Incidental Word Learning in Science Classes

Abstract

The purpose of the project was to investigate students' incidental word learning in science classes that depended on discussion and hands-on activities. In separate studies, 4th- and 8th-grade students were given pretests and posttests that assessed depth of knowledge of topical words used in a single unit. In both studies, students made significant improvement in their knowledge of topical words; knowledge of nontopical words did not improve. Students who started the unit with partial knowledge of topical words were likely to learn meanings appropriate for the unit. Depth of topical word knowledge also contributed significantly to improvement on a test of applied problems. While significant incidental word learning occurred over the science units, students with little or no understanding of topical words at the outset tended to make limited progress in both word learning and learning the ideas and information of the unit. The educational implications are potentially serious and need to be explored in further studies.