The acquisition of word meanings as a cognitive learning process

Daalen-Kapteijns, M.M. van; Elshout-Mohr, M.

doi:10.1016/s0022-5371(81)90515-6

Cited by 59 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The latter category of text difficulty refers to the elaborateness of concepts obtained from text studying and the integration with other concepts stored in memory (Gagne´, Walker Yekovich, & Yekovich, 1993). Although encoding difficulties, vocabulary deficiencies, and syntactic structures may equally affect text comprehension (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1991;Kinnunen & Vauras, 1995;McDaniel, Hines, & Guynn, 2002;Van Daalen-Kapteijns & Elshout-Mohr, 1981), the present study focuses on semantic difficulties in texts. McDaniel et al showed that if text difficulty provoked a reader to relate concepts, it enhanced text comprehension, even for less-skilled readers (McDaniel, Einstein, Dunay, & Cobb, 1986), or even after processing time was partialed out (McDaniel et al).…”

Section: Text Difficulty and Time Constraintmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intellectual and metacognitive skills of novices while studying texts under conditions of text difficulty and time constraint

Veenman

Beishuizen

2004

Learning and Instruction

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Section: Text Difficulty and Time Constraintmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intellectual and metacognitive skills of novices while studying texts under conditions of text difficulty and time constraint

Veenman

Beishuizen

2004

Learning and Instruction

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“…Research on text comprehension has helped establish the importance of integrating text information, of constructing a model on the basis of what is given in relation to what is known, of generating inferences to fill parts of the model that are missing, and of being flexible to adjust and modify newly constructed hypotheses as needed in order to arrive at a coherent interpretation of the text (Anderson & Pearson, 1984;Bransford, Barclay, & Franks, 1972;Bransford & McCarrell, 1974;Kintsch, 1986). VanDaalen-Kapteijns and Elshout-Mohr (1981), in a detailed analysis of the processes involved in deriving word meanings from context, have shown that learners must not only be able to form a rough hypothesis of what the meaning of a word might be from initial encounters, but they also have to have the flexibility to take into account subsequent pieces of information, to integrate them, and to modify initial models accordingly. As Just and Carpenter (1987) have pointed out, the kind of processing identified in this research is very similar to the kind of processing that is assumed to underlie the comprehension of text.…”

Section: Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

The role of reading comprehension in word meaning acquisition during reading

Diakidoy

1998

Eur J Psychol Educ

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The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of reading comprehension on the acquisition of word meanings from context and to compare it to the effects of local context characteristics, such as proximity and directness of context clues. The study also examined the effects of prior topic and enabling concept knowledge. Sixth-grade students were pretested on their knowledge of target vocabulary from two expository passages appropriate for their grade and reading level. The students were then familiarized with selected main concepts from one passage and, subsequently, read both experimental passages. Half of the target words appeared in an informative context, while the rest appeared in an less-informative context. A comprehension test and a vocabulary posttest followed the reading ofeach passage. Hierarchical Regression analyses indicated that reading comprehension level and prior main concept knowledge facilitated vocabulary learning from context. In comparison, the effect ofpresence or absence of informative context clues was not significant. These findings .underline the need for a reconceptualization of context to take into account the mental representation that readers construct in addition to the printed text that surrounds an unfamiliar word. IntroductionThe purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which comprehension of text facilitates the acquisition of word meanings from context. The position that is advanced is that the context in which an unknown word is embedded involves more than the explicit text information Khat surrounds the word. Understanding and learning from text involves the construction of a mental representation that includes explicit text infonnation as well as inferences that result from the activation of relevant background knowledge. This mental representation will serve as the context on the basis of which specific inferences about an unknown word's meaning will be drawn. If that is the case, it can be expected that level of comprehension and factors that affect it will influence the extent to which word meaning acquisition from context takes place.

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“…These measures have included (a) total reading scores on group achievement tests (Jenkins et al, 1984;Nagy et al, 1985;Rankin & Over-holser, 1969), (b) reading comprehension scores on group achievement tests Sternberg & Powell, 1983), (c) vocabulary scores on group achievement tests (Daalen-Kapteijns & Elshout-Mohr, 1981;McKeown, 1985;Sternberg & Powell, 1983), and (d) vocabulary and reading comprehension achievement subtest scores along with other measures of vocabulary ability . In all but two of these studies, the various measures of verbal ability were significantly related to how much students learned from context.…”

Section: Factors In Students' Use Of Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Still other researchers have examined broad but context-specific mental processes that students use to construct and refine word meanings when presented with a series of contextual examples (Daalen-Kapteijns & Elshout-Mohr, 1981;McKeown, 1985;Werner & Kaplan, 1952). In the first two of these studies, students with lower levels of general vocabulary conceptualized and altered potential meanings in a less analytic manner.…”

Section: Factors In Students' Use Of Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student Factors Related to Variability in Learning Word Meanings from Context

Shefelbine

1990

Journal of Reading Behavior

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This study examined how vocabulary knowledge, the familiarity of concepts, and analytic reasoning affect sixth-grade students' ability to learn word meanings from the context of natural passages in a basal reading textbook. The results indicated that students with higher levels of general vocabulary knowledge learned relatively more, even though they had less room for improvement. Low students were at a disadvantage not only because they initially knew fewer words but also because they understood words less well. Also among low vocabulary students, words representing familiar concepts were more likely to be learned than those representing unfamiliar concepts. The study suggested that general and passage specific vocabulary knowledge are important variables influencing learning from context. General analytic reasoning was not a significant factor.Word count studies have consistently found that a large number of words occur in school materials and that the vast majority of these words

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The acquisition of word meanings as a cognitive learning process

Cited by 59 publications

References 10 publications

Intellectual and metacognitive skills of novices while studying texts under conditions of text difficulty and time constraint

Intellectual and metacognitive skills of novices while studying texts under conditions of text difficulty and time constraint

The role of reading comprehension in word meaning acquisition during reading

Student Factors Related to Variability in Learning Word Meanings from Context

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