In order to evaluate the appropriateness of a standardized vocabulary measure for linguistically diverse kindergarten children this study examined response patterns of young Canadian children using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test –Third Edition (PPVT-III, Dunn & Dunn, 1997). Questions have been asked about whether the PPVT-III is an appropriate measure to use with young English Language Learners (ELL) because items may be culturally or linguistically biased. Further, it is of both psychometric and educational relevance to understand measurement of English vocabulary acquisition among young English First Language (EL1) and English Language Learner (ELL) children. PPVT-III scores were compared in two language groups – 52 EL1 and 73 ELL 4- and 5-year-old children. There were significant differences between the two groups in overall standard scores, with EL1 students performing significantly better than ELL students. In contrast, demographic factors of grade, gender and maternal education were not related to PPVT-III standard scores. A Mantel-Haenszel Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis provided a detailed picture of how individual test items functioned psychometrically in the two language groups. This analysis showed limited indications of DIF in the first 168 items of the PPVT-III, suggesting minimal test bias on the PPVT-III. Further analyses examined teachability of items, that is, how easily words can be taught, and the semantic categories of items, that is, parts of speech such as verbs, nouns and adjectives. These further analyses showed that the mean proportion of correct scores for all types of words was significantly different for EL1 and ELL children. Based on these detailed analyses it was concluded that differences in PPVT-III standard scores for EL1 and ELL 4- and 5-year-old children were not due to test bias, nor were they due to specific item properties. The mean differences observed between EL1 and ELL children were thus taken to reflect item impact, a difference in overall receptive vocabulary. In addition to establishing the utility of the PPVT-III for linguistically diverse kindergarten children this study also provides a descriptive picture of how EL1 and ELL children show variation across different types of word learning.

The present work contributes to the ongoing discussion of the factors involved in perfecting foreign language learning through a close examination of vocabulary use. Motivated by Laufer’s (1991) argument that the use of less frequent vocabulary items is a sign that a language learner is approximating the lexical competence of a native speaker, I set out to model Laufer and Nation’s (1995) study that assessed lexical frequency. The first goal of this work was to assess the usefulness of the lexical frequency profile (Laufer and Nation, 1995) in evaluating written texts produced by learners of German. This lexical frequency profile had mostly been used to examine vocabulary use of learners of English. Instead of using frequency bands of German, this work relied on three generated word frequency lists. The second goal of this work was to examine how the language repertoire of aspiring bilinguals varies at the lexical level by comparing vocabulary use at three competency levels (Introductory German I, II and Intermediate German). The analysis revealed that the lexical frequency profile is a valuable tool for evaluating lexical use by language learners, although the tool was difficult to adapt for research of texts in German. Furthermore, learners in all three courses relied heavily on vocabulary from learning materials used in their courses, and they were more likely to use less frequent words as they progressed from the introductory to the intermediate language course.

Students in high school have a need to be able to remember a lot of information during their years of schooling. The purpose of this study was to investigate if mnemonic techniques could help the participating students to become more efficient in recalling new English vocabulary. If the results were to indicate an increase in efficiency with either of the two techniques selected, it would make a case for using this technique in foreign- and second language learning contexts. The students who participated were taught the reminiscent technique and the loci method because these techniques focus on connecting vocabulary to existing memories, thus enabling encodement to long-term memory. Research within second language studies recommends using mnemonic techniques as a help to retrieve words. The students’ recall of vocabulary was tested after an introduction to each technique. They were given three initial tests containing 15 new English words each, a total of 45 words. The first such set tested the efficiency of the students’ own techniques, while the second and third set tested the reminiscent technique and loci method, respectively. After a period of three weeks there was a final test on all the 45 new words at once, testing the possible encodement to long-term memory. The most interesting results were found regarding the percentages of lowest difference in "decrease of retrieval rate" of each vocabulary item between the first initial tests and the final test. The smaller the decrease could indicate a stronger encodement to long-term memory. The top two recalled words were linked to the reminiscent technique and the one in third place to the loci method. Thus, there was some indication that these helped to achieve a stronger encodement to long-term memory. However, when comparing the total number of recalled words, the students’ own technique came out as the winner.

This study investigated the development of knowledge of vocabulary including multiple meanings of words during the school years. Twenty children from each of Grades 2, 5, 8, and 11 were tested for their knowledge of all the meanings of a large random sample of words from an unabridged dictionary (Webster's Third, 1981). Approximately 47% of the words had more than one meaning. Total average estimated vocabulary increased from 17,970 words in Grade 2 to 83,871 words in Grade 11. The estimated number of known derived words increased at the greatest rate throughout the school years. There was evidence that participants may have used morphological problem solving to figure out at least one meaning for 45% of their total vocabulary. Not only did the number of words known increase dramatically through the school years but the total average estimated number of different word meanings known increased also from 28,797 word meanings in Grade 2 to 185,990 word meanings in Grade 11. Three types of meanings were identified according to their relation to their principal meaning (known by the most children): homonyms (share no semantic relationship); conversions (different grammatical part of speech); and metaphorical extensions (share some other semantic relationship). When children demonstrated knowledge of more than one meaning, they were asked to attempt to explain the relation between those two meanings. Even the youngest children in Grade 2 knew a large number of multiple meanings but the ability to express knowledge of a relation between those meanings was uncommon until the later school years. This developing ability can be explained in part by the children’s increasing metalinguistic awareness and general linguistic expressiveness but also by an increasing ability to understand and express metaphorical similarities between lexical concepts, which are common to the metaphorically extended meanings.

The present work contributes to the ongoing discussion of the factors involved in perfecting foreign language learning through a close examination of vocabulary use. Motivated by Laufer’s (1991) argument that the use of less frequent vocabulary items is a sign that a language learner is approximating the lexical competence of a native speaker, I set out to model Laufer and Nation’s (1995) study that assessed lexical frequency. The first goal of this work was to assess the usefulness of the lexical frequency profile (Laufer and Nation, 1995) in evaluating written texts produced by learners of German. This lexical frequency profile had mostly been used to examine vocabulary use of learners of English. Instead of using frequency bands of German, this work relied on three generated word frequency lists. The second goal of this work was to examine how the language repertoire of aspiring bilinguals varies at the lexical level by comparing vocabulary use at three competency levels (Introductory German I, II and Intermediate German). The analysis revealed that the lexical frequency profile is a valuable tool for evaluating lexical use by language learners, although the tool was difficult to adapt for research of texts in German. Furthermore, learners in all three courses relied heavily on vocabulary from learning materials used in their courses, and they were more likely to use less frequent words as they progressed from the introductory to the intermediate language course.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-79).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [101-115]).

No description available.

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Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have deficits in communication and delays in language development, but there have been few studies of their vocabulary. This study compared longitudinal parent report data from the MCDI collected for 49 children with ASD over three years with data from the MCDI norms. It focused on three aspects of lexical development: (1) change in lexical composition as evident in percentage of predicates/nominals; (2) order of emergence for predicate types and (3) predictive value of lexical variables for later grammatical development. ASD Groups were matched to typically developing group norms on total MCDI scores for each comparison. Subsequent analysis indicated: (1) no differences in the percentages of predicates/nominals for the two groups at 3 time points; and, (2) virtually identical orders of emergence for different predicate types with the exception of three meaning type categories—quantitative predicates, cognitive/affective predicates and predicates involving causal acts to change experiential states. Cognitive/affective predicates were found to come in somewhat later in ASD groups while quantitative predicates and predicates involving changes in experiential states came in earlier in ASD groups. This study also found (3) that lexical variables, especially number of predicates, strongly predicted grammatical complexity one year later, a process common in typical language development. The study concludes that lexical development in ASD follows the normal course, albeit later and more slowly. It also suggests that communication deficits in this population are rooted in challenges with social acts rather than from an inability to match meanings to words.