Comparative Effects of Spanish and English Vocabulary Instruction for English Language Learners with Moderate Intellectual Disability

Schools across the country are inadequately prepared to meet the educational needs of English language learners (ELLs), much less the needs of ELLs who also have an intellectual disability (ID). In this exploratory study, three Mexican American elementary students with moderate ID were given vocabulary word instruction in English and Spanish using an alternating treatments design, and the effects of the number of words correctly identified per instructional strategy were measured. Two of the students acquired a greater number of English vocabulary words in the Spanish model-lead test intervention. Vocabulary scores increased for the third student under both conditions, but there was no differential advantage by language. Implications for future research and practice related to instructional strategies for this population are discussed.