Effects of an Automated Vocabulary and Comprehension Intervention

Abstract

It is well established that oral language skills in preschool, including vocabulary and comprehension, predict later reading proficiency and that substantial differences in oral language skills exist when children enter school. Although explicit instruction embedded in storybooks is a promising intervention approach, high-fidelity implementation in preschool classrooms remains a challenge. An automated, explicit vocabulary and comprehension intervention embedded in books was investigated in this early efficacy study. Nine children in public prekindergarten classrooms serving low-income families participated in small group “listening centers” in which they listened to recorded stories and embedded vocabulary and comprehension lessons under headphones. A repeated acquisition single-case experimental design across instructional targets was used. Results indicate modest improvements in vocabulary and comprehension with multiple replications demonstrated within as well as across children. Automated embedded vocabulary and comprehension intervention appears to be feasible for implementation and produces promising results.