Effect of a Science Vocabulary Intervention on Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Attitude Among Middle-School Multilingual Learners

Understanding science texts is a daily necessity in the twenty-first century. This poses challenges for many students, but students who are double identified as emergent multilingual learners with reading difficulties (MLs-RD) face compounded challenges with regard to specific science-related vocabulary. The current study examined the effect of Science Generation, a multimodal vocabulary intervention, on the acquisition of science and general academic words, science comprehension and science attitude by 10 middle school MLs-RD using a reversal single-case design. Students were divided into two groups based on grade level (i.e., Group 1: sixth grade; Group 2: seventh and eighth grades). A strong effect of the intervention was found for learning vocabulary words, but a small effect on reading comprehension. Further, students’ science attitude improved, and the intervention was rated favorably. Thus, the intervention appears to have promise for increasing science vocabulary among middle school students who are MLs-RD.