Individual Differences in the Inference of Word Meanings From Context: The Influence of Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary Knowledge, and Memory Capacity.

Two studies investigated the ability to use contextual information in stories to infer the meanings of novel vocabulary by 9-10-year-olds with good and poor reading comprehension. Across studies, children with poor reading comprehension were impaired when the processing demands of the task were greatest. In Study 2, working memory capacity was related to performance, but short-term memory span and memory for the literal content of the text were not. Children with poor reading comprehension were not impaired in learning novel vocabulary taught through direct instruction, but children with both weak reading comprehension and vocabulary were. Implications for the relation between vocabulary development and text comprehension are discussed.

[1]  M. C. Wittrock,et al.  Reading as a Generative Process. , 1975 .

[2]  W. Kintsch,et al.  Memory and cognition , 1977 .

[3]  James F. Voss,et al.  Text Processing of Domain-Related Information for Individuals with High and Low Domain Knowledge: Methodological Considerations. , 1979 .

[4]  P. Carpenter,et al.  Individual differences in working memory and reading , 1980 .

[5]  J. R. Jenkins,et al.  Vocabulary Instruction: Effects on Word Knowledge and Reading Comprehension , 1982 .

[6]  J. Oakhill.  Constructive processes in skilled and less skilled comprehenders' memory for sentences. , 1982, British journal of psychology.

[7]  R. Case,et al.  Operational efficiency and the growth of short-term memory span , 1982 .

[8]  A. Jensen,et al.  Bias in Mental Testing , 1980 .

[9]  Karen Mezynski.  Issues Concerning the Acquisition of Knowledge: Effects of Vocabulary Training on Reading Comprehension , 1983 .

[10]  Richard C. Anderson,et al.  Effects on Text Comprehension of Differing Proportions and Locations of Difficult Vocabulary , 1983 .

[11]  R. Sternberg,et al.  Comprehending verbal comprehension. , 1983 .

[12]  J. Oakhill.  INFERENTIAL AND MEMORY SKILLS IN CHILDREN'S COMPREHENSION OF STORIES , 1984 .

[13]  D. Carnine.  Utilization of Contextual Information in Determining the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words. , 1984 .

[14]  G. E. MacKinnon,et al.  Reading Research Advances in Theory and Practice , 1985 .

[15]  Margaret G. McKeown,et al.  The Acquisition of Word Meaning from Context by Children of High and Low Ability. Outstanding Dissertation Monograph 1985. , 1985 .

[16]  Steven A. Stahl,et al.  The Effects of Vocabulary Instruction: A Model-Based Meta-Analysis , 1986 .

[17]  Richard C. Anderson,et al.  Growth in Reading and How Children Spend Their Time Outside of School , 1986 .

[18]  M. Daneman,et al.  Individual differences in comprehending and producing words in context , 1986 .

[19]  Jane Oakhill,et al.  On the nature of the difference between skilled and less‐skilled comprehenders , 1986 .

[20]  J. R. Jenkins,et al.  Two Approaches to Vocabulary Instruction: The Teaching of Individual Word Meanings and Practice in Deriving Word Meaning from Context , 1989 .

[21]  W. Elley.  Vocabulary acquisition from listening to stories. , 1989 .

[22]  L. Siegel,et al.  The development of working memory in normally achieving and subtypes of learning disabled children. , 1989, Child development.

[23]  J. Oakhill,et al.  Working memory, comprehension ability and the resolution of text anomaly. , 1989, British journal of psychology.

[24]  P. David Pearson.  Handbook of reading research. , 1990 .

[25]  J. Shefelbine,et al.  Student Factors Related to Variability in Learning Word Meanings from Context , 1990 .

[26]  Jane Oakhill,et al.  Children's Problems in Text Comprehension: An Experimental Investigation. Cambridge Monographs & Texts in Applied Psycholinguistics. , 1991 .

[27]  Margaret G. McKeown,et al.  Conditions of Vocabulary Acquisition , 1991 .

[28]  T. Nicholson,et al.  Matthew effects in learning new words while listening to stories. , 1992 .

[29]  Charles Hulme,et al.  Reading comprehension difficulties in children , 1992 .

[30]  J. Carroll.  Human Cognitive Abilities-a sur-vey of factor-analytic studies , 1993 .

[31]  C. Perfetti.  Psycholinguistics and reading ability. , 1994 .

[32]  Monique Sénéchal,et al.  Age-related differences in the organization of parent-infant interactions during picture-book reading , 1995 .

[33]  Monique Sénéchal,et al.  Individual Differences in 4-Year-Old Children's Acquisition of Vocabulary during Storybook Reading. , 1995 .

[34]  Margaret J. Snowling,et al.  Graded Nonword Reading Test , 1996 .

[35]  Keith E. Stanovich,et al.  Using children's literacy activities to predict growth in verbal cognitive skills : A longitudinal investigation , 1996 .

[36]  Marie-France Ehrlich,et al.  Skilled and less skilled comprehenders : French children's processing of anaphoric devices in written texts , 1997 .

[37]  G. Hitch,et al.  Phonological short-term memory and new word learning in children. , 1997, Developmental psychology.

[38]  S. Gathercole.  The development of memory. , 1998, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[39]  Margaret J. Snowling,et al.  Semantic processing and the development of word-recognition skills: Evidence from children with reading comprehension difficulties. , 1998 .

[40]  K. Stanovich,et al.  What Reading Does for the Mind. , 1998 .

[41]  R. Fukkink,et al.  Effects of Instruction in Deriving Word Meaning from Context: A Meta-Analysis , 1998 .

[42]  K. Nation,et al.  Working memory deficits in poor comprehenders reflect underlying language impairments. , 1999, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[43]  Msl Swanborn,et al.  Incidental Word Learning While Reading: A Meta-Analysis , 1999 .

[44]  Cynthia A. Ewers,et al.  KINDERGARTENERS' VOCABULARY ACQUISITION AS A FUNCTION OF ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE STORYBOOK READING, PRIOR VOCABULARY, AND WORKING MEMORY , 1999 .

[45]  K. Nation,et al.  Developmental differences in sensitivity to semantic relations among good and poor comprehenders: evidence from semantic priming , 1999, Cognition.

[46]  Jane Oakhill,et al.  Inference making ability and its relation to comprehension failure in young children , 1999 .

[47]  A. Biemiller,et al.  Estimating root word vocabulary growth in normative and advantaged populations: Evidence for a common sequence of vocabulary acquisition. , 2001 .

[48]  M. Barnes,et al.  Comprehension skill, inference-making ability, and their relation to knowledge , 2001, Memory & cognition.

[49]  M. Nippold,et al.  Lexical learning in school-age children, adolescents, and adults: a process where language and literacy converge , 2002, Journal of Child Language.

[50]  Msl Swanborn,et al.  Impact of reading purpose on incidental word learning from context , 2002 .

[51]  Carsten Elbro,et al.  The ability to learn new word meanings from context by school-age children with and without language comprehension difficulties , 2003, Journal of Child Language.

[52]  J. Oakhill,et al.  Children's Reading Comprehension Ability: Concurrent Prediction by Working Memory, Verbal Ability, and Component Skills. , 2004 .

[53]  J. Oakhill,et al.  Levels of Comprehension Monitoring and Working Memory in Good and Poor Comprehenders , 2005 .