Investigating the Relationship Between Word Knowledge and Cognitive Ability PDF Download

Author: Dorothy Parzyk Hall
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Word recognition
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Author: Jacqueline C. Karbon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Children
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Author: Brigitta Dóczi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190210281
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Words are the building blocks of human communication and provide a strong foundation for the development of skilled language production and comprehension. Learning words in a language other than one's own requires long-term commitment and substantial engagement. This research monograph offers a summary of how learners of additional languages acquire vocabulary in instructed foreign language contexts and in English for Academic Purposes programs in the target language environment. After a thorough introduction of the most important constructs in the first chapter, the book provides a comprehensive description of the processes of longitudinal development in learners' growth of vocabulary size and depth of word knowledge. In the second half, the authors make novel connections between the fields of second language acquisition and vocabulary research. They then show how individual differences between learners can influence the processes and outcomes of vocabulary learning. The book concludes with evidence-based practical guidance to language teachers on how to enhance their students' lexical knowledge.

Author: Dana A. Stewart
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cognition in children
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Author: Harry P. Bahrick
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1136496157
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
This volume describes how well we maintain the knowledge we acquire throughout life. Research traditionally focuses on memory for events that are retained over short time periods that can be accommodated in experiments. This book, by contrast, uniquely describes the evolution of methods suitable for investigating memory of complex knowledge acquired over several years and retained during the entire life-span. The methods substitute statistical for experimental controls, and the investigations involve several hundred participants whose memory is tested up to 50 years after they acquired the knowledge in question. The book covers educational content, such as mathematics and foreign languages; knowledge acquired incidentally, such as the streets and buildings of the cities in which we live; and knowledge acquired through the media. Previously unpublished research on age-related access to knowledge is included. The analyses are based on the accessibility/availability ratio, a metric presented for the first time. This metric allows comparisons of the portion of available knowledge that can be recalled as a function of age, education and other individual differences, and as a function of the domain of knowledge in question. The ratio can be used to evaluate methods of instruction and methods of studying. It can also be used to evaluate memory development and to diagnose memory pathology. The volume will be of interest to researchers in human memory, developmental psychologists, gerontologists in academic and applied settings, and educators.

Author: Margaret Pray Bouchard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English language
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Author: Margaret Hill
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
During the school-age years, children learn most new word meanings from context rather than through deliberate vocabulary instruction. However, the actual process of word learning from context among school-age children remains poorly understood. Prior research suggests that language ability and higher-order executive function skills such as working memory and inhibitory control of attention may aid children in acquiring new word meanings from context, but studies have not examined the effect of cognitive flexibility on word learning. In addition, although research has shown that children from families of low socioeconomic status (SES) often lag behind their peers from higher-SES backgrounds in vocabulary, there is no evidence to suggest that SES directly influences the word learning process itself. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of language ability, SES, and executive function on word learning from context among typically developing children. Fifty children of ages nine to 11 years completed a standardized measure of language ability and tasks of working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility along with a pretest to assess their understanding of 12 rare target words. Approximately one week later, the children read along with two short stories containing the target words while listening as the stories were narrated aloud by a computer. Posttest results showed that as a group, children made small but significant gains in knowledge of target word meanings from the stories. Analyses showed that both language ability and cognitive flexibility were related to gains in word knowledge, and that children tended to rely more on the stronger of these two skills if either language or cognitive flexibility was relatively weak. Children's SES backgrounds were not directly related to word knowledge gains, but results suggested that SES may influence the word learning process indirectly through an effect on children's cognitive flexibility.

Author: G. Strube
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080867553
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description
The present book is a result of a seven-year (1986-1992) national research program in cognitive science in Germany, presumably the first large scale cognitive science program there. Anchored in psychology, and therefore christened Wissenpsychologie (psychology of knowledge), it has found interdisciplinary resonance, especially in artificial intelligence and education. The research program brought together cognitive scientists from over twenty German universities and more than thirty single projects were funded. The program was initiated by Heinz Mandl and Hans Spada, the main goals of which were to investigate the acquisition of knowledge, the access to knowledge, and the modification and application of knowledge from a psychological perspective. Emphasis was placed on formalisms of knowledge representation and on the processes involved. In many of the projects this was combined with computer simulations. A final but equally important goal was the development of experimental paradigms and methods for data analysis that are especially suited to investigate knowledge based processes. The research program has had a major impact on cognitive psychology in Germany. Research groups were established at many universities and research equipment was provided. It also inspired a considerable number of young scientists to carry out cognitive research, employ modeling techniques from artificial intelligence for psychological theorizing, and construct intelligent tutoring systems for education. Close contacts with cognitive scientists in the U.S. have helped to firmly integrate the program with international research endeavours. Each year, one or two workshops were held. The present volume is the result of the final workshop which was held in September 1992. Selected results from seventeen projects are presented in this book. The volume is enriched by three guest scholars who agreed to participate in the final workshop and to comment on the chapters of the book.

Author: Brachia Marshalek
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
This study sought to investigate the construct validity of vocabulary tests and the nature of verbal ability by integrating findings and theories of cognitive psychology with those of differential psychology. The study included three kinds of measurements: an experimental faceted vocabulary test, reference ability tests, and a verbal exposure questionnaire. The faceted vocabulary test was used to study sources of difficulty in vocabulary test performance and how these sources of difficulty affect the relations between vocabulary tests and other ability measures. The experimental task was a 3x3x3x2 faceted vocabulary test. The facets were word abstractness (concrete, medium, abstract), word frequency (low, medium, high), item type (vague recognition, accurate recognition, definition), and blocks (two parallel blocks). The item-type facet included two contrasts: definition vs. recognition items, and vague- vs. accurate-recognition items. The reference battery included tests of general mental ability, verbal ability, spatial ability, memory span, and closure speed. The verbal exposure questionnaire assessed frequency and time spent in reading, writing, doing homework, and viewing television. Subjects were 74 high school seniors. Results indicated that vocabulary item difficulty increased with word abstractness, word infrequency, when item format required more precise word knowledge, and when the item required definition as opposed to recognition of the word. The results also suggested that partial concepts are prevalent in young adults and that word acquisition is a gradual process.

Author: Nur Afiqah Ab. Rahman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Vocabulary
Languages : en
Pages : 114

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