The Contribution of Vocabulary Knowledge and Spelling to the Reading Comprehension of Adolescents Who Are and Are Not English Language Learners

Deborah K Reed; Yaacov Petscher; Barbara R Foorman

doi:10.1007/s11145-015-9619-3

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The Contribution of Vocabulary Knowledge and Spelling to the Reading Comprehension of Adolescents Who Are and Are Not English Language Learners

Journal article

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The Contribution of Vocabulary Knowledge and Spelling to the Reading Comprehension of Adolescents Who Are and Are Not English Language Learners

Deborah K Reed, Yaacov Petscher and Barbara R Foorman

Reading & writing, Vol.29(4), pp.633-657

04/2016

DOI: 10.1007/s11145-015-9619-3

PMCID: PMC4905721

PMID: 27313395

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Abstract

This study examined the contributions of vocabulary and spelling to the reading comprehension of students in grades 6–10 who were and were not classified as English language learners. Results indicate that vocabulary accounted for greater between-grade differences and unique variance (Δ R 2 = .11 to .31) in comprehension as compared to spelling (Δ R 2 = .01 to .09). However, the contribution of spelling to comprehension was higher in the upper grade levels included in this cross-sectional analysis and functioned as a mediator of the impact of vocabulary knowledge at all levels. The direct effect of vocabulary was strong but lower in magnitude at each successive grade level from .58 in grade 6 to .41 in grade 10 while the indirect effect through spelling increased in magnitude at each successive grade level from .09 in grade 6 to .16 in grade 10. There were no significant differences between the language groups in the magnitude of the indirect impact, suggesting both groups of students relied more on both sources of lexical information in higher grades as compared to students in lower grades.

vocabulary

spelling

adolescents

English Learners

reading comprehension

Details

Title: Subtitle: The Contribution of Vocabulary Knowledge and Spelling to the Reading Comprehension of Adolescents Who Are and Are Not English Language Learners
Creators: Deborah K Reed - University of Iowa, Iowa Reading Research Center
Yaacov Petscher - Florida State University, Florida Center for Reading Research
Barbara R Foorman - Florida State University, Florida Center for Reading Research
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Reading & writing, Vol.29(4), pp.633-657
DOI: 10.1007/s11145-015-9619-3
PMID: 27313395
PMCID: PMC4905721
NLM abbreviation: Read Writ
ISSN: 0922-4777
eISSN: 1573-0905
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000071, name: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, award: P50HD052120; DOI: 10.13039/100005246, name: Institute of Education Sciences, award: R305F100005, R305A100301
Language: English
Date published: 04/2016
Academic Unit: Teaching and Learning
Record Identifier: 9983993328902771

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