The relation of morphological awareness with reading comprehension is well established. For this advance to inform instruction, the push is now on to understand how morphological awareness is related to reading comprehension. We address this question here by examining potential mechanisms. We do so with children in Grade 1, a time at which it is…

Creativity is a key 21st-century skill and a consistent predictor of academic learning outcomes. Despite decades of research on creativity and learning, little is known about the cognitive mechanisms underlying their relationship. In two studies, we examined whether creativity supports associative learning through associative thinking--the ability…

Vocabulary teaching has traditionally focused on word meanings to aid reading comprehension, however evidence also suggests that vocabulary knowledge influences phonemic awareness and word reading. Vocabulary instruction concentrating on the sound structure of new words alongside meaning (combined sound-meaning vocabulary instruction) improves…

Autonomous learning strategies, supported by diverse media, have become essential tools for enhancing vocabulary acquisition. Among these, TED Talks stand out due to their accessibility, topical diversity, and authentic linguistic input. Although previous research has highlighted the educational value of TED Talks, limited attention has been given…

There is increasing recognition that the underachievement and disengagement of students, particularly Maori and Pasifika, in New Zealand schools is in large part a result of systematic factors that disadvantage these students. In response to the urgent need for change in our classrooms, the dialogic highway is a research-based approach to reading…

Nonverbal sound effects, such as background music and sound enhancements, have been widely used in children's eBooks; however, the impact of these effects on children's language learning remains inconclusive. This study examined Mandarin-English bilingual children's attention on sound-enhanced words during static eBook viewing. Fifty-seven 4-5…

Digital tools such as audiobooks enable language learners to read and listen to a text simultaneously. Access to such bimodal input has been argued to enhance L2 vocabulary learning from reading by directing learners' attention to novel words and facilitating the development of form-meaning links (Long, 2017). However, research on the cognitive…

This study investigates the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning experiences of Chinese primary school students, aiming to conduct a comprehensive comparison between the impacts of playful pedagogical activities and traditional review, practice, and recitation methods. A total of 80 fourth-graders from two classes taught by the same…

This study investigated the effectiveness of online forum-based collaborative learning versus traditional instructional methods for vocabulary acquisition among English as a foreign language learners. Twenty-one first-year translation and interpreting students participated in a comparative study examining two distinct vocabulary teaching…

This research aims to investigate the impact of an early literacy programme called 'Dialog, Play and Tell--Early Literacy Skills Support Practices with Mother Involvement (DPT-ELP)' on the early literacy skills of socio-economically disadvantaged children. An interventional mixed research design was implemented with 13 children attending municipal…

Using a meta-analytic approach, we evaluate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and children's experiences measured with the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system. Our final analysis included 22 independent samples, representing data from 1583 children. A model controlling for LENA[TM] measures, age and publication type…

Children employ multiple cues to identify the referent of a novel word. Novel words are often embedded in sentences and children have been shown to use syntactic cues to differentiate between types of words (adjective vs. nouns) and between types of nouns (count vs. mass nouns). In this study, we show that children learning Malay (N = 67), a…

Behaviour problems in early childhood have a lasting impact on cognitive development and education attainment in later adolescence and into adulthood. Here we address the relationship conduct and hyperactivity problems at school entrance, and vocabulary acquisition in adolescence. We compare performance in identical assessments across two…

Just Face It presents seven "faces" codified by Paul Ekman, Wallace Friesen and Joseph Hager, which can be linked through a kinesthetic process of association with vocabulary words that are frequently encountered on standardized college admission tests. The article is based on "Method for Facilitating Contextual Vocabulary…

The purpose of this study was to explore the funds of knowledge of two Burmese families and how this knowledge might foster their children's learning in the United States. The data used to inform this article included field notes based on observations, artifacts, and interviews with the parents and children of the families. The findings of this…