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Bidirectional naming (BiN) as a verbal developmental cusp and derived relational responding as a phenomenon have been used to explain the accelerated rate in word learning that occurs within the second to third year of life; however, there has been limited research on how these repertoires may be related. In the first of two descriptive studies, we evaluated the relation between degrees of BiN and scores on tests of derived relational responding. Study I involved 31 preschool students with and without diagnoses with whom we tested the presence and strength of relations among BiN and other arbitrary and nonarbitrary relations that were mutually and combinatorially entailed. Data from the first study showed a strong significant correlation between participants' degrees of BiN and their scores on tests of derived relations. In the second study we collected additional data on BiN and derived relations in order to compare the mean differences between the establishment of arbitrary auditory-visual and visual-visual relations for 18 preschool students selected from the participants within the first study. This subgroup consisted of six students who demonstrated BiN, six students who demonstrated unidirectional naming (listener only; UniN) and six students who demonstrated no UniN or BiN. There were significant differences for both auditory-visual and visual-visual derived relations based on the students' degrees of BiN. The results of both studies have implications for the intersection between the verbal developmental cusp of BiN (a derived relation itself) and other derived relational responding. Keywords Bidirectional naming cusp * Arbitrary derived relations * Auditory-visual-derived relations * Nonarbitrary-derived relations * Visual-visual-derived relations * Language burst, In different perspectives of language, the discourse, interventions, measurements, and definitions often differ, but one idea that is consistent within each perspective is a developmental stage where a child's language [...]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether long-term musical training enhances the ability to perceive and learn new auditory information. Listeners with extensive musical experience were expected to detect, learn, and retain novel words more effectively than participants without musical training. Advantages of musical training were expected to be greater for words learned in multitalker babble compared to quiet. Method: Participants consisted of 20 young adult musicians and 20 age-matched nonmusicians, all with normal hearing. In addition to completing word recognition and nonword detection tasks, each participant learned 10 novel words in a rapid word-learning paradigm. All tasks were completed in quiet and in multitalker babble. Next-day retention of the learned words was examined in isolation (recall) and in the context of continuous discourse (detection). Performance was compared across groups and listening conditions. Results: Performance was significantly poorer in babble than in quiet on word recognition and nonword detection, but not on word learning, learned-word recall, or learned-word detection. No differences were observed between groups (musicians vs. nonmusicians) on any of the tasks. Conclusions: For young normal-hearing adults, auditory experience resulting from long-term music training did not enhance their learning of new auditory information in either favorable (quiet) or unfavorable (babble) listening conditions. This suggests that the formation of semantic and musical representations in memory may be supported by the same underlying auditory processes, such that musical training is simply an extension of an auditory expertise that both musicians and nonmusicians possess., A fundamental component of word learning is ascertaining the meaning of the word. According to Bloom (2000), knowing the meaning of a word requires (a) having a mental representation or [...]

Purpose: Word learning difficulties have been documented in multiple studies involving children with dyslexia and developmental language disorder (DLD; see also specific language impairment). However, no previous studies have directly contrasted word learning in these two frequently co-occurring disorders. We examined word learning in second-grade students with DLD-only and dyslexia-only as compared to each other, peers with both disorders (DLD + dyslexia), and peers with typical development. We hypothesized that children with dyslexia-only and DLD-only would show differences in word learning due to differences in their core language strengths and weaknesses. Method: Children (N = 244) were taught eight novel pseudowords paired with unfamiliar objects. The teaching script included multiple exposures to the phonological form, the pictured object, a verbal semantic description of the object, and spaced retrieval practice opportunities. Word learning was assessed immediately after instruction with tasks requiring recall or recognition of the phonological and semantic information. Results: Children with dyslexia-only performed significantly better on existing vocabulary measures than their peers with DLD-only. On experimental word learning measures, children in the dyslexia-only and DLD + dyslexia groups showed significantly poorer performance than typically developing children on all word learning tasks. Children with DLD-only differed significantly from the TD group on a single word learning task assessing verbal semantic recall. Conclusions: Overall, results indicated that children with dyslexia display broad word learning difficulties extending beyond the phonological domain; however, this contrasted with their relatively strong performance on measures of existing vocabulary knowledge. More research is needed to understand relations between word learning abilities and overall vocabulary knowledge and how to close vocabulary gaps for children with both disorders. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha. 14832717, Vocabulary knowledge is critical for the acquisition of literacy skills (Perfetti, 2010; Quinn et al., 2015; Suggate et al., 2018), contributing to the development of both word-reading skills and overall [...]

Purpose: This study examined the effect of Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage for Late Talkers (VAULT) treatment on toddlers' expressive vocabulary and phonology. Parent acceptability of VAULT treatment was also considered. Method: We used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline single case experimental design with three late talking toddlers aged 21-25 months. The treatment was delivered twice weekly in 30-min sessions for 8 weeks by a rotating team of four speech-language pathologists. Toddlers heard three of their 10 strategically selected target words a minimum of 64 times in play activities each session. Expressive vocabulary and phonology was assessed pre-post, with parent interviews conducted post-treatment. Results: All toddlers increased production of target words and expressive vocabulary. Ambient expressive vocabulary size increased by an average of 16 words per week (range of 73-169 words learned over the treatment period). On a 20-item, single-word speech assessment, the toddlers' phonetic inventories increased on average from three to seven consonants, and five to eight vowels. Two toddlers used protowords pretreatment, which were replaced by recognizable attempts at words posttreatment. Parents reported the treatment was acceptable for the child and their family with future consideration of parent-based delivery of the treatment in the home. Conclusions: The results of this treatment provide further evidence of a model of intervention informed by the principles of implicit learning, and the interconnectedness of phonological and lexical learning. Investigation is required to establish the efficacy and feasibility of VAULT in clinical contexts. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha. 14714733, Approximately 10%-20% of 24-month-old toddlers have a delay in expressive vocabulary of unknown origin (Rescorla, 2011; Zubrick et al., 2007), and toddlers who exhibit these delays in spoken word use [...]

Just Face It presents seven 'faces' codified by Paul Ekman, Wallace Friesen and Joseph Hager, which can be linked through a kinesthetic process of association with vocabulary words that are frequently encountered on standardized college admission tests. The article is based on Method for Facilitating Contextual Vocabulary Acquisition Through Association, which was issued U.S. Patent 10, 373,516 in 2019., Grimace (a facial expression usually of disgust, disapproval or pain) might describe a student's reaction to learning vocabulary words for a college admission standardized test. However, this expression--as well as [...]

Purpose: We report on a replicated single-case design study that measured the feasibility of an expressive vocabulary intervention for three Cantonese-speaking toddlers with small expressive lexicons relative to their age. The aim was to assess the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic feasibility of an intervention method developed for English-speaking children. Method: A nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design was used with four baseline data points and 16 intervention sessions per participant. The intervention design incorporated implicit learning principles, high treatment dosage, and control of the phonological neighborhood density of the stimuli. The children (24-39 months) attended 7-9 weeks of twice weekly input-based treatment in which no explicit verbal production was required from the child. Each target word was provided as input a minimum of 64 times in at least two intervention sessions. Treatment feasibility was measured by comparison of how many of the target and control words the child produced across the intervention period, and parent-reported expressive vocabulary checklists were completed for comparison of pre- and postintervention child spoken vocabulary size. An omnibus effect size for the treatment effect of the number of target and control words produced across time was calculated using Kendall's Tau. Results: There was a significant treatment effect for target words learned in intervention relative to baselines, and all children produced significantly more target than control words across the intervention period. The effect of phonological neighborhood density on expressive word production could not be evaluated because two of the three children learned all target words. Conclusion: The results provide cross-cultural evidence of the feasibility of a model of intervention that incorporated a high-dosage, cross-situational statistical learning paradigm to teach spoken word production to children with small expressive lexicons., The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of an expressive vocabulary treatment that was created for use with Western, English-speaking children for Cantonese-speaking children living in Hong [...]

Purpose: Many children begin school with limited vocabularies, placing them at a high risk of academic difficulties. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of a vocabulary intervention program, Story Friends, designed to improve vocabulary knowledge of at-risk preschool children. Method: Twenty-four early-childhood classrooms were enrolled in a cluster-randomized design to evaluate the effects of a revised Story Friends curriculum. In each classroom, three to four preschoolers were identified as having poor language abilities, for a total of 84 participants. In treatment classrooms, explicit vocabulary instruction was embedded in prerecorded storybooks and opportunities for review and practice of target vocabulary were integrated into classroom and home practice activities. In comparison classrooms, prerecorded storybooks included target vocabulary, but without explicit instruction, and classroom and home strategies focused on general language enrichment strategies without specifying vocabulary targets to teach. Intervention activities took place over 13 weeks, and 36 challenging, academically relevant vocabulary words were targeted. Results: Children in the treatment classrooms learned significantly more words than children in the comparison classrooms, who learned few target words based on exposure. Large effect sizes (mean d = 1.83) were evident as the treatment group averaged 42% vocabulary knowledge versus 11% in the comparison group, despite a gradual decline in vocabulary learning by the treatment group over the school year. Conclusions: Findings indicate that a carefully designed vocabulary intervention can produce substantial gains in children's vocabulary knowledge. The Story Friends program is feasible for delivery in early childhood classrooms and effective in teaching challenging vocabulary to high-risk preschoolers. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha. 13158185, Early language skills are important and reliable predictors of later reading ability (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000). In particular, vocabulary knowledge [...]

Les jeux en classe de langue, y compris pour adultes, présentent de nombreux avantages, mais ils sont parfois peu exploités en dehors des activités en fin de cours ou avant les vacances. Il convient de prendre garde à leur utilisation ce qui peut freiner certains enseignants. Les jeux sont peu reconnus par le CECRL et perçus comme peu sérieux. L'utilisation du jeu à des fins pédagogiques n'est pas récente puisqu'elle date de la Renaissance mais l'approche communicative a aussi essayé de le réintégrer en classe de langue. Le mot << jeu >> est très difficile à définir malgré les dictionnaires et les recherches effectuées dans ce domaine. Dans cet article, nous avons souhaité, en nous basant sur l'attitude ludique, sans laquelle tout jeu est impossible puisqu'elle permet de jouer véritablement, présenter comment les jeux peuvent aider à l'apprentissage des nombres et contribuer à une certaine spontanéité, ce qui est particulièrement utile pour les apprenants. Notre recherche a eu lieu en cours de conversation pour les étudiants de première année de licence qui ont le français pour spécialité. Nous avons mis en place ces jeux en cours et les étudiants ont répondu à un questionnaire anonyme, pour exprimer leur point de vue. Nous avons présenté les résultats dans cette étude mais nous avons aussi testé les compétences des étudiants lors de l'examen du cours de conversation pour la lecture des nombres en français. Mots-clés: jeux, attitude ludique, expression orale, nombres, lexique Julie Bohec Games during the Foreign language class, including for adults, have many advantages, but they are sometimes little exploited apart from activities at the end of the class or before holidays. We have to beware of their use that can limit some teachers. Games are not so recognized by the CEFRL and felt like not so serious. Using games for educational purposes is not new since it dates from the Renaissance period but the communicative language teaching also tried to reinstate it in Foreign language classes. The word 'game' is very difficult to define despite dictionaries and researches achieved in this field. In this paper, we wanted, basing our judgment on ludic attitude, without it every game is impossible because it permits to play really, present how games can help to learn numbers and contribute to spontaneity which is particularly useful for learners. Our research took place in conversation class for first year bachelor's degree French major students. Games in class have been experienced during class and we have collected students 'feedbacks via an anonymous questionnaire to express their point of view. We have presented our findings in this research but we have also assessed students' numbers reading skills in French during French conversation exam for students' numbers reading skills. Keywords: games, ludic attitude, oral expression, numbers, vocabulary, Introduction Dans nos sociétés, les jeux sont synonymes d'amusement et s'opposent au sérieux. Ils sont souvent utilisés en toute fin de cours, avant les vacances ou pour récompenser les élèves [...]

Traditional drill and practice (TDP) has been shown to be both effective and efficient for increasing word recognition. WordSheets (WS) is a novel drill procedure similar to TDP with two key differences: (a) WS increases opportunities to respond, which may increase efficiency and (b) WS present instructional stimuli in a context that more closely resembles actual reading passages, which may enhance generalization to connected text. The study sought to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of TDP and WS in a sample of first-grade students (n = 27) identified by their teachers as struggling readers. Results indicated that, although WS led to significantly more opportunities to respond, it was both less effective and efficient than TDP with regard to cumulative retention. However, there were no significant differences across interventions in regard to the maintenance or generalization of treatment gains. Limitations and implications of the current study for school-based professionals are discussed., Author(s): Christina M. Mulé [sup.1] , Brian Daniels [sup.2] , Robert J. Volpe [sup.2] , Amy M. Briesch [sup.2] , Laurice M. Joseph [sup.3] , Kristin Harris [sup.2] , Samantha [...]

Despite poor vocabulary outcomes for children with hearing loss, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of specific vocabulary teaching methods on vocabulary learning for this group. The authors compared three vocabulary instruction conditions with preschool children with hearing loss: (a) explicit, direct instruction; (b) follow-in labeling; and (c) incidental exposure using an adapted alternating-treatments single-subject experimental design. Nine preschool children with hearing loss participated in the study across 6 weeks, with intervention implemented by 4 teachers of the deaf. Visual analysis of the results of the data indicated that participants learned the most words in the explicit, direct instruction condition and the fewest words in the incidental exposure condition. These results are not consistent with some recommendations currently made to educators. The authors discuss implications for practice, including emphasis on direct instruction., Children with hearing loss demonstrate lower vocabulary knowledge than their peers with normal hearing (e.g., Convertino, Borgna, Marschark, & Durkin, 2014; Lund, 2015). This lag in vocabulary likely contributes to [...]

Purpose: We investigated a small-group intervention designed to teach vocabulary and comprehension skills to preschoolers who were at risk for language and reading disabilities. These language skills are important and reliable predictors of later academic achievement. Method: Preschoolers heard prerecorded stories 3 times per week over the course of a school year. A cluster randomized design was used to evaluate the effects of hearing storybooks with and without embedded vocabulary and comprehension lessons. A total of 32 classrooms were randomly assigned to experimental and comparison conditions. Approximately 6 children per classroom demonstrating low vocabulary knowledge, totaling 195 children, were enrolled. Results: Preschoolers in the comparison condition did not learn novel, challenging vocabulary words to which they were exposed in story contexts, whereas preschoolers receiving embedded lessons demonstrated significant learning gains, although vocabulary learning diminished over the course of the school year. Modest gains in comprehension skills did not differ between the two groups. Conclusion: The Story Friends curriculum appears to be highly feasible for delivery in early childhood educational settings and effective at teaching challenging vocabulary to high-risk preschoolers., Oral language skills have been established as an important and reliable predictor of later reading achievement (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008). Early language proficiency is correlated with reading ability, in [...]

The association made between the meaning, spelling, and pronunciation of a word has been shown to help children remember the meanings of words. The present study addressed whether the presence of a target word in Braille during instruction facilitated vocabulary learning more efficiently than an auditory-only instructional condition. The authors used an adapted alternating treatments single-case experimental design with three students with visual impairments who read Braille, collecting data on definition recall and spelling during each session. Data on definition recall were used to determine mastery. The results of this study are not consistent with previous findings with students who read print. Visual analyses of the data indicated that participants reached mastery in both conditions, but all three reached mastery on definition recall in fewer sessions in the auditory-only condition. Spellings of words were learned in the flashcard condition only, and possible implications of this are discussed. The difference in the unit of recognition and working memory load between reading Braille and reading print is discussed as one possible explanation., Comprehension is often seen as the ultimate goal of reading instruction. In fact, the National Reading Panel wrote that 'comprehension is critically important to development of children's reading skills and [...]

Purpose: Children with specific language impairment (SLI) often have vocabulary impairments. This study evaluates longitudinal growth in a latent trait of receptive vocabulary in affected and unaffected children ages 2;6 (years; months) to 21 years and evaluates as possible predictors maternal education, child gender, and nonverbal IQ. Method: A sample of 519 participants (240 with SLI; 279 unaffected) received an average of 7 annual assessments for a total of 3,012 latent trait Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) observations. Unconditional and conditional multilevel growth models were estimated to evaluate growth trajectories and predictor relationships over time. Results: Children with SLI had lower levels of receptive vocabulary throughout the age range assessed. They did not close the gap with age peers. Children with higher nonverbal IQs had better PPVT performance, as did children of mothers with higher education. Child gender showed an advantage for young girls that leveled out with age and then became an advantage for boys from ages 10 to 21 years. All children's rate of vocabulary acquisition slowed around 12 years of age. Conclusions: The outcomes of the study have implications for hypothesized causal pathways for individual differences; predictions differ for children under 5 years, 6-10 years, and later ages., Children's vocabulary acquisition is widely recognized as a core component of their emerging linguistic abilities, a component with ties to general cognitive abilities such as reading and school success. Standardized [...]

Abstract: This article presents an empirical study of the impact of song on L2 incidental vocabulary learning in beginner learners of Italian. Participants included 66 learners from intact classes of [...]

Literacy development, starting at the elementary level, is a fundamental approach for preparing students to achieve academically. This is especially true when addressing the learning needs of English language learners [...]

Purpose: In this study, the authors investigated adult word learning to determine how neighborhood density and practice across phonologically related training sets influence online learning from input during training versus offline memory evolution during no-training gaps. Method: Sixty-one adults were randomly assigned to learn low- or high-density nonwords. Within each density condition, participants were trained on one set of words and then were trained on a second set of words, consisting of phonological neighbors of the first set. Learning was measured in a picture-naming test. Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling and spline regression. Results: Steep learning during input was observed, with new words from dense neighborhoods and new words that were neighbors of recently learned words (i.e., second-set words) being learned better than other words. In terms of memory evolution, large and significant forgetting was observed during 1-week gaps in training. Effects of density and practice during memory evolution were opposite of those during input. Specifically, forgetting was greater for high-density and second-set words than for low-density and first-set words. Conclusion: High phonological similarity, regardless of source (i.e., known words or recent training), appears to facilitate online learning from input but seems to impede offline memory evolution. Key Words: vocabulary, word learning, adults, neighborhood density, input, memory evolution, People typically learn new words through exposure. The prevailing assumption is that words are learned from the input that a person hears. That is, learning a word is at least [...]

When I go off to Sacred Heart School, they are going to call me Luke because my Inquipa name is too hard. Nobody has to tell me this, I already [...]

This study evaluated the effects of Adapted Reciprocal Teaching (ART) on the receptive and expressive flight-word vocabulary of 1st-grade students. During ART, classroom interactions produced narrative contexts within which students [...]

The present article includes 2 studies that were designed to expand the literature on the technical features of vocabulary matching. The purpose of both studies was to extend validity research on the general outcome measure of content knowledge. In Study 1, direct comparisons of predictor-criterion correlations related to selected standardized and curriculum-based instruments were made with a diverse sample of 153 sixth-grade students from 3 middle schools. Among other findings, direct correlation comparisons indicated that the relation between vocabulary matching and the state accountability test was statistically significantly stronger than those between other curriculum-based measures. In Study 2, linear mixed modeling was used to compare growth rates for a sample of 224 sixth-graders from the same 3 schools. Participants were administered 25 weekly probes over the course of a school year. Findings demonstrated growth rates that were significantly different from a zero growth hypothesis and variable across learners and probe type. Research implications for vocabulary matching are discussed., Vocabulary matching (Espin, Busch, Shin, & Kruschwitz, 2001; Espin & Deno, 1993, 1994-1995; Espin & Foegen, 1996; Espin, Shin, & Busch, 2005) is a general outcome measure of academic learning [...]

A variety of adult questioning styles may accompany shared storybook reading to help preschoolers' word learning. This experiment utilized a blocked randomized design to investigate the impact of two adult [...]

Vocabulary knowledge is important because it is highly correlated with content area learning. Strategies for vocabulary instruction recommend using new words in multiple contexts as key to learning. To date, [...]

Broad-stroke approaches to vocabulary teaching in preschool include effective instructional elements, yet may be too ill-structured to affect the vocabulary learning of children experiencing serious delays. Using a formative research [...]

Preschoolers' vocabulary development is integral to their oral language development, which is critical for literacy learning. Accordingly, Early Reading First (ERF) programs provide specific professional development intended to strengthen preschool [...]

Through word exposure, word play, and word consciousness, students can become active users of and contributors to language, armed with a catalog of words to enhance their expression and understanding. [...]

These 10 eVoc strategies use technology to support the wide reading, direct instruction, active learning, and interest in words that are essential to vocabulary development. An eVoc strategy is an [...]

Numerous scholars have discussed the value of shared reading for children's vocabulary acquisition and the link between vocabulary knowledge and overall comprehension (Coyne, Simmons, Kame'enui, & Stoolmiller, 2004; Fisher, Frey, [...]

Several of our previous columns have stressed the critical nature of vocabulary instruction for English learners (ELs). Here, I take another tack on this topic, describing my current research on [...]

Teaching in today's classrooms is challenging on many levels. Students need instruction in comprehension strategies, vocabulary, and learning the English language, to name just a few. As Kinsella (2005) reminded [...]

To ensure that students enter high school able to handle sophisticated texts, academic vocabulary instruction should be incorporated into standard practice to improve language skills and consequently boost reading comprehension [...]

This article presents findings from a correlational study of the relationship between teachers' vocabulary instruction practices and prekindergarten and kindergarten children's vocabulary. We observed 16 teachers during three 90-minute language arts blocks, and we assessed the performance of their 244 children on target word knowledge and general vocabulary knowledge at the beginning and end of the year. Classrooms were observed during read-aloud time and nonread- aloud time. Results suggest that there are particular practices that are generally associated with higher vocabulary performance. In addition, there are some practices that appear associated with greater growth in vocabulary for children with higher initial vocabulary knowledge than for children with lower initial vocabulary knowledge. This study also shows that the effectiveness of some practices may be related to whether teachers use the practices during read-aloud time or during the non-read-aloud time of their language arts block and whether children are assessed on general vocabulary knowledge or target word knowledge., Early vocabulary consistently predicts children's later reading achievement (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997; Snow, Porche, Tabors, & Harris, 2007). Thus, finding ways to promote the vocabulary development of young children appears [...]

In studies of bilingual word processing, the primary focus has been on whether various bilingual lexical information is selectively or nonselectively activated (Doctor & Klein, 1992; Van Heuven, Dijkstra, & Grainger, 1998; Dijkstra, Grainger, & Van Heuven, 1999; De Groot, Delmaar, & Lupker, 2000). Specifically, when a reader processes second language, the lexical properties of the first language can influence the processing of the second language, or vice versa. DOI 10.2466/PMS.110.3.693-698

The present study aims to advance the extant research base by evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of an academic vocabulary program designed for use in mainstream middle school classrooms with high proportions of language minority learners. The quasi-experimental, mixed-methods study was conducted in 21 classes (13 treatment matched to 8 control) in seven middle schools in a large district, with 476 sixth-grade students (346 language minority learners, 130 native English speakers). Classroom observations and teacher logs indicated the 18-week program was implemented with good fidelity and that the approach contrasted sharply with the standard district English language arts (ELA) curriculum. Multilevel modeling indicated that the program resulted in significant effects on several aspects of vocabulary knowledge, including meanings of taught words (d = 0.39; p < .0001), morphological awareness (d = 0.20; p = .0003), and the word meanings as presented in expository text (d = 0.20; p = .0227). The program also yielded marginally significant, but promising effects on a depth of word knowledge measure (d = 0.15; p =0.0830) and a norm-referenced measure of reading comprehension (d = 0.15; p = .0568). No effects were found on a norm-referenced vocabulary measure. These effects were comparable for language minority learners and their native-English-speaking classmates. Data from teachers shed light on the challenges of meeting students' diverse instructional needs and the roles of curriculum and professional networks in building instructional capacity. The findings show promise in developing effective multifaceted vocabulary instruction for implementation by ELA teachers in middle school classrooms with high numbers of language minority learners., Students attending schools in urban settings rarely experience the same opportunities to learn literacy skills as their counterparts in suburban settings (Gandara, Rumberger, Maxwell-Jolly, & Callahan, 2003; Hakuta, 1998; Snow, [...]