Using an experimental approach, this study examined the relative effectiveness of varying the use of songs (lyrics and music) on vocabulary acquisition, language usage, and meaning for adult ESL students in the People's Republic of China. While the use of songs is generally enthusiastically endorsed by ESL teachers, few empirical studies have…

Two studies used a new paradigm to examine preschool children's (i.e., 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds) word learning across multiple sense modalities. In Study 1 (n = 60), children heard a word for an object that they touched but did not see, while word learning was examined using objects that were seen but not touched. In Study 2 (n = 60), children…

Differentiated instruction is a strategy for meeting the needs of diverse learners. In this article, we describe a differentiated instruction model and examine the effects on high-risk children. One hundred twenty-eight children and their teachers from 8 Head Start classrooms participated in the project. Teachers provided developmentally…

Mostly low-income African American and Hispanic teens (N = 192) were tested in (a) passage comprehension, (b) vocabulary ability, (c) cloze task performance, and (d) listening comprehension in the spring and vocabulary in the fall. Students were surveyed about reading (a) narrative, (b) expository, (c) teen culture, and (d) online texts.…

In this study we investigated the effects of two learning methods (picture- or word-mediated learning) and of word status (cognates vs. noncognates) on the vocabulary acquisition of two foreign languages: English and German. We examined children from fourth and eighth grades in a school setting. After a learning phase during which L2 words were…

The purpose of this study was to compare 2 methods for directly teaching word meanings to kindergarten students within storybook read-alouds that varied in instructional time and depth of instruction along with a control condition that provided students with incidental exposure to target words. Embedded instruction introduces target word meanings…

The disparity between the results of state accountability tests in reading and the fourth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has left many educators dismayed and concerned. In this article the authors describe a comparison of assessment approaches evident in NAEP to the approaches taken in a sample of state tests. The authors…

Where do the two languages of the bilingual child interact? The literature has debated whether bilingual children have delays in the acquisition of direct objects. The variety of methods and languages involved have prevented clear conclusions. In a transitivity-based approach, null objects are a default structural possibility, present in all…

More than 90 million Indian children are becoming literate in English, yet the home literacy environment for Indian children learning English has not been explored. Preschool children (N = 50) from Bangalore, India, were assessed for vocabulary, phonological awareness, and print skills in English, their language of schooling. Parents reported on…

As teachers have struggled to implement scientifically based instructional practices in reading, some researchers have begun to focus on ways to "boost the value of reading aloud to young children". Such studies seek ways to promote oral language as well as comprehension and vocabulary through read-aloud experiences. Interactive read-alouds…

Responding to readers' stories, questions, and requests for extended examples, this book was developed as a complementary volume to "Bringing Words to Life." The authors present additional tools, tips, and explanations of such questions as which words to teach, when and how to teach them, and how to adapt instruction for English language learners.…

Cobb (2007) argues that free reading cannot provide L2 readers with sufficient opportunities for acquiring vocabulary in order to reach an adequate level of reading comprehension of English texts. In this paper, the authors argue that (1) Cobb severely underestimates the amount of reading even a very modest reading habit would afford L2 readers,…

This paper examines the relative values of syntactic-semantic relationships in the mental lexicon of aphasic patients, which were tested within syntagmatic and paradigmatic networks of lexical relations. Semantic relations, such as synonymy, antonomy, and hyperonymy, as well as collocational and coordinational syntactic-semantic relations, were…

A review of the relevant literature concerning second language dictionary use while reading suggests that selective dictionary use may lead to improved comprehension and efficient vocabulary development. This study aims to examine the dictionary use of Japanese university students to determine just how selective they are when reading nonfiction…

Two groups of children were given pictures of animals to name as quickly as they could. The groups comprised 40 nursery aged children (mean age 3 ; 11) and 40 Year 2 children (mean age 6 ; 9) attending primary school in London. The 30 animals were presented one by one, on cards, and any errors made by the children were noted. Consistent with a…