THE EFFECTS OF RESPONSE CARDS ON STUDENT AND TEACHER BEHAVIOR DURING VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION

The use of response cards during whole‐class English vocabulary instruction was evaluated. Five low‐participating students were observed during hand‐raising conditions and response‐card conditions to observe the effects of response cards on student responding and test scores and teacher questions and feedback. Responding and test scores were higher for all targeted students in the response‐card condition. The teacher asked a similar number of questions in both conditions; however, she provided more feedback in the response‐card condition.     

在多媒体语境条件下词类对儿童英语词汇学习效果的影响

该研究考察了多媒体动画片语境条件下,词类对儿童英语词汇学习效果的影响,结果发现:(1)儿童对名词和形容词的再认成绩显著优于代词;(2)就独立回忆测验而言,名词的成绩显著高于代词,形容词的成绩处于代词和名词之间,但与二者的差异均不显著;(3)就情境回忆测验而言,名词与形容词的成绩差异不显著,二者均显著高于代词;(4)名词与形容词的情境回忆测验成绩均显著高于独立回忆测验成绩,但代词的独立回忆与情境回忆测验成绩差异不显著。总体而言,儿童对名词和形容词的学习效果好于代词,表明词类会对儿童英语词汇学习效果产生影响。     

Decomposing the social gradient in children’s vocabulary skills at 3 years of age: A mediation analysis using data from a large representative cohort study

Disparities in children’s expressive language by socio-economic status are evident early in childhood and impact children’s development and educational attainment. This study investigated the processes by which maternal education, as a powerful indicator for socio-economic status, affects early expressive language. A nationally representative cohort study of 8,062 children resident in the Republic of Ireland were assessed on the British Ability Scales (BAS) Naming Vocabulary Test at 36 months. A significant difference of almost six points was found between the mean vocabulary test scores of children whose mothers had completed the minimum level of educational attainment compared with children whose mothers had a degree-level qualification. Mediation analysis revealed that 78% of the difference was explained by mediating variables, with differences in household income, parental practice, and material resources accounting for most of the variation. The findings support interventions which redress gaps in maternal education, income, and caregiving.     

Effect of response practice variables on learning spelling and sight vocabulary

Four experiments were conducted to examine variables associated with response practice as an instructional technique for individuals with intellectual disabilities. In Experiment 1, the effect of the cover component in the "cover write" method was evaluated, as were the comparative effects of written versus oral practice of spelling words by rehabilitation clients. The results showed that the cover procedure generally did not enhance performance over and above that produced by practice alone, and written practice generally was not superior to oral practice. Experiment 2 demonstrated that less response practice (i.e., five times) was as effective as more practice (i.e., 10 and 15 times) for teaching spelling to adolescents with developmental disabilities. Experiments 3 and 4 also showed that even less response practice (i.e., one time) was as effective as more practice (five times), and irrelevant practice following errors was as effective as relevant practice for teaching spelling and sight vocabulary to adolescents with behavior disorders and developmental disabilities, respectively. The findings suggest that a parsimonious procedure of limited response practice and positive reinforcement may be effective for the tasks and populations studied.     

Why do older adults have difficulty with semantic fluency?

Aging involves many cognitive declines, particularly in fluid intelligence, with relative maintenance of crystallized intelligence. This paradox is evident in the language domain: lexical retrieval becomes slower and less accurate, despite well preserved vocabularies. Verbal fluency assesses both crystallized and fluid aspects of language. Semantic fluency hypothetically reflects semantic knowledge, while letter fluency putatively reflects executive functioning, which would predict a greater impact of aging on the latter. However, the opposite is typically observed.

To investigate factors contributing to such asymmetries, we examined verbal fluency in 86 adults (30-89 years). Multiple regression analyses indicated that semantic fluency depends largely on lexical retrieval speed, as well as visualization strategies to support controlled retrieval, skills which may disproportionately decline with age. By contrast, letter fluency relies heavily on vocabulary knowledge, providing some protection against age-related declines. These findings contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms of typical age-related declines in word retrieval.     

A longitudinal assessment of the home literacy environment and early language

This longitudinal assessment concentrated on the relation between the home literacy environment (HLE) and early language acquisition during infancy and toddlerhood. In study 1, after controlling for socio‐economic status, a broadly defined HLE predicted language comprehension in 50 infants. In study 2, 27 children returned for further analyses. Findings revealed that the HLE measured in infancy predicted language production in toddlerhood and maternal redirecting behaviours measured in toddlerhood were negatively associated with expressive language. Results across both studies indicate the importance of a broadly defined HLE (including joint attention and parent–child conversation) for language development. Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of the HLE in supporting both receptive and expressive vocabulary growth in the second and third years of life. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A narwhal is an animal: partial word knowledge biases adults' decisions

Adults' accuracy on a sentence verification task was measured to assess reliable biases in their responses as a function of their level of knowledge about the target words, as well as adults' ability to reject incorrect ontological category membership for their partially known words. Three levels of word knowledge (known, frontier, and unknown) were assessed in two experiments. Results indicated that participants were conservative decision-makers about sentences using the vocabulary words and that the conservative bias increased in strength as their level of knowledge about the target word increased. When biased guessing was discouraged, results indicated that participants were able to accurately identify both correct and incorrect sentences using targets at all three levels of knowledge, including their partially known words, but were least reliable at rejecting false sentences using unknown targets. Implications for the role of knowing not in adults' vocabulary acquisition are discussed.     

The role of the natural history museum in promoting word learning for young children

Although strong claims have been made about museums being ideal word learning environments, these are yet to be empirically supported. In the current study, 152 four- to five-year-olds children (81-M, 71-F) from minority backgrounds were taught six vocabulary items either in a museum, in their classroom with museum resources, or in their classroom with classroom resources. At test, children taught in their classroom with museum resources produced significantly more correct responses than children taught in the museum or in their classroom with classroom resources. Children were also significantly better at retaining the target vocabulary items than recalling them. These data demonstrate how context can impact word learning and point to the benefits of a collaborative relationship between schools and museums to support children's language development.     

初中生英语词汇记忆策略的研究

通过对134名初中三年级学生英语词汇记忆策略的问卷调查以及记忆不同难度的词汇时所使用的策略的分析,发现初三学生以使用机械的、一般性的记忆策略为主;优生比差生更善于选用具体的词汇记忆策略;词汇记忆难度增大时,选择和使用多种策略的频率与人数有所增加。     

Children learn words easier when they are interested in the category to which the word belongs

The overall pattern of vocabulary development is relatively similar across children learning different languages. However, there are considerable differences in the words known to individual children. Historically, this variability has been explained in terms of differences in the input. Here, we examine the alternate possibility that children's individual interest in specific natural categories shapes the words they are likely to learn – a child who is more interested in animals will learn a new animal name easier relative to a new vehicle name. Two‐year‐old German‐learning children (N = 39) were exposed to four novel word–object associations for objects from four different categories. Prior to the word learning task, we measured their interest in the categories that the objects belonged to. Our measure was pupillary change following exposure to familiar objects from these four categories, with increased pupillary change interpreted as increased interest in that category. Children showed more robust learning of word–object associations from categories they were more interested in relative to categories they were less interested in. We further found that interest in the novel objects themselves influenced learning, with distinct influences of both category interest and object interest on learning. These results suggest that children's interest in different natural categories shapes their word learning. This provides evidence for the strikingly intuitive possibility that a child who is more interested in animals will learn novel animal names easier than a child who is more interested in vehicles.