Vocabulary acquisition techniques for grade one : an experimental investigation of shared reading vs. reciprocal teaching

• Main Author: Mandel, Eliana
• Format: Others
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/975741/1/MR34708.pdf; Mandel, Eliana <http://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/view/creators/Mandel=3AEliana=3A=3A.html> (2007) Vocabulary acquisition techniques for grade one : an experimental investigation of shared reading vs. reciprocal teaching. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

The objective of the present study was to compare the effects of two different types of reading comprehension instruction on the vocabulary growth of first-grade children. The two instructional approaches-- Shared Reading (SR) (Coyne et al., 2004; Parkes, 2000) and Reciprocal Teaching (RT) (Palincsar & Brown, 1984)--are similar in several ways, but differ on features I propose are critical to the development of vocabulary in young children. More specifically, Reciprocal Teaching incorporates a larger degree of interaction between teacher and students compared to Shared Reading and also requires students to more actively apply novel words in classroom discussions. The differential effects of SR and RT are an important focus of research, not least because the results of the study promise to provide teachers with additional empirical evidence supporting the use of effective techniques for vocabulary acquisition.