Deriving word meanings from context: does explanation facilitate contextual analysis?

Cain, Kate (2007) Deriving word meanings from context: does explanation facilitate contextual analysis? Journal of Research in Reading, 30 (4). pp. 347-359. ISSN 1467-9817

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Abstract

The ability to derive the meanings of words from supportive story contexts was studied in 45 seven-eight-year-olds. Children read short stories each containing a different novel word and defined the word at the end of each story. There were three intervention sessions. One group was asked to justify their definition and subsequently received feedback on its accuracy. A second group was given feedback first and asked to explain how the experimenter knew the correct answer. A third (control) received feedback only. In general, practice lead to improved performance, with an increased number of children in all groups using the story context to derive meanings for the novel words in a post-intervention test. Children in the two explanation groups made the greatest gains in definition accuracy. The implications for teaching vocabulary learning skills are discussed.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Research in Reading
Additional Information:
For the final version of this paper, please contact k.cain@lancs.ac.uk The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com (c) Blackwell 2007.
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3304
Subjects:
?? educationpsychology (miscellaneous)developmental and educational psychologybf psychology ??
ID Code:
844
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
14 Dec 2007 15:08
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
23 Jul 2024 23:12