“Let’s Check the Glossary”: How English Learners Coconstruct Vocabulary Knowledge in Peer-Tutoring Reading Discussions

• In Event: Metacognition, Collaboration, and Response: Innovative Approaches to Building Literacy

Abstract

This study explores how linguistically diverse students mediate vocabulary learning as they work together in a cross-age peer tutoring (CAPT) reading program. Data collection included participant observation and video recording of eight lessons in which bilingual fourth graders and kindergarteners read and discussed books and target vocabulary together. Using interactional ethnography and discourse analysis, we identify students’ discursive strategies to explain and apply new words explanation, and shed light on the mechanisms by which peers negotiate misunderstanding of new vocabulary. Findings reveal a strong relationship between the quality of student explanations, scaffolding and application of new words to vocabulary learning affordances. This study offers implications for literacy educators and researchers seeking to strengthen collaborative literacy practices among linguistically diverse students.

Authors

• Melinda E. Martin-Beltran, University of Maryland - College Park

• Johanna Tigert, University of Maryland - College Park

• Megan Madigan Peercy, University of Maryland - College Park

• Rebecca Deffes Silverman, University of Maryland - College Park

• Stephanie Guthrie, University of Maryland - College Park

• Anna Meyer, University of Maryland - College Park