Capturing Word Consciousness Talk in Kindergarten Science Lessons

• In Event: 47.032 - Science Disciplinary Talk in K–2 Classrooms: Developing Supports for Teachers

Abstract

Purpose:
As teachers engage early-elementary students in science discussions, goals include supporting student sense-making about scientific phenomena and the development of scientific ways of talking, which includes use of science-specific vocabulary. Therefore, science instruction aimed at engaging students in high-quality science talk should include vocabulary instruction. One widely recommended of vocabulary instruction is fostering word consciousness, commonly defined as an awareness of and interest in words and their meanings (Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2002, 2008; Lane & Allen, 2010). Word consciousness has two main components: cognitive (also referred to as awareness, noticing, knowledge, understanding, and capacity) and affective (also referred to as interest, fascinating, dispositions, appreciation, and desire) (Ajayi, 2015; Baumann, Ware, & Edwards, 2007; Bowers & Kirby, 2010; McIntyre & Hulan, 2013; Miller, Gage-Serio, & Scott, 2010). Theoretically, students who are aware of and interested in words are motivated to learn about words and to learn new words, resulting in vocabulary growth. A recent study by Neugebauer et al. (2017) examined the affective aspects of teachers’ word consciousness talk (which included talk that reinforced students’ use of words, affirmed students’ recognition of words, and helped students make personal connections to words), finding that such talk was positively associated with kindergarten students’ gains in general vocabulary knowledge. The current study builds on this work to capture the cognitive component as well. This study explores how the [Name] curriculum, designed to support science talk, influenced a teacher’s word consciousness talk.

Methods & Data
In this instrumental case study (Barone, 2011; Stake, 2000), a kindergarten teacher and her students (i.e., the case) played a supportive role in providing insight into the primary issue of interest: the word consciousness talk occurring during science instruction. Data sources included video recordings of 10 lessons and field notes. After transcribing episodes of vocabulary instruction, we: (a) applied a priori codes for talk that explicitly reinforced word use, affirmed students’ word recognition, and made connections between words and students’ personal experiences (Neugebauer et al., 2017); and (b) developed open codes (Strauss, 1987) to capture additional ways in which the teacher’s talk promoted awareness of and interest in words and their meanings.

Results
Preliminary findings indicate that during talk-focused science lessons, the teacher engaged in word consciousness talk in a number of ways, primarily focusing on the cognitive component of word consciousness. For example, the teacher prompted students to use a word that had already been introduced, commented on specific words encountered in text, talked about the meaning(s) of words, and gave examples to illustrate a word’s meaning (see Tables 1 and 2).

Significance
A teacher’s word consciousness talk has the potential to support students’ science vocabulary knowledge and, as a result, improve their ability to engage in science talk. The talk-focused curriculum materials examined here seem to have supported the teacher’s word consciousness talk. Revising these materials to provide educative supports for teachers that explicitly promote their word consciousness talk may further support students’ science vocabulary growth.

Authors

• Blythe E. Anderson, Michigan State University

• Tanya S. Wright, Michigan State University