Learning words through overhearing

Recent research indicates that toddlers can monitor others' conversations, raising the possibility that they can acquire vocabulary in this way. Three studies examined 2-year-olds' (N = 88) ability to learn novel words when overhearing these words used by others. Children aged 2,6 were equally good at learning novel words-both object labels and action verbs-when they were overhearers as when they were directly addressed. For younger 2-year-olds (2,1), this was true for object labels, but the results were less clear for verbs. The findings demonstrate that 2-year-olds can acquire novel words from overheard speech, and highlight the active role played by toddlers in vocabulary acquisition.     

早期汉语儿童多义词的习得策略——一个北京话儿童的个案研究

儿童多义词的习得在理论上存在三种途径:一是按各义项的派生过程来习得,可称为连续性策略;二是独立进行不同义项的习得,可称为离散性策略;三是上述两种策略综合使用。通过对早期儿童产出的多义词义项所做的穷尽性统计可以看出,早期儿童多义词义项习得的策略是多方面的,其制约因素也是多方面的。本文在认知及功能理论框架内认为:早期儿童习得多义词时,如果没有其他因素的干扰,会无意识地采取连续性策略;而如果违反认知规律来习得语言项目,必有较强的功能因素,表现为:实用性最强的义项优先习得,输入频率高的义项优先习得。另外,多义词不同义项之间的意义相关度对义项习得次序也可能有一定的影响。     

Translating words into equations: a cognitive load theory approach

The conditions under which explicit instruction in checking, combined with worked examples, may be beneficial in learning how to translate sentences into algebraic equations was examined from the perspective of cognitive load theory. In two experiments it was shown that Grade 8 and 9 students were initially disadvantaged by the inclusion of a checking method. However, after a more substantial period of acquisition, students with a low level of mathematical knowledge performed significantly better after receiving checking instructions than those who did not receive checking instructions. In contrast, higher knowledge students were continually disadvantaged by the inclusion of a checking method. The positive effect of checking for lower knowledge students and the negative effect for higher knowledge students in this domain is a further example of the expertise reversal effect.     

寓识字于具体的语言环境和艺术氛围中

小学的识字教学是国民基础教育的起始阶段，是语文教育的开端。识字，是儿童从运用口头语言过渡到掌握书面语言的基本前提，同时也是儿童自主习染以文字符号为载体的文本世界的开始。学生通过语言文字这个载体，领悟人类文化的内涵，受到感染和熏陶，并获得终身学习和生存发展的本领。     

小编寄语

Dear all,Glad to see you again in the new issue of Overseas Englishmagazine!这个月,我们有好多故事要告诉你：猫鼬的幽灵故事、愚蠢的犯罪故事、美国有趣的法规……你一定会对这些能边听边读的故事感兴趣。不仅如此,你还能从我们的Glossary boxes里学到很多有用的单词和表达方式。     

为"教",还是为"学"

最近听了两位教师执教《普罗米修斯盗火》(苏教版)一课,两位教师教学设计不同,教学效果各异,给了我很大的启示。请看两个教学设计的主要环节:案例一:1.寻找特点:快速浏览课文,从文中找出普罗米修斯是一个怎样的神?(学生读后很快从文中找出关键词语“勇敢而极富同情心”)2.验证特点:哪些地方表现出他的勇敢?哪些地方表现出他富有同情心?找出相关的段落练习朗读。3.读出特点:你能把普罗米修斯的勇敢和富有同情心读出来吗?指名抓住关键词语读出普罗米修斯的勇敢和富有同情心。4.强化特点:教师强调,从“无火”可以看出他极富同情心,从“盗火”、…     

Do Computers Enhance or Detract from Student Learning?

Research in Higher Education - Does becoming familiar with computer and information technology during college add to or detract from making progress toward other desirable outcomes of college?...     

Learning words from knowledgeable versus ignorant speakers: links between preschoolers' theory of mind and semantic development

Two studies addressed whether children consider speakers' knowledge states when establishing initial word-referent links. In Study 1, forty-eight 3- and 4-year-olds were taught two novel words by a speaker who expressed either knowledge or ignorance about the words' referents. Children showed better word learning when the speaker was knowledgeable. In Study 2, forty-eight 3- and 4-year-olds were taught two novel words by a speaker who expressed uncertainty about their referents. Whether the uncertainty truly reflected ignorance, however, differed across conditions. In one condition, the speaker said he made the object himself and thus, he was knowledgeable. In the other condition, the speaker stated that the object was made by a friend and thus, expressed ignorance about it. Four-year-olds learned better in the speaker-made than in the friend-made condition; 3-year-olds, however, showed relatively poor learning in both conditions. These findings suggest that theory-of-mind developments impact word learning.     

Problem solving as a function of abstract or concrete words

Two groups of undergraduates were required to verbally reorder previously memorized pairs of nouns to detect the underlying structural relationship or chain among certain memorized pairs. While the types of word chains were always structurally identical for the two groups, the groups differed as to whether the list of word pairs were concrete or abstract nouns. Subjects who received concrete words both memorized the pairs and solved the problems in less time than did subjects who received abstract word pairs. Superior performance was supposedly due to the differential effect of imaginai versus verbal encoding. Implications were discussed regarding both educational and psychological issues.     

The building blocks of writing: Learning to write letters and spell words

This study examined the development of beginning writing skills in kindergarten and the relationship between early writing skills and early reading skills. Sixty children were assessed on beginning writing skills (including letter writing, individual sound spelling, and real and nonsense word spelling) and beginning reading skills (including letter name and letter sound knowledge, global early reading ability, phonological awareness, and word reading). Children’s beginning writing abilities are described, and they exhibited a range of proficiency in their ability to write letters, spell sounds, and spell real and nonsense words. Global early reading proficiency, phonological awareness, and/or letter sound fluency predicted letter writing, sound spelling, and spelling of real and nonsense words. Appreciation is expressed to the participating students and teachers at Dwight D. Eisenhower School and to Margaret Boudreau and Joan Foley for assistance in scoring students’ responses.     

Chemistry concepts and vocabulary from root words

Although chemistry impacts largely on the society and civilization, the subject is still viewed with awe. This is because the language of chemistry of which the technical terms are an integral component, is not easily comprehensible even for the practicing scientists; let alone the layman. However, many of these terms, in English, can be noted as derived from a few affixes of Greek and Latin origin, e.g., ortho, tropo, mer, meta, iso, para, hetero, syn, homo, topo, dia and pseudo. Identifying the roots from which a term is formed can help understand it better, and even predict what a new term to be encountered stands for. The meanings and significance of various root words occurring in technical terms as also several unique words of chemistry are explained.     

教师与学师

写下这个题目,连我自己也在纳闷,什么叫“学师”? 教师节之际,很多小朋友大朋友,新朋友老朋友给我这个当编辑的“准教师”在线邮来电子贺卡,遥祝我及我的同事办出读者更喜爱看的杂志激情难抑的我突然想到了教师这个职业,想到了现代教育理念下的教师角色,真的已经变得面目     

Do bilingual children read words better in lists or in context?

The aim of this study was to determine whether 11-year-old children in Singapore, from English Dominant or English Non-Dominant backgrounds, read better orally when words were presented in list or text. The children read words in passage and in list form presented in counterbalanced order. In a study of good, average and poor readers, Nicholson (1991) found that context was of more benefit to poorer readers and to younger readers. With the English Non-Dominant readers in the present study regarded as less proficient readers of English, these children should be expected to show the greatest gains from passage presentations. Error analyses showed that English Non-Dominant readers performed less well in list readings relative to text readings, while the English Dominant readers produced no difference in performance for these conditions. This indicates that readers with less exposure to English relied more on contextual information than the more experienced readers. Thus, Goodman's (1965) idea of enlightened guessing was again questioned in this study for the case of bilingual readers. Additionally, reading miscues were found to vary in type according to whether the same words were being read in list or in context.     

Learning for Life or Learning from Books: Reading Practices in Mexican Rural Schools (1900 to 1935)

This article furthers our understanding of the uses of textbooks within the complex social history of school cultures. It focuses on rural schools in an indigenous region of central Mexico, before and after the Mexican revolution (1910‐1921). Two contextual factors are highlighted. First, the gradual displacement of the native language by the dominant Spanish used in schools. Secondly, the pedagogical discourses that discouraged the use of textbooks in teaching and stressed ‘learning for life’. These circumstances shed light on the fragmentary evidence of available textbooks and actual classroom practice. I suggest that the period witnessed a shift in classroom cultures, from the intensive reading of religious and moral texts that were possibly familiar to the children, towards the extensive, silent reading of textbooks on a variety of subjects. However, native children had still to bridge a considerable gap between their own life and language and the printed Spanish they encountered in schools.     

杰克临终独白的人际功能分析

一部电影的成功,除了要有精彩的情节,出色的演员外,真实感人的电影对白也占有很重要的一席之地.而电影对白的成功.很大程度取决于其语言表达形式.系统功能语言学以"选择就是意义"为原则.本文用人际意义理论分析<泰坦尼克号>中杰克临终独白,试图通过对其语言形式选择的分析,透视作者的意图,从而透视"意义",找到这段独白感人之光背后的奥秘.     

离合词是不是词？

本对我国对外汉语界关于离合词研究的几种主要观点进行了分析评述，并提出，离合词是集词和词组于一身的语言单位，缺乏统一的语法特征，不能因为它具有词的性质就否定它兼有的词组的功能。对外汉语离合词教学中存在的问题主要是词组方面的问题。从《汉语水平词汇与汉字等级大纲》离合词的统计数字的平均值来看，离合词中词化的部分也并未占多数。因此，不能把离合词归入词。     

幼儿发展的分水岭:习得性无助还是习得性乐观

学龄前阶段是个体乐观心态形成的关键时期,掌控感缺失和消极解释风格会导致幼儿产生习得性无助现象,教师作为幼儿生活的主导者,是幼儿成长过程评价的主体。面对幼儿的无助,教师及时介入能引导幼儿以乐观心态冷静分析问题,勇敢面对挫折,形成乐观解释风格与习得性乐观。     

出土文献与同源词判定

出土材料中相关字词的古文字字形、出现的时代、记录某些意义的早晚所综合反映的情况能够帮助判定同源词.其具体方法有二:以同源词的派生原理为依据确定同源词;利用出土材料中的"音近义通"(古音相同或相近,词汇意义相通)确定同源词.需要注意的是,在实际操作中必须准确确定相关年代与词义的引申关系,才能确保同源词判定的科学性.