Children ‘Think Aloud’ and ‘Talk About’ Vocabulary Strategies in an Integrated Memory-based Text Framework

Abstract

The present study aimed at recording and comparing the vocabulary strategies employed by Greek students and bilingual immigrants in an integrated memory-based text framework. Moreover, an effort to correlate the language strategies employed by the participants with their academic performance was attempted. The sample consisted of 20 monolingual and 20 bilingual students of Albanian origin, who attended the 5th and 6th grade of three primary schools in Eastern Thessaloniki, Greece. The monolingual and bilingual students were matched according to their mark reports on academic performance. Qualitative techniques were used for data collection: a) an instrument for recording students' profiles and their difficulties in acquiring vocabulary and memorizing a text b) ‘think aloud’ protocols and retrospective interviews. The identification of the strategies, employed by monolingual and bilingual children in an integrated text framework resulted in the compilation of a strategy model: a) exploration strategies, b) process strategies, c) memory strategies and d) confirmation/consolidation strategies. The correlation of the process strategies with the academic performance was statistically significant in monolingual students, as well as in bilinguals. A stronger positive correlation was found between the memory strategies and the monolinguals’ academic performance, while a positive trend also emerged for bilinguals. Although the study is limited in scope, the strategies resulted from the analysis of the collected data, constitute a holistic process/approach of vocabulary acquisition in an integrated memory-based text framework.