Date of Conferral
2015
Degree
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
School
Education
Advisor
Dr. Steve Wells
Abstract
Second and 3rd grade Honduran students in a Christian school are not performing at grade level in vocabulary. Students who lag in vocabulary development may not comprehend what they read and are likely to perform poorly in their course work, which may result in repeating the grade. As a result of the students' poor performance, the school implemented vocabulary squares strategy instruction to improve vocabulary development. Guided by the theory of constructivism, the purpose of this casual comparative study was to determine if vocabulary squares strategy instruction resulted in greater word mastery for 2nd and 3rd grade Honduran students than did traditional vocabulary instruction. The control group (n = 16) received traditional vocabulary instruction, and the experimental group (n = 15) received vocabulary squares instruction for a period of 6 weeks. Analysis of gain score differences via an independent t test revealed no significant difference word mastery. The length of time the strategy instruction was implemented may have been insufficient to affect word mastery. It is recommended that teachers employ the vocabulary squares strategy more frequently and over a longer period of time to determine if vocabulary squares strategy instruction results in greater word mastery than traditional instruction. This practice may contribute to positive social change by increasing vocabulary development, which , in turn, affects students' comprehension and course work performance reducing -the number of Honduran students repeating 2nd or 3rd grade.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Laurie, "Vocabulary Strategies in an Elementary Classroom in a Third World Country" (2015). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 266.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/266
