scholarly journals Building Meaning: Constructing New Word Knowledge from Simple Statistics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivera Savic ◽  
Layla Unger ◽  
Vladimir Sloutsky
Keyword(s):  
Mere Exposure ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Everyday Language ◽  
New Words ◽  
Statistical Regularities ◽  
Unlimited Variety

We can understand and express an unlimited variety of meaningful ideas using language. This remarkable ability depends on the fact that as we learn words, they become organized according to meaningful, semantic links, such as those connecting apple, juicy, eat, and pear. Extensive computational evidence attests that everyday language is rich in statistical regularities that could, in principle, drive the formation of these links: (1) Direct co-occurrence (e.g., eat - apple) may foster links between words that can be combined to express meaningful ideas, and (2) Shared patterns of co-occurrence (e.g., apple and pear both co-occur with eat) may foster links between words similar in meaning. Here, we investigated whether humans can harness these simple but powerful statistics to integrate new words into their existing networks of organized word knowledge. In three reported experiments (N=128), participants came to link novel with familiar words based on both direct and shared patterns of co-occurrence following mere exposure to sentences containing these statistics. This novel finding highlights a potentially key role for co-occurrence regularities in building the organized word knowledge that is fundamental to our unique fluency with language.

Vreemde-Talenonderwijs

1998 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 27-29
Author(s):  
Marianne Verhallen-van Ling
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
New Words ◽  
Group 6 ◽  
Course Material ◽  
Dutch Language

The most frequently used Dutch language course for primary schools (Taal actief, 'Language actively') was analysed with respect to vocabulary teaching. The analysis was restricted to the materials for 'group 6' (children of about 10 years old). It was shown that vocabulary was part of the curriculum, but only in a limited and non-systematic way. Only about 350 words which seemed adequate for the age group considered were presented in the course material. Furthermore, the words seemed to be randomly selected. Relatively few of the tasks and exercises were directed at the learning of new words or new word meanings. Most tasks had to do with the relation between words, for example providing words with opposite meanings. Generally, the exercises did not aim at the acquisition of new words and meanings, but at the testing of word knowledge.

scholarly journals Word knowledge in six- to nine-month-old Norwegian infants? Not without additional frequency cues

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 180711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Kartushina ◽  
Julien Mayor
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Word Comprehension ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Word Use ◽  
New Words ◽  
The Past ◽  
Gaze Patterns ◽  
Linguistic Cues

The past 5 years have witnessed claims that infants as young as six months of age understand the meaning of several words. To reach this conclusion, researchers presented infants with pairs of pictures from distinct semantic domains and observed longer looks at an object upon hearing its name as compared with the name of the other object. However, these gaze patterns might indicate infants' sensibility to the word frequency and/or its contextual relatedness to the object regardless of a firm semantic understanding of this word. The current study attempted, first, to replicate, in Norwegian language, the results of recent studies showing that six- to nine-month-old English-learning infants understand the meaning of many common words. Second, it assessed the robustness of a ‘comprehension’ interpretation by dissociating semantic knowledge from confounded extra-linguistic cues via the manipulation of the contingency between words and objects. Our planned analyses revealed that Norwegian six- to nine-month-old infants did not understand the meaning of the words used in the study. Our exploratory analyses showed evidence of word comprehension at eight to nine months of age—rather than from six to seven months of age for English-learning infants—suggesting that there are cross-linguistic differences in the onset of word comprehension. In addition, our study revealed that eight- to nine-month-old infants cannot rely exclusively on single extra-linguistic cues to disambiguate between two items, thus suggesting the existence of early word-object mappings. However, these mappings are weak, as infants need additional cues (such as an imbalance in frequency of word use) to reveal word recognition. Our results suggest that the very onset of word comprehension is not based on the infants' knowledge of words per se . Rather, infants use a converging set of cues to identify referents, among which frequency is a robust (pre-semantic) cue that infants exploit to guide object disambiguation and, in turn, learn new words.

Promoting Low-Income Preschoolers' Vocabulary Learning From Educational Media: Does Repetition Support Memory for Learned Word Knowledge?

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Preeti G. Samudra ◽  
Kevin M. Wong ◽  
Susan B. Neuman
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Educational Media ◽  
New Words ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
Vocabulary Assessment ◽  
Spaced Repetition

Children from diverse backgrounds are able to learn new words from educational media. However, learning is often partial and fragile, leaving much room for uncovering strategies that can increase the efficacy of educational media in supporting children's vocabulary knowledge. The present study investigated one such strategy—repeated viewing of educational media—in a sample of low-income preschoolers. One hundred thirty one preschoolers were randomly assigned to view an educational media clip teaching three vocabulary words in one of three conditions: (a) once, (b) three times in immediate succession (massed repetition), or (c) three times with views spaced 1 hour apart (spaced repetition). Children completed a target vocabulary assessment both immediately after the final view and 1 week later. Results indicate that certain types of word knowledge were supported by repetition, particularly spaced repetition. Children also effectively retained the vocabulary knowledge they acquired from educational media over a 1-week period in all conditions. This suggests that educational media is a strong platform for teaching low-income preschoolers new words, and that spaced repetition might further support low-income preschoolers' vocabulary learning.

scholarly journals Secondary School Students’ Understanding of and Strategies for Vocabulary Acquisition: A Phenomenographic Approach to Language Learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathrine Norberg ◽  
Anna Vikström ◽  
Emma Palola Kirby
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
School Students ◽  
New Words ◽  
How People Learn

Studies on vocabulary learning have provided valuable knowledge of what it means to know a word and how people learn. Few studies have focused on what students’ understanding of word knowledge and vocabulary acquisition can contribute with in a language-learning context. Considering the vital importance of vocabulary in language learning, this study explores students’ experiences of word knowledge and vocabulary learning with a point of departure in phenomenographic research. By interviewing a group of Swedish secondary school students about their understanding of word knowledge and what strategies they employ to learn new words in English, categories of description emerged showing that although the majority of the students reported that they perceive word knowledge as contextual, they primarily employ decontextualised strategies when studying vocabulary. This discrepancy seems to be closely connected to how vocabulary is tested and assessed in school.

Woordleerstrategieen Van Leerlingen In De Onderbouw Van Het Voortgezet Onderwijs

2007 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 21-31
Author(s):  
Carla Driessen
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
New Words ◽  
Vocabulary Learning Strategies ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
On Line

To gain more insight into intentional vocabulary learning by students at secondary education three research questions wTere addressed: 1) According to students in the lower grades of secondary education, w7hat are good strategies for intentional vocabulary learning? 2) What vocabulary learning strategies do these students actually use? 3) How effective are the vocabulary learning strategies used? The research sfunved that the students value and demonstrate a variety of cognitive and meta-cognitive vocabulary learning strategies pertaining to 'non-elaboration of words', 'elaboration of words', 'planning', 'evaluation and self-regulation', and 'help seeking'. Differences were found between the students, but on the whole the quality of word knowledge is not optimal. Based on the research findings, several recommendations were formulated such as the exchange of learning strategies between students, the use of an on-line vocabulary learning programme with special attention to word forms, and the organisation of learning experiences in which students draw pictures of new words and invent ludicrous, bizarre or emotionally significant sentences for the words in order to promote vocabulary acquisition.

Assessing the Effects of Word Exposure Frequency on Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition from Reading and Listening

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Xiaoning ◽  
Teng Feng
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
New Words ◽  
Exposure Frequency ◽  
Form Recognition ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Partial Word ◽  
Efl Students

AbstractThis study investigated the effects of the frequency at which English as a foreign language (EFL) students were exposed to words from the input modes of reading and listening. Accordingly, 15 words of three frequency groups were selected. A total of 60 Chinese EFL students were recruited. The four test types of recall of form, recognition of form, recall of meaning, and recognition of meaning were administered to measure participants’ ability in building a form-meaning link. Immediate posttests were administered for assessing vocabulary development, and delayed posttests were administered two weeks later for assessing retention. The results revealed that new words could be learned incidentally in both modes, but more word knowledge was gained in reading. The effect of word exposure frequency on incidental vocabulary gains was significant for the four test types in both of the two modes. Since only partial word knowledge was acquired by both modes, it appeared that for the two modes to be a valuable source for incidental vocabulary learning, not only word exposure frequency, but also elaborate word processing is needed. Relevant implications for teaching and learning vocabulary are discussed.

scholarly journals Diversity not quantity in caregiver speech: Using computational modeling to isolate the effects of the quantity and the diversity of the input on vocabulary growth

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Jones ◽  
Caroline F Rowland
Keyword(s):  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Lexical Knowledge ◽  
Input Quantity ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
New Words ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
Vocabulary Growth ◽  
Linguistic Input

Children who hear large amounts of diverse speech learn language more quickly than children who do not. However, high correlations between the amount and the diversity of the input in speech samples makes it difficult to isolate the influence of each. We overcame this problem by controlling the input to a computational model so that amount of exposure to linguistic input (quantity) and the quality of that input (lexical diversity) were independently manipulated. Sublexical, lexical, and multi-word knowledge were charted across development (Study 1), showing that while input quantity may be important early in learning, lexical diversity is ultimately more crucial, a prediction confirmed against children’s data (Study 2). The model trained on a lexically diverse input also performed better on nonword repetition and sentence recall tests (Study 3) and was quicker to learn new words over time (Study 4). A language input that is rich in lexical diversity outperforms equivalent richness in quantity for learned sublexical and lexical knowledge, for well-established language tests, and for acquiring words that have never been encountered before.

Children’s word knowledge

1987 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-55
Author(s):  
Peggy Goldsmith
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Spelling Development ◽  
Orthographic Awareness ◽  
New Words ◽  
Children's Development ◽  
Children’S Development

Abstract In regard to language learning, whether it be in listening, speaking, reading or writing, children appear to be genuinely interested In meaning in their world. When it comes to a knowledge of words to be used in any of the processes mentioned, children are interested in their use, their meaning and in connecting new words with old words or ideas. Numerous studies have investigated the development of children’s word knowledge up to year 4 or approximately age 10 (e.g. Read, 1971; Beers and Henderson, 1977; Zutell, 1979; Gentry, 1981). There are, however, only a few studies involving upper primary and secondary students. This paper looks at literature on children’s word knowledge (including spelling) development up to year 4 and beyond, and includes a table of researched and hypothesized stages in children’s development in orthographic awareness and in word knowledge. An outline of the author’s theory of children’s development in word knowledge is given.

Translation of Stylistic Devices in Contemporary Young Adolescent Fiction

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (46) ◽  
pp. 71-77
Author(s):  
Roberta Strikauskaitė
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Young Adolescent ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Interesting Issue ◽  
Everyday Language ◽  
New Words ◽  
Best Sellers ◽  
Adolescent Fiction

General interest in teenage books has been upsurging because of films based on international best-sellers. Therefore, the scripture becomes a source of language, in a sense that youngsters learn new words, phrases, allusions or metaphors and incorporate them in their everyday language. Demand for popular reads requires a quick reaction translating these books as there are plenty of novels for young adults written in foreign languages. However, translation of adolescent fiction is a challenging task due to the use of slang and other colloquial vocabulary or stylistic devices. However, the translation of stylistic devices as such has not been researched since linguists focus on teen slang. The translation of stylistic devices is an interesting issue to deal with as the entire translation “eco-system” is observed not from one sentence or paragraph perspective. The research deals with stylistic devices and their translation and the analysis of translation. It also presents stylistic devices according to their types, each type is illustrated by one or two examples depending on the number found, their translation and explanation of its aim, used strategy and achieved results are provided.

scholarly journals SCAFFOLDINGAND REINFORCEMENT: USING DIGITAL LOGBOOKS IN LEARNING VOCABULARY

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Salma Hasan Almabrouk Khalifa ◽  
Ahmad Affendi Shabdin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
New Words ◽  
Microsoft Word ◽  
Repetitive Learning

Reinforcement and scaffolding are tested approaches to enhance learning achievements. Keeping a record of the learning process as well as the new learned words functions as scaffolding to help learners build a comprehensive vocabulary. Similarly, repetitive learning of new words reinforces permanent learning for long-term memory. Paper-based logbooks may prove to be good records of the learning process, but if learners use digital logbooks, the results may be even better. Digital logbooks with an extended page with hyperlinked information on word-knowledge may work both ways – as scaffolding to learning as well as reinforcement to the learning process. In the present paper the researcher has suggested for the development of a software called ‘Vocabulary log book,’ which combines the features of Microsoft Word, online dictionary and online grammar books, so that the information needed by learners of a foreign language to learn its lexicon is available on a single page. The researcher believes that such a page will help learners master the new words quickly and efficiently.

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