The following is adapted from a publication following the award: Seward Incorporated has developed and tested The First 4,000 Words Project aimed at students in grades 1-4. The web-based multimedia system employs automated speech recognition features for teaching the meanings and practicing the pronunciation of the 4,000 most frequently used English words seen and heard by these students. The target populations are English Language Learners, struggling readers, and children of poverty who have small vocabularies relative to their peers.
Seward created two 40-item, group administered vocabulary placement tests - one for listening, the other reading which tested a stratified random sample of words from the target pool. The tests were piloted, refined, and administered to 548 students in three Minneapolis/St. Paul area schools. A mix of ELL and native speakers (N=16) who scored in the mid ranges on the tests were recruited to use the prototype software.
