I am a Professor at the University of Oslo, Faculty of Educational Sciences where I teach courses on research methods, statistics, and reading interventions.
Lawrence, J. F., Galloway, E. P., & Hsu, J. Y. L. (2025). Estimating the effect of structured vocabulary review: an experimental evaluation. The Elementary School Journal, 126(1), 82–106. https://doi.org/10.1086/736758
Yang, J., Grøver, V., & Lawrence, J. F. (2024). Chinese mothers use idioms in shared book reading: A predictor for children’s Chinese vocabulary growth? Journal of Child Language, 52(4), 918–944. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000924000266
Knoph, R. E., Lawrence, J. F., & Francis, D. J. (2024). The dimensionality of lexical features in general, academic, and disciplinary vocabulary. Scientific Studies of Reading: The Official Journal of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, 28(2), 142–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2023.2241939
Yang, J., Lawrence, J. F., & Grøver, V. (2024). What else will I do when I start school? Preschoolers’ wh-questions in dinnertime conversations and their language development. First Language, 44(3), 301–323. https://doi.org/10.1177/01427237241242177
Yang, J., Lawrence, J. F., & Grøver, V. (2022). Parental expectations and home literacy environment: A questionnaire study of Chinese-Norwegian dual language learners. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 37(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2022.2098427
Lawrence, J. F., Knoph, R., McIlraith, A., Kulesz, P. A., & Francis, D. J. (2021). Reading comprehension and academic vocabulary: Exploring relations of item features and reading proficiency. Reading Research Quarterly, 57(2), 669-690. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.434
Hagen, Å., Knoph, R., Hjetland, H. N., Rogde, K., Lawrence, J. F., Lervåg, A., & Melby-Lervåg, M. (2022). Measuring Listening Comprehension and Predicting Language Development in At-Risk Preschoolers. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 66(5), 778–792. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2021.1939136
Lawrence, J. F., Hagen, Å.M., Hwang, J.K., Lin, G., & Lervåg, A. (2019). Academic vocabulary and reading comprehension: exploring the relationships across measures of vocabulary knowledge. Reading and Writing, 32(2), 285–306. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9865-2
Hwang, J. K., Lawrence, J. F., & Snow, C. E. (2017). Defying expectations: Vocabulary growth trajectories of high performing language minority students. Reading and Writing, 30(4), 829–856. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-016-9703-3
07/2026Task, learner, and word: A tripartite view of vocabulary assessment outcomes. [Panel Contribution]. Supporting vocabulary growth: Cognitive processes, strategic instruction, and assessment across elementary and middle grades. SSSR 2026 Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Lawrence, J. F., Knoph, R., Kulesz, P. A., & Francis, D. J.
03/2026 "Children's Chengyu (成语) Knowledge as a Pathway to Vocabulary Growth: Evidence from a Novel Idiom Assessment." Oral Session 4 (Topic: Linguistics), ARWA 2026, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Lawrence, J.F., Hagen, Å., & Yang, J.
11/2025 "Read beyond speed: Diverging effects of lexical dimensions in speed and accuracy." [Poster Session]. Psychonomic Society, Denver, CO, USA. Knoph, R. E., Lawrence, J. F., Kulesz, P. A., & Francis, D. J. Poster here.
Lawrence, J.F. (2025, April). Cognitive and Affective Alignment in Teacher Learning: What We Can Learn from NLP and Coach Ratings. UC Irvine Center for Research on Teacher Development and Professional Practice, Irvine, CA.
Lawrence, J.F. (2024, October). Innovative Literacy Solutions: AI-Enhanced Support for Coaches and Educators. UC Irvine Digital Learning Lab, Irvine, CA.
Lawrence, J.F. (2024, October). Advancing Vocabulary Assessment: AI-Driven Innovations and Insights from Lexical Dimensionality Research. Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
4/2022 "Analyzing Mothers’ Use of Chinese Idioms (Chengyu) in Natural Home Settings." American Educational Research Association (AERA). San Diego, California. Yang, J., Grøver, V., and Lawrence, J.
4/2022 "Mothers’ Linguistic Input During Shared Book Reading and Dual Language Learners’ HomeLanguage Skills." Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). San Diego,California. Yang, J., Lawrence, J., and Grøver, V.
10/2022 "Vocabulary tasks and target words are not equal: How language learners answer differently."Annual Meeting for Northern Rocky Mountain Educational Research Association. Billings, MT USA.Knoph, R. and Lawrence, J.
10/2021 "A LURI Comparison: Listening comprehension for Norwegian and Chinese children." Annual Meeting for the Northern Rocky Mountain Educational Research Association. Ketchum, Idaho. Knoph,R., Hagen, Å. M., Zhang, W., and Lawrence, J.
11/2020 "The Impact of word features on lexical decision tasks." Annual Meeting for Psychonomic Society.Virtual. Knoph, R. and Lawrence, J. F.
7/2017 “Cognitive and Linguistic Features of Adolescent Argumentative Writing: Do ConnectivesSignal More Complex Reasoning?” Lawrence, J.F. Society for the Scientific Studies of Reading, Halifax,Canada. Peer Reviewed. With Taylor, K., Connor, C.
3/2017 “Assessing the correspondence between student-level fidelity data and observational measuresof classroom instructional content” Lawrence, J.F. Society for Research in Educational Effectiveness,Washington DC. Peer Reviewed. With Lin, A. Snow, C.
11/2016 "What Makes Academic Words Hard? Exploring Dimensions Across Item Types", Lawrence, J.F.Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston, MA. Peer Reviewed. With Lin, G., Hwang, J.K.,Hagen, Å., Jaeggi, S.
11/2016 "Polysemy and Semantic Precision: Semantic Measures Extracted from WordNet", Lawrence, J.F.Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston, MA. Peer Reviewed. With Lin, G., Jaeggi, S.
10/2016 "Polysemy and Semantic Precision: Semantic Measures Extracted from WordNet", Lawrence, J.F.Mental Lexicon, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Peer Reviewed. With Lin, G., Jaeggi, S., Krueger, N., Hwang,J.K., Hagen, Å.
12/2015 "Exploring the Interface of Language Development and Semantic Knowledge with Depth Measuresof Academic Vocabulary", Lawrence, J.F. Literacy Research Association, Carlsbad, CA. Peer Reviewed.With Hwang, J.K., Deane, P., Lawless, R.
12/2015 "Differential vocabulary growth trajectories among adolescent language minority students: Atwo-year longitudinal study", Lawrence, J.F. Literacy Research Association, Carlsbad, CA. Peer Reviewed.With Hwang, J.K.
7/2014 "Reading growth trajectories of adolescent language minority students with varying levels of Englishproficiency", Lawrence, J.F. Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Santa Fe, NM. Peer Reviewed.With Hwang, J.K.
7/2014 "Effects of word and reader characteristics on difficulty of vocabulary test items", Lawrence, J.F.Society for Scientific Studies of Reading, Santa Fe, NM. Peer Reviewed. With Kulez, P., Hwang, J.K.,Francis, D.
6/14/2014 "Word Generation: A Systematic Review", Lawrence, J.F. Campbell Collaboration Colloquium,Belfast, Ireland. Peer Reviewed. With Francis, D., Snow, C.E., Hwang, J.K., Lin, A.R.
4/15/2014 "Middle school students discussing controversial issues to learn about civic engagement: Arandomized evaluation of the Word Generation program", Lawrence, J.F. American Education ResearchAssociation Annual Meeting, American Education Research Association, Philadelphia, PA. With Lin, A.,Snow, C.
4/12/2014 "Exploring the school and family context that contribute to developing informed citizens:Findings from a randomized evaluation of the Word Generation program", Lawrence, J.F. Society forResearch in Child Development, Society for Research in Child Development, Alexandria, VA. With Lin,A., Snow, C.
3/2014 "Middle school students discussing controversial issues to learn about civic engagement: A randomized evaluation of the Word Generation program". Lawrence, J.F. Society for Research of EducationalEffectiveness Spring Meeting, Society for Research of Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC. WithLin, A., Lawrence, J. F., Snow, C.
12/2013 "Word Generation randomized trial: Discussion mediates the impact of program treatment on8civic participation", Lawrence, J.F. Literacy Research Association Annual Meeting, Literacy ResearchAssociation. With Lin, A.
11/2012 "Does teacher and peer talk in preschool have a long-term effect on immigrant children’s L2vocabulary development?" Lawrence, J.F. Literacy Research Association Annual Meeting, Classroomdiscourse and literacy outcomes: The importance of talk to support literacy achievement (Panel), LiteracyResearch Association, San Diego.
11/2012 "Macro-contextual factors impacting the development of proficient analytic writers: Insights intothe literacy lives of adolescents gleaned from a comprehensive document analysis". Lawrence, J.F. (Chair).Improving our understanding of school-writing: The macro- and micro-contextual factors that shapeadolescent writers, Literacy Research Association, San Diego. With Galloway, E., Yim, S., Lin, A.
4/2012 "Systematic Academic Vocabulary Development in Middle Schools". Lawrence, J.F. AmericanEducational Research Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver. With Mo, E.
4/2012 "General Vocabulary, Academic Vocabulary, and Vocabulary Depth: Examining Predictors of Adolescent Reading Comprehension". Lawrence, J.F. American Educational Research Association AnnualMeeting, Vancouver. With Pare-Blagoev, E., Lawless, R., Deane, P., Li, C.
7/2011 "Learning and maintaining academic vocabulary: A follow-up evaluation of the Word GenerationProgram". Lawrence, J.F. 12th International Congress for the Study of Child Language, Montreal, Canada.(Poster session). With White, C., Capotosto, L., Branum-Martin, L., Snow, C.
4/2011 "Does teacher talk and peer talk in preschool have a long-term effect on immigrant children’sL2 vocabulary development?" Lawrence, J.F. Let us talk: Examining the relationship between classroomdiscourse, vocabulary, and reading outcomes, American Education Research Association Annual Meeting,New Orleans, LA. With Rydland, V., Aukrust, V.
4/2011 "The role of peer talk for immigrant children’s vocabulary development. A longitudinal study ofnative-Turkish children in Norway". Lawrence, J.F. Interaction in the preschool classroom: Opportunities,stimulation and effects on children’s development, Society for Research on Child Development BiennialMeeting, Montreal, Canada. With Rydland, V., Aukrust, V., Lesseman, P. (Chair).
12/2010 "Looking at gains made by Word Generation participants: Examining stability and depth ofvocabulary knowledge". Lawrence, J.F. Approaches to examining depth of word knowledge of elementaryand middle school students, Symposium conducted at the National Reading Conference / LiteracyResearch Association Annual Meeting, Fort Worth, TX. With Capotosto, L., Snow, C.E., White, C.,Townsend, D. (Chair).
10/2010 "Development of character recognition proficiency among heritage and non-heritage learners ofMandarin Chinese". Lawrence, J.F. Second Language Acquisition of Chinese Conference, New York, NY.With Huang, B., Michener, C.
6/2010 "The relationship between home language and literacy and Chinese character comprehension",Lawrence, J.F. Research in Reading Chinese Conference, Toronto, ON, Canada. Peer Reviewed. WithHuang, B., Michener, C.
3/2010 "Using the Word Generation program to support academic language development", Lawrence, J.F.TESOL Conference, Boston, MA. Peer Reviewed. With White, C., Snow, C.
3/2010 "Generating knowledge of academic language among urban middle school students", Lawrence,J.F. Developing literacy in middle grades English-language learners across the content areas: The results ofthree promising interventions, Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC. WithSnow, C.E., White, C., August, D. (Chair).
12/2009 "Word learning, maintenance, and consolidation: A longitudinal analysis of the Word Generationprogram", Lawrence, J.F. Adolescent vocabulary development: Perspectives from a multi-faceted, crosscontent area vocabulary program, National Reading Conference, Albuquerque, NM. Peer Reviewed.With White, C., Snow, C.E., Mason, P. (Chair).
11/2009 "Engaging and supporting adolescent readers through the arts", Lawrence, J.F. Literacy for AllConference, Providence, RI. Peer Reviewed. With Williams, R., Oka, M., Oen, K.
6/2009 "Evaluating an academic vocabulary intervention for first- and second language learners in middleschool", Lawrence, J.F. (Chair). Vocabulary development and intervention for at-risk populations, Societyfor the Scientific Studies of Reading, Boston, MA. With White, C., Snow, C.
Lawrence, J., Knoph, R., & Hagen, Å. (2025). The Language of Learning: Academic Vocabulary Development and Comprehension. In S. B. Neuman & M. R. Kuhn (Eds.), Handbook on the Science of Literacy in Grades 3-8 (pp. 80–98). Routledge. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3350708
Snow, C., & Lawrence, J.F. (2024). Opportunities to learn and intersubjectivity. In O. Erstad (Ed.), Education and Dialogue in Polarized Societies. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Lawrence, J. F., & Thorbjørnsen, J. M. (2022). Leseforståelse i skolen: Å utvikle elevers kritiske tenkning gjennom lesing, argumentasjon og debatt. In V. Grøver I. Bråten (Eds.), Leseforståelse i skolen: Utfordringer og muligheter (pp. 130-142). Oslo, Norway: Cappelen Damm Akademisk.
Yang, J.,& Lawrence, J.F. (2022). Multimodal literacies at home: A survey study of Chinese-Norwegian bilingual children. In B. S. H. Ling (Ed.), Multimodal Literacies in Young Emergent Bilinguals: Beyond Print-Centric Practices (Vol. 105). Channel View Publications.
Yang, J., & Lawrence, J. (2022). Multimodal Literacies at Home: A Survey Study of Chinese-Norwegian Bilingual Children. Multimodal Literacies in Young Emergent Bilinguals: Beyond Print-Centric Practices, 105.
Hwang, J. K., & Lawrence, J.F. (2018). Different Patterns of Reading Growth Trajectories among Adolescent Dual Language Learners and English-Only Students. In D. L. Baker, D. L. Basaraba, & C. Richards-Tutor (Eds.), Second Language Acquisition: Methods, Perspectives and Challenges (pp. 17–39). Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated.
Rydland, V., Grøver, V., & Lawrence, J. F. (2014). The potential and challenges of learning words from peers in preschool. A longitudinal study of second language learners in Norway. In A. Cekaite, S. BlumKulka, V. G. Aukrust, E. Teubal (Eds.), Children’s Peer Talk: Learning from Each Other (pp. 214-234). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ippolito, J., & Lawrence, J. F. (2013). Bridging content and literacy knowledge and instruction: A framework for supporting secondary teachers and students. In J. Ippolito, J. F. Lawrence, C. Zaller (Eds.), Adolescent Literacy in the Era of the Common Core: From Research into Practice (pp. 1-12). Cambridge, 3 MA: Harvard Education Press.
Lawrence, J. F., Maher, B., & Snow, C. E. (2013). Research in vocabulary: Word power for content-area learning. In J. Ippolito, J. F. Lawrence, C. Zaller (Eds.), Adolescent Literacy in the Era of the Common Core: From Research into Practice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Lawrence, J. F., Warschauer, M., Zheng, B.,& Mullins, D. (2013). Research in digital literacy: Tools to support learning across the disciplines. In J. Ippolito, J. F. Lawrence,& C. Zaller (Eds.), Adolescent Literacy in the Era of the Common Core: From Research into Practice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Park, Y., Zheng, B., Lawrence, J. F.,& Warschauer, M. (2012). Technology-enhanced reading environments. In M. Thomas, H. Reinders,& M. Warschauer (Eds.), Contemporary Computer-Assisted Language Learning. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
Lawrence, J. F.,& Snow, C. E. (2010). Oral discourse and reading. In M. L. Kamil, P. D. Pearson, E. B. Moje,& P. Afflerbach (Eds.), Handbook of Reading Research (Vol. IV). New York: Routledge.
ROAR Platform and New Assessment Components, (Subcontract from total $1,500,000), AdvancedEducation Research & Development Fund. Principal Investigators: Jason Yeatman, Rebecca Silverman,Ben Domingue. Role: Subcontractor to create middle school vocabulary items. 2023 - 2025
Improving the Accuracy of Academic Vocabulary Assessment for English Language Learners, $1,600,000. (David Francis, PI). Role: Co-PI. US Department of Education, IES Goal 3, #R305A170151. 2017 - 2021
Efficacy Study of a Pre-Algebra Supplemental Program in Rural Mississippi Schools, $1,878,435 (Tedra Clark, PI). Role: Methodological Consultant. US Department of Education, IES Goal 3, #R305A120045. 2012-2016.
The Research of Xinjiang Uyghur Young Children’s Chinese emergent literacy development, $32,113. Role: Methodological Consultant. The Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. 2011-2013.
Word Generation: An Efficacy Trial, $2,853,517. (Catherine Snow, PI). Role: Coordinator. US Department of Education, IES Goal 3, #R305A090555. 2009-2013.
University of Oslo
University of California, Irvine
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Lawrence, J.F. (2015, September). Technology in English. U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The White House, Washington D.C.
Warschauer, M., & Lawrence, J. F. (2014, April). The Learning Analytics of Cloud Based Writing. Google Campus, New York, New York
Lawrence, J.F. (2012, September). Does talk exposure in preschool predict second-language vocabulary at age 10? A longitudinal study of Turkish immigrant children growing up in Norway. 学前教育中的语言接触是否会预测儿童10岁时的第二语言词汇？(Presented in Mandarin). East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Lawrence, J., & Krueger, N. (2016). Bifrost: Bridging linguistic, cognitive and computer science resources (Version Reduced: Polysemy and Depth only). Retrieved from https://github.com/Malthanatos/Bifrost/tree/Reduced--Polysemy-and-Depth-only
Ippolito, J., Lawrence, J. F., & Zaller, C. (2013). Adolescent Literacy in the Era of the Common Core. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Ippolito, J., Dobbs, C., Charner-Laird, M., & Lawrence, J. F. (2016). Delicate layers of learning: Achieving disciplinary literacy requires continuous, collaborative adjustments. Learning Forward.
Lawrence, J. F., White, C., & Snow, C. E. (2010). The words students need. Educational Leadership, 68(2), 23–26.
Lawrence, J. F. (2005). Perennial Themes in Education. Journal of Education, 186(1), 87–95.
