Dual language (Spanish/English) narrative intervention with embedded vocabulary instruction

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

A dual language version of the Story Champs narrative intervention in which 12 Spanish lessons with 12 comparable English lessons targeted storytelling and vocabulary in 20-minute small groups four days a week. The Spanish stories "were not translations of the English stories" but included equivalent linguistic features and vocabulary targets (e.g., brincar-leap) to maximize cross-linguistic transfer. Each of the 12 words was embedded in four lessons, two per language.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• Stories carefully constructed with equivalent linguistic features and vocabulary targets across languages
• Interventionists trained via a 1-hr training plus demonstration and coaching in the classroom

Constraints

• Vocabulary targets were adjectives and verbs that are more abstract and challenging to picture, which may have limited the receptive assessment's sensitivity

Target Learners

• Spanish-speaking preschool dual language learners in Head Start

Learning Goals

• English narrative retelling
• English and Spanish receptive vocabulary
• story grammar and complex language use

Claims

• Dual Language Narrative Intervention Improved English Retells [+M]
• English Vocabulary Large Effect Spanish Small [+M]

Related Designs

Examples

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Key Sources

• Trina D. Spencer, Douglas B. Petersen, M. Adelaida Restrepo, Marilyn Thompson, and Maria Nelly Gutierrez Arvizu. (2019). The Effect of Spanish and English Narrative Intervention on the Language Skills of Young Dual Language Learners. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/0271121418779439

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	design
id	dual-language-narrative-intervention-element
title	Dual language (Spanish/English) narrative intervention with embedded vocabulary instruction
description	A dual language version of the Story Champs narrative intervention in which 12 Spanish lessons with 12 comparable English lessons targeted storytelling and vocabulary in 20-minute small groups four days a week.
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-11-03
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — trina-d-spencer-2019

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