Evaluation of a Supplemental, Language-Based Reading Intervention for Bilingual Learners in Fourth and Fifth Grades

• In Event: 63.024 - Reading Comprehension and Non-English-Background Learners

Abstract

We report on a quasi-experimental field trial of a language-based literacy intervention designed for bilingual learners who were designated as English learners or former English learners in fourth and fifth grades in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. Students (n = 239) were assigned to condition by homeroom and implementing teachers (n = 22) engaged students exploring how discrete linguistic components functioned in text, and conducted text-based discussions that required students to take a stand on central dilemmas posed in the intervention texts. Results from hierarchical linear modeling and measured variable path modeling indicated a significant effect of condition on target vocabulary and linguistic awareness, and a significant indirect effect of condition on reading comprehension via linguistic awareness.

Authors

• Patrick Proctor, Boston College

• Rebecca Deffes Silverman, University of Maryland - College Park

• Jeff R. Harring, University of Maryland - College Park

• Renata Love Jones, Georgia State University

• Anna Meyer, University of Maryland - College Park