Moved by Reading in a Spanish-Speaking, Dual Language Learner Population

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Linguistics

Background:

• Embodied cognition theory suggests physical actions influence cognitive processes.
• Reading comprehension interventions for dual language learners (DLLs) require tailored approaches.
• The Moved by Reading intervention utilizes embodied learning across three stages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of English-only and Spanish-support versions of the Moved by Reading intervention.
• To assess the impact of embodied reading comprehension strategies on Spanish-English DLLs.
• To compare the efficacy of different language supports within the intervention.

Main Methods:

• Sixty-one Spanish-English DLLs were randomly assigned to four groups: Spanish-support control, Spanish-support intervention, English-only control, and English-only intervention.
• Intervention involved three stages: physical manipulation, imagined manipulation, and transfer.
• Analyses of variance compared control and intervention groups based on language of intervention.

Main Results:

• The Spanish-support intervention group showed significantly higher performance in the physical manipulation stage compared to controls.
• The English-only intervention group outperformed controls in the imagined manipulation stage.
• Limited transfer effects were observed for both intervention versions to a new text.

Conclusions:

• The Moved by Reading intervention, in both language versions, enhances reading comprehension performance.
• The Spanish-support version is most effective during the physical manipulation stage.
• The English-only version demonstrates greater efficacy in the imagined manipulation stage, but neither version yields significant transfer effects.