Essential Vocabulary for Enhancing Science and Math Learning in 2nd and 3rd Grades: Recovery and Acceleration
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31619/caledu.n60.1459Keywords:
academic vocabulary, disciplinary vocabulary, curriculum, school textsAbstract
The study aimed to identify general and disciplinary academic vocabulary relevant to achieving curricular educational objectives in Math and Sciences for 2nd and 3rd grade in Chile, and to develop tests to assess mastery of this vocabulary as well. An analysis of the most frequent academic words present in curriculum materials for those subjects and grades was conducted. Academic words found in the materials were coded according to their type (general academic words, math academic words, science academic words) and the learning objective to which they were associated. Subsequently, a subset of words was selected to be tested in children. The selection was conducted based on word frequency and word relevance for the attainment of the educational objective. Receptive and productive tests were developed and subjected to be assessed by two math education experts and two science education experts, from which the pilot tests were designed and then administered to 43 second graders and 34 third graders in two subsidized schools in Santiago. A basic psychometric analysis showed that tests present a good internal consistency, and their correlation with the schools’ standardized Science and Math tests was significant and medium-sized. Implications for learning acceleration and recovery through assessment and teaching of disciplinary vocabulary are discussed.
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