1 Kibby ~ Chulalongkorn University Language Institute Sixth International Conference, Bangkok,...

1Kibby ~ Chulalongkorn University Language Institute Sixth International Conference, Bangkok, Thailand Nov., 2006

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Center for Literacy and Reading Instruction

Department of Learning and Instruction

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Read Carefully, Lean Back, and Think: What Excellent Readers Do When Using

Contextual Vocabulary Acquisition During Reading

Michael W. Kibby University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA

Funded in Part by the National Science Foundation NSF Grant # REC-0106338

Our website on Contextual Vocabulary Acquisition http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/CVA/




The Essence of Meaning Vocabulary Instruction:

1. Helping students learn new concepts or things and the words that signify those things.

2. Helping students learn new words for concepts and things they already know.




The Word things

The essence of all teaching is teaching the things of the world: i.e., •Objects: cells or hieroglyphics,•Feelings: remorse or empathy,•Actions: revolutions or osmosis,•Ideas: mass or equity




Some Definitions

1. Hard, Unknown or Problematic Word

2. Sense of a Word’s Meaning

3. Context

4. Context Clue

5. CVA

6. Intentional and incidental learning

WORDS—MERELY LABELS FOR THINGS!




THE WORDS WE USE TO NAME THINGS IS AN ARBITRARY PAIRED

ASSOCIATION!




Why Learn New Things and Words?




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ELMO’S

TAKE

ON

WORDS




Well Elmo, Authors Use Many Different Words to Say Similar Thing

• Because of the speedy reply, we

were able to make a quick decision.

• The waiter was prompt in giving us our check.

• The clerk expeditiously processed my registration.




Many Ways to Learn Word Meanings

• Direct experience (incidentally via oral context)

• Direct instruction• Word resources (e.g., dictionary)• Morphological clues• Written context—contextual

vocabulary acquisition—CVA




What is CVA?

Contextual Vocabulary Acquisition, CVA for short, is the active, deliberate acquisition of

word meanings from text




Why CVA is Important• Not knowing a word when reading may

impede comprehension • Not using CVA on a hard word is a missed

opportunity to learn a new word

Why Teaching CVA Is Important• To improve reading comprehension• Not enough school time for direct teaching• Many words learned from written context • Excellent readers have strong CVA skills




Four Major Theories of CVA

1. van Daalen-Kapteijns, Elshout-Mohr, et al. (Amsterdam)

2. Fukkink, de Glopper, et al. (Amsterdam)

3. Sternberg, et al. (Yale, now Tufts)

4. Rapaport, Ehrlich, et al. (UB)




All Four Theories See CVA as a Cognitive, Problem-Solving Process

• Four components in each theory:

– Notice the hard word

– Inspect text for meaning clues

– Infer meaning

– Check meaning in text




Most CVA Instructional Methods Teach “Traditional Context Clues”

to Apply in “Considerate” Text• Considerate Traditional Syntax Clues: e.g.,

– words in a series – parallel structures– compare & contrast structures

• Considerate Traditional Author Clues : e.g.,– appositives, outright definitions– synonyms, antonyms– examples




When text presents no obvious syntactic or intentional clues, most CVA methods say

guess. Webster’s says guess means:

“to form an opinion offrom little or no evidence”

Guessing hardly seems an appropriate strategy!




“Guess the

word” =

“Then a miracle occurs”




Our CVA Study Research Goal

To understand the reasoning or cognitive

processes in CVA in order to build a more effective

CVA curriculum




Initial Research Questions• What traditional text clues are used in

CVA?

• What text meaning is used for CVA?

• What is the role of prior knowledge in CVA?

• What reasoning processes are used in CVA?

• How is a word meaning hypothesized from CVA?

• How are hypothesized meanings tested?




General Procedure: Think Aloud or Verbal Protocol Research

Problem solving research often examines “expert performance” to “identify the

processes and capacities that mediate and constrain superior performance”

(Ericsson, 2004)




Research MethodologyWords

• Identified small set of “hard words”• Used 5-17 authentic texts with each word• Sometimes, replaced hard word with a

neologism: e.g., itresia for estuary

Participants• High school, college-prep students• Excellent or outstanding readers• Pre-tested on hard words




Target Words (Neologism)

NOUNS• estuary (itriesa)• proximity

(quazonity)• juggernaut

(clamberdite)• brachet• hackney

VERBS• dress (varl)• proliferate

(quamogerate)

Adjectives• taciturn (vedosarn)




“Potentially Useful” Context Clues

For each text, coded all potentially useful context clues according to research literature for nouns and verbs

NOUNS• Ames, 1966• Sternberg, 1987• Deighton, 1959• Ehrlich, 1995

VERBS• Miller, 1995




Procedures• Worked 1-1 with researcher• Told there was a hard word • Hard word was highlighted in texts• Meanings of other unknown words provided • Read each of 5-17 passages, one at a time• Thought aloud when using CVA• Hypothesized a meaning after each passage• Sessions recorded on audio tape • Sessions transcribed verbatim




Codes: Sense of the Word1. No answer given

2. Don’t know

3. Incorrect, no justified sense given

4. Incorrect, but reasonable sense of word

5. Incorrect, based on language patterns

6. Vague-partial

7. Approximate sense in context

8. Nearly correct sense in context

9. Correct sense in context




Codes: CVA Reasoning Processes1. Abstract reasoning

2. Language clues

3. Prior encounters with word

4. Selective encoding

5. Selective combination

6. Selective comparison

7. Prior hypothesis

8. Prior knowledge

9. Global

10. Model building




Four Strands of Findings1.Approaches to CVA

2.Cognitive processes in CVA: prior knowledge and reasoning

3.Use of traditional text cues for CVA

4.Sense of word meaning from CVA




Finding 1:Readers’ Approaches to CVA

• Most read entire text, then returned to focus on target word

• A few stopped reading at the target word or end of sentence to work on word meaning immediately

• A very few read the target sentence first, then read entire text

• Regardless of approach—all students reread the target sentence at least once




Finding 2: Cognitive ProcessesWhat Excellent Readers

Do During CVA

In a Phrase

Lean Back and Think!




For Nouns, Excellent Readers Used 9 Analytical Processes—But

Not Consistently in this Order 1. Language clues: i.e., traditional context

clues, when available

a. Familiar expressions

b. Connected series

c. Morphological

2. Previous encounters with the word

a. Pre-think aloud

b. Previous passages




CVA Processes observed continued

3. Global (reading comprehension strategies)

a. Visualizingb. Summarizingc. Clarifyingd. Self-questioninge. Insightf. Confirming-confidence





4. Selective encoding—separate relevant and irrelevant information

5. Selective combination—combine relevant information, but not with prior knowledge

6. Recall background knowledge—but not linking it explicitly to the text

7. Selective comparison—combine text information & prior knowledge





8. Abstract reasoning

a. Properties of hard word

b. Function of hard word

c. Comparison-contrast





9. Hypothesisa. First hypothesis (first text)

i. State first hypothesisii. Test hypothesis

b. Prior hypotheses (due to method)a. Confirms b. Revisesc. Questions




Common Strategies—But Not Step-by-Step Application of Strategies

• As a group, each excellent reader used many or nearly all the coded strategies

• But they did not apply a consistent, step-by-step sequence of strategies from word-to-word or text-to-text—highly idiosyncratic




Finding 3:

Use of Traditional Text Cues• To determine a word’s meaning from

CVA, readers rarely reinspected text

• Expert readers reinspected text only for testing their hypothesized meaning




Our Conclusion

Spotting Context Clues for CVA is a Snap—When You Already Know

the Meaning of the Word!




Finding 4: Sense of a Word’s Meaning Gained from CVA

• Closure was rare!

• Most gained an approximate sense of the word’s meaning as it was used

• Hypothesized meanings congruent with text were generally derived by 3rd or 4th text

• Confidence in hypothesis increased with additional texts—but rarely sure




• Some persisted with their hypothesis even when noting it did not fit in other texts

• Occasionally, students used logical information and applied intelligent reasoning, but the deduced meaning was not in keeping with the author’s meaning

When ReaderDid Not Know The Thing

• When students did not know the thing (i.e., object, action, feeling, emotion) or concept the word signified, CVA was usually not a productive process: i.e.,




Context is best for helping readers learn

words they DO NOT know

for

things they DO know

Context is much less helpful in situations where readers must learn both a new concept or thing and the

word that signifies that thing




A Model of How We Do CVA

The following set of slides is based on findings from our CVA research. The structure of the slides is adapted from a portion of William Rapaport’s presentation with Michael W. Kibby at the 2004 International Reading Association annual meeting in Reno, NV




Text . . . (1)

Text . . . (2)

Text . . . (3)

Text . . . (4)

Text . . . (n)

PK 1

PK 2

PK 3

PK 4

X

PK = Prior Knowledge

TEXTMINDReasoning

MG = Meaning Gained NK = New Knowledge

X = Unknown Word




Text . . . (1)

Text . . . (2)

Text . . . (3)

Text . . . (4)

Text . . . (n)

PK 1

PK 2

PK 3

PK 4

X


Comp.MG (T1)

TEXTMINDReasoning


X = Unknown Word




Text . . . (1)

Text . . . (2)

Text . . . (3)

Text . . . (4)

Text . . . (n)

PK 1

PK 2

PK 3

PK 4

X


Comp.MG (T1)

TEXTMINDReasoning

MG = Meaning Gained

Inference

NK = New Knowledge

NK 5

X = Unknown Word




Text . . . (1)

Text . . . (2)

Text . . . (3)

Text . . . (4)

Text . . . (n)

PK 1

PK 2

PK 3

PK 4

X


Comp.MG (T1)

TEXTMINDReasoning

MG = Meaning Gained

Inference

NK = New Knowledge

NK 5Comp.

MG (T2)

X = Unknown Word




Text . . . (1)

Text . . . (2)

Text . . . (3)

Text . . . (4)

Text . . . (n)

PK 1

PK 2

PK 3

PK 4

X


Comp.MG (T1)

TEXTMINDReasoning

MG = Meaning Gained

Inference

NK = New Knowledge

NK 5

NK 6

Comp.

MG (T2)Inference

X = Unknown Word




Text . . . (1)

Text . . . (2)

Text . . . (3)

Text . . . (4)

Text . . . (n)

PK 1

PK 2

PK 3

PK 4

X


Comp.MG (T1)

TEXTMINDReasoning

MG = Meaning Gained

Inference

NK = New Knowledge

NK 5

NK 6

Comp.

MG (T2)Inference

Comp.

MG (T3)

X = Unknown Word




Text . . . (1)

Text . . . (2)

Text . . . (3)

Text . . . (4)

Text . . . (n)

PK 1

PK 2

PK 3

PK 4

X


MG (T1)

TEXTMINDReasoning


NK 5

NK 6

MG (T2)

MG (T3)

ContextOperates

Here

X = Unknown Word




Text . . . (1)

Text . . . (2)

Text . . . (3)

Text . . . (4)

Text . . . (n)

PK 1

PK 2

PK 3

PK 4

X


MG (T1)

TEXTMINDReasoning


NK 5

NK 6

MG (T2)

MG (T3)

CheckHypothesized

Meaningin Text

X = Unknown Word




Visual Representation

X




Visual Representation

X

PriorKnowledge

Hypothesis

Text MeaningReasoning

ConnectApply

Deduce GainNote Word

Check




Conclusions

• CVA is one component of the global reading comprehension process

• When present, readers use traditional clues—but infrequent in authentic texts

• Excellent readers first seek a synonym for the hard word, and use further contexts to sharpen their hypothesis

• CVA strategies are varied, and not applied in a consistently observed step-by-step sequence from word-to-word or text-to-text




Conclusions continued

None of these processes meets the definition of guessing.

Indeed, what our excellent readers did during CVA was clearly intelligent, demonstrating advanced intellectual processes, perhaps phrased most succinctly by

Read Carefully, Lean Back, and Think




Limitations of the Study

• Told there was a hard word

• Required to do CVA

• Saw same hard word in several consecutive passages

• Small number of participants

• Authentic texts, but maybe too short

• Much prompting during think-alouds




Teaching CVA: Rationale

• Excellent readers never guessed, they gathered important information and analyzed it with reasoning

• Good readers’ CVA strategies are similar to strategies used by CSIs on American TV: – awareness there is a problem,– data gathering,– analyzing data to generate hypotheses, & – testing hypotheses




Teaching CVA: Rationale continued

• We think CVA processes used by excellent readers can be learned by less-than-excellent readers

• We think students should be taught CVA strategies—i.e., to become CSIs or contextual semantic investigators

• CVA process not step-like, but may have to teach it in step-like manner




Modeling and Applying CVA Must Be Done With Unknown Words

• Modeling CVA think-alouds—with unknown words

• Scaffolding student think-alouds—with unknown words

• Peer group application with written think-alouds—with unknown words

• Independent application of CVA—with unknown words




Teaching CVA: Recommendations

Our recommendations for teaching CVA are fully presented in a chapter that is under review, CSI: Contextual Semantic Investigation for Word Meaning (Kibby, Rapaport, Wieland, & Dechert) posted at our CVA website

http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/CVA/




Teaching CVA: Recommendations continued

This chapter provides • Specific hints for teachers • Step-by-step teaching activities • Examples for teacher modeling of CVA• A page from CSI Researcher Notebook • A step-by-step chart called Instructions for

CSI Investigators to guide students learning CVA strategies (next page)

• An alternate graphic guide, called The CSI Process: How to Think Like a CSI (last page)




Instructions for CSI Investigators 1. Focus on Hard Word: Have you seen/heard the word before? Does the word have any identifiable structural cues (e.g., prefix, affix, root)? 2. Reread: Reread the sentence with the hard word (maybe the preceding sentence) to gain full meaning. 3. Synonyms: Can you think of another word or phrase that would easily replace this word and make sense within the text? 4. Part of Speech: What part of speech is this word? 5. Word Linkages: Are other words within the text possibly linked to this word (e.g., antonyms, synonyms, subordinates, super ordinates)? 6. Reword: Reconstruct the target sentence so that the target word is in the subject position. 7. Summarize Your Comprehension: In your mind, summarize the meaning you gained from everything in the text you have read so far. 8. Use Prior Knowledge: Think about what you already know about the topic; think how your prior knowledge might be linked to the hard

word. 9. Connect: Connect meaning gained from reading with prior knowledge so that all you know about this topic is at the forefront of your

thinking.10. Reaction: Imagine yourself in this portion of the text. How you would feel? What you would be experiencing? How you might react?11. Thinking or Reasoning: Use the following suggestions to guide you think about what you have learned from the text about the hard word.

General meaning: How does this word relate to the meaning of the passage or the meaning of the immediately surrounding text?Class membership: What category of person or thing is this?Properties: What properties does this person or thing have?Structural information: What is the size, shape, parts, etc. of this person or thing?Visualize: Can you build a picture in your mind of what this person or thing might look like?Acts or Functions: What kinds of things can this person or thing do? What this person or thing does is done to whom or what?Agents: Who does something to or with this person or thing? What do they do to or with the person or thing?Ownership: Can this thing be owned? If so, by whom?Comparison-Contrast: Is the person or thing compared or contrasted to some other person or thing?

a. ForNouns—theseprocessesare not linear,and are listedin noparticularorder

Synonyms: Can you think of another word or phrase that would easily replace this word and make sense within the text?Transitivity (Knowing if the unknown verb is solely an action, an action done to another person or thing, or an action done toanother person or thing to or with something may provide much information about the unknown verb):

• I s this wo rd th e actual acti on (intransiti —ve acti on only: . .,e g J ohnsan ).g• I s th e action done t o anoth er thi (ng transitive—ver b an d dire ctobjec : t e. ., g J oh n san g Happ y Birthday).• I s th e action done t o anoth er thi /ng towith somethi (ng ditransitive—ha s direc t andindirec t objec : t J oh n s angHappyBirthd ay to h is sister).

Cla ss membershi : p Wha t catego ry ofacti on is this?Properties: Wha t properties doe s this acti on hav ?e

. b ForVerb —stheseprocessesar e notline ,aran d are listedi n noparticularorder Visualiz : e Can y ou buil d a pictur e i n you r mind ofw hatth is acti onmi ghtlo ok like?

Contrasts: Do es th is har d wor d appea r to contras t thesubjec t o r acti on it modifie s t o anot her famili ar subjec t o r acti ?onParallelism: If th e gramma r of th e har d word’ s sentence/claus (e modifier-subject/action) isparall el to another, is that a cl ?ue

c. ForModifiers

Attributes: W hatinformati on doe s thehard wo rd provi dea bouto f gend , er number, actions, appearance, color, directio , n feelings,existenc , e qualities, relatio , n place, shape, sound, speed, status, temperatur , e time, tou ch or negativ /e positiv e attribute s o f thesubje ct i t modifies?

12. Hypothesis: S tateyo urhypothesize d orpredicte d meani ng of the ha rd pers ,on thi , ng o r action.13. Te st t he Hypothes :is Repla ce theh ardwor d wi thyo urmeani ngo r synony . m Do es th is mak e sense? If yes, conti .nue ,If no go back to 1.




Thinking/ReasoningUse text meaning, prior knowledge, and

reactions to predict meaning of hard word(see Sidebar A)

AWARENESS:Note There is an Unknown

Word

Focus Pay

attention to the hard word

Reword Reconstruct sentence so hard word is the subject

CSI—THE CONTEXTUAL SEMANTIC INVESTIGATION

PROCESS:How to Think Like a Contextual Semantic Investigator to Learn

For Verbs• Transitivity

-Is hard word the action?-Is action done to a thing?

- Is action done to a thing with something?

• Think of the kind of action this is

• Think what properties this action has

• Visualize how this action might look

HypothesisState predicted

sense of the meaning of the

hard word

Considerate Text?Determine if text

provide intentional clues: e.g., outright definition, example,

appositive, contrasting or

parallel language, words in a series

. . .Venture a hunch &

TEST

IntuitionVenture a hunch &

TEST

DATA GATHERING:

Prepare to Hypothesize

Meaning

Generate Hypothesized

Meaning

Test Hypothesis

Summarize Meaning

Summarize meaning of all text read so far

Linkages Note if other

words in text are linked to hard

word

ActivatePrior Knowledge

Think how your prior knowledge

links to word

Connect Connect text meaning with

prior knowledge

Part of SpeechDetermine hard word's part of

speech

ReactionImagine yourself in this section of

the text

RereadReread sentence

carefully and slowly

For Nouns• General meaning; how

word relates to text• Class membership

• Properties• Structural information

• Visualize• Functions / Acts

• Ownership• Compare-Contrast

• Synonyms

For Adjectives• Contrasts: Does this word

contrast subject or action to a familiar subject or action?Parallelism: If grammar is

parallel to other sentences or clauses, is this a clue?

Attributes: Does word give information about the

attributes of the subject or actions (e.g., size,

appearance, qualities, value, place)?

ConfirmEstimate how sure

you are of your hypothesized word

meaning by replacing the hard

word with your meaning

ConfirmIf the sentence makes sense, continue; if it

does not make sense, start over

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