Abstract
Lexical acquisition ability for aurally taught words was studied in fourth- grade 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.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Baddeley, A., Papagno, C. and Vallar, G. (1988). When long-term learning depends on short-term storage. Journal of Memory and Language, 27, 586–595.
Baddeley, A., Logie, R., Nimmo-Smith, I. and Brereton, A. (1985). Components of fluent reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 119–131.
Beck, I., Perfetti, C. and McKeown, M. (1982). The effects of long-term vocabulary instruction on lexical access and reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74, 506–521.
Brady, S. (1991). The role of working memory in reading disability. In S. Brady and D. Shankweiler (Eds.), Phonological Processes in Literacy: A Tribute to Isabelle Y. Liberman. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Catts, H. (1986). Speech production/phonological deficits in reading-disordered children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 19, 504–508.
Cunningham, A. and Stanovich, K. (in press). Tracking the unique effects of print exposure in children: Associations with vocabulary, general knowledge, and spelling. Journal of Educational Psychology.
Daneman, M. and Green, I. (1986). Individual differences in comprehending and pro-ducing words in context. Journal of Memory and Cognition, 25, 1–18.
Dunn, L. M. and Dunn, L. M. (1981). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Services.
Gathercole, S. E. and Baddeley, A. D. (1989). Evaluation of the role of phonological STM in the development of vocabulary in children: a longitudinal study. Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 200–213.
Gathercole, S. E., Willis, C, and Baddeley, A. (submitted). Differentiating phonological memory and awareness of rhyme: Reading and vocabulary development in children.
Hayes, D. P. (1988). Speaking and writing: Distinct patterns of word choice. Journal of Memory and Language, 27, 572–585.
Jenkins, J., Stein, M. and Wysocki, K. (1984). Learning vocabulary through reading. American Educational Research Journal, 21, 767–787.
Katz, R. (1986). Phonological deficiencies in children with reading disability: Evidence from an object-naming task. Cognition, 22, 225–257.
Kail, R. and Leonard L. (1986). Word-finding abilities in language impaired children. ASHA Monographs, 25, Rockland, MD: American Speech-Hearing-Language Association.
Liberman, I. Y. and Shankweiler, D. P. (1989). Phonology and the beginning reader: A tutorial. In L. Riebenet C. A. Perfetti (Eds.), L’Apprenti lecteur-Apports experimentaux et implications. Pedagogiques, Neuchatel: Delachaux et Niestle.
Nagy, W. E. and Anderson, R. C. (1984). How many words are there in printed school English? Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 304–330.
Nagy, W. E., Anderson, R. C. and Herman, P. (1987). Learning word meaning from context during normal reading. American Educational Research Journal, 24, 237–270.
Nelson, H. E. and Warrington, E. K. (1980). An investigation of memory functions in dyslexic children. British Journal of Psychology, 71, 487–503.
Pratt, A. and Brady, S. (1988). Relation of phonological awareness and reading ability in children and adults. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 319–323.
Sattler, J. (1982). Assessment of Children’s Intelligence and Special Abilities. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Stanovich, K. E. (in press). Discrepancy definitions of reading disability: Has intelligence led us astray? Reading Research Quarterly.
Stanovich, K. (1985). Explaining the vairance in reading ability in terms of psychological processes: What have we learned? Annals of Dyslexia, 35, 67–96.
Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21, 360–407.
Stanovich, K. E. and West, A. (1989). Exposure to print and orthographic processing. Reading Research Quarterly, 24, 402–433.
Turner, M. and Engle, R. (1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent? Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 127–154.
Vellutino, F. R. and Scanlon, D. M. (1987). Linguistic coding and reading ability. In S. Rosenberg (Ed.), Advances ın Psycholinguistics, (pp. 1–69). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Vellutino, F. R., Scanlon, D. M. and Tanzman, M. (1990). Differential sensitivity to the meaning and structural attributes of printed words in poor and normal readers. Learning and Individual Differences, 2, 19–43.
Wagner, R. and Torgesen, J. (1987). The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 192–212.
Wechsler, D. (1974). Wechsler Intelligence Scale of Children-Revised. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Woodcock, R. W. (1973). Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Aguiar, L., Brady, S. (1991). Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Ability. In: Pennington, B.F. (eds) Reading Disabilities. Neuropsychology and Cognition, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2450-8_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2450-8_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5081-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-2450-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive