How Cognate Strategy Instruction Promotes Vocabulary for the CCSS

1. How Cognate Strategy InstructionPromotes Vocabulary for the CCSS Dana L. Grisham National University ACOE 6th Annual English Learner Conference January 26, 2013 Hayward, CA

2. Words are Important • It is how we communicate with one another – orally and in writing • We learn with, through, and about words • Highly correlated with reading comprehension (.6 to .8 correlation) • Academic language is the key to achievement

3. Vocabulary Gap for Diverse Students • Students who struggle as readers • Children learning English as a second language • Children with special needs

4. The Gap Widens Over Time • The Matthew Effect (Stanovich, 1986). The more you know, the more you grow… • 4th grade slump due in part to increased vocabulary load of textbooks and academic subject matter (Chall, 1983)

5. CCSS, 2010 • Necessity of reading “complex texts” independently • Increased emphasis on non-fiction texts • Need for “close reading” • Need to increase “skill, concentration, and stamina” • What can we do to increase the reading comprehension of more than 5 million Spanish-speaking ELLs?

6. Theoretical Framework • English and Spanish cognates share a common Latin root • Students (and adults) often fail to recognize cognates unless they are taught awareness of the relationship • Once taught, the transparency of cognate pairs may enhance bilingual students’ reading comprehension (August & Shanahan, 2006) • Research documents the efficacy of Cognate Strategy Instruction (Lubliner & Grisham, 2012; Moran, 2011)

7. Language and Academic Language • A “third” language for many! (Zwiers, 2005) • Book language (CALP) (Cummins, 1979) • Multiple vs. “Standard” Literacies (Valdez, 2000) • Specific academic contexts (and accountability) (Schleppegrell, 2001) • “…a variety or a register of English used in professional books and characterized by specific linguistic features associated with academic disciplines.” (Scarcella, 2003)

8. Academic Language • Cognates are plentiful in Academic Language (Coxhead, 2000; Hiebert & Lubliner, 2011) • English may share as many as 15,000 cognates with similar orthographic and phonological features (Nash, 1997) • Knowledge of cognates may provide Spanish-speaking bilingual students with an advantage in learning academic language (Lubliner & Grisham, 2012)

9. Language Evolves • Language is dynamic, but rule governed • Scarcella’s Components • Phonological • Lexical • Grammatical • Sociolinguistic • Discourse

10. Ordinary Knowledge of morphemes entailing semantic, syntactic, relational, phonological, and distributional properties; syntax; knowledge of grammatical co-occurrence restrictions, punctuation. Academic All of the foregoing plus knowledge of additioanl structures (such as passives, parallel clauses, conditionals, and complex clauses) Example: bacterium, bacteria A Grammatical Component

11. Ordinary Knowledge of everyday English sounds and the ways sounds are combined, stress, and intonation. Example: ship v. sheep; sheet v. cheat Academic Knowledge of the phonological features of academic English, including stress, intonation, and sound patterns. Example: demography v. demographic A Phonological Component

12. Ordinary Knowledge of the forms and meanings of words in everyday situations; knowledge of the ways words are formed with roots and affixes; parts of speech and grammatical constraints Example: find out Academic Knowledge of the forms and meanings of words used across academic disciplines; academic roots and affixes; parts of speech and academic grammatical constraints. Example: investigate A Lexical Component

13. Ordinary Knowledge of morphemes entailing semantic, syntactic, relational, phonological, and distributional properties; syntax; knowledge of grammatical co-occurrence restrictions, punctuation. Academic All of the foregoing plus knowledge of additioanl structures (such as passives, parallel clauses, conditionals, and complex clauses) Example: bacterium, bacteria A Grammatical Component

14. Ordinary Knowledge that enables one to understand how sentences are produced and understood appropriately, frequently occurring functions and genres of everyday situations. Example: Making statements Academic Knowledge of increased language functions. Example: Genres, including scientific writing Other “registers” A Sociolinguistic Component

15. Ordinary Knowledge of basic discourse devices in talk and writing; informal writing types; organizational signals that let talk and writing flow. Academic Knowledge of features of academic discourse such as transitions and other organizational signals to aid reading, see relationships; follow logical lines of thought. A Discourse Component

16. Cognitive Dimensions of Academic Literacy • Knowledge: declarative, procedural, conditional • Higher Order Thinking Skills • Strategic Component • Metalinguistic Component

17. What are Cognates? • Cognates are words that look and/or sound alike in two languages (example: operation/operación (Spanish) • Research suggests that Spanish-speaking students can be taught to recognize cognates and use cognate information to comprehend English texts (Bravo, Hiebert, & Pearson, 2005; Proctor, Dalton & Grisham, 2007; Lubliner & Grisham, 2012)

18. Research Question • What is the relationship between cognate recognition and independent reading by intermediate-level Spanish-speaking English Learners at the secondary level? • In follow on research we will focus on how easy it is for monolingual teachers to teach CSI.

19. Methods • Mixed method study with data collection and analysis still in progress • Participants: an experienced bilingual teacher/researcher, two university researchers, an intact 6th grade class (N=28) of varying CELDT levels • Focus on science texts with implementation of Cognate Strategy Instruction (CSI) (Lubliner & Grisham, 2012) in an urban public middle school

20. Methods • Observations of the classroom, teacher and researcher field notes, pre/post assessments of cognate knowledge • Interviews of teacher, artifacts from the classroom • Quantitative and Qualitative data analysis with member checking

21. Assessing Student Learning • Cognates in Isolation • Cognates in Context • MAZE (CLOZE) Assessment for Comprehension • Think-Alouds for Cognate Use and Comprehension

22. Findings from the 2011-2012 Study • Bilingual Spanish-speaking students in a 6th bilingual class were compared to bilingual Spanish-speaking students in a mainstream class in the same school on two tests of cognate recognition • Cognates in Isolation (40 matching items) • Cognates in Context (74 cognates in a 300-word natural science text) • The bilingual class students received 14 lessons explicitly teaching the cognate strategy from their normal classroom teacher. No explicit cognate instruction was provided to the mainstream class

23. Findings from the 2011-2012 Study • Groups did not differ significantly on the Cognate Recognition Pretest but did differ significantly on the Cognates in Context Pretest • Posttest differences on both tests were significant

24. Findings from the 2011-2012 Study • Magnitude of differences between groups on posttests was very large (more than .14 large effect) • Results demonstrated that bilingual Spanish-speaking students who received explicit cognate instruction identified a much larger number of cognates in isolation and cognates in context than bilingual Spanish-speaking students who did not receive such instruction.

25. Preliminary Findings from the Study 2012-2013 • Implementation of 4 of 14 lessons to date • “A huge light bulb goes off!” Cognates unknown to students prior to CSI • Scaffolding of close reading through CSI • Science text display with Elmo • Identification of cognates before reading • Reading together with focus on comprehension • Discussion of text • Independent reading with all students as language resources

26. Preliminary Findings from the Study • The Cognate Word Wall • Taking cognates “outside the classroom” • Parents • Other classes • Cognate searches and sticky notes • Empowerment of students • “They are excited!” • “They can now use what they didn’t know they knew!”

27. Preliminary Findings from the Study • Transfer to other content areas (e.g., history teacher anecdotal evidence) • Increased focus on words by students (observed) • Less skipping of words • Less reliance on context • More inquiry: “What does this word mean?”

28. Discussion & Implications • Bilingual students as language experts—viewing themselves as competent learners • CSI approach honors language and culture of students • A note about so-called “false cognates” • Teacher concerns about strengthening and extending CSI for more transfer, application, and independence • CSI and transfer to the “real world”

29. Implications for CCSS • In the next phase of the study we will be extending CSI to other middle school science teachers who will be monolingual-English speakers • Assuming that our findings remain positive for CSI (Lubliner & Grisham, 2012; Moran, 2011), we would like to begin CSI at the end of third grade for Spanish-speaking ELLs • We hope to see the strategy become automatic as children use it more than one academic year

30. The Academic Word List • Academic Word List (Averil Coxhead) see at http://language.massey.ac.nz/staff/awl/ • Up to 70% of academic words may be Spanish/English cognates • Translate at BabelFish: http://babelfish.yahoo.com/?fr=avbbf-xxen

31. analysis approach area assessment assume authority available benefit concept consistent constitutional context contract create data definition derived distribution economic environment Most Frequent Academic Words

32. established estimate evidence export factors financial formula function identified income indicate individual interpretation involved issues labour legal legislation major method Most Frequent Academic Words

33. occur percent period policy principle procedure process required research response role section sector significant similar source specific structure theory variables Most Frequent Academic Words

34. Examples of Cognates • Analysis (Análisis) • Authority (Autoridad) • Concept (Concepto) • Data (Datos) • Economic (Económico)

35. Example of Sixth Grade Science Text with Find the Cognates Types of stress Three different kinds of stress can occur in the crust - tension, compression, and shearing. Tension, compression, and shearing work over millions of years to change the shape and volume of rock. Stress causes some rocks to become brittle and snap. Otherrocks bend slowly, like road tar softened by the sun. Figure 2 shows how stressaffects the crust. Most changes in the crust occur so slowly that they cannot be observeddirectly. But if you could speed up time so a billion years passed by in minutes, you would see the crust bend, stretch, break, tilt, fold, and slide. The slow shift of earth's plates causes these changes. Tension: The type of stress called tension pulls on the crust stretching rock so that it becomes thinner in the middle. The effect of tension on rock is somewhat like pulling apart a piece of warm bubble gum. Tensionoccurs where two plates are movingapart. Compression: A type of stress called compression squeezes rock until it folds or breaks. One plate pushing against another can compressrock like a giant trash compactor. Shearing: Stress that pushes a mass of rock in two opposite directions is called shearing. Shearing can cause rock to break and slip apart or to change shape.

36. Contact • Dana L. Grisham, National University dana.grisham@gmail.com