How Cognate Strategy How Cognate Strategy InstructionInstructionPromotes Vocabulary for the Promotes Vocabulary for the CCSSCCSS

Dana L. GrishamNational University

ACOE 6th Annual English Learner Conference January 26, 2013

Hayward, CA

Words are ImportantWords are ImportantIt is how we communicate with

one another – orally and in writingWe learn with, through, and

about wordsHighly correlated with reading

comprehension (.6 to .8 correlation)

Academic language is the key to achievement

Vocabulary Gap for Diverse Vocabulary Gap for Diverse StudentsStudentsStudents who struggle as readersChildren learning English as a

second languageChildren with special needs

The Gap Widens Over The Gap Widens Over TimeTimeThe Matthew Effect (Stanovich,

1986). The more you know, the more you grow…

4th grade slump due in part to increased vocabulary load of textbooks and academic subject matter (Chall, 1983)

CCSS, 2010CCSS, 2010Necessity of reading “complex texts”

independentlyIncreased emphasis on non-fiction

textsNeed for “close reading”Need to increase “skill,

concentration, and stamina”What can we do to increase the

reading comprehension of more than 5 million Spanish-speaking ELLs?

Theoretical FrameworkTheoretical FrameworkEnglish and Spanish cognates share

a common Latin rootStudents (and adults) often fail to

recognize cognates unless they are taught awareness of the relationship

Once taught, the transparency of cognate pairs may enhance bilingual students’ reading comprehension (August & Shanahan, 2006)

Research documents the efficacy of Cognate Strategy Instruction (Lubliner & Grisham, 2012; Moran, 2011)

Language and Academic Language and Academic LanguageLanguageA “third” language for many! (Zwiers,

2005)

Book language (CALP) (Cummins, 1979)

Multiple vs. “Standard” Literacies (Valdez, 2000)

Specific academic contexts (and accountability) (Schleppegrell, 2001)

“…a variety or a register of English used in professional books and characterized by specific linguistic features associated with academic disciplines.” (Scarcella, 2003)

Academic LanguageAcademic LanguageCognates are plentiful in Academic

Language (Coxhead, 2000; Hiebert & Lubliner, 2011)

English may share as many as 15,000 cognates with similar orthographic and phonological features (Nash, 1997)

Knowledge of cognates may provide Spanish-speaking bilingual students with an advantage in learning academic language (Lubliner & Grisham, 2012)

Language EvolvesLanguage EvolvesLanguage is dynamic, but rule

governedScarcella’s Components

◦Phonological◦Lexical◦Grammatical◦Sociolinguistic◦Discourse

A Grammatical A Grammatical ComponentComponentOrdinaryKnowledge of morphemes

entailing semantic, syntactic, relational, phonological, and distributional properties; syntax; knowledge of grammatical co-occurrence restrictions, punctuation.

AcademicAll of the foregoing

plus knowledge of additioanl structures (such as passives, parallel clauses, conditionals, and complex clauses)

Example: bacterium, bacteria

A Phonological A Phonological ComponentComponentOrdinaryKnowledge of

everyday English sounds and the ways sounds are combined, stress, and intonation. Example: ship v. sheep; sheet v. cheat

AcademicKnowledge of the

phonological features of academic English, including stress, intonation, and sound patterns. Example: demography v. demographic

A Lexical ComponentA Lexical ComponentOrdinaryKnowledge of the forms

and meanings of words in everyday situations; knowledge of the ways words are formed with roots and affixes; parts of speech and grammatical constraints

Example: find out

AcademicKnowledge of the forms

and meanings of words used across academic disciplines; academic roots and affixes; parts of speech and academic grammatical constraints.

Example: investigate

A Grammatical A Grammatical ComponentComponentOrdinaryKnowledge of morphemes

entailing semantic, syntactic, relational, phonological, and distributional properties; syntax; knowledge of grammatical co-occurrence restrictions, punctuation.

AcademicAll of the foregoing

plus knowledge of additioanl structures (such as passives, parallel clauses, conditionals, and complex clauses)

Example: bacterium, bacteria

A Sociolinguistic A Sociolinguistic ComponentComponentOrdinaryKnowledge that enables

one to understand how sentences are produced and understood appropriately, frequently occurring functions and genres of everyday situations. Example: Making statements

AcademicKnowledge of

increased language functions. Example: Genres, including scientific writing

Other “registers”

A Discourse ComponentA Discourse ComponentOrdinaryKnowledge of basic

discourse devices in talk and writing; informal writing types; organizational signals that let talk and writing flow.

AcademicKnowledge of

features of academic discourse such as transitions and other organizational signals to aid reading, see relationships; follow logical lines of thought.

Cognitive Dimensions of Cognitive Dimensions of Academic LiteracyAcademic LiteracyKnowledge: declarative,

procedural, conditionalHigher Order Thinking Skills Strategic ComponentMetalinguistic Component

What are Cognates?What are Cognates?Cognates are words that look and/or

sound alike in two languages (example: operation/operación (Spanish)

Research suggests that Spanish-speaking students can be taught to recognize cognates and use cognate information to comprehend English texts (Bravo, Hiebert, & Pearson, 2005; Proctor, Dalton & Grisham, 2007; Lubliner & Grisham, 2012)

Research QuestionResearch QuestionWhat is the relationship between

cognate recognition and independent reading by intermediate-level Spanish-speaking English Learners at the secondary level?

In follow on research we will focus on how easy it is for monolingual teachers to teach CSI.

Methods Methods

Mixed method study with data collection and analysis still in progress

Participants: an experienced bilingual teacher/researcher, two university researchers, an intact 6th grade class (N=28) of varying CELDT levels

Focus on science texts with implementation of Cognate Strategy Instruction (CSI) (Lubliner & Grisham, 2012) in an urban public middle school

Methods Methods

Observations of the classroom, teacher and researcher field notes, pre/post assessments of cognate knowledge

Interviews of teacher, artifacts from the classroom

Quantitative and Qualitative data analysis with member checking

Assessing Student Assessing Student LearningLearningCognates in IsolationCognates in ContextMAZE (CLOZE) Assessment for

ComprehensionThink-Alouds for Cognate Use

and Comprehension

Findings from the 2011-2012 Findings from the 2011-2012 StudyStudy

Group Cognate Recognition Pre (40)

Cognate Recognition Post (40)

Cognates in Context

Pre (74)

Cognates in Context Post (74)

Bilingual Mean 27.93 37.78 27.33 51.22N 27 27 27 27SD 11.93 5.68 15.48 12.45

Mainstream

Mean 27.08 26.42 11.00 11.50N 12 12 12 12SD 8.16 9.43 4.31 5.04

Bilingual Spanish-speaking students in a 6th bilingual class were compared to bilingual Spanish-speaking students in a mainstream class in the same school on two tests of cognate recognition Cognates in Isolation (40 matching items)

Cognates in Context (74 cognates in a 300-word natural science text)

The bilingual class students received 14 lessons explicitly teaching the cognate strategy from their normal classroom teacher. No explicit cognate instruction was provided to the mainstream class

Findings from the 2011-2012 Findings from the 2011-2012 StudyStudy

ANOVA Table 

df Mean

Sq F Sig.

Cognate Recognition Pre Group

1 5.89 .049 .83 37 119.91   38     

Cognate Recognition Post Group

1 1072.31 21.83 .00** 37 49.12   38     

Cognates in Context Pre Group

1 2216.3 12.75 .00** 37 173.89   38     

Cognates in Context Post Group

** p ≤ .001

1 13108.33 112.49 .00** 37 116.53   38     

Groups did not differ significantly on the Cognate Recognition Pretest but did differ significantly on the Cognates in Context Pretest

Posttest differences on both tests were significant

Findings from the 2011-2012 Findings from the 2011-2012 StudyStudy

Measures of Association

  Eta Eta Squared

Cognate Recognition Post * Group .60 .37

Cognates in Context Post * Group .86 .75

Magnitude of differences between groups on posttests was very large (more than .14 large effect)

Results demonstrated that bilingual Spanish-speaking students who received explicit cognate instruction identified a much larger number of cognates in isolation and cognates in context than bilingual Spanish-speaking students who did not receive such instruction.

Preliminary Findings from Preliminary Findings from the Study 2012-2013 the Study 2012-2013

Implementation of 4 of 14 lessons to date

“A huge light bulb goes off!” Cognates unknown to students prior to CSI

Scaffolding of close reading through CSI◦Science text display with Elmo◦ Identification of cognates before reading◦Reading together with focus on

comprehension◦Discussion of text◦ Independent reading with all students as

language resources

Preliminary Findings from Preliminary Findings from the Study the Study The Cognate Word WallTaking cognates “outside the

classroom”◦Parents◦Other classes◦Cognate searches and sticky notes

Empowerment of students◦“They are excited!”◦“They can now use what they didn’t

know they knew!”

Preliminary Findings from Preliminary Findings from the Study the Study Transfer to other content areas

(e.g., history teacher anecdotal evidence)

Increased focus on words by students (observed)◦Less skipping of words◦Less reliance on context◦More inquiry: “What does this word

mean?”

Discussion & ImplicationsDiscussion & ImplicationsBilingual students as language experts

—viewing themselves as competent learners

CSI approach honors language and culture of students

A note about so-called “false cognates”Teacher concerns about strengthening

and extending CSI for more transfer, application, and independence

CSI and transfer to the “real world”

Implications for CCSSImplications for CCSSIn the next phase of the study we will be

extending CSI to other middle school science teachers who will be monolingual-English speakers

Assuming that our findings remain positive for CSI (Lubliner & Grisham, 2012; Moran, 2011), we would like to begin CSI at the end of third grade for Spanish-speaking ELLs

We hope to see the strategy become automatic as children use it more than one academic year

The Academic Word ListThe Academic Word List Academic Word List (Averil Coxhead)

see at http://language.massey.ac.nz/staff/awl/

Up to 70% of academic words may be Spanish/English cognates

Translate at BabelFish:http://babelfish.yahoo.com/?fr=avbbf-xxen

Most Frequent Academic Most Frequent Academic WordsWordsanalysisapproachareaassessmentassumeauthorityavailablebenefit concept consistent

constitutionalcontextcontractcreatedatadefinitionderived distribution economicenvironment

Most Frequent Academic Most Frequent Academic WordsWordsestablishedestimate evidenceexport factors financial formula function identified income

indicate individual interpretation involved issues labour legal legislationmajor method

Most Frequent Academic Most Frequent Academic WordsWordsoccurpercent periodpolicyprincipleprocedureprocess required research response

role section sector significant similar source specific structure theoryvariables

Examples of CognatesExamples of CognatesAnalysis (Análisis) Authority (Autoridad)Concept (Concepto)Data (Datos)Economic (Económico)

Example of Sixth Grade Science Example of Sixth Grade Science Text with Find the CognatesText with Find the Cognates

ContactContactDana L. Grisham, National

University dana.grisham@gmail.com