The study of word-to-text integration (WTI) provides a window on incremental processes that link the meaning of a word to the preceding text. We review a research program using event-related potential indicators of WTI at sentence beginnings, thus localizing sources of integration to prior text meaning independently of the current sentence. The…

The mental lexicon plays a central role in reading comprehension (Perfetti & Stafura, 2014). It encompasses the number of lexical entries in spoken and written language (vocabulary breadth), the semantic quality of these entries (vocabulary depth), and the connection strength between lexical representations (semantic relatedness); as such, it…

Instructional design is an integral part of a balanced approach to teaching vocabulary instruction. This article presents several instructional procedures using research-based vocabulary strategies and explains how to design and adapt those strategies in order to reach desired learning outcomes. Emphasis is placed on research-based principles that…

Defining metaphor as "seeing a concept from one class in terms of a concept from another class," a study was devised that analyzed the degree to which two concepts occupy dissimilar positions with respect to their category or domain (within-domain distance), and the degree to which categories themselves are dissimilar (between-domain distance).…

This paper investigates the ways readers use two semantic tools, synonymy and entailment, when responding to reading-comprehension questions. After a brief overview of semantic theory, two reading passages and their attendant multiple-choice questions are analyzed, demonstrating how readers might choose the correct answer by analyzing the way it…

Two experiments were conducted to determine the features of text to which skilled adult readers need to attend while reading and the features that either are of minimal importance or can be processed automatically without directed processing. In the first experiment, 12 college students attended to a timed picture naming task, in which a picture…

Describes a study which compared a traditional approach to second language vocabulary instruction with the semantic field approach, which is based on the association between five related words and a key word that could be mentally substituted in context. Findings lend support to the use of the semantic field approach. (SED)

Some tips can assist teachers in guiding each pupil to achieve more optimally, with respect to the ability to read well and reading comprehension. Among these 10 specific tips are: (1) teach individualized phonics in context; (2) assist the student to read in proper thought units by covering up words in sentences for clarification; (3) assist…

Summarizes five theories explaining the relationship between word knowledge and comprehension of text in native language acquisition and explores possible implications for second language researchers and practitioners. (Author/CB)

Three game approaches to the teaching of poetry, designed to make the student actively involved with poems are described as "teaching tools." The semantico-dictionary or word-cross game involves programing techniques, logic, and lexicography in poetic analysis. The punched-out poem game involves filling in the blanks of a poem in which all the…

Sentences are understood by outlining associative relations between the concepts representing the meanings of the words. When the words are received the activation spreads from their conceptual counterparts to the other concepts in memory, so that some implicit thoughts are often added to the mental representation of a sentence. As sentences are…