Statement of the Research Problem
In looking at students’ writing samples, the use of descriptive, expressive, and “artful” words that add richness and detail to the writing in this particular fourth-grade classroom was not initially evident. Students at this level of academic development need to be instructed, encouraged, and challenged in the use of rich, more sophisticated words in order to improve the quality of their writing. Stereotypical practices involved mnemonic vocabulary instruction, as random word lists were given at the beginning of the week for students to memorize for the test at the end of the week. Other inadequate methods involved “asking students to look up words in the dictionary and using them in a sentence,” [which] “students find uninteresting in school” (Beck, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnson, 2008, p.13) and which, on their own, is not enough support to ensure words are incorporated in students’ word schema.
Incidental and intentional instruction of Tier 2 words, (Beck, et al, 2002), morphological analysis, and word mapping skills instruction all promote more independent learning and internalization of words. These forms of instruction need to be implemented as part of the English language arts curriculum in order to provide students with the proper exposure and acquisition of richer vocabulary words for use in expressive writing.
The rationale for undertaking this research was to provide evidence that explicit instruction in strategies for morphological word analysis, vocabulary acquisition skills, and word schema would elicit greater use of rich words in fourth-grade students’ writing. Thus, the question that was explored in this study was: Will explicit instruction in morphological word analysis, vocabulary skills, and word schema elicit greater use of rich words in fourth-grade students’ writing?
