Journal of Educational Psychology · 2002 · 59 citations · 0 references
Language StudiesTeacher EducationTeachingLanguage AcquisitionLanguage PedagogyVocabulary DevelopmentLanguage LearningLexical DevelopmentNarrative SkillsSecond Language AcquisitionVocabulary AcquisitionVocabulary InstructionL2 Vocabulary AcquisitionListening-based Vocabulary LearningVocabulary Learning Through ListeningVocabulary Repetition
The study examined how listening to stories influences vocabulary growth in children. Forty‑seven children listened to two stories in small groups on three weekly occasions; pre‑ and post‑tests and a reading‑retelling task measured vocabulary gains, with one story accompanied by teacher explanations of target words and the other without. Listening to stories increased vocabulary, especially with teacher explanations, yet higher‑ability children still outperformed lower‑ability peers, indicating the interventions did not eliminate the Matthew effect.
The authors evaluated the effect of listening to stories on children's vocabulary growth. Forty-seven children listened to 2 stories read to them in a small-group setting on 3 occasions, each 1 week apart. Target vocabulary items and items assessing generalization to nontarget words were selected, and pre-and posttest multiple-choice vocabulary measures were designed to measure vocabulary gains. In addition, a reading-retelling task was used to measure the subjects' knowledge of target and generalization words. For 1 story, children listened to the reading and were given explanations of target word meanings; for the other, children were not given explanations. The children acquired new vocabulary from listening to stories, with both frequency of exposure and teacher explanation of the target words enhancing vocabulary learning. However, the interventions were not sufficient to overcome the Matthew effect, as the higher ability children made greater vocabulary gains than lower ability children across all conditions.