Oral language and vocabulary development in the early-elementary grades is important for students' overall academic success. Oral language and vocabulary support science learning, and reciprocally, the background knowledge and vocabulary students gain when learning about the natural world supports their reading comprehension. Therefore, oral language and vocabulary development should be an essential focus of instruction for early-elementary students, and as such, current national standards for literacy and science instruction each emphasize oral language development. Given the importance of oral language and vocabulary development for both literacy and science learning, it is critical to understand how teachers support this development in early-elementary science instruction. Most observational studies of vocabulary instruction have taken place within the context of literacy instruction. As little is known about how teachers promote oral language and vocabulary development in science instruction in the early-elementary grades, the present study investigated (1) how teachers use language to promote oral language and vocabulary development during science instruction in the early-elementary grades, (2) whether/how vocabulary talk relates to the language aspects of science talk, and (3) what features of science curriculum materials are related to enhanced vocabulary talk.To answer these questions, I conducted two instrumental case studies. In the first study, I examined the science instruction of a cohort of eight early-elementary teachers in order to understand how they used language to promote students' oral language and vocabulary development. In the second study, I examined the science instruction of Ms. Thompson, kindergarten teacher, in order to identify features of science curriculum materials that are related to enhanced vocabulary talk during science instruction. In total, 24 video recorded science lessons provided 894.27 minutes of observational data across three timepoints from the eight participating teachers. I used discourse analysis and other qualitative analysis techniques to examine the vocabulary talk moves (i.e., ways of using language to promote oral language and vocabulary development) the teachers made during science instruction. I also used quantitative techniques to make within- and between-teacher comparisons of vocabulary talk over the course of the study.The cohort of teachers used considerably more vocabulary talk moves for building students' knowledge of word meanings than for scaffolding students' word use, building students' awareness of words and word learning, or interesting students in words and word learning. This study points to the need to consider the context in which vocabulary talk moves are made and the overall quality of this vocabulary talk in addition to examining which moves the teachers make. Curriculum materials that (a) identified target words and provided child-friendly explanations/definitions, (b) used texts that highlight these target words and provided supports for extra-textual talk promoting vocabulary talk, and (c) offered discussion prompts that deepen students' understandings of target word meanings were associated with enhanced vocabulary talk by Ms. Thompson. Likewise, the absence of these curricular features was associated with less vocabulary talk.This study contributes to the field's understanding of the ways that science instruction supports literacy learning and literacy instruction supports science learning in the early-elementary grades. The findings from this study have implications for curriculum development, teacher professional development, teacher preparation, and policy.
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