Provide guidelines for (1) using storytelling to empower students; (2) drawing on students'"family storyteller"; (3) bridging the gap between today's students and teachers; (4) using the television show "Seinfeld" to enhance vocabulary development; and (5) using quizzes to teach proofreading skills. Presents a poetic response…

Younger (n=41, ages 18-27) and older (n=39, ages 55-85) adults were given rare words to define. Older adults gave more complete definitions and had higher vocabulary test scores, but lower working memory scores. For older adults existing vocabulary knowledge contributed more than working memory to the ability to derive meaning from context. (SK)

Presents a framework that takes as its starting point an analysis of test purpose, and then shows how purpose can be systematically related to test design. Argues that the way forward for vocabulary assessment is to take account of test purposes in the design and validation of tests, as well as considering an interactionalist approach to construct…

Reports on a longitudinal study that investigated the claim that phonological memory contributes to vocabulary acquisition in young children. Findings show support for the claim that the capacity component of nonword repetition contributes directly to vocabulary in young children. (Author/VWL)

Because idioms are figurative expressions that do not mean what they literally state and since they are so frequently encountered in both oral and written discourse, comprehending and producing idioms present language learners with a special vocabulary learning problem. This article summarizes research findings and presents a systematic plan for…

Three experiments document that conceptual knowledge influences lexical acquisition in infancy. A novel target object was initially labeled with a novel word. In both yes-no (Experiment 1) and forced-choice (Experiment 2) tasks, 2-year-olds' subsequent extensions were mediated by the conceptual description of the targets. When targets were…

This research aims at promoting the usage of an online children's dictionary within a context of reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. Inspired by document retrieval approaches developed in the area of information retrieval (IR) research, we adapt a particular IR strategy, based on fuzzy logic, to a search in the electronic dictionary.…

A lesson focusing on the names of muscles but relating them to more common words is presented, as current research suggests that the best way to teach vocabulary is to group related words. Students create visual representations of word groups and teach the words to the class.

This study investigated the effect of direct vocabulary learning using Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) on vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension, and speed of word recognition. It found that students who used Tutorial CALL to learn highly frequent vocabulary did learn a significantly larger number of words than those in a control…

Our understanding the relationship between verbal short-term memory as indexed by nonword repetition and word learning must now incorporate myriad factors that were not as apparent 17 years ago when Gathercole and Baddeley (1989) proposed that "the phonological memory skills tapped by nonword repetition play a causal role in vocabulary…

Vocabulary knowledge has long been considered critical to children's successful reading comprehension. When children increase their reserves of word meaning, they also broaden their thinking and become aware of new semantic and conceptual relationships. Their broadened awareness, in turn, increases reading comprehension and writing abilities. Many…

Foreign language learning is a challenging task, involving mastering a new sound system, phonological and syntactical forms, vocabulary, and sometimes a new writing system. For the adult second language learner, one of the most frustrating aspects is having an inadequate vocabulary for expressing complex ideas that are so easy to relate in one's…

The purpose of this practice brief is to provide schools, districts, and states with background knowledge about best practices for older students who struggle to read. It focuses on the reading skills that adolescents need to more fully access content-area curricula and, in turn, secure a productive future. The authors define adolescent reading as…

This article deals with the integration of the theory of Multiple Intelligences in EFL/ESL classrooms. In this study, after the theory of multiple intelligences was presented shortly, the integration of this theory into English classrooms. Intelligence types in MI Theory were discussed and some possible application ways of these intelligence types…

This book provides tools to enhance upper-level spelling and vocabulary instruction, and features more than 120 reproducible sorting activities and games. It offers suggestions for helping students build mastery of vowel patterns, syllable structure, syllable stress, consonant and vowel alternations, compound words, prefixes, suffixes, and word…