Effects of Instruction in Deriving Word Meaning from Context: A Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis of 21 instructional treatments aimed at enhancing the skill of deliberately deriving word meaning from context during reading shows a medium effect size of 0.43 standard deviation units (p < .000). An exploratory multilevel regression analysis shows that clue instruction appears to be more effective than other instruction types or just practice (β = 0.40). Effect size correlates negatively with class size (β = .03). Implications for instruction and future research are discussed. Future studies should investigate the effect of instruction on both the skill of deriving word meaning from context and incidental word learning to evaluate its contribution to vocabulary growth.