Children's acquisition of science terms: Simple exposure is insufficient

The ability of school children ( N = 233) to acquire new scientific vocabulary was examined. Children from two age groups ( M = 4.8 and M = 6.5) were introduced to previously unknown words in an educational video. Word knowledge was assessed through accuracy and latency for production and comprehens...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLearning and instruction Vol. 17; no. 6; pp. 577 - 594
Main Authors Dockrell, Julie E., Braisby, Nick, Best, Rachel M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2007
Elsevier
Subjects
Age Differences
Domain knowledge
Elementary School Students
Fast mapping
Knowledge Level
Learning
Lexicology
Science
Sciences
Semantics
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Development
Word Recognition
Young Children
Learning
Science
Vocabulary
Domain knowledge
Fast mapping
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN0959-4752
1873-3263
DOI10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.09.005

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Summary:The ability of school children ( N = 233) to acquire new scientific vocabulary was examined. Children from two age groups ( M = 4.8 and M = 6.5) were introduced to previously unknown words in an educational video. Word knowledge was assessed through accuracy and latency for production and comprehension over a 9-month period. A draw and write task assessed acquisition of domain knowledge. Word learning was poorer than has previously been reported in the literature, and subject to influences of word type (domain specificity) and word class. The results indicate that the acquisition of scientific terms is a complex process moderated by lexical, semantic and pragmatic factors.
ISSN:0959-4752
1873-3263
DOI:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.09.005