Effects of Multi-component Academic Vocabulary Instruction for English Learners With Learning Difficulties

We provided a multicomponent academic vocabulary intervention to six English learners with learning difficulties in a fifth-grade general education setting. A multiple probe design across word sets and replicated across students evaluated the effects of the intervention on students' use of expressive language to read and define content-specific academic vocabulary words. After the academic vocabulary intervention, which incorporated English as a Second Language and self-regulation procedures, students improved their abilities to read and define words above baseline levels. Students' performance on follow-up measures at 1, 3, and 6 months revealed maintenance of positive effects. Evaluations of the intervention reflected high levels of student satisfaction. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.