WordGen Weekly with English Learners
Learn more about " Advancing Academic Language for All!" (Supplemental Activities to Support ELs)Word Generation was not originally developed as an English Language Development curriculum for English learners (ELs), but the program is replete with features that can enhance language and literacy development for ELs. The focus on academic language and discussion allows ELs to participate in a number of beneficial ways. For those who have recently immigrated to the U.S., discussions can provide an introduction to relevant topics that they may not have encountered previously. Teachers have reported that Word Generation activities can provide important footholds for English learners; however, additional scaffolds may be necessary for use with students just starting with English.
Effectiveness for English Learners
While Word Generation is designed to be used with all students and taught by general education teachers, results from prior studies in classrooms with a significant portion of EL students demonstrated larger gains on average for EL than for non-EL students.
The particular value of the WordGen model for ELs, former ELs, and students from language minority homes has been studied in various contexts. Snow, Lawrence and White’s (2009) quasi-experimental study found that language minority students in WordGen schools acquired academic vocabulary faster than their English-only classmates or than language minority students in control schools. Furthermore, their advantage persisted in a follow-up assessment a year after instruction had ended (Lawrence, Capotosto, Branum-Martin, White, & Snow, 2012). Hwang, Lawrence, Mo, and Snow (2014) reported a similar vocabulary learning advantage for newly reclassified ELs over English-only classmates in an experimental study of WordGen; that advantage declined but remained significant for up to four years after reclassification, an effect replicated for reading comprehension.
Perspective Positioning
These WordGen bonus effects for second language speakers of English are reminiscent of the finding that exposure to WordGen reduces the commonly reported predictive relationship between initial academic vocabulary and improvement in either general vocabulary or reading comprehension at the school level. In other words, schools scoring low on academic vocabulary typically also show slower vocabulary and reading growth, but that effect is mitigated in schools implementing WordGen, suggesting its extra value for students in underperforming schools. In addition to differences in vocabulary learning, as the figure indicates, ELs scored far behind non-EL students in their ability to distinguish and explain different perspectives in a text in schools not using Word Generation. In Word Generation classrooms, however, English learners substantially narrowed (and almost eliminated) the gap.
Advancing Academic Language for All! (AALA)
AALA resources provide additional background knowledge, discussion starters, word study, and language supports to help students participate more fully in WordGen. Though AALA was originally developed to engage ELs, especially long-term ELs, other students who struggle with academic language and reading comprehension may also benefit from the additional support.
These materials are available for free at the WordGen Weekly Download Center.
Resources and Activities in Each Unit of AALA:Aligned to WordGen Weekly Series 3
Annotations for Teachers
Raises awareness of some of the common features found in academic text with which students may need help, such as nominalization, predictable discourse patterns, formal diction, and hedging
Development of Word Generation was led by Catherine Snow (Harvard University) and Suzanne Donovan (SERP). Major SERP contributors to program development include: Claire White, Alyse Krantz, Halley Wheeless, Matt Ellinger, David Dudley, and Patrick Hurley. Boston Public Schools and other districts in Massachusetts and Maryland collaborated with SERP to develop Word Generation.
Support for Word Generation was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Noyce Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Leon Lowenstein Foundation and the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education through grant numbers R305A090555 and R305F100026. The information provided does not represent views of the funders.
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