4KW: A Multimedia System for Ensuring that Grade School Students Know the Meaning of the 4,000 Most Frequently Used English Words

The project team is developing an individualized web-based system through which students are first assessed, then placed in one of 10 steps (simpler to more complex sets of words) based on assessed vocabulary knowledge, and then provided instruction with the goal of mastering all 10 steps. As part of the instructional component, the team is developing an automated speech component that records students' voiced pronunciations, judges the accuracy of the student's pronunciation, and then provides the students with feedback. The team is also developing an administrative website for teachers that will be used to monitor student progress, and a user manual that will include quick-start directions and a program overview. In order to assess feasibility and usability, and to gather preliminary data on potential efficacy of the intervention to improve student's vocabulary, a randomized controlled study will be conducted in three schools and 36 classrooms. In these schools, half of the first through fourth grade classrooms will be randomly assigned to use either the intervention or their "business as usual" curricula. Analyses will compare the differences in scores between groups on standardized vocabulary test scores.