1 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 2 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 3 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 4 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. 5 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.
