Using story dictation to support young children's vocabulary development: Outcomes and process

Creating opportunities for children to apply newly learned vocabulary in meaningful contexts is an important aspect of supporting vocabulary development. However, previous research has not adequately examined how this can be accomplished in preschool classrooms. To address this issue, we explored using story dictation to support preschoolers’ expressive vocabulary development. Thirteen children in a Head Start classroom were videotaped dictating a total of 38 stories. Scribed stories and videos of story dictation sessions were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively to examine the outcomes and process. Results indicated that children used and learned target vocabulary during story dictations, and that target word use increased in number and complexity over time. How the teacher supported story dictations and target word use is discussed.     

The effectiveness of multimedia programmes in children's vocabulary learning

The present experiment investigated the effect of three different presentation modes in children's vocabulary learning with a self-guided multimedia programmes. Participants were 135 third and fourth grade children who read a short English language story presented by a computer programme. For 12 key (previously unknown) words in the story, children received verbal annotations (written translation), visual annotations (picture representing the word), or both. Recall of word translations was better for children who only received verbal annotations than for children who received simultaneously visual and verbal annotations or visual annotations only. Results support previous research about cognitive load in e-learning environments, and show that children's learning processes are hindered by limited working memory. This finding implies a challenge for multimedia programmes designed for children and based on self-regulated learning.     

Media as social partners: the social nature of young children's learning from screen media

Television has become a nearly ubiquitous feature in children's cultural landscape. A review of the research into young children's learning from television indicates that the likelihood that children will learn from screen media is influenced by their developing social relationships with on-screen characters, as much as by their developing perception of the screen and their symbolic understanding and comprehension of information presented on screen. Considering the circumstances in which children under 6 years learn from screen media can inform teachers, parents, and researchers about the important nature of social interaction in early learning and development. The findings reviewed in this article suggest the social nature of learning, even learning from screen media.     

Creating classroom contexts that support young children's development of self-regulated learning

The purpose of the research reported in this chapter is twofold: first, to identify features of classroom environments that promote self-regulated approaches to reading and writing in young children; and second, to work collaboratively with teachers, helping them become proficient at designing tasks and structuring interactions with students that promote self-regulated learning (SRL). Five primary (kindergarten — grade 3) teachers and their students were involved in the study. Evidence from classroom observations indicates that these five teachers consistently involved their students in complex reading and writing activities, choosing what to read and write about, modifying tasks to control challenge, and evaluating their reading and writing processes and products. Also, these teachers provided support that was instrumental to students’ development of SRL, and employed non-threatening evaluation practices. Consistent with previous research that characterizes self-regulated learners, students in these classrooms demonstrated high levels of metacognition, intrinsic motivation, and strategic action.     

Explanation and generalization in young children's strategy learning

Children often learn new problem-solving strategies by observing examples of other people's problem-solving. When children learn a new strategy through observation and also explain the new strategy to themselves, they generalize the strategy more widely than children who learn a new strategy but do not explain. We tested three hypothesized mechanisms through which explanations might facilitate strategy generalization: more accurate recall of the new strategy's procedures; increased selection of the new strategy over competing strategies; or more effective management of the new strategy's goal structure. Findings supported the third mechanism: Explanations facilitated generalization through the creation of novel goal structures that enabled children to persist in use of the new strategy despite potential interference from competing strategies. The facilitative effect of explanation did vary with children's age and did not vary between explanations children created by themselves versus explanations they learned from the experimenter.     

Assessing young children's social concept development

A number of questions regarding the nature of social concept development in young children were investigated in this study. In an earlier study, a social concept picture-sorting task was developed to obtain normative data on young children's social concept development. For this replication study, a larger more heterogeneous sample was used consisting of 64 kindergarten and 65 first grade public school students from lower to upper middle-class socioeconomic levels. Profile analysis was used to compare grades, sex, and racial groups. All three variables had a significant impact on performance. Significant differences in difficulty were found among the nine concepts measured. Three of the most difficult concepts (family-not family, those who protect us, and past-present) are commonly included in early childhood curriculum. These results suggest that the level of concept development needs to be considered in planning social studies curriculum and instruction for young children.     

词汇刻意学习与词汇附带习得比较研究

在二语习得领域有两种词汇学习方式:词汇附带习得和词汇刻意学习。国外大量研究表明词汇附带习得是二语词汇学习的主要方式,但是对国内学生而言刻意学习词汇更为熟悉。因此,本文试图对这两种词汇学习方法效果进行比较研究,观测不同的学习方法对于中国英语专业学生的词汇学习有何影响。     

Uncovering young children's motivational beliefs about learning science

Young children, ages 5–6 years, develop first beliefs about science and themselves as science learners, and these beliefs are considered important precursors of children's future motivation to pursue science. Yet, due to a lack of adequate measures, little is known about young children's motivational beliefs about learning science. The present two‐part study explores the motivational beliefs of young children using a new measure—the Young Children's Science Motivation (Y‐CSM) scale. Initial measurement development involved a thorough literature review of existing measures, and an extensive piloting phase until a final instrument was reached. To establish scale reliability, measurement invariance as well construct and criterion validity, the final instrument was administered to a new sample of 277 young children, age 5–6 years, in northern Germany. Results reveal that children's motivational beliefs can be empirically differentiated into their self‐confidence and enjoyment in science at this young age. Older children were more motivated in science, but no significant gender differences were found. Importantly, children in preschools with a science focus reported significantly higher science motivation. This finding stresses the importance of early science education for the development of children's motivational beliefs science.     

Evolution and development of folk knowledge: Implications for children's learning

Abstract

A central theoretical issue in evolutionary developmental psychology concerns the relation between evolved systems of folk knowledge and academic learning in modern schools. A model for conceptualizing motivational biases, cognitive competencies (e.g., language), and children's inherent developmental activities that compose these systems of folk knowledge is presented. Implications for children's learning of culture-specific academic competencies, such as reading, and associated motivational and instructional issues are then discussed. The thesis is that the motivational, cognitive, and developmental systems that compose folk knowledge are not sufficient for academic learning, but are the foundation from which academic competencies are built. Implications for educational theory and research are profound     

Effect of foster care on young children's language learning

This report examines 174 young children's language outcomes in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, the first randomized trial of foster placement after institutional care. Age of foster placement was highly correlated with language outcomes. Placement by 15 months led to similar expressive and receptive language test scores as typical age peers at 30 and 42 months. Placement from 15 to 24 months also led to dramatic language improvement. In contrast, children placed after 24 months had the same severe language delays as children in institutional care. Language samples at 42 months confirmed that placement after 24 months led to lower expressive skill.     

Hierarchies in children's learning: A symposium

There has been a continuing increase in the application of hierarchy theory to the problems of instruction and evaluation, since Gagné first used the term hierarchy in his theory of how human beings acquire complex skills and knowledge. This article, based on a 1970 symposium of the American Educational Research Association, presents an overview and analysis of the use of learning hierarchies in instruction and research, examines some current research on learning hierarchies, and considers the implications of this research for instructional psychology and for theories of cognitive development.Lauren B. Resnick is with the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania     

Matthew effects in young readers: reading comprehension and reading experience aid vocabulary development

The authors report data from a longitudinal study of the reading development of children who were assessed in the years of their 8th, 11th, 14th, and 16th birthdays. They examine the evidence for Matthew effects in reading and vocabulary between ages 8 and 11 in groups of children identified with good and poor reading comprehension at 8 years. They also investigate evidence for Matthew effects in reading and vocabulary between 8 and 16 years, in the larger sample. The poor comprehenders showed reduced growth in vocabulary compared to the good comprehenders, but not in word reading or reading comprehension ability. They also obtained lower scores on measures of out-of-school literacy. Analyses of the whole sample revealed that initial levels of reading experience and reading comprehension predicted vocabulary at ages 11, 14, and 16 after controlling for general ability and vocabulary skills when aged 8. The authors discuss these findings in relation to the influence of reading on vocabulary development.     

Memory demands and the development of young children's memory

The primary purposes of this study were to determine the nature of and changes in early memory demands and to assess the relationship between memory demands and memory performance. 10 children at each of 2 ages--30 and 42 months--were observed in their homes for 4 2-hour sessions. Conversations between mothers and children were recorded and mother's memory-demand questions were coded for form and content from these conversations. Question form referred to whether recall or recognition was required and question content to the type of information requested--event or knowledge. Children also participated in 2 long-term memory tasks--production and verification. They were shown a dollhouse and asked to produce the names of objects that would belong in 2 rooms of the house and to verify whether particular miniature replicas of household objects belonged in the rooms. Although memory demands were frequently made, there were few changes between age 2 and 3 in the incidence or types of questions children were asked. At age 3, positive correlations were found between children's production and verification performance and content rather than form of mothers' memory-demand questions. At age 2 no overall relationships were found. Children were retested a year later on memory tasks, and for both age groups memory demands and performance were positively correlated even when initial memory-performance level was controlled. These results, along with other patterns in the data, suggested that mothers' memory demands have an impact on children's memory performance that provides at least partial support for Vygotsky's sociohistorical model of memory development.     

Effects of increased teacher support on young children's learning.

6 groups of middle-class children (N = 116) received training in a motor skill, skipping, and a cognitive task, conservation of substance, under 2 conditions of teacher supportive behavior. Children in 3 treatment groups received instruction under the condition of increased teacher support, while instruction was given with nonvaried teacher support to 3 control groups. Experimental and control group gain scores on the 2 learning tasks were compared. Findings suggested that preschool children, especially girls, benefit significantly by increased teacher support in learning a motor skill, but greater gain was made in the cognitive area when receiving training under the condition of nonvaried teacher support.     

It's story time!: exploring the potential of multimodality in oral storytelling to support children's vocabulary learning

Although many studies have been done on the benefits of parent/teacher‐child interactions during shared storybook reading or read‐aloud sessions, very few have examined the potential of professional storytellers' oral discourse to support children's vocabulary learning. In those storytelling sessions conducted by professional storytellers, the process of telling a story is typically not accompanied by a book, but only by the teller's well‐coordinated gestures, facial expressions and voice modulations. In this study, I perform a multimodal analysis of storytellers' oral discourse recorded during two storytelling sessions for four‐to‐five‐year‐old children. The study aims to (1) find out the specific types of vocal and visual features accompanying the spoken words which were unlikely to be known by the children but used by the storytellers for representations of events and characters, and (2) explore the potential of these multimodal features in oral storytelling to support children's inferring of word meanings. The study offers insights into multimodality in oral storytelling and implications for exploring the potential of multimodal features in this form of literacy practice to support children's vocabulary learning.     

How money matters for young children's development: parental investment and family processes

This study used data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its 1997 Child Development Supplement to examine how family income matters for young children's development. The sample included 753 children who were between ages 3 and 5 years in 1997. Two sets of mediating factors were examined that reflect two dominating views in the literature: (1) the investment perspective, and (2) the family process perspective. The study examined how two measures of income (stability and level) were associated with preschool children's developmental outcomes (Woodcock-Johnson [W-J] Achievement Test scores and the Behavior Problem Index [BPI]) through investment and family process pathways. Results supported the hypothesis that distinct mediating mechanisms operate on the association between income and different child outcomes. Much of the association between income and children's W-J scores was mediated by the family's ability to invest in providing a stimulating learning environment. In contrast, family income was associated with children's BPI scores primarily through maternal emotional distress and parenting practices. Level of income was associated with W-J letter-word scores and income stability was associated with W-J applied problem scores and BPI, even after all controls were included in the models.     

Teaching and learning floating and sinking: A meta-analysis

Floating and sinking (FS) is a key topic in science education, both at primary and secondary levels. The interpretation of FS phenomena, however, is challenging due to the difficulty of the scientific concepts and explanatory models involved (e.g., density, buoyancy), along with students' everyday experiences, which conflict with scientific explanations. Consequently, many studies over the last few decades have investigated how FS could be taught effectively to students of different ages while utilizing multiple teaching approaches. This meta-analysis summarizes findings from 69 intervention studies on teaching FS conducted between 1977 and 2021. Over all studies, we estimated a mean effect size of g = 0.85 (95% CI = 0.71, 0.99). This large effect size demonstrates that, although FS is a challenging concept, teaching FS is effective even in elementary school. Moreover, in a moderator analysis, we investigate the effect of intervention characteristics, students' age, as well as study design, and assessment features on the mean study effect size. To analyze the effect of these moderator variables, we use a three-level hierarchical meta-regression model for dealing with multiple effect sizes from single studies. We found two intervention characteristics that explain variance in study effect sizes: longer lasting interventions result in larger effect sizes and interventions where hands-on experiments are applied are more effective than those utilizing virtual experiments. Furthermore, studies with a treatment-control group comparison have significantly smaller effect sizes than studies with a pre-post design. We discuss the implications of our findings regarding the moderator variables for effective teaching of FS and further research on FS.     

Conceptually based vocabulary intervention: second graders' development of vocabulary words

An instructional strategy was investigated that addressed the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students through a conceptually based sign language vocabulary intervention. A single-subject multiple-baseline design was used to determine the effects of the vocabulary intervention on word recognition, production, and comprehension. Six students took part in the 30-minute intervention over 6-8 weeks, learning 12 new vocabulary words each week by means of the three intervention components: (a) word introduction, (b) word activity (semantic mapping), and (c) practice. Results indicated that the vocabulary intervention successfully improved all students' recognition, production, and comprehension of the vocabulary words and phrases.     

Trajectories of the home learning environment across the first 5 years: associations with children's vocabulary and literacy skills at prekindergarten

Children's home learning environments were examined in a low-income sample of 1,852 children and families when children were 15, 25, 37, and 63 months. During home visits, children's participation in literacy activities, the quality of mothers' engagements with their children, and the availability of learning materials were assessed, yielding a total learning environment score at each age. At 63 months, children's vocabulary and literacy skills were assessed. Six learning environment trajectories were identified, including environments that were consistently low, environments that were consistently high, and environments characterized by varying patterns of change. The skills of children at the extremes of learning environment trajectories differed by more than 1 SD and the timing of learning experiences related to specific emerging skills.     

Motor activity, anticipated motor activity, and young children's associative learning.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether motor activity, previously assumed necessary to induce imagery in young children's associative learning, actually has to be executed. The results of our experiment with kindergartners clearly suggest not: In conditions where subjects simply planned to the potential motor activity (without executing it), learning was enhanced. Further, the temporal proximity of the planning to the potential motor activity did not prove to be important. These results, combined with those from 2 follow-up experiments, give rise to the speculation--among others--that young children can be "tricked" into imagery generation through appropriately worded instructions.