Vocabulary study may boost learning among Spanish-speaking adolescents

[Francis Hult]

University of Connecticut Advance

 

Vocabulary study may boost learning among Spanish-speaking adolescents

 

English language learners often have trouble improving their vocabulary, leading to reading comprehension difficulties and problems with learning in all academic content areas.

 

Elizabeth Howard is among a group of researchers who think that teaching native Spanish speakers about cognates - words comparable across English and Spanish because of their common Greek or Latin roots - may facilitate the process.

 

Howard, an assistant professor of bilingual education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, is co-investigator of a four-year study exploring the use of cognates to promote vocabulary development and reading comprehension among native Spanish speaking adolescents. 

 

The project, which received a $1.8 million grant from the federal Institute of Educational Sciences last year, expands on previous research by Howard, who has spent most of her career in bilingual literacy and language acquisition and development.

 

Full story:

http://www.advance.uconn.edu/2008/080303/08030312.htm

_______________________________________________
Edling mailing list
Edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu
https://lists.sis.utsa.edu/mailman/listinfo/edling
List Manager: Francis M. Hult