Defying expectations: Vocabulary growth trajectories of high performing language minority students

Hwang, J. K., Lawrence, J. F., & Snow, C. E. (2017). Defying expectations: Vocabulary growth trajectories of high performing language minority students. Reading and Writing, 30(4), 829–856. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-016-9703-3 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-016-9703-3

Abstract: We investigated general vocabulary and academic vocabulary growth trajectories of adolescent language minority students using an individual growth modeling approach. Our analytical sample included 3161 sixth- to eighth-grade students from an urban school district in California. The language minority students in our sample were classified as initially fluent English proficient (IFEP), redesignated fluent English proficient (RFEP), or limited English proficient (LEP) students. The analytical sample was not a nationally representative sample and included a great number of Asian student s and students who receive gifted and talented education. Students were assessed at four time points on a standardized measure of general vocabulary and a researcher-developed academic vocabulary test. On both vocabulary measures, IFEP students slightly outperformed English-only (EO) students on average, and EO students scored higher than RFEP and LEP students at baseline. RFEP and LEP students showed slower rate of growth than their EO peers in general vocabulary. While both EO and language minority students showed summer setback with general vocabulary knowledge on average, the magnitude of summer setback was not as great for LEP students. In academic vocabulary, all subgroups of language minority students showed more rapid rate of growth than their EO peers. Only the REP students experienced a change in the learning tra-jectory during the summer months. We discuss the implications of these findings for all language groups.

Funders: This research was supported by Grant Number R305A090555, Word Generation: An Efficacy Trial (PI: Catherine Snow) from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), US Department of Education (USDE). https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grantsearch/details.asp?ID=824

Related Links: https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2016.1237596

Related Paper(s): Lawrence, J. F., Francis, D., Paré-Blagoev, E.J., & Snow, C. E. (2017). The Poor Get Richer: Heterogeneity in the Efficacy of a School-Level Intervention for Academic Language. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 10(4), 767–793. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2016.1237596

INVITED PRESENTATIONS

Lawrence, J.F. (2015, September). Technology in English. U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The White House, Washington D.C.

Warschauer, M., & Lawrence, J. F. (2014, April). The Learning Analytics of Cloud Based Writing. Google Campus, New York, New York

Lawrence, J.F. (2012, September). Does talk exposure in preschool predict second-language vocabulary at age 10? A longitudinal study of Turkish immigrant children growing up in Norway. 学前教育中的语言接触是否会预测儿童10岁时的第二语言词汇？(Presented in Mandarin). East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.

Software Development

Lawrence, J., & Krueger, N. (2016). Bifrost: Bridging linguistic, cognitive and computer science resources (Version Reduced: Polysemy and Depth only). Retrieved from https://github.com/Malthanatos/Bifrost/tree/Reduced--Polysemy-and-Depth-only

EDITED VOLUME

Ippolito, J., Lawrence, J. F., & Zaller, C. (2013). Adolescent Literacy in the Era of the Common Core. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Other publications

Ippolito, J., Dobbs, C., Charner-Laird, M., & Lawrence, J. F. (2016). Delicate layers of learning: Achieving disciplinary literacy requires continuous, collaborative adjustments. Learning Forward.

Lawrence, J. F., White, C., & Snow, C. E. (2010). The words students need. Educational Leadership, 68(2), 23–26.

Lawrence, J. F. (2005). Perennial Themes in Education. Journal of Education, 186(1), 87–95.