Has Vocabulary Intervention Had an Effect? A Valid, Reliable, and (Fairly) Quick Outcome Measure for Semantic Knowledge.

Abstract

Purpose Vocabulary intervention should be guided by information from outcome measures that demonstrate whether the student has grown in depth or breadth of understanding of the taught words. However, there is a paucity of tools, to measure depth of vocabulary knowledge, that are available for clinical use. Method The challenges of vocabulary measurement are summarized. A procedure to assess semantic knowledge of specific words, both before and after treatment, is outlined: 5 yes/no questions that use the target word in different contexts (Stallman et al., 1995), and definitions, scored on a 5-point scale (Duff, 2019). These combined measures evaluate word knowledge along a wide continuum of semantic knowledge. Results Evidence for the validity and reliability of these measures, as well as sensitivity to treatment effects, is reviewed, and implementation resources are provided for clinicians. Conclusion This protocol can be used by clinicians to evaluate the effectiveness of vocabulary treatment by comparing a child s semantic knowledge of specific words before and after treatment.