Vocabulary Learning (vocabulary + learning)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Effects of Word and Fragment Writing During L2 Vocabulary Learning

FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 4 2007
Joe Barcroft
This study examined how writing (copying) target words and word fragments affects intentional second language (L2) vocabulary learning. English-speaking first-semester learners ofSpanish attempted to learn 24 Spanish nouns via word-picture repetition in three conditions: (1) word writing, (2) fragment writing, and (3) no writing. After the learning phase, the participants completed productive (picture-to-L2) and recpectively oriented (L2-to-first language) posttests. Vocabulary learning scores in the no-writing condition were higher than in the other two conditions and higher in the word-writing condition than in the fragment-writing condition. These fmdings provide new evidence on how forced Output without access to meaning can detract from early word learning by exhausting processing resources needed to encode new word forms. The pedagogical implications of the study call for language instructors to rethink the practice of encouraging students to write down a word to remember it. [source]


What Is Hard to Learn Is Easy to Forget: The Roles of Word Concreteness, Cognate Status, and Word Frequency in Foreign-Language Vocabulary Learning and Forgetting

LANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 1 2000
Annette M. B. De Groot
We looked at foreign-language (FL) vocabulary learning and forgetting in experienced FL learners, using a paired-associate training technique in which native-language words were paired with pseudowords. The training involved 6 presentations of the same 60 translation pairs, followed by a test after the 2nd, 4th, and 6th presentation round. A retest followed 1 week after training. The stimulus materials were manipulated on word concreteness, cognate status, and word frequency, and both productive and receptive testing took place. Cognates and concrete words were easier to learn and less susceptible to forgetting than noncognates and abstract words. Word frequency hardly affected performance. Overall, receptive testing showed better recall than productive testing. Theoretical accounts of these findings are proposed. [source]


Predictors of Grade 2 Word Reading and Vocabulary Learning from Grade 1 Variables in Spanish-Speaking Children: Similarities and Differences

LEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 1 2008
Alexandra Gottardo
We examined the components of first (L1) and second language (L2) phonological processing that are related to L2 word reading and vocabulary. Spanish-speaking English learners (EL) were classified as average or low readers in grades 1 and 2. A large number of children who started out as poor readers in first grade became average readers in second grade while vocabulary scores were more stable. Binary logistic regressions examined variables related to classifications of consistently average, consistently low, or improving on reading or vocabulary across grades. Good L2 phonological short-term memory and phonological awareness scores predicted good reading and vocabulary scores. L1 and L2 measures differentiated consistently good performers from consistently low performers, while only L2 measures differentiated children who improved from children who remained low performers. Children who are EL should be screened on measures of pseudoword repetition and phonological awareness with low scorers being good candidates for receiving extra assistance in acquiring L2 vocabulary and reading. This study suggests measures that can be used to select children who have a greater likelihood of experiencing difficulties in reading and vocabulary. [source]


Does input influence uptake?

DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 6 2008
Links between maternal talk, processing speed, vocabulary size in Spanish-learning children
It is well established that variation in caregivers' speech is associated with language outcomes, yet little is known about the learning principles that mediate these effects. This longitudinal study (n = 27) explores whether Spanish-learning children's early experiences with language predict efficiency in real-time comprehension and vocabulary learning. Measures of mothers' speech at 18 months were examined in relation to children's speech processing efficiency and reported vocabulary at 18 and 24 months. Children of mothers who provided more input at 18 months knew more words and were faster in word recognition at 24 months. Moreover, multiple regression analyses indicated that the influences of caregiver speech on speed of word recognition and vocabulary were largely overlapping. This study provides the first evidence that input shapes children's lexical processing efficiency and that vocabulary growth and increasing facility in spoken word comprehension work together to support the uptake of the information that rich input affords the young language learner. [source]


Effects of Word and Fragment Writing During L2 Vocabulary Learning

FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 4 2007
Joe Barcroft
This study examined how writing (copying) target words and word fragments affects intentional second language (L2) vocabulary learning. English-speaking first-semester learners ofSpanish attempted to learn 24 Spanish nouns via word-picture repetition in three conditions: (1) word writing, (2) fragment writing, and (3) no writing. After the learning phase, the participants completed productive (picture-to-L2) and recpectively oriented (L2-to-first language) posttests. Vocabulary learning scores in the no-writing condition were higher than in the other two conditions and higher in the word-writing condition than in the fragment-writing condition. These fmdings provide new evidence on how forced Output without access to meaning can detract from early word learning by exhausting processing resources needed to encode new word forms. The pedagogical implications of the study call for language instructors to rethink the practice of encouraging students to write down a word to remember it. [source]


The Role of Task-Induced Involvement and Learner Proficiency in L2 Vocabulary Acquisition

LANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 2 2008
YouJin Kim
Hulstijn and Laufer (2001) proposed a motivational-cognitive construct of task-induced involvement to account for variation in effectiveness among different vocabulary learning tasks. Building upon their original research, this study consisted of two experiments investigating the involvement load hypothesis in vocabulary learning. Experiment 1 compared the performance of 64 adult English as a second language (ESL) learners from a range of countries at two different proficiency levels (i.e., matriculated undergraduate students vs. students in an Intensive English Program) to ascertain the effectiveness of three vocabulary tasks with different levels of task-induced involvement. Experiment 2 investigated whether two tasks hypothesized to represent the same level of task-induced involvement would result in equivalent initial learning and retention of target words by 20 adult ESL learners at two different levels of proficiency. The results of Experiment 1 showed that a higher level of learner involvement during the task promoted more effective initial vocabulary learning and better retention of the new words. The findings of Experiment 2 indicated that when different tasks had the same involvement load, they resulted in similar amounts of initial vocabulary learning and retention of new words. The results of the two experiments are discussed in light of the involvement load hypothesis. [source]


What Is Hard to Learn Is Easy to Forget: The Roles of Word Concreteness, Cognate Status, and Word Frequency in Foreign-Language Vocabulary Learning and Forgetting

LANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 1 2000
Annette M. B. De Groot
We looked at foreign-language (FL) vocabulary learning and forgetting in experienced FL learners, using a paired-associate training technique in which native-language words were paired with pseudowords. The training involved 6 presentations of the same 60 translation pairs, followed by a test after the 2nd, 4th, and 6th presentation round. A retest followed 1 week after training. The stimulus materials were manipulated on word concreteness, cognate status, and word frequency, and both productive and receptive testing took place. Cognates and concrete words were easier to learn and less susceptible to forgetting than noncognates and abstract words. Word frequency hardly affected performance. Overall, receptive testing showed better recall than productive testing. Theoretical accounts of these findings are proposed. [source]


The effectiveness of multimedia programmes in children's vocabulary learning

BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 1 2009
Joana Acha
The present experiment investigated the effect of three different presentation modes in children's vocabulary learning with a self-guided multimedia programmes. Participants were 135 third and fourth grade children who read a short English language story presented by a computer programme. For 12 key (previously unknown) words in the story, children received verbal annotations (written translation), visual annotations (picture representing the word), or both. Recall of word translations was better for children who only received verbal annotations than for children who received simultaneously visual and verbal annotations or visual annotations only. Results support previous research about cognitive load in e-learning environments, and show that children's learning processes are hindered by limited working memory. This finding implies a challenge for multimedia programmes designed for children and based on self-regulated learning. [source]