Enhancing Social Studies Vocabulary and Comprehension for Seventh-Grade English Language Learners: Findings From Two Experimental Studies

Abstract Two experimental studies to improve vocabulary knowledge and comprehension were conducted in 7th-grade social studies classes with English language learners (ELLs). Two different nonoverlapping samples of classes of 7th-grade students (N = 381 and N = 507) were randomly assigned at the classroom (i.e., section) level to a social studies intervention or to business as usual comparison groups. The number of sections assigned to treatment was 7 and 9 in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Eight sections were assigned to comparison in each experiment. In addition, students were randomly assigned to sections prior to assignment of sections to treatment and control. Treatment students received a multicomponent social studies instruction including explicit vocabulary instruction, use of structured pairing, strategic use of video to build concepts and promote discussion, and use of graphic organizers for approximately 12 weeks daily during social studies class. Findings indicated significant differences in favor of the treatment students on curriculum-based vocabulary and comprehension measures for both experimental studies for all students including students who were ELLs.

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