The effects of multimedia-enhanced instruction on the vocabulary of English-language learners and non-English-language learners in pre-kindergarten through second grade.

This study compared traditional and multimedia-enhanced read-aloud vocabulary instruction and investigated whether the effects differed for English-language learners (ELLs) and non-English-language learners (non-ELLs). Results indicate that although there was no added benefit of multimedia-enhanced instruction for non-ELLs, there was a positive effect for ELLs on a researcher-designed measure and on a measure of general vocabulary knowledge. Furthermore, for children in the multimedia-enhanced condition, the gap between non-ELLs and ELLs in knowledge of instructional words was closed, and the gap in general vocabulary knowledge was narrowed. The multimedia support did not negatively impact non-ELLs, indicating the potential of multimedia-enhanced vocabulary instruction for ELLs in inclusive settings.