Learning On-Demand

Learning On-Demand: What They Need, When They Need It

Erin Seipke-Brown

Winter 2022

Group Event Data Sampling in a Classroom Setting

Dr. Elisa Maroney

Learning On-Demand

Learning On-Demand: What They Need, When They Need It

Erin Seipke-Brown

Abstract

The focus of this action research study is to examine the impact of direct vocabulary instruction

among middle school age deaf and hard of hearing students in a general education setting with

interpreter support. The primary method of data collection was the use of a data sampling form.

Two trends were noted in the analysis of the data. As students’ functional use of key vocabulary

signs increased, their use of lexicalized representation decreased, and the need for lexicalized

vocabulary representation in interpreted discourse decreased.

Keywords: reading interventions, vocabulary learning, lexicalization

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 Table of Contents

Abstract......................................................................................................................................................2

Introduction...............................................................................................................................................4

Literature Review......................................................................................................................................4

Results and Discussion..............................................................................................................................6

References..................................................................................................................................................9

Appendix A..............................................................................................................................................11

Appendix B...............................................................................................................................................12

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Learning On-Demand

Introduction

For school-aged children, every unit in a class includes an introduction to new vocabulary. A

class such as world geography also introduces students to geographical locations, such as

countries, continents, and regions, they may have never heard of. Deaf and hard of hearing

students who use a signed language to access the curriculum need to learn the names of these

locales in American Sign Language (ASL) and English while simultaneously learning the

geographical location in which they are positioned and the curriculum content. This has been the

case with two sixth-grade students for whom I interpret. Despite applying recommended

techniques for interpreting for students of this age (Schick, 2007), such as pairing the ASL name

sign for a country with fingerspelling for English representation of the country’s name, I

observed that the students were still struggling to learn and use the signs for the geographical

locations. This made me wonder if I could develop a resource students could use on their own to

reinforce their learning of ASL signs for the geographical locations they were studying.

The purpose of this study is to examine what impact, if any, was made on students’ recognition

of ASL name signs for South American countries by implementing an intervention tool I created

to provide on-demand vocabulary support during a unit on the countries of South America.

Literature Review

According to Elgort (2018), when learning vocabulary deliberately, “the learner sets out to learn

new words or to improve the quality or strength of” (p. 5) existing vocabulary knowledge. There

is debate in the literature about the retainability of vocabulary that is learned deliberately

compared to that which is learned incidentally (Hulstijn 2001, Luckner and Cooke, 2010,

Williams, 2012). Williams’ research on promoting vocabulary learning in young deaf and hard

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of hearing children found that “recent research on vocabulary intervention with young children

who have typical hearing demonstrates the effectiveness of targeted, contextualized instruction

on children’s word learning” (2012, p. 501). Likewise, Luckner and Cooke found that “direct

vocabulary instruction helps students learn…difficult words that represent complex concepts that

are not part of their everyday experiences” (2010, p. 39).

Research into second language pedagogy shows the importance of designing tasks for learners

that focus attention on vocabulary learning (Hulstijn, 2001), noting that each additional exposure

to vocabulary words increases students’ ability to construct meaning from them (Williams,

2012). This is important in relation to how deaf and hard of hearing children learn words.

Research shows that deaf and hard of hearing children are “less likely to learn words

incidentally” (p. 507). This is a key consideration for deaf and hard of hearing learners. “One

major educational goal for all students is to increase vocabulary and concept knowledge”

(Schick, 2007), which is critical for being able to read. Teaching Deaf and hard of hearing

learners vocabulary directly, and ensuring they have many opportunities to engage with the

words in context, supports their word learning (Williams, 2012). To that end, Luckner and Cooke

find that the challenge lies in identifying which words to target for instruction (2010).

Method

This project was conducted in a sixth-grade world geography class with two students who use an

interpreter to access the general education curriculum. A list of the vocabulary was procured

from the students’ teacher, comprised of the name of the continent, South America, and the 13

South American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, French

Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela) one day before the unit

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Learning On-Demand

was introduced to the class. I developed a Google Slideshow (see Appendix A) of the

vocabulary, creating a slide for each name with the written word and a video of the sign.

The unit on South America was taught over eleven days. Vocabulary was introduced to the

students on day one of the unit and incorporated into classroom discourse on each subsequent

day. On day one, students were asked to recall and produce the signs for the continent and each

country, and data was collected for each student on a group event sampling form (see Appendix

B) with the use of tally marks; this data serves as a pre-assessment of the students’ prior

knowledge. Students were then provided access to the Google Slideshow.

Over the following ten days of the unit, the names of countries and the continent were interpreted

using the sign name without the support of lexicalized English unless requested by either student.

Using tally marks on the group event sampling form, data was collected on the number of

occurrences of students’ use of lexicalized English representation of the vocabulary, students’

use of sign name representation of the vocabulary, and students’ requests for interpreter

lexicalization of the vocabulary. At the conclusion of the unit, students were asked to produce

the sign name for the continent and each country and data was collected for each student on the

group event sampling form using tally marks; this data serves as a post-assessment.

Results and Discussion

Data collected on day one of the unit indicated that students had limited prior knowledge of the

unit vocabulary. In the pre-assessment check, student one was able to produce the signs for

South American and Brazil and student two was able to produce the sign for South America.

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 Signs Known By Student Prior to Unit
Venezuela
Uruguay
Suriname
Peru
Paraguay
Guyana
French Guiana
Ecuador
Colombia
Chile
Brazil
Bolivia
Argentina
South America
0 1

Student 1 Student 2

Data collected after students were provided with the Google Slideshow of signs illustrated

several patterns. During the unit of study, both students showed an overall decline in their use of

vocabulary lexicalization, an overall increase in their use of signs for unit vocabulary, and an

overall decline in their request for interpreter lexicalization of vocabulary. Analysis of the data

suggests that as students’ knowledge of unit vocabulary signs increases, it replaces student use of

lexicalization. Analysis also suggests that as students’ knowledge of unit vocabulary signs

increases, their need for interpreter lexicalization of vocabulary decreases.

Student 1
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2/4/2022 2/7/2022 2/8/2022 2/9/2022 2/10/20222/11/20222/14/20222/15/20222/16/20222/17/20222/18/2022

Student Lexicalization Student Sign Request for Lexicalization

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Learning On-Demand

Student 2
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2/4/2022 2/7/2022 2/8/2022 2/9/2022 2/10/20222/11/20222/14/20222/15/20222/16/20222/17/20222/18/2022

Student Lexicalization Student Sign Request for Lexicalization

Data collected on the final day of the unit during a post-assessment check indicated that both

students experienced an increase in their knowledge of unit vocabulary.

Signs Known by Student at End of Unit

Venezuela
Uruguay
Suriname
Peru
Paraguay
Guyana
French Guiana
Ecuador
Colombia
Chile
Brazil
Bolivia
Argentina
South America
0 1

Student 1 Student 2

Though the data shows that students did show growth in the number of vocabulary signs known

during this project, the source of the learning is inconclusive. No data was collected on students’

use of the resource provided or their perceptions of the resource’s value to their learning.

Additionally, no data was collected on the frequency each vocabulary item was used in

classroom discourse.

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 Conclusion

Through this study, I wanted to learn whether I, as an educational interpreter, could positively

impact student learning through the development and provision of a resource designed to meet an

identified educational need. Based on the results of my research, when interpreters provide

students with learning support resources, students can experience a positive impact on their

learning outcomes.

Change in Vocabulary Known by Students

Student 2

Student 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Post-Assessment Vocabulary Pre-Assessment Vocabulary

Future research would benefit from the inclusion of additional data points in the data collection

process. Exploration of different kinds of on-demand supports interpreters could provide students

would benefit the research, as well, to determine whether there are limits to the academic growth

students can experience through such tools.

References

Elgort, I. (2018). Technology-Mediated Second Language Vocabulary Development: A Review

of Trends in Research Methodology. CALICO Journal, 35(1), 1–29.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/90016519

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Learning On-Demand

Hulstijn, J. H. (2001). Intentional and incidental second-language vocabulary learning: A

reappraisal of elaboration, rehearsal and automaticity. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition

and Second Language Instruction (pp. 258-286). Cambridge University Press.

Luckner, J. L., & Cooke, C. (2010). A Summary of the Vocabulary Research With Students Who

Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. American Annals of the Deaf, 155(1), 38–67.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/26235017

Schick, B. (2007) Classroom interpreters – What does an Educational Interpreter do? Make

appropriate use of fingerspelling. Retrieved from

https://classroominterpreting.org/Interpreters/role/fingerspelling.asp

Williams, C. (2012). Promoting Vocabulary Learning in Young Children Who Are d/Deaf and

Hard of Hearing: Translating Research Into Practice. American Annals of the Deaf,

156(5), 501–508. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26235179

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Appendix A

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Learning On-Demand

Appendix B

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