Proposes that vocabulary building online can help to develop collaboration skills and positive home-school connections. Notes that most teachers can attest to the positive relationship between technology and motivation in the classroom. Provides an annotated list of 10 Internet sites for vocabulary learning which includes a brief description of…

This study examined the relationship between fast mapping and word learning and between comprehension and production of new words with 30 young children with specific language impairment (SLI). Results suggest that children with SLI may need to hear a new word twice as many times as other children before comprehending and independently using the…

Connects knowledge about good vocabulary instructional practices and actual practice through information, guidelines, and specific strategies. Details the strategies of semantic feature analyses; word maps; individual vocabulary cards; word webs; context-relationship procedure; the Frayer model; and word analogies. Concludes there needs to be…

Work with a longitudinal low-income sample of almost 200 early readers revealed that schools that focus entirely on teaching decoding skills in the early grades neglect the essential vocabulary knowledge that students need to become competent readers. (Contains 20 references and 5 tables.) (MLF)

Highlights the use of novice-level books produced from or for the Internet in the beginning level German as a foreign language classroom. Such books can be used for pleasure reading, for learning content, and for the development of vocabulary. Techniques for such use are provided. (Author/VWL)

Examined the relationship between caregiver input to 9-month-old infants and their subsequent language. Mother-infant dyads were videotaped at ages 9, 12, and 30 months. Language comprehension was measured by parent report and correlated with an independent language measure. Found that the total number of words mothers used when their infants were…

Examines individual differences in the rate of early lexical development with a specific interest in gender differences. Explored individual differences in developmental trajectories of vocabulary comprehension and production using two analytic approaches. Both techniques demonstrated that the lexical development of girls outpaced that of boys.…

Reports on a study of a reading program used in English-as-a-Second-Language instruction to determine (1) the effect of the method of vocabulary presentation on vocabulary acquisition, and (2) the interrelationship of learner-factors and methods of vocabulary presentation in the retention of vocabulary. (GLR)

Problems and techniques in teaching the translation of idioms that make little or no sense literally are examined, using as an example the translation of a French idiom into German. Use of bilingual dictionaries and other related activities to deepen and enrich understanding of the language are stressed. (MSE)

Describes an alternate lexico-semantic view of native language acquisition and adult second language learning that proposes that humans acquire and learn words, names, titles, expressions, sayings, and formulas as undifferentiated lexical items first and then develop systems to store and retrieve the lexemes and combine them into phrases and…

This study investigated the practice effect in speechreading. Two groups of 10 hearing and sighted adults practiced either the same sentence list each day or practiced on different lists each day for 5 days. While both groups showed noteworthy improvements in speechreading, no significant differences between groups were found. (Author/PB)

Analysis of a complete set of word-forms produced by a one-year-old at the one-word stage found that the data showed little phonetic variability and that phonological development during the period studied (about one year) was qualitatively continuous with subsequent development. (Author/CB)

Defines and illustrates the importance of lexical function in second language learning based on the "meaning-text" model of I. A. Mel'cuk. Examples in French and in English demonstrate that it is possible to combine lexical and grammatical learning. (DJD)

Describes a technique for vocabulary instruction in which students complete a chart by providing two synonyms, an antonym, and the pronunciation of a given word. Reports that, even though the chart is easy to complete, students using it began to think both critically and creatively. (RS)

A review of the significant advances made in the study of Spanish language history during the 1980s describes recent developments in introductory textbooks, manuals, external histories, phonological research, morphological research, syntactic research, semantic research, dictionaries, learned vocabularies, bibliographies, and literary research.…