Knowledge Of Target Words Research Articles

How well are primary and secondary meanings of L2 words acquired?

Abstract Most words in a language have more than one meaning. Yet, few studies have explicitly examined the acquisition of secondary meanings of L2 words and the extent to which polysemy and homonymy affect vocabulary learning. This study explores the effect of polysemy and homonymy on the deliberate acquisition of the form–meaning connections of L2 words. Thirty-six EFL learners (compared with a control group of 30) learned secondary polysemous and homonymous meanings of familiar words and primary meanings of unfamiliar words using flashcards. Knowledge of target words was measured using meaning–recall and meaning–recognition tests immediately after the treatment and again one week later. The findings indicated that learning another meaning for a familiar word was just as difficult as learning the primary meaning of an unfamiliar word, suggesting that the type of meaning (primary, secondary polysemous, or secondary homonymous) might not be an influencing factor in the deliberate acquisition of L2 words.

An Empirical Study of Near-synonym Choice: A Comparison of Advanced EFL Learners to L1 English Speakers

Near-synonyms are words which share certain semantic similarities, yet differ in their contextual usage (e.g. acquire vs obtain, evaluate vs judge). The current study compares lexical preferences and rationalizations for choosing near-synonyms of advanced C1 level non-native speakers of English (n = 45) to those given by native speakers of English (n = 58). The data has been collected using a forced-choice questionnaire which also included a justification section meant to explore respondents’ reasoning behind their lexical choices. The findings of the study suggest that EFL students may lack the depth of vocabulary knowledge necessary to choose the most suitable word from a pair of near-synonyms. Insufficient knowledge of target words resulted in EFL learners’ lexical choices and justifications being statistically different from those given by native speakers. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that EFL teachers increase students’ exposure to various contexts as well as focus on vocabulary depth.

Text to talk: Effects of a home-school vocabulary texting intervention on prekindergarten vocabulary

This paper presents the results of an intervention study focused on understanding how a 5-month, vocabulary-focused texting program called Text to Talk can enhance home-school connections concerning vocabulary and preschool children's language learning. Classrooms (49) were randomly assigned to intervention or control status in an urban preschool program in the eastern United States. Intervention teachers delivered Text to Talk, a curriculum-aligned program that provides weekly texts for teachers to send to families that include vocabulary words and related activities from books being read in the classroom. Children's target word knowledge and receptive language skills (PPVT) were measured at baseline and follow-up, with treatment effects on target word knowledge (d = 0.17). Treatment families reported much higher use of texting as a source of communication with teachers, but otherwise rates of home-school communication in person, phone, and with paper were unchanged; family self-report of general home learning activities was also unaffected by treatment status. Implementation analysis showed moderate to high fidelity among teachers and families, with greater family fidelity associated with larger treatment impacts. The findings suggest that a family-focused texting-based program, aligned with the school curriculum, leads to improved taught-word knowledge among children from under-resourced communities.

Exploring the relations between child and word characteristics and preschoolers' word-learning

Preschool vocabulary interventions have reported modest increases in learning of target words, with wide variability among participants. To design interventions that are effective for all learners, more fine-grained information is needed. In the present study, English-only and dual language learner preschoolers (n = 128) were taught new words during shared book-reading. Using cross-classified random effects models, we investigated how both child and word characteristics related to vocabulary learning. Preschoolers were assessed on general receptive vocabulary (PPVT), executive function skills, and expressive knowledge of target words at pretest and posttest. Target words were rated on their perceptual accessibility, as captured by imageability, concreteness, and consistency of shape. Controlling for other predictors, target word pretest scores, PPVT, executive function skills, and words' imageability were all positive significant predictors of posttest vocabulary. Tailoring instructional strategies to better account for these factors may help to support the learning of a range of children and word types.

Manipulation of the Involvement Load of L2 Reading Tasks: A Useful Heuristic for Enhanced L2 Vocabulary Development

Ensuring second language (L2) learners have an adequate breadth and depth of L2 vocabulary knowledge is a key pedagogical objective in L2 learning contexts. For this reason, establishing guiding principles that successfully enhance the efficacy of L2 vocabulary knowledge development is of strong importance. The current study investigated the value of applying principles from the Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH) as part of a reading comprehension task among 40 intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) students. Half of the group undertook a high involvement reading task, whereas the other half undertook a low involvement reading task. After the reading task, an unannounced Vocabulary Knowledge Scale test was administered to measure incidental vocabulary gains. Results showed the high involvement group remarkably outflanked the low involvement groups in terms of the target words learned from the reading task. A delayed post-test indicated that the retention of target word knowledge was more robust among the high involvement group, but that this difference did not maintain a level of statistical significance after 2 weeks. We conclude with suggestions about how EFL/ESL instructors can apply the principles of the ILH in efforts to systematically enhance learners’ L2 vocabulary knowledge.

Reading Comprehension and Academic Vocabulary: Exploring Relations of Item Features and Reading Proficiency

AbstractGeneral academic words are those which are typically learned through exposure to school texts and occur across disciplines. We examined academic vocabulary assessment data from a group of English‐speaking middle school students (N = 1,747). We tested how word frequency, complexity, proximity, polysemy, and diversity related to students’ knowledge of target words across ability levels. Our results affirm the strong relation between vocabulary and reading at the individual level. Strong readers were more likely to know the meanings of words than struggling readers were, regardless of the features of the academic words tested. Words with more meanings were easier for all students, on average. The relation between word frequency and item difficulty was stronger among better readers, whereas the relation between word complexity and item difficulty was stronger among less proficient readers. Our examination of academic words’ characteristics and how these characteristics relate to word difficulty across reading performance has implications for instruction.

The use of immersive 360° videos for foreign language learning: a study on usage and efficacy among high-school students

ABSTRACT The large-scale diffusion of tablets and smartphones in the last decades offered new opportunities to broaden educational strategies. In particular, the Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) emerged as a promising approach leveraging the widespread availability of portable devices. In this study we investigated the feasibility and efficacy of a self-administered MALL homework training based on immersive 360° videos, compared to a training based on not-immersive standard videos showing the same visual content and enriched by an auditory description of the environment. The knowledge of target words was assessed before and after the training. In addition, students’ attitudes toward the technology were assessed before the training. Results indicated that students with a more positive attitude toward technology watched the videos more than those with a less positive attitude. Furthermore, students who underwent the training with 360°videos learned more words than students belonging to the control group, even after controlling for the number of videos views.

Word Learning in First Grade: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Technology-Based and an Extended Vocabulary Intervention

In this study we examine the effectiveness of a technology-based vocabulary intervention compared to an extended vocabulary intervention that has been validated in previous studies. At-risk first grade students learned new words through each condition in a within-subjects design. Comparisons of target word knowledge between the two conditions were made within each participant using a repeated measures ANOVA. Our findings indicated that students learned words to a greater degree when they were taught using the extended vocabulary condition when compared to word learning in the technology-based condition. However, students did demonstrate meaningful gains in target word knowledge in the technology-based condition. We discuss the benefits and limitations of each intervention in terms of feasibility and resource requirements.

Exploring the effect of lexical inferencing and dictionary consultation on undergraduate EFL students' vocabulary acquisition.

This study compares how lexical inferencing and dictionary consultation affect L2 vocabulary acquisition. Sixty-one L1 Arabic undergraduates majoring in English language read target words in semi-authentic English reading materials and were either asked to guess their meaning or look it up in a dictionary. A pre- and delayed post-test measured participants' knowledge of target words and overall vocabulary size. The results show a significant and comparable learning effect for both vocabulary learning strategies (VLS), with a higher pre-test vocabulary size related to a larger learning effect for both VLS. In addition, the better participants were at guessing correctly, the better they learned words through inferencing. The results suggest that both VLS are equally effective for our learner group and that learners' overall vocabulary size influences the amount of learning that occurs when using these VLS.

Word learning from context in school-age children: relations with language ability and executive function.

Purpose: Although school-age children learn most new word meanings from surrounding context, the joint roles of language ability and executive function (EF) in the word learning process remain unclear. This study examined children's acquisition of word meanings from context in relation to oral language ability and three EF skills (working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility). Method: Typically developing school-age children completed measures of language and EF, then read and listened to short stories containing unfamiliar target words. A multiple-choice pretest-posttest measure assessed children's target word knowledge gains. Results: Regression analyses showed that language and cognitive flexibility were both related to word knowledge gains; each skill assumed greater importance among children with relative weakness in the other skill. Conclusion: Language ability and cognitive flexibility may each play a direct role in contextual word learning among school-age children, with children naturally relying on one skill if the other is weaker.

LEARNING VOCABULARY THROUGH READING, LISTENING, AND VIEWING

AbstractThis study used a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest design at one-week intervals to determine the extent to which written, audio, and audiovisual L2 input contributed to incidental vocabulary learning. Seventy-six university students learning EFL in China were randomly assigned to four groups. Each group was presented with the input from the same television documentary in different modes: reading the printed transcript, listening to the documentary, viewing the documentary, and a nontreatment control condition. Checklist and multiple-choice tests were designed to measure knowledge of target words. The results showed that L2 incidental vocabulary learning occurred through reading, listening, and viewing, and that the gain was retained in all modes of input one week after encountering the input. However, no significant differences were found between the three modes on the posttests indicating that each mode of input yielded similar amounts of vocabulary gain and retention. A significant relationship was found between prior vocabulary knowledge and vocabulary learning, but not between frequency of occurrence and vocabulary learning. The study provides further support for the use of L2 television programs for language learning.

Hearing Words, Learning Words: How Different Presentations of Novel Vocabulary Words Affect Children’s Incidental Learning

ABSTRACTResearch Findings: Children learn most of their vocabulary incidentally, by hearing words used in their environment. This study explored which kinds of presentations of words, without any direct instruction, yielded greater depth of target word knowledge. Changes in 56 kindergartners’ depth of knowledge for each of 23 novel target words (N = 1,288) based on presentation in 1 of 3 conditions (read-aloud, teacher conversation, or both read-aloud and conversation) were explored and compared to control words that were never presented. A 2-level, cross-classification analysis modeled the postintervention score for each word for each child. Children’s word meaning knowledge improved most when words were presented via combined conversations and read-alouds. Vocabulary gains for words presented via conversations differed across classrooms. Practice or Policy: Both teacher conversations and read-aloud presentations of target vocabulary should be used together. Professional development for teachers’ effective vocabulary conversations may be needed.

Cognitive Predictors of Spoken Word Recognition in Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorders.

This study examined the influence of cognitive factors on spoken word recognition in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and typically developing (TD) children. Participants included 234 children (aged 7;0-11;11 years;months), 117 with DLD and 117 TD children, propensity matched for age, gender, socioeconomic status, and maternal education. Children completed a series of standardized assessment measures, a forward gating task, a rapid automatic naming task, and a series of tasks designed to examine cognitive factors hypothesized to influence spoken word recognition including phonological working memory, updating, attention shifting, and interference inhibition. Spoken word recognition for both initial and final accept gate points did not differ for children with DLD and TD controls after controlling target word knowledge in both groups. The 2 groups also did not differ on measures of updating, attention switching, and interference inhibition. Despite the lack of difference on these measures, for children with DLD, attention shifting and interference inhibition were significant predictors of spoken word recognition, whereas updating and receptive vocabulary were significant predictors of speed of spoken word recognition for the children in the TD group. Contrary to expectations, after controlling for target word knowledge, spoken word recognition did not differ for children with DLD and TD controls; however, the cognitive processing factors that influenced children's ability to recognize the target word in a stream of speech differed qualitatively for children with and without DLDs.

The impact of topic interest, L2 proficiency, and gender on EFL incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading

This study investigated the impact of topic interest, alongside L2 proficiency and gender, on L2 vocabulary acquisition through reading. A repeated-measures design was used with 135 Korean EFL students. Control variables included topic familiarity, prior target-word knowledge, and target-word difficulty (word length, class, and concreteness). Participants read both high- and low-interest topic passages and took vocabulary posttests (word-form recognition, translation recognition, and translation production) immediately and four weeks after reading. Analyses revealed significant effects of topic interest and L2 proficiency, and a significant interaction between topic interest and gender. These results were maintained over time. The article concludes by discussing the facilitative role of topic interest, expanding on the motivational factor considered in the involvement load hypothesis.

Effective practices to enhance immigrant kindergarteners’ second language vocabulary learning through storybook reading

This study examined the impact of direct instruction and interactive instruction on immigrant kindergarten children’s vocabulary learning during storybook reading. (In the present study the terms “immigrants” and “second language learners” are used alternatively meaning kindergarteners from immigrant families who are in the process of acquiring a second language besides their mother tongue.) Eighty seven immigrant kindergarten children, aged 4–6 years old (mean = 61.68 months, standard deviations = .51) were recruited from 12 public kindergarten classrooms located in Crete. Children were acquiring Greek as a second language. The immigrant children of the 12 kindergarten classrooms were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. During the intervention phase, six stories were read twice in whole group settings. Target and non-target words were assessed by multiple choice vocabulary measure before and after the storybook readings. In the first experimental group, children were provided brief explanations of target words by direct instruction. In the second experimental group, children were involved actively in discussing target words according to interactive instruction techniques. In the control group stories were read without any explanation of target vocabulary. Results showed that interactive instruction was more beneficial on target vocabulary learning than direct instruction and the impact was greater for instructed words than for uninstructed ones. In addition, results showed that boys and girls responded differently to the teaching procedures. Specifically, in both conditions where teaching procedures were implemented, girls outperformed boys on instructed words. Furthermore, children’s initial level in Greek receptive vocabulary and target word knowledge had a significant impact on target word learning.

English Language Learners and English-Only Learners' Response to Direct Vocabulary Instruction

We examined data from an 18-week kindergarten vocabulary intervention study to determine whether treatment outcomes had differential effects that favored English language learners (ELLs) or English-only learners (EOLs) and whether the relationship between initial English general receptive vocabulary knowledge and response to vocabulary intervention differed as a function of language status. Participants from 3 northeastern U.S. elementary schools within 3 separate school districts were assigned to either a treatment condition (ELLs, n = 31; EOLs, n = 49) or no-treatment condition (ELLs, n = 17; EOLs, n = 25). Trained interventionists delivered direct vocabulary instruction using 1 storybook twice per week in 20- to 25-min sessions. Results from 2 × 2 analyses of variance indicated that participants performed better if they were (a) in the treatment condition rather than the no-treatment condition and (b) categorized as an EOL rather than an ELL with evidence of an interaction effect on a target-word knowledge measure (TWKM). Regression analyses indicated that (a) the centered pretest Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–III (PPVT–III) accounted for a statistically significant proportion of the variance in posttest measures for treatment participants and (b) language status did not explain any additional variance in posttest measures. Each of the 3 mediation models for the dependent measures TWKM, PPVT–III, and listening comprehension, using the independent variable language status and the mediating variable centered pretest PPVT–III, resulted in full mediation. Findings indicate that treatment ELLs and treatment EOLs would most likely perform equally well on posttest target-word and general receptive vocabulary measures if they had similar initial English general receptive vocabulary knowledge.

<b>The role of task type in L2 vocabulary acquisition: a case of Involvement Load Hypothesis</b> - doi: 10.4025/actascilangcult.v35i4.21135

Based on Involvement Load Hypothesis (LAUFER; HULSTIJN, 2001), current study examined the effect of involvement load and task type on vocabulary acquisition. Six classes of EFL learners were assigned to one of six experimental groups with different involvement loads, thus leaving three groups with receptive tasks and three with productive tasks. Learners read a text and completed 10 vocabulary tasks focused on the target words while time on task was controlled across groups. The knowledge of target words was tested in two post-tests. Predictably, the findings indicated that tasks with higher involvement loads were more effective for vocabulary learning than tasks with lower involvement loads. Receptive tasks were also compared with productive ones of the same load condition. Contrary to the Involvement Load Hypothesis, productive tasks were more effective than receptive ones. Results show that the time on task does not have any effect on task efficacy.

The Effect of Text-Based Direct Vocabulary Instruction on Vocabulary Acquisition

The study examines the effect of direct instruction on vocabulary gain through reading texts. Thirty eight intermediate adult learners of English took part in this study. The participants were exposed to two kinds of experimental conditions: reading comprehension (RO) and reading comprehension accompanied by direct instruction of vocabulary (RAD). The Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) developed by Paribakht and Wesche (1997) was used to measure the participants’ quantitative and qualitative knowledge of target words before and after each treatment. The results of the study revealed that both treatments brought about considerable gains in learners’ vocabulary knowledge but that the RAD treatment resulted in greater gains.

Language proficiency, home-language status, and English vocabulary development: A longitudinal follow-up of the Word Generation program

This longitudinal quasi-experimental study examines the effects of Word Generation, a middle-school vocabulary intervention, on the learning, maintenance, and consolidation of academic vocabulary for students from English-speaking homes, proficient English speakers from language-minority homes, and limited English-proficiency students. Using individual growth modeling, we found that students receiving Word Generation improved more on target word knowledge during the instructional period than students in comparison schools did, on average. We found an interaction between instruction and home-language status such that English-proficient students from language-minority homes improved more than English-proficient students from English-speaking homes. Limited English-proficiency students, however, did not realize gains equivalent to those of more proficient students from language-minority homes during the instructional period. We administered follow-up assessments in the fall after the instructional period ended and in the spring of the following year to determine how well students maintained and consolidated target academic words. Students in the intervention group maintained their relative improvements at both follow-up assessments.

Learning vocabulary via computer-assisted scaffolding for text processing

A substantial amount of literature regarding first language (L1) acquisition has shown that reading for meaning significantly contributes to vocabulary expansion and strongly relates to overall academic success. Research in the English as a Second Language (ESL) context, however, has presented mixed results, in particular for recent immigrant students in North America. This is due to the large gap between their vocabulary knowledge and reading ability and their urgent need to acquire English academic language in order to meet grade requirements in the school. This study investigates ESL students' vocabulary learning outcomes through reading facilitated by a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) program that supports their word recognition ability. It focuses on the differences in their understanding of target words in both their first and second languages (L2) that have rarely been studied. The results from both monolingual and bilingual receptive vocabulary tests show that the students learned more words with access to computer-mediated dictionaries than without; however, the variations in their vocabulary learning in the CALL environment were found to be related to their English skills and conceptual knowledge of target words in their L1. Bilingual vocabulary tests demonstrate great potential, as a more sensitive assessment measure, in accurately evaluating ESL students' vocabulary learning progress, given their atypical language development trajectory which is different from monolingual native English-speaking students.