The effects of direct instruction versus integrated instruction of vocabulary on English language learners

This study examines the impact of a Direct Instructional Approach (DI) and an\ud Integrated Literacy Approach (IL) to teaching English vocabulary to ELL students.\ud DI is a skill-based approach developed to teach skills and vocabulary in a prescribed\ud manner. Student's responses are oral and the manner of responding is expected to be\ud precise. IL, in contrast, is an integrated approach. Vocabulary is emphasized in the\ud context of academic content using SDAIE directives. IL incorporates all aspects of\ud literacy simultaneously to accelerate language learning without compromising\ud academic content learning. The IL group had more significant reading grade level\ud gains than the DI group in the 16-week study with fourth and fifth grade second\ud language learners.\ud KEY WORDS: direct instruction, integrated literacy, English language learners,\ud vocabulary instruction