Reading in the content areas: The instructional practices of high school English and history teachers

摘要

Data from standardized state tests suggest that reading deficiencies and lack of reading comprehension is a previous and existing problem in high school content areas (Hinrichs, 2013). The theoretical framework of constructivism was the basis for this study. This qualitative research study was conducted to identify the specific vocabulary-building strategies that English and history content area teachers in an urban Mississippi school district use to teach students struggling to comprehend content area text and materials. The collection of data consisted of interviews from a group of purposefully selected English and history teachers who met the criteria set forth by the researcher. Through a qualitative analysis of the interviews and field notes, the researcher determined that the English and history content area teachers in this study used the following successful processes, strategies, and techniques to develop academic vocabulary building in struggling readers: context clues, word parts, reading, vocabulary flashcards, and decoding. The findings from this study also suggested that English and history content area teachers face the following obstacles when teaching struggling readers in the content areas: (a) students can't read, (b) students struggle with content vocabulary, and (c) students don't comprehend what they read. The information from this study could be used to close the gaps that exist in reading in the high school content areas, struggling high school readers, and vocabulary building strategies.