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Teaching strategies to improve students’ vocabulary and text comprehension

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Abstract

Good readers use various comprehension strategies to understand texts. However, many students lack knowledge on how to purposefully and effectively use text comprehension strategies. In this experimental study, the effectiveness of teaching text comprehension strategies on vocabulary and text comprehension at literal, inferential and evaluative levels was evaluated among 257 sixth-grade students from 10 Estonian schools. Accordingly, skim reading, vocabulary building, monitoring, generating and answering questions, and identifying the main idea and summarising were taught by Estonian language teachers during a 3-month intervention period. Group-level analysis indicated that students in the experimental condition improved their vocabulary and text comprehension at all levels, whereas students from the control condition improved only their literal text comprehension. Individual-level analysis revealed that students in different profile groups of the experimental condition benefited from the intervention. However, in the control condition, only those students with average vocabulary and text comprehension increased their literal comprehension. As various strategies can improve students’ text comprehension at different levels, they should be included in the curriculum and reading lessons.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a grant from the European Social Fund 2014—2020.1.0216-0140 ‘The development of teacher education competence centre Pedagogicum at the University of Tartu’.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, University of Tartu, Salme 1a, 50103, Tartu, Estonia

    Triinu Kärbla & Krista Uibu

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

    Mairi Männamaa

Authors
  1. Triinu Kärbla
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  2. Krista Uibu
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  3. Mairi Männamaa
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Correspondence to Triinu Kärbla.

Additional information

Triinu Kärbla. Institute of Education, University of Tartu, Salme 1a, 50103 Tartu, Estonia. E-mail: triinu.karbla@ut.ee

Current themes of research:

Text comprehension levels. Comprehension strategies. Comprehension assessments. Students’ profiles in comprehension and vocabulary. Primary and elementary school.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Kärbla, T.; Uibu, K.; Männamaa, M. (2017). Eesti keele riiklike tasemetööde tekstimõistmise ülesannete analüüs. [Analysis of the comprehension tasks of national standardised tests of Estonian language]. Eesti Rakenduslingvistika Ühingu aastaraamat [Estonian Papers in Applied Linguistics], 13, 73−87.10.5128/ERYa13.05.

Kärbla, T., Uibu, K., & Männamaa, M. (2019). National Estonian-language tests: what is measured in text comprehension tasks? New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences, 6: 8th Cyprus International Conference on Educational Research. Ed. Ahmet Yılmaz. SciencePark Research, Organization and Counseling (SPROC) 8−16. (5).10.18844/prosoc.v6i5.4369.

Kärbla, T., Männamaa, M. & Uibu, K. (2019). Vocabulary and text comprehension levels: what should be considered in assessments? Educational Psychology. DOI: 10.1080/01443410.2019.1703172

Kärbla, T., Uibu, K. (2016). Assessment of the Students' higher-level text comprehension skills in basic school. In: Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences (31−37). Elsevier. (5)

Krista Uibu. Institute of Education, University of Tartu, Salme 1a, 50103 Tartu, Estonia.

Current themes of research:

Development of students’ language competence. Text comprehension. Instructional approaches. Teaching practices. Primary school.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Kärbla, T.; Uibu, K.; Männamaa, M. (2017). Eesti keele riiklike tasemetööde tekstimõistmise ülesannete analüüs. [Analysis of the comprehension tasks of national standardised tests of Estonian language]. Eesti Rakenduslingvistika Ühingu aastaraamat [Estonian Papers in Applied Linguistics], 13, 73−87.10.5128/ERYa13.05.

Kärbla, T., Uibu, K., & Männamaa, M. (2019). National Estonian-language tests: what is measured in text comprehension tasks? New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences, 6: 8th Cyprus International Conference on Educational Research. Ed. Ahmet Yılmaz. SciencePark Research, Organization and Counseling (SPROC) 8−16. (5).10.18844/prosoc.v6i5.4369.

Kärbla, T., Männamaa, M. & Uibu, K. (2019). Vocabulary and text comprehension levels: what should be considered in assessments? Educational Psychology. DOI: 10.1080/01443410.2019.1703172

Kärbla, T., Uibu, K. (2016). Assessment of the students’ higher-level text comprehension skills in basic school. In: Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences (31−37). Elsevier. (5)

Käsper, M.; Uibu, K.; Mikk, J. (2019). Primary school teachers’ teaching strategies for the development of students’ text comprehension. Education 3-13. doi: 10.1080/03004279.2019.1623282.

Käsper, M.; Uibu, K.; Mikk, J. (2018). Language teaching strategies’ impact on third-grade students’ reading outcomes and reading interest. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 10 (5), 601−610.10.26822/iejee.2018541309.

Uibu, K., & Tropp, K. (2013). Longitudinal study of the development of language competence among the Estonian 4th and 5th grade students. In J. Mikk, P. Luik, & M. Veisson (Eds.), Change in Teaching and Learning, (pp. 45–63). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag.

Mäiri Männamaa. Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu, Estonia.

Current themes of research:

Cognitive development. Executive functions. Self-regulation.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Kärbla, T.; Uibu, K.; Männamaa, M. (2017). Eesti keele riiklike tasemetööde tekstimõistmise ülesannete analüüs. [Analysis of the comprehension tasks of national standardised tests of Estonian language]. Eesti Rakenduslingvistika Ühingu aastaraamat [Estonian Papers in Applied Linguistics], 13, 73−87.10.5128/ERYa13.05.

Kärbla, T., Uibu, K., & Männamaa, M. (2019). National Estonian-language tests: what is measured in text comprehension tasks? New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences, 6: 8th Cyprus International Conference on Educational Research. Ed. Ahmet Yılmaz. SciencePark Research, Organization and Counseling (SPROC) 8−16. (5).10.18844/prosoc.v6i5.4369.

Kärbla, T., Männamaa, M. & Uibu, K. (2019). Vocabulary and text comprehension levels: what should be considered in assessments? Educational Psychology. DOI: 10.1080/01443410.2019.1703172

Männamaa, M.; Kikas, E.; Peets, K.; Palu, A. (2012). Cognitive correlates of math skills in third-grade students. Educational Psychology, 32 (1), 21−44.01443410.2011.621713.

Mägi, K., Männamaa, M., Kikas, E. (2016). Profiles of self-regulation in elementary grades: relations to math and reading skills. Learning and Individual Differences, 51, 37−48.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.08.028.

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Appendix 1

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Table 4 Overview of different strategies
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Kärbla, T., Uibu, K. & Männamaa, M. Teaching strategies to improve students’ vocabulary and text comprehension. Eur J Psychol Educ 36, 553–572 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-020-00489-y

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