 - Spring 2021
Dr. Joseph
April 5, 2021
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Summary of the Article
“The Effect of a Social Studies–Based Reading Intervention on the Academic
Vocabulary
Knowledge of Below-Average Readers” by Scammacca and Stillman (2018) discussed the
process, study, and results of an intervention through vocabulary developed to aid in knowledge
acquisition of content. In content-area classrooms, vocabulary is often not addressed as it would
be in an English classroom, for example, despite that there are discipline specific vocabulary
words that are essential to comprehension and knowledge acquisition of the content. Often
students will encounter unfamiliar words or familiar words with unfamiliar meanings, which can
greatly hinder the learning process, (Scammacca & Stillman, 2018, p. 324). The authors had
followed many previous studies that had been successful in using increased vocabulary
instruction to improve comprehension and knowledge acquisition, and wanted to pursue a more
in-depth study targeting below-average readers specifically. Promoting Adolescents'
Comprehension of Text (PACT) was the name of the process that had proven advantageous in
previous studies; students who were given vocabulary intervention were found to score higher
than their counterparts who did not receive the specific instruction.
Scammacca and Stillman (2018) noticed that some considerations were missing from
previous studies, such as depth of knowledge of words; to what degree of depth of knowledge of
a word do students need to achieve to improve their reading comprehension and content-area
knowledge? The authors research found that there are four levels of word knowledge: no
knowledge, familiar word they cannot define, familiar word and word’s meaning in context, and
full knowledge of word’s meaning. The questions they addressed in the research was whether
students, who all pretested at the same academic levels, were more successfully educated using
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the PACT intervention than regular instruction, and what the relationship was between depth of
knowledge and social studies content comprehension. They hypothesized that there would be
“significant improvement with intervention,” (p. 327).
They proceeded with a randomized controlled trial; all the students received instruction
on the same content and the same key words, only how they were taught was different. The
group who received the PACT intervention were given instruction through five components for
each unit that aimed for background information and deep understanding of content specific
vocabulary words. The students in regular instruction were observed to have all been taught the
same vocabulary in some form. The hypothesis was proven correct; the results were very much
in favor of the PACT intervention having a positive outcome in students’ comprehension and
knowledge acquisition, and the authors expressed that teachers should consider incorporating
vocabulary instruction into their lesson plans that has students interacting with content-specific
words repeatedly, (Scammacca & Stillman, 2018, pp. 330-3).
Conclusions and Implications
I found the information in this article to be very promising for use in the classroom. The
authors used some examples of social studies content-specific vocabulary, such as system or
suffrage. System is a word that most students are familiar with, but across disciplines it’s
meaning can vary (ie. solar system, political system), while suffrage is a word they might be
completely unfamiliar with, (Scammacca & Stillman, 2018, p. 324). As the article points out,
knowing the meaning of vocabulary words is essential in comprehension; students will
understand what they are reading or discussing much more clearly if they know what they words
mean that are being used. Using a strategy such as this in the social studies classroom could be
greatly beneficial for students in that these content-specific words can be addressed more
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thoroughly and therefore comprehension can be increased. Currently, I have done such things as
given student’s vocabulary sheets were they define the word, give examples, etc., and have it be
for their personal use. Now I feel like this is something we should perhaps address at the
beginning of the unit, and reiterate throughout as we come across those words.
Overall Assessment
I enjoyed reading this article and found the information to be beneficial for my future use
as a strategy for comprehension in the social studies classroom. I agree completely with the
authors that vocabulary word knowledge is essential to comprehension; I personally always have
looked up words that were unfamiliar to me even when reading for enjoyment, and I encourage
students to do the same. Having a strategy to incorporate this into regular lessons would be
advantageous to the students. My only complaint about the article is that I had to read the results
and look at the data tables a few times before it became clear whether the study was a success or
now. I often feel like data could be more concisely shared, and this article was no exception. A
major strength in this study I feel was in the authors’ exploration of how deeply a word needed to
be understood to improve comprehension. This evaluation helps to determine just how much
instruction on the vocabulary specifically will be needed in order to enhance learning. I had
never considered there to be different levels of word knowledge until I read this article, and it
was something I was able to test out right away on my own students by asking them if they were
familiar with some new words we were using, and I found that there were varying degrees of
knowledge among them. I feel like what the authors achieved with this study could easily be
incorporated into the classroom now that the idea, and evidence to support its success, have been
examined.
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References
Scammacca, N. K., & Stillman, S. J. (2018). The effect of a social studies-based reading
intervention on the academic vocabulary knowledge of below-average readers. Reading
& Writing Quarterly, 34(4), 322-337. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2018.1446855.
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