Vocabulary Use by Low, Moderate, and High ASL-Proficient Writers Compared to Hearing ESL and Monolingual Speakers

The written English vocabulary of 72 deaf elementary school students of various proficiency levels in American Sign Language (ASL) was compared with the performance of 60 hearing English-as-a-second-language (ESL) speakers and 61 hearing monolingual speakers of English, all of similar age. Students were asked to retell "The Tortoise and the Hare" story (previously viewed on video) in a writing activity. Writing samples were later scored for total number of words, use of words known to be highly frequent in children's writing, redundancy in writing, and use of English function words. All deaf writers showed significantly lower use of function words as compared to their hearing peers. Low-ASL-proficient students demonstrated a highly formulaic writing style, drawing mostly on high-frequency words and repetitive use of a limited range of function words. The moderate- and high-ASL-proficient deaf students' writing was not formulaic and incorporated novel, low-frequency vocabulary to communicate their thoughts. The moderate- and high-ASL students' performance revealed a departure from findings one might expect based on previous studies with deaf writers and their vocabulary use. The writing of the deaf writers also differed from the writing of hearing ESL speakers. Implications for deaf education and literacy instruction are discussed, with special attention to the fact that ASL-proficient, deaf second-language learners of English may be approaching English vocabulary acquisition in ways that are different from hearing ESL learners.     

英语词汇的教学

论述了词汇教学时,师生都须明白,哪些为被动词,哪些为主动词.对于前者,我们只需根据语境及词的形态理解其大概意思即可;对于后者,教师在呈现新词时,一定要把握交际性和意义性原则.句型操练非常有效,但不能过度使用以至变成机械操练.鼓励学生使用新词,这对于词汇的巩固也很有效.最后,笔者还提到教师要帮助学生掌握一些学习策略.     

Vocabulary Assessment of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children From Infancy Through the Preschool Years

The purpose of this article is to inform researchers and practitioners about potential challenges in the selection, administration, and interpretation of results of measures of vocabulary assessment when working with deaf and hard-of-hearing children. This article reviews methods that can be used to assess vocabulary of children through the age of 5 years, including naturalistic observation, parent report measures, and standardized vocabulary tests. The authors also describe procedures to assess word-learning processes available to children to facilitate vocabulary acquisition. General cautions regarding the use of assessment tools with deaf and hard-of-hearing children are reviewed, as well as cautions for specific assessment measures. Finally, based on available research, suggestions are offered regarding what each assessment test can tell us about deaf and hard-of-hearing children's vocabulary development.     

聋校低年级字词教学趣味性实践探索

字词教学是聋生语言生成的起点,只有打好字词教学的基础,聋校其他的教学形式才能顺利进行,趣味教学在一定程度上能够激发低年级聋生学习字词的主动性,并且贴合聋生以目代耳的学习特点。文章从教学实践方面对聋校低年级字词教学趣味性的有效实施展开论述。     

关于对外汉语词汇教学的几点思考

汉语词汇教学是近年来对外汉语教学界关注的热点问题。通过分析对外汉语教学的有关理论和统计资料可以得出如下结论：严格区分词频、义频,控制词汇量,引导留学生运用词汇网络记忆和积累词汇,提高生词的重现率,结合语境进行教学,加深学生的记忆,这些都是对外汉语词汇教学有效的方法。     

Vocabulary acquisition and reading ability

Lexical acquisition ability for aurally taught words was studied in fourthgrade children. Reading ability, intelligence, and working memory were evaluated as predictor factors in vocabulary learning. Reading ability was found to predict facility at learning the novel phonological sequences, while intelligence was the only factor which accounted for performance level for the semantic content of the words. The working memory measure, digit span, failed to make a significant contribution to either the phonological or semantic outcome measures. Examination of two subgroups of skilled and less-skilled readers indicated that less-skilled readers had more difficulty acquiring the phonological information for new words. No between-group differences were found in long-term retention or in the ability to provide definitions for the newly learned words. The findings suggest that the vocabulary deficits of less-skilled readers stem, at least in part, from difficulty establishing accurate phonological representations for new words.     

儿童伴随学习研究对汉字学习的启示

伴随学习是儿童学习生字的重要方式之一。伴随学习相关研究对儿童汉字学习具有一定的启示:首先,应重视伴随学习生字在儿童汉字学习中的重要作用,充分利用伴随学习促进儿童生字学习;其次,应注意设置良好的学习材料为伴随学习服务。选择恰当的注音方式,摒弃生字注音方式,采用全文注音,为学习材料设置良好的语境,促进儿童利用多种线索学习生字;再次,合理的设置学习材料的生字密度,为儿童创造良好的生活语言环境,促进其标准口语的掌握,为书面语言中音、形、义的通达打下基础。     

Modeling reading vocabulary learning in deaf children in bilingual education programs

The acquisition of reading vocabulary is one of the major challenges for deaf children in bilingual education programs. Deaf children have to acquire a written lexicon that can effectively be used in reading. In this paper, we present a developmental model that describes reading vocabulary acquisition of deaf children in bilingual education programs. The model is inspired by Jiang's model of vocabulary development in a second language (N. Jiang, 2000, 2004a) and the hierarchical model of lexical representation and processing in bilinguals (J. F. Kroll & E. Stewart, 1988). We argue that lexical development in the written language often fossilizes and that many words deaf readers acquire will not reach the final stage of lexical development. We argue that this feature is consistent with many findings reported in the literature. Finally, we discuss the pedagogical implications of the model.     

提高聋高中英语词汇教学有效性的探究

本文试从聋生识记英语单词的特点出发,探索提高聋高中英语词汇教学质量的有效方法.主要有:(1)发挥视觉特色,增加识记渠道(借助观察想象,借助直观教具,借助多媒体课件);(2)培养学习兴趣,提高识记热情(开展游戏教学,进行情景教学);(3)学习构词规律,降低识记难度;(4)利用美国手语,加深识记痕迹.     

隐喻理论与英语词汇习得

隐喻作为人类思维和认知世界的方式,与词汇有着密不可分的联系。文章在论述隐喻理论的基础上,提出了基于隐喻理论的词汇习得与教学:重视基本范畴词汇习得及其隐喻意义;借助隐喻深入理解一词多义,把握多义词的语义理据;熟悉英语的隐喻思维,注意英汉词汇隐喻的文化差异。     

Lexical characteristics of Spanish and English words and the development of phonological awareness skills in Spanish-speaking language-minority children

The lexical restructuring model (LRM) is a theory that attempts to explain the developmental origins of phonological awareness (PA). According to the LRM, various characteristics of words should be related to the extent to which words are segmentally represented in the lexicon. Segmental representations of words allow children to access the parts of words needed to complete PA tasks. This study examined the relations between various lexical characteristics of Spanish and English words and the PA skills of Spanish-speaking language-minority children. Participants came from two independent samples of Spanish-speaking preschool children (Sample 1 N = 553, Sample 2 N = 600). For children in both samples, only phonotactic probability was related to children’s likelihood to respond correctly to Spanish PA items. Age of acquisition and word frequency were related to children’s likelihood to respond correctly to English PA items for children in both samples. Phonological neighborhood density and phonotactic probability were also related to children’s likelihood to respond correctly to English PA items; however, these effects were sample-specific. Children’s Spanish vocabulary knowledge moderated the effects of Spanish age of acquisition and word frequency on responses to Spanish PA items. Children’s English vocabulary knowledge moderated the effects of English phonological neighborhood density and phonotactic probability on responses to English PA items. These findings have implications for the development of PA assessments to be used with language-minority children.     

The transition from fingerspelling to English print: facilitating English decoding

Fingerspelling is an integral part of American Sign Language (ASL) and it is also an important aspect of becoming bilingual in English and ASL. Even though fingerspelling is based on English orthography, the development of fingerspelling does not parallel the development of reading in hearing children. Research reveals that deaf children may initially treat fingerspelled words as lexical items rather than a series of letters that represent English orthography and only later begin to learn to link handshapes to English graphemes. The purpose of this study is to determine whether a training method that uses fingerspelling and phonological patterns that resemble those found in lexicalized fingerspelling to teach deaf students unknown English vocabulary would increase their ability to learn the fingerspelled and orthographic version of a word. There were 21 deaf students (aged 4-14 years) who participated. Results show that students were better able to recognize and write the printed English word as well as fingerspell the word, when training incorporated fingerspelling that is more lexicalized. The discussion focuses on the degree to which fingerspelling can serve as a visual phonological bridge as an aid to decode English print.     

浅析英语词汇的时代色彩

在语言三要素中,词汇是最敏感、最具活性的部分。社会文化的变迁,直接、快速地在词汇中得到反映。尤其是在世界局势急剧演化的转型时代,新词汇的涌现、旧词汇的消失或内涵变换尤为频繁。通过现代英语词汇的变化,可以透视人们现时的生活追求和审美情趣,可以折射出一个民族的社会心理和价值取向。英语学习者须与时俱进,才不致为社会所淘汰。     

Preschoolers' Spontaneous Emotion Vocabulary: Relations to Likability

Although there has been growing interest in the development of emotion, a surprisingly small amount of research deals with the vocabulary children use to refer to emotions. In the present study, we examined differences in children's spontaneous use of emotion vocabulary during their naturally-occurring peer interactions and explored these differences in relation to their likability as assessed by their peers. Preschoolers were observed in their interactions with other children and their utterances containing emotion words were recorded. The content, form, and pragmatic function of these emotion words then were analyzed. It was found that with increasing age, emotion vocabulary became more differentiated and complex. Moreover, children who used a larger number of different emotion words, made more references to others' emotional states, and used emotion vocabulary for social functions, were more liked by their peers. Discussion focused on understanding young children's use of emotion vocabulary, the contributions it makes to the quality of their social interactions, and the implications of these for early educators.     

词汇习得研究与大学英语词汇教学

近年来,人们已经越来越认识到词汇对于英语学习的重要性。但是,由于对词汇知识内涵的认识还不足,大学英语学习者没有充分重视高频词（使用频率较高的词）的学习。在新时期,社会的发展需要大学生具有一定的英语口语表达能力。高频词则是英语口语的主体,它们对于学习者语言能力的提高极为重要。因此,大学词汇教学的主要任务之一就是要让学生了解词汇知识的内涵,以及高频词对英语学习的重要性,并将词汇学习的重点引到高频词上来。     

试谈英语词汇聚合记忆的类型

文章在三区成词的基础上,结合VB语言,对记忆英语单词提出了一种新颖方法,称其为聚合记忆.这种记忆是在理解的基础上进行记忆,是一种典型的理解记忆,也是一种科学地扩大词汇量的方法,有助于开发学生潜力,增强学生记忆.     

影响教学中扩大词汇量的有效途径

词汇在外语学习中是非常重要的,但是死记硬背记单词则是件既吃力又见效慢的苦差使。实际上,学生们所掌握的词汇都是以一种网状的联系存储在其“大脑词典”当中,如果在教学中能充分利用这一联系,在增加新词的同时不断地复习已存储在大脑当中的旧词,背单词就会达到事半功倍的效果。     

Psychometric Properties of Vocabulary Test Items as a Function of Word Characteristics

In a study of Gustafsson, Wedman and Westerlund (in press), the vocabulary test (WORD) in the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test was found to load both on a general factor (G) and a factor reflecting verbal knowledge (Gc'). Word characteristics were gathered in order to investigate if they can account for the variation in items’ loadings on the G and Gc’ factors. The results indicate that items loading highly on the G‐factor tend to involve words which are of Latin origin, relatively frequent, morphologically varied and abstract. Items loading highly on the Gc'‐factor tend to involve words which are of Swedish origin, relatively frequent and particularly so in fiction, and concrete but not nouns. Knowledge about these relations may be used to construct vocabulary tests which to a smaller or larger extent reflect either G or Gc’. The results, although tentative, may also be useful to shed light on the nature of the dimensions of ability.     

如何增加英语词汇量

英语词汇学是一门科学 ,它是说明英语单词和短语的规律的。学习英语中的一个突出问题词汇量的局限性 ,要提高英语水平就必须提高和培养学生对学习英语词汇的兴趣 ,认识学习词汇规律和熟悉词汇现象的好处 ,掌握学习词汇的规律 ,在集中学习或突击强化记忆单词和短语的同时 ,通过阅读、口头练习或听力材料等办法来巩固、加深印象 ,以便进一步学习和扩大词汇量。     

The Association between Language and Symbolic Play at Two Years: Evidence from Deaf Toddlers

The association between expressive language and symbolic play was investigated in 3 groups of 2-year-olds: deaf children with hearing parents (dH), deaf children with deaf parents (dD), and hearing children with hearing parents (hH). (Each group included 6 girls and 4 boys.) 3 language-level groups were defined. The highest group was well into the vocabulary "explosion" and frequently produced multiword/sign utterances; a middle group was beginning the period of vocabulary expansion and occasionally produced utterances of more than 1 word/sign; a third group produced single word/sign utterances only, and had a limited vocabulary. Hearing status was associated with duration of symbolic play (deaf > hearing). Higher language levels were associated with more canonically sequenced and preplanned play, even when language delays were due to exogenous factors.