Explored the interplay between gestures and words in the early vocabulary of 12 normally developing Italian children at 16 and 20 months of age. Focused on spontaneous production of verbal and gestural types and tokens to assess the diversity and semantic content of the verbal and gestural vocabularies. Results indicated that gestures were used…

This case study investigated the vocabulary knowledge gains made by an adult learner of English as a result of performing a read and tell task. It found that the quality of vocabulary use, or a higher level of generation, appeared to have had a significant effect on vocabulary acquisition. (15 references) (MDM)

This case study examined the vocabulary gains made by an adult learner of English as a Second Language as a result of performing four communication tasks. It found that explicit negotiation of word meaning appeared less deterministic of posttest improvements than use of words in the process of completing the task. (13 references) (MDM)

This study, involving three toddlers with language impairments, evaluated effectiveness of a lexical facilitation strategy designed to increase the salience or informativeness of target objects relative to other objects and actions in the context. Complications in employing the experimental task in intervention settings are discussed, along with…

A lively classroom activity is described in which high school students, each receiving a word-card, generate their own sentences in German by combining their own word with the previous student's word. The cards, with words taken from the textbook vocabulary, encourage active, spontaneous utterances within the structure and logical sequence of the…

Advocates using the newspaper to improve reading and writing skills of remedial secondary students. Discusses using the newspaper with regard to disabled readers, enhancement of comprehension, critical thinking skills, increased vocabulary, creative writing opportunities, increased general knowledge, and extension activities. (SR)

Keyword mnemonics were used in 2 of 3 instructional procedures (systematic teaching, an imposed keyword method, and an induced keyword method) to teach science vocabulary to 37 students with mild disabilities in grades 6, 7, and 8. Favorable results for both keyword methods were obtained. (DB)

After reviewing previous research on the acquisition of vocabulary through contextual clues, research carried out with 429 students in the upper grades of an Italian elementary school is discussed. (12 references) (CFM)

Examines pseudofamiliar words--words that English learners think that they know but do not. These are words with a deceptive morphological structures, idioms, false friends, words with multiple meanings and "synforms." This lack of awareness is claimed to be inducive to faulty comprehension. Some teaching implications of these problems are…

Examines the relationship between maternal-report measures of referential vocabulary and observational measures of referential vocabulary and usage in 8 first-born middle-class children at 50 and 100 words. Results indicate that, although this measure can be reasonably reliable, such measures tend to exaggerate the relative importance of common…

Describes a process for presenting and learning new vocabulary in middle-grade classrooms that focuses on context, questions involving interpretation, and using the word. (SR)

Provides evidence for developmental changes in the composition of the lexicon, reflecting a shift in emphasis from reference, to predication, to grammar. Findings show that the study of qualitative variation in lexical style is confounded by quantitative variation in rate of lexical development. Tables are appended. (Contains 42 references.) (JP)

Despite replicating previous findings of a relationship between maternal descriptiveness and the proportion of nouns and maternal directiveness and the proportion of verbs in children's early vocabulary, this study of eight mother-infant dyads revealed no relationship between differences in mothers' interactional behavior and differences in the…

The effectiveness of two language treatment methods, modeling versus modeling plus evoked production, in promoting productive vocabulary in three late-talking toddlers was compared. Two subjects differed as to which particular treatment method was associated with better performance. Neither treatment method was effective for the third subject.…

Word learning by young children is viewed as a problem deriving from the use of forms of discourse texts. Uses of causal and temporal terms in private speech by a child studied longitudinally from 1;9 to 3;0 are analyzed from this perspective. (Contains 38 references.) (JL)