Attending to Motivation During Vocabulary Interventions for Students With or at Risk for Learning Disabilities

A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Evidence indicates that well-planned vocabulary interventions can be highly effective in helping students with language-based learning disabilities to develop the necessary vocabulary skills for literacy success. Although many researchers recognize the general importance of attending to psychological factors such as student motivation in developing successful interventions, the role that these factors play in vocabulary interventions designed specifically for students with learning disabilities has not yet been sufficiently considered. In this review, we synthesized the extant literature regarding when and how motivational components are addressed in vocabulary interventions for P–12 students with or at risk for learning disabilities. We found that successful vocabulary intervention programs for this student population most frequently address motivation through the constructs of goal setting and interest. Furthermore, operationalizing terms such as “motivation” (and related constructs) using theories established in the field of educational psychology may allow researchers to develop interventions that have positive, long-lasting impact by encouraging students with learning disabilities to persist at challenging tasks and by enabling them to more clearly see linkages between vocabulary learning and their personal and career goals.