Learning word meanings from context: How broadly generalizable?

Nagy, William E.; Herman, Patricia A.; Anderson, Richard C.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/31295 Copy

Description

Title

Learning word meanings from context: How broadly generalizable?

Author(s)

• Nagy, William E.
• Herman, Patricia A.
• Anderson, Richard C.

Issue Date

1985-12

Keyword(s)

• incidental learning
• context
• word meaning

Abstract

This study investigated incidental learning of word meanings from context during normal reading. A total of 352 students in third, fifth, and seventh grades read either expository or narrative passages selected from grade-level textbooks, and after six days were tested on their knowledge of difficult words from the passages. Small but reliable gains in knowledge of words from the passages read were found at all grade and ability levels. Learning from written context is estimated to account for a third or more of the words acquired annually by school-age children. The results were taken to suggest that getting children to read more should be an effective means for promoting vocabulary growth regardless of grade or ability.

Publisher

• Champaign, Ill. : University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Center for the Study of Reading.
• Cambridge, Mass. : Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc.

Series/Report Name or Number

Center for the Study of Reading Technical Report ; no. 347

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/31295

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 1985 Board of Trustees University of Illinois

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