Preschoolers can learn vocabulary from educational videos, but children from low-income backgrounds often do not learn as effectively as their higher income peers. We investigated whether adding ...attention-directing cues to media (Study 1) and slowing the pacing of media (Study 2) supported vocabulary learning for preschoolers from low-income homes. We hypothesized that children would benefit from the reduced top-down processing demands in Study 1 (N = 80), and from the additional processing time in Study 2 (N = 70). Both studies utilized counterbalanced within-subjects designs with each child participating in both the experimental (added cues or slowed pacing) and control condition. Results showed that children performed better on receptive vocabulary posttests when attention cues were added (Study 1) and when the pacing was slower (Study 2) compared with the controls, though effects sizes were small. There were no differences by condition for expressive vocabulary. In Study 2 (slower pacing), we measured visual attention to videos using eye-tracking to see if the slow pacing could sustain children's attention to the video as effectively as the standard pacing. No differences in attention were observed between the slower and standard paced videos. However, attention predicted learning more strongly in the standard paced videos than the slower paced videos, suggesting that visual attention was less of a limiting factor for learning in the slower paced videos. Overall, findings suggest that reducing the cognitive load of educational media can be beneficial for vocabulary learning for children from low-income homes.
Educational Impact and Implications Statement
The present study finds that adding attention-directing cues and slowing the pacing of educational videos might improve vocabulary learning for preschoolers from low-income backgrounds. The observed improvements were small, however, suggesting that we need to do more to support the learning of at-risk populations by studying and using multiple mechanisms to facilitate their processing of educational content.
The spacing effect refers to the learning benefit that comes from separating repeated study of target items by time or by other items. A prominent proposed explanation for this effect states that ...repeated exposures that occur closely together may not engage full attentional processing due to residual activation of the previous exposure and also, in an intentional learning context, due to a sense of familiarity that may result in strategic allocation of less study time to an item in massed repetitions. The present study used eye-tracking methodology to investigate the effects of temporal distribution of repeated exposures to novel second language words on attentional processing and learning of these words under intentional learning instructions. Adult native speakers of English read Finnish words embedded in English sentence contexts under massed and spaced conditions. The results showed that (a) massed repeated exposures received less attentional processing than spaced repeated exposures; (b) target words were better remembered in the spaced condition; and (c) attention was a significant mediator of the obtained spacing effect, in line with the predictions of the deficient processing account of the spacing effect. Implications for vocabulary learning are discussed.
Humans continuously learn new information. Here, we examined the temporal brain dynamics of explicit verbal associative learning between unfamiliar items. In the first experiment, 25 adults learned ...object-pseudoword associations during a 5-day training program allowing us to track the N400 dynamics across learning blocks within and across days. Successful learning was accompanied by an initial frontal N400 that decreased in amplitude across blocks during the first day and shifted to parietal sites during the last training day. In Experiment 2, we replicated our findings with 38 new participants randomly assigned to a consistent learning or an inconsistent learning group. The N400 amplitude modulations that we found, both within and between learning sessions, are taken to reflect the emergence of novel lexical traces even when learning concerns items for which no semantic information is provided. The shift in N400 topography suggests that different N400 neural generators may contribute to specific word learning steps through a balance between domain-general and language-specific mechanisms.
The vocabulary size and composition of one group of full-term and three groups of low risk preterm children with different gestational ages (GA) were longitudinally compared at 10, 22 and 30 months ...of age. Expressive vocabulary development was assessed through the CDI. Cognitive development was also assessed at 22 months (Batelle Developmental Inventory), and data concerning biological and environmental characteristics of the children were also obtained. Growth curve analyses indicated that there were no significant differences in vocabulary size or percentage of word categories among GA groups. Regression analyses showed that word production and cognitive scores measured at 22 months were the main predictors of total vocabulary and word categories at 30 months. Gender, maternal education and GA did not contribute in a significant way to the variance of use of the vocabulary categories or vocabulary size. Therefore, GA does not seem to affect vocabulary development and composition when biomedical complications associated to prematurity are excluded.
Human word learning is remarkable: We not only learn thousands of words but also form organized semantic networks in which words are interconnected according to meaningful links, such as those ...between apple, juicy, and pear. These links play key roles in our abilities to use language. How do words become integrated into our semantic networks? Here, we investigated whether humans integrate new words by harnessing simple statistical regularities of word use in language, including: (a) Direct co-occurrence (e.g., eat-apple) and (b) Shared co-occurrence (e.g., apple and pear both co-occur with eat). In four reported experiments (N = 139), semantic priming (Experiments 1-3) and eye-tracking (Experiment 4) paradigms revealed that new words became linked to familiar words following exposure to sentences in which they either directly co-occurred, or shared co-occurrence. This finding highlights a potentially key role for co-occurrence in building organized word knowledge that is fundamental to our unique fluency with language.
Words are the building blocks of communicating science. As our understanding of the world progresses, scientific disciplines naturally enrich their specialized vocabulary (jargon). However, in the ...era of interdisciplinarity, the use of jargon may hinder effective communication among scientists that do not share a common scientific background. The question of how jargon limits the transmission of scientific knowledge has long been debated but rarely addressed quantitatively. We explored the relationship between the use of jargon and citations, using 21 486 articles focusing on cave research, a multidisciplinary field particularly prone to terminological specialization, and where linguistic disagreement among peers is frequent. We demonstrate a significant negative relationship between the proportion of jargon words in the title and abstract and the number of citations a paper receives. Given that these elements are the hook to readers, we urge scientists to restrict jargon to sections of the paper where its use is unavoidable.
Depth of processing vocabulary has been the subject of heated discussion among vocabulary researchers. Yet, current literature lacks research comparing different tasks to investigate the acquisition ...of vocabulary knowledge among adult learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). To fill the gap, we designed five task-based groups based on Technique Feature Analysis (TFA) as a framework to predict the effectiveness of different vocabulary learning tasks with similar or different TFA rankings on L2 vocabulary knowledge gain. The participants were 130 EFL learners (mean age = 21.7, female 61.5%) randomly assigned to the vocabulary learning tasks: reading and multiple-choice items (TFA = 6), reading and choosing definitions (TFA = 6), reading and fill-in-the-blanks (TFA = 7), reading and rewording the sentences (TFA = 6) and composition writing (TFA = 8). The results of the study revealed that tasks with the same TFA scores led to similar vocabulary knowledge gains. While predictions of the TFA are partially supported, composition writing and sentence rewording tasks supersede other tasks in terms of their effectiveness in vocabulary acquisition.
Purpose: This study examines the expressive language and speech of twins, relative to singletons, at 3 and 5 years, with the aim of determining if a twinning effect occurs during this developmental ...period. The possibility of twins outgrowing a twinning effect was investigated. Method: A weighted population-based sample of 185 twins and 1,309 closely spaced singletons who participated in the Growing Up in Ireland study was analyzed. Their development was compared using a standardized expressive vocabulary assessment and parent interview at 3 and 5 years as well as teacher reports at 5 years. Causal steps mediation analyses were subsequently conducted to determine if gestation and birth weight mediated twin-singleton differences in expressive vocabulary development. Results: Twins' expressive vocabulary scores were slightly lower than those of singletons at 3 years, but there was no significant difference at 5 years. More parents of twins reported "a little" concern about their child's expressive language and speech skills at 3 years, although there was no significant twin--singleton difference 2 years later. Teachers' ratings of twins' and singletons' expressive language and speech skills at 5 years were comparable. Shorter gestations and lower birth weights mediated twins' lower expressive vocabulary scores at 3 years. Conclusions: A very small twinning effect on expressive vocabulary development exists at 3 years and is outgrown by 5 years. Twins born after shorter gestations or at a lower birth weight are at an increased risk of having less developed expressive vocabulary skills at 3 years.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
The importance of vocabulary is stressed as a central aspect of language learning. The aim of this investigation1 was to study how lexical input from a textbook and use of individual vocabulary ...notebooks affected Swedish upper secondary school students’ vocabulary acquisition by answering the three following research questions: What frequency levels are represented in the vocabulary taught in the textbook? To what extent does the productive vocabulary knowledge of the group, as measured by the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), change after exposure to the textbook? To what extent did the students benefit from the vocabulary notebooks? Firstly, a corpus of texts from the textbook was created and analysed to establish the frequency levels of the vocabulary in the corpus. Laufer and Nation’s Vocabulary Levels Test was then used to establish the group’s productive vocabulary knowledge. Lastly, the effectiveness of the vocabulary notebook was examined. The results indicate that the particular textbook was well-suited in terms of frequency levels and the students’ knowledge of K3 words improved, but the vocabulary notebook was not found to be effective.
Various studies have shown that bilingual children score lower than their monolingual peers on standardized receptive vocabulary tests. This study investigates if this effect is moderated by language ...distance. Dutch receptive vocabulary was tested with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT). The impact of cross-language distance was examined by comparing bilingual groups with a small (Close; n = 165) and a large between-language distance (Distant; n = 108) with monolingual controls (n = 39). As a group, the bilinguals scored lower on Dutch receptive vocabulary than the monolinguals. The bilingual Distant group had lower receptive vocabulary outcomes than the bilingual Close and monolingual groups. No difference emerged between the monolinguals and the bilingual Close group. It can be concluded that bilingual children whose languages provide ample opportunities for transfer and sharing knowledge do not have any receptive vocabulary delays. The findings underscore that bilingual children cannot be treated as a homogeneous group and are important for determining which bilingual children are at risk of low vocabulary outcomes.
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