Best, Rachel and Dockrell, Julie and Braisby, Nick (2006) Real-world word learning: exploring children's developing semantic representations of a science term. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24 (2). pp. 265-282. ISSN 0261-510X
|
PDF (Real-world word learning: exploring children's developing semantic representations of a science term)
Best2006Real265.pdf Download (144Kb) | Preview |
Abstract
Assessments of lexical acquisition are often limited to pre-school children on forced choice comprehension measures. This study assessed the understandings 30 school-age children (mean age = 6;7) acquired about the science term, eclipse following a naturalistic exposure to a solar eclipse. The knowledge children acquired about eclipses and a control term, comet was assessed at three points in time (baseline-test, two-week post-test and five-month post-test) using a range of assessment tasks (multiple-choice comprehension, picture-naming, drawing and a model of a solar system task). Children's knowledge was compared to 15 adult controls during the baseline-test and two-week post-test. Children acquired extensive knowledge about eclipses, but not comets; at the two-week post-test and five-month post-test, the majority of children named and drew eclipses and „made‟ an eclipse using models of the sun, moon and earth. Also, children's eclipse knowledge more closely approximated adult-level understandings at the two-week post-test than at the baseline-test. Implications for the study of lexical acquisition in later development are discussed.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Departments > Psychology and Human Development |
| Depositing User: | IOE Repository Editor (1) |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Jan 2010 13:53 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Jun 2012 22:24 |
| URI: | http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/736 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
