Reading comprehension and the assessment and acquisition of word knowledge

Abstract

An evaluation is presented of a method of vocabulary assessment, called the yes/no method, in which students indicate the words they know from among a list of words and nonwords.Preliminary evidence indicates that the yes/no method is much better in several respects than the multiple choice method.Analysis of "false alarms," cases in which children say they know the meanings of nonwords, reveals that good readers aggressively apply morphological rules to hypothecate meanings for unfamiliar items whereas poor readers engage in phonemic experimentation with unfamiliar items to transform them into common words.Studies are summarized that show that vocabulary difficulty is a factor in text comprehension, but not as important a one as studies of readability suggest.