Word Awareness Research Articles

The development of morphological awareness and vocabulary: What influences what?

Abstract The awareness of words’ morphological structure has been thought to allow generalizing meaning to other, similarly constructed words. Conversely, a large vocabulary is thought to facilitate the recognition of words’ morphological regularities, thereby contributing to morphological awareness. For this reason, morphological awareness and vocabulary have been suggested to be reciprocally associated across development. We followed 242 (girls = 119) Norwegian preschoolers (Mage = 5.5 years) from preschool through Grade 2 and examined the cross-lagged relations between morphological awareness (inflections and derivations) and vocabulary (receptive and expressive). Our results confirm that the traditional cross-lagged panel model shows significant cross-lagged relations between morphological awareness and vocabulary, as previous studies have shown. However, no cross-lagged relations were found when we accounted for longitudinal measured stability through a cross-lagged panel model with lag-2 paths or unmeasured stability through the random intercept cross-lagged panel model. We found that approximately 50% of the variation in morphology and vocabulary was due to highly stable and invariant factors across grades. We discuss how the significant cross-lagged relations found in previous studies could have been due to their not accounting for the right type of stability when using longitudinal panel data.

Gaming Gains: Action-packed video games advance word awareness.

Gaming Gains: Action-packed video games advance word awareness.

Exploration of latent early literacy profiles in German kindergarten children using a newly developed app

IntroductionThis study explores the effectiveness of the tablet-based EuLeApp© assessment tool in identifying distinct latent early literacy profiles among German kindergarten children aged between 4.0 and 7.0 years. Additionally, the study investigates how factors such as age, biological sex, and language impairment contribute to the manifestation and prevalence of these latent literacy profiles.MethodsUtilizing latent class analysis on a diverse sample of 285 children, we administered a prototype of the EuLeApp© assessment tool to measure early literacy skills (i.e., print awareness, concepts of print, word awareness, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and narrative skills). The sample included children aged between 4.0 and 7.0 years from various demographic backgrounds. Analysis involved identifying distinct early literacy profiles based on the assessment results. We also examined the influence of age, biological sex, and language impairment on the manifestation and prevalence of these profiles.ResultsThe analysis revealed four stable and interpretable early literacy profiles: Exceptional Performers (17%), Typical Performers (41%), Marginal Performers (35%), and Subpar Performers (7%). These profiles were found to be shaped by the complex interplay of age, biological sex, and language impairment status among the children.DiscussionThese findings underscore the importance of employing person-centered methodologies to characterize early childhood literacy profiles, providing a framework for tailoring intervention programs to suit the unique characteristics and requirements of individual children.

Exploring L2 learners’ processing of unknown words during subtitled viewing through self-reports

Abstract Studies have shown the benefits of subtitled viewing for incidental vocabulary learning, but the effects of different subtitling types varied across studies. The effectiveness of different types of subtitled viewing could be related to how unknown vocabulary is processed during viewing. However, no studies have investigated L2 learners’ processing of unknown words in viewing beyond exploring learners’ attention allocation. The present research followed a qualitative approach to explore L2 learners’ processing of unknown words during subtitled viewing under three conditions (i.e., captions, L1 subtitles, and bilingual subtitles) by tapping into learners’ reported awareness of the unknown words and the vocabulary processing strategies used to engage with unknown words. According to stimulated recall data (elicited by eye-tracking data) from 45 intermediate-to-advanced-level Chinese learners of English, captions led to increased awareness of the unknown words. Moreover, the types of strategies learners used to cope with unknown vocabulary were determined by subtitling type.

Improving Self-Awareness Through Islamic Education: its Implication on Life Detecting Good Awareness Impacts a Good Lifestyle an Analysis of Literature Study

Self-awareness is something that distinguishes it from other creatures. In Islamic Education, self-awareness is self-reflection. Awareness can change life into the latest version through the sensitivity of the heart to know the values of events in his life. Every human being has a different level of consciousness. There are still many Muslims who abandon the obligation to worship including a lack of self-awareness of their responsibilities as Muslims or Muslim women. The word awareness looks trivial to some people who do not understand the importance of the awareness that exists within. If you are able to contemplate it, there will be a lot of awareness that comes to mind about what is the purpose of human life in the world. This journal aims to increase the awareness of every Muslim towards a rational (reasonable) life in order to build self-existence and achieve the grace of Allah SWT. So that Islamic education does not only aim to produce knowledgeable human beings, but also faithful and civilized. Islamic education will always influence every individual to make a person who is always aware in the future. The world is the best charity field to achieve happiness in the hereafter, so the level of awareness is very important for it self.

ИЗСЛЕДВАНЕ НА ЧЕТИВНИТЕ УМЕНИЯ НА ДЕЦАТА ПРЕД ПРАГА НА УЧИЛИЩЕТО

The present study aimed to examine the reading skills of children aged 6-7 through a series of diagnostic tasks. The first task tests children’s ability to recognize printed words after they have been pronounced, the second task tests children’s ability to recognize written words with similar spellings, and the third task tests children’s word reading and comprehension skills. The study was conducted without prior preparation of the children and aimed to test the development of their reading skills as a result of the auditory speech perception skills formed in preschool, where children develop аn elementary practical awareness of sound, letter, syllable and word. The results of the study clearly show that children aged 6-7 can easily decode letters by matching them to the corresponding phonemes, but still have difficulty retaining the letter in their memory and have difficulty synthesizing it with one or two other sounds to read a syllable. In interpreting the results, we should remember that children – future first graders are not required to know all the letters of the alphabet and be able to read syllables with them. According to the expected results set out in the State Educational Standard, it is sufficient for a child to recognise and name the graphic signs of some printed letters associated with the names of familiar people and objects and to understand that when letters are arranged in a certain order, words are formed. Mastery of these skills ensures a child’s readiness to master reading in first grade.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ МЕТАКОГНІТИВНИХ ПРОЦЕСІВ У НАВЧАЛЬНІЙ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ СТУДЕНТІВ

A theoretical analysis of various aspects of metacognitivism is carried out, special attention is paid to the problem of studying metacognitive strategies, which are a set of certain actions aimed at planning, controlling cognitive processes, as well as the ratio of their activity results and their role in the educational activities of students. The features of metalinguistic knowledge and metalinguistic abilities are considered. Different educational concepts were analyzed for successful learning of the material. Special attention is paid to metalinguistic awareness, which is the awareness of language, its structures and functions, which allows speakers of this language to think about language and use it consciously. Metacognitive awareness is one of the types of metacognition, it can be defined as the ability of an individual to focus on language as an object in itself, to reflect on language and evaluate it. The types of metalinguistic abilities are: phonological awareness, word awareness, syntactic awareness, and pragmatic awareness, or, in other words, knowledge analysis and control of cognitive operations involving language processing. As a result, teachers should use a range of methods to increase metalinguistic awareness, such as word recognition, syntactic comprehension, and vocabulary recognition exercises. Numerous studies have shown that successful students independently regulate their learning processes. using metacognition – information Metacognitive strategies, possessing meta- narrative awareness.

Teachers’ Vocabulary Talk in Early-Elementary Science Instruction

The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which teachers use language to promote vocabulary development (i.e., vocabulary talk moves) during science instruction in early-elementary classrooms. Twenty-four total science lessons were recorded by eight teachers, providing 894.27 min of observational data across three timepoints. Discourse analysis was used to identify specific research-aligned vocabulary talk moves. Findings revealed that the cohort of teachers used considerably more moves for building students’ knowledge of word meanings than for building students’ awareness of words and word learning or for interesting students in words and word learning. Likewise, the cohort used more authoritative moves (teacher telling) than dialogic moves (inviting student exploration and engagement). This study contributes to the field's understanding of the ways that science instruction supports literacy learning and literacy instruction supports science learning in the early-elementary grades. The findings from this study have implications for teacher professional development and policy.

Effects of Parents’ Word Instruction on Preschoolers’ Receptive Vocabulary Size: Mediating Effect of Word Awareness

Objectives: Word awareness is an important factor in word instruction for children in late preschool. This study aimed to verify whether parents’ word instruction promotes the growth of preschoolers’ receptive vocabulary size and whether the relation between the two variables is mediated by preschoolers’ word awareness.Methods: The study recruited 200 pairs of five to six-year-old preschoolers and their parents from 14 childcare centers in Sejong and Daejeon, South Korea. Experimenters asked the preschoolers to answer questions on word unit awareness, word arbitrariness awareness, word morphology awareness, word type awareness, and receptive vocabulary size from experimenters and videos. Parents were asked to answer the items on word instruction.Results: First, parents’ word instruction, preschoolers’ word awareness and receptive vocabulary size were positively correlated. Second, parents’ word instruction had a direct effect on preschoolers’ receptive vocabulary size and an indirect effect via preschoolers’ word awareness. Lastly, the partial mediating effects of word unit awareness, word arbitrariness awareness, word morphology awareness, and word type awareness on the relation between parents’ word instruction and receptive vocabulary size were all significant.Conclusion: This study revealed the importance of parents’ word instruction to enhance preschoolers’ awareness of various aspects of words. The present results offer useful information for developing vocabulary instruction programs for preschoolers and parents.

Native word as the embodiment of the national spirit

In modern society, it is relevant to preserve the cultural-historical identity of Russia and the people’s moral values reflected in the mother tongue. Language plays an important social role since it is viewed as a social phenomenon that reflects the peculiarities of the national character and psychology of each nation as well as the changes taking place in society. The word embodies the national spirit and the national self-awareness of the people. Specific features of national culture, the people’s traditions are manifested in folklore, set expressions, works of art. The paper considers the basics of the content of the school Russian language course (i. e. Russian as a native language) which facilitate learners’ awareness of the native word as a tool for understanding the national picture of the world. The research has identified lexical units contributing to the formation of students’ values-based attitude to their native language and their role in the formation of a linguistic personality. These lexical units include phraseological units, small genres of folklore (riddles, proverbs, and sayings). The paper also characterises the linguocultural concept and the specific features of its analysis to cognize the national picture of the world. Mastering the mother tongue as a cultural phenomenon, schoolchildren conclude that the native language reflects the nature of the historical and intellectual development of society. Moreover, they realise it is the property of all people belonging to this society and a source of the nation’s unity and spirituality.

Effectiveness of Semantics Feature Analysis on EFL Primary Learners’ Word Awareness

The correlation between the thematic and lexical units is a fundamental stage in language development. Understanding vocabulary from any text and category is essential in school subjects and daily life. Therefore, the current study aims at examining and analyzing the effect of semantic feature analysis (henceforth, SFA) strategy on the word awareness of EFL primary learners. The present study participants are twenty-three learners with language delay (LD), who are learning English as a second language at Da Vinci International School and Smart Kurd Private School, Duhok city, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Furthermore, to achieve the research aims, a qualitative methodology was used, whereby students were observed, and data was collected through two main tasks, a matrix chart with and without graphical representation. The results showed that students faced fewer difficulties when identifying the physical features of lexical items in both matrixes. By contrast, the participants tended to find location features as the most difficult category. The study has also revealed that SFA with graphic representation is greatly effective in terms of vocabulary learning and retention. Moreover, this study is valuable as it investigated the effectiveness of SFA on primary learners’ word awareness. It contributes largely to children's language development in terms of lexicon enrichment, comprehension, and content retention.

Phonemic Awareness as Predictor of Word Decoding Ability among Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Students

This descriptive correlational study aimed at the level of Phonemic awareness as a predictor of Word Decoding ability among BS-IT students using a total enumeration technique that involves students enrolled in the course program. Moreover, it sought to determine the significant relationship between the two variables. To verify, three different tests were being utilised to collect the necessary data, i.e., a listening test for measuring the respondents' level of awareness of words with critical sounds; a phonetic transcription test to identify the respondents' level of awareness of sound-symbol relationship; and spelling test to know the respondents' level of ability for transcriptions to be translated to its American Standard English spelling. After the data had been collected and tabulated, it was interpreted that the students have a high level of Phonemic awareness with a mean of 3.66. Moreover, their Word Decoding ability resulted in a high level with a mean of 3.93. Further, it is being noticed that there is a tremendous significant relationship between the two variables with a p-value of 0.0000000859. With these findings, the researcher encourages the school, administrators, and teachers to give more exposure to sound-word connections by engaging the students with activities involving speaking, listening, reading, and writing activities and practice-based tasks.

Do family learning phonics courses improve parents' reading‐related skills and ability to support their children's reading?

BackgroundParents play a crucial role in supporting children's literacy, especially in the first years of school. However, parents can find this challenging if they struggle with reading themselves. We explore whether family learning phonics courses boost parents' reading‐related skills and ability to support their children's reading, in a collaboration between UK academics and the National Family Learning Forum.MethodsPrior to data collection, academics and course leaders identified key skills for courses to target: phonological awareness, letter‐sounds, segmenting and blending, and awareness of irregular words. Family learning teams recruited parents of Reception children (4–5 years old) for the phonics group (N = 50), targeting parents who were likely to need literacy support. Parents received 6 weeks of 1‐ to 2‐hour phonics sessions in groups. Control participants (N = 76) were recruited online and had a Reception‐age child (4–5 years old); controls received no training. All participants completed phonics‐related tests at weeks 1 and 6.ResultsThe phonics group significantly improved on letter‐sound knowledge (by 4.64 letters; 51 total items); the control group did not significantly improve on this measure. Both groups showed some improvement in phonological awareness and word reading (likely due to practice effects), and neither group improved on nonword reading. The reading questionnaire showed that the phonics group reported giving their children more regular support with literacy activities and placed a higher level of importance on homework, with no increase for the control group.ConclusionsWe provide evidence that family learning phonics courses can improve crucial reading skills (letter‐sound knowledge) and increase parents' confidence to support their children's reading. Some reading skills (phonological awareness, whole word reading, and decoding) may be slower to change and require longer term support. Future work should explore long‐term consequences of such courses for parents' and their children's reading habits and skills.

“The impact of bilingualism on Language and Literacy Development”

The impact of bilingualism on language and literacy development was investigated in the present study. The goals of this study were to determine the effect of bilingualism on language and literacy development, as well as to compare the features of bilingual and monolingual language development and literacy growth. The study was conducted in a cross-sectional manner. The information was gathered from the Department of Speech and Language Pathology; Mind Institute – Special Needs Centre, Qatar. A total of 25 patients were analysed using a battery of tests developed by the researcher, which included the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-5), Renfrew Language Scale (Action Picture Test), Visualizing and Verbalizing, and Questionnaire. Each patient was assessed individually by a speech and language pathologist who is skilled in assessing learners with Learning Difficulties. The 25 participants were divided into five groups, each with a different age range. Language Development features such as Metalinguistic Concepts, Word Awareness, Syntactic Awareness, and Phonological Awareness, as well as Literacy Development characteristics including Reading and Writing abilities, were age/grade appropriate for monolingual learners in each group. Bilinguals, on the other hand, showed certain delays in only single language, English. Bilinguals, on the other side, have a larger vocabulary in two or more languages. It is vital to remember that bilingual learners require their own time to attain grade level. The study, it is concluded, will benefit in the efficient treatment of patients. Furthermore, timely or early intervention can help learners achieve age or grade-level language development and literacy growth while avoiding academic failure.

Ανάπτυξη λεξιλογίου στη δεύτερη γλώσσα μέσω στρατηγικών: Η περίπτωση της μορφολογικής ανάλυσης των λέξεων

This paper elaborates on the on-going discussion on whether development of word awareness and morphological analysis can contribute to vocabulary growth. The pilot study targets adults L2 Italian learners, addressing what strategies they use in order to learn new vocabulary and whether strategies related to the morphological analysis of words are adopted . R esults show that strategies related to vocabulary replication, followed by strategies related to vocabulary learning and retrieval are the favoured ones . S trategies strongly connected with the morphological analysis of words retain their high usage , while University learners outperform learners of private schools.

EFL Students’ Awareness of Culture-Specific Words and Concepts: The Challenges and Opportunities for Students in a Saudi Undergraduate English Program

Cultural knowledge is an integral part of the language teaching process in EFL situations. The difficulties facing students in this area have negatively affected their ability to communicate successfully and translate accurately. Nonetheless, the debate over the significance of involving cultural aspects in the language classroom has continued in the local Saudi context. The language weaknesses resulting from the lack of sufficient cultural perspective can also be observed and confirmed in this region. Students’ understanding of culture-specific words and concepts is the area that is affected the most when a disconnection occurs between language teaching and cultural knowledge. Thus, in this paper, the researcher examines the impact of this disconnection by outlining the extent to which cultural knowledge is incorporated into EFL language courses. This study also focuses on documenting the language use examples that illustrate the difficulties faced by students in this regard, which is an aspect that is missing from several previous studies in the local context. The data examined in this study were collected through open-ended questionnaires and organizing focus group discussions. The analysis of the results reveals that the cultural component of language teaching is not satisfactory for the English major students surveyed in this study. The research participants also described the kind of cultural knowledge missing from their curriculum and the specific areas affected by that. The study concludes with several suggested solutions that focus on the resources available to Saudi students (and other students in the same circumstances) and on utilizing the most recent developments in online education in the past two years.

Text Structure Strategy for Expository Reading Comprehension: Case Study With an Adolescent With Noonan Syndrome

Purpose This article describes the implementation of a text structure strategy approach to reading comprehension intervention to improve comprehension of expository texts for an adolescent with Noonan Syndrome and a history of developmental language disorder and reading disability. Method The text structure intervention program was created for a feasibility study with adolescents who have language and literacy disorders. In the present case study, we investigated whether it was possible to improve expository text comprehension in a client with Noonan Syndrome and a history of significant needs in literacy. The text structure program leveraged the participant's progressive knowledge and awareness of specific text structures and structure signal words for improved comprehension of compare-contrast texts. The participant attended 60-min sessions twice weekly for three weeks at a university clinic. Results The participant demonstrated an increase in signal word identification as well as compare-contrast text comprehension. Conclusions This preliminary case study demonstrates that a short-term, explicit text structure strategy intervention is feasible for treatment of reading comprehension difficulties. This study also provides support for future text structure research with adolescent language and literacy deficits secondary to medical complexities.

Learning through everyday activities: Improving preschool language and literacy outcomes via family workshops

Family literacy programmes can take many shapes, and are often focused on training adult caregivers to engage in particular literacy activities with their young children. In this study, through a series of five, two-hour workshops, we instead worked to help families take advantage of opportunities to infuse literacy learning into their daily routines with their preschool-aged children. Effects of the workshop include parent reports of increased literacy interactions in the home, particularly in the areas of read-alouds and writing opportunities. In addition, students whose families participated in the workshops showed statistically significantly greater literacy growth in print and word awareness and comprehension than peers whose families did not participate in the workshops.

Print Knowledge in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Do Child and Family Variables Play a Role?

Purpose This study aimed to examine the print knowledge of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in comparison to children who have developmental language disorder (DLD) and typically developing (TD) children as well as examine the child and family predictors of print knowledge. Method A total of 629 preschool children, including 33 children with ASD, 93 children with DLD, and 503 TD children, were the focus of the current study. Teachers completed direct assessments with the children in the fall and spring of the academic year on print knowledge using the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screener. Results Analyses of covariance were used to compare the print knowledge skills (uppercase and lowercase letter identification, print and word awareness, name writing) in the fall and spring for each of the three groups. The groups were significantly different for the Print and Word Awareness and Name Writing subtests in both the fall and spring. A Tukey's honestly significant difference further indicated that, for these subtests, the children with ASD had significantly lower scores than both the children with DLD and TD children. When examining the child and family predictors of residualized gain in print knowledge for the children with ASD, the only significant predictor for any outcome was fall scores. When examining the predictors for the full sample, fall scores, age, ASD status, and mothers' education level were significant predictors of print and word awareness and name writing scores. Conclusions None of the child and family characteristics seemed to be related to residualized gain in print knowledge for children with ASD. However, when examining predictors of residualized gain in print knowledge for the full sample, ASD status was related to lower scores for both print and word awareness and name writing.

EFL Students’ Awareness of Culture-Specific Words and Concepts: The Challenges and Opportunities for Students in a Saudi Undergraduate English Program

EFL Students’ Awareness of Culture-Specific Words and Concepts: The Challenges and Opportunities for Students in a Saudi Undergraduate English Program