Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Though Biblical Hebrew (=BH) is no longer a spoken language, students continue to learn it for the purpose of reading, or at least interacting at a deeper level, with the text of the Hebrew Bible. This suggests that BH shares with any modern language learning course the goal of learning to read. One important part of learning to read is the acquisition of an adequate number of vocabulary items. The purpose of this study is to determine which insights from Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (=SLVA) research and related fields hold the most promise for a new — and possibly more effective — approach to learning BH vocabulary, to evaluate currently existing BH instructional materials in light of these insights, to develop a new approach based on these insights, and to test aspects of the new approach empirically. Researchers in SLVA have uncovered a number of helpful insights concerning how vocabulary and vocabulary learning should be defined as well as concerning how vocabulary is best learned. On the other hand, BH instructional materials reflect little to no influence from these insights. These materials have continued to define vocabulary narrowly as individual words and continued to conceive of vocabulary learning primarily as pairing form and meaning in contrast to the much more sophisticated definitions found in the SLVA literature. For example, SLVA researchers consider items beyond the word level, such as idioms, to be vocabulary (Moon 1997; Lewis 1993, 1997). BH instructional materials have also failed to include a significant number of beneficial Vocabulary Learning Strategies (=VLSs), while including some VLSs that are either intrinsically problematic or problematic in the ways they are employed. For example, the strategy of learning semantically related items together is common in BH instructional materials, though it has been shown to be problematic in a considerable number of experimental studies (e.g. Nation 2000; Finkbeiner & Nicol 2003; Papathanasiou 2009). Since SLVA research has yet to influence BH instructional materials, a new approach to BH vocabulary learning is warranted. This new approach is based on sound theory concerning what vocabulary is and what it means to learn it, while offering learners as many helpful strategies for learning lexical items as possible. To justify this new approach, a set of experimental studies was run including one longitudinal case study and three larger-scale experiments. This testing was partial in nature since it was only possible to test one variable at a time. The testing revealed a number of important areas for future research into BH vocabulary learning. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Alhoewel Bybelse Hebreeus (=BH) nie meer gepraat word nie, hou studente aan om dit aan te leer vir die doel om te lees, of ten minste om op ‘n dieper vlak met die oorspronklike teks van die Hebreeuse Bybel om te gaan. Dit impliseer dat die aanleer van BH net soos met die aanleer van moderne tale, ten doel het om die taal te kan lees. Een belangrike aspek van om te leer lees, is om die woordeskat aan te leer wat vir hierdie doel nodig is. Die doel van hierdie studie is om vas te stel watter insigte, verkry uit Tweede Taal Woordeskat-Aanleer (=TTWA) navorsing en ander verwante studievelde, die meeste belofte inhou vir ‘n nuwe – en moontlik meer effektiewe – benadering tot die leer van BH woordeskat; om huidige BH leermateriaal te evalueer, in lig van hierdie insigte; om ‘n nuwe benadering te ontwikkel gebaseer op hierdie insigte; en om aspekte van die nuwe benadering empiries toets. Navorsers in TTWA het al heelwat insig verkry in hoe woordeskat en die aanleer van woordeskat gedefineer behoort te word, sowel as aangaande die mees effektiewe maniere waarop woordeskat aangeleer kan word. Dit lyk egter of beskikbare BH leermanier niks of baie min by hierdie insigte baatgevind het. Hierdie materiaal handhaaf tipies ‘n baie nou definisie van wat woordeskat is, te wete, individuele woorde. Dit beskou dus die aanleer van woordeskat as die aanleer van hoofsaaklik woordpare met verskillende vorme en betekenisse, in plaas daarvan om die meer gesofistikeerde definisies te gebruik wat in TTWA literatuur gevind word. TTWA navorsers beskou, byvoorbeelde idiome, wat uit meer as een woord kan bestaan, ook as woordskat-eenhede (Moon 1997; Lewis 1993, 1997). BH leermateriaal gebruik selde van die groot getal beskikbare nuttige Woordeskat Leer- Strategieë (=WLS). Daar word eerder dikwels strategieë gebruik wat volgens TTWA navorsing nie baie effektief is nie.’n Goeie voorbeeld in hierdie verband is die strategie om semanties-verwante items saam te leer. Empiriese navorsing het aangetoon dat hierdie strategie sonder twyfel problematies kan wees (bv. Nation 2000; Finkbeiner & Nicol 2003; Papathanasiou 2009). Aangesien TTWA feitelik nog geen beduidende invloed op BH leermateriaal gehad het, is ‘n nuwe benadering tot die aanleer van BH woordeskat waarin TTWA insigte verreken word, geregverdig. Hierdie nuwe benadering is gebaseer op ‘n deeglik begrondige teoriese model aangaande wat woordeskat is, en wat dit beteken om dit te leer. Verder kan geput word uit die skat van nuttige strategieë wat al in TTWS geïdentifiseer is om sodoende aan BH leerder strategieë te bied wat hulleself al bewys het. Om die nuwe benadering empiries te begrond, is ‘n reeks eksperimentele studies geloods. Nie alle aspekte van die nuwe model kon sistematies getoets word nie. Die grondslag vir verdere navorsing is egter gelê.

Crianças com atraso de linguagem são geralmente identificadas a partir dos dois anos de idade, e são indicadas por seu vocabulário menor do que de seus pares de mesma idade, ainda que sem nenhuma patologia subjacente. Tarefas de responder por exclusão e dica contextual têm sido empregadas na literatura como meios para estudar as possíveis dificuldades presentes no repertório verbal de crianças com atraso de linguagem. Foram realizados dois estudos voltados para explorar o desempenho desta população nestas tarefas: o primeiro testou o responder por exclusão destas crianças, em tarefas de matching-to-sample para ensino de discriminações condicionais auditivo-visuais com nomes e figuras de objetos. O segundo também utilizou tarefas de matching-to-sample e avaliou o responder por exclusão em sondas com estímulos auditivos com topografia de substantivos e verbos no gerúndio, utilizando como estímulos comparação vídeos de ações e imagens de objetos estáticos. Participaram da pesquisa 64 crianças, sendo 32 com desenvolvimento típico e 32 com atraso de linguagem, com idades entre 3 e 4 anos. Esses estudos tiveram como objetivos gerais: a) investigar a ocorrência de responder por exclusão em relações nome-objeto em crianças com indícios de atraso de linguagem, em comparação com crianças de desenvolvimento típico, e b) verificar a interferência de dicas contextuais no responder por exclusão destas crianças, empregando estímulos com topografia de substantivos e de verbos. Os resultados encontrados em ambos os estudos indicam que crianças com desenvolvimento típico e com atraso de linguagem conseguem apresentar responder por exclusão de maneira consistente uma vez que um procedimento de linha de base garanta a aprendizagem da tarefa. Os resultados do segundo estudo, entretanto, indicam que ambos os grupos apresentaram uma queda brusca em seu resultado em tarefas de responder sob controle da dica lexical. Foram encontradas diferenças durante a aquisição da linha de base de verbos, na qual as crianças com desenvolvimento típico apresentaram um desempenho significativamente melhor do que seus pares com atraso de linguagem. Diferenças significativas entre idades também foram encontradas: entre crianças de 3 anos e 4 anos do mesmo grupo e, entre crianças de 3 anos de grupos de diferentes. O mesmo não foi encontrado em relação aos participantes de 4 anos de grupos diferentes. Estes achados permitem concluir que o atraso de linguagem não interferiu no responder por exclusão, mesmo com estímulos de classes lexicais distintas. Além disso, o treino de linha de base de substantivos e verbos, não foram suficientes para estabelecer efetivamente duas classes de estímulos e manter um responder tão robusto quanto na fase de sondas de exclusão para todas as crianças. / Children with language delay are usually identified by the age of two years old, and are appointed by their smaller vocabulary than peers of the same age, although without any underlying pathology. Tasks of responding by exclusion and contextual cue have been reported in the literature as resources to study the possible difficulties present in the verbal repertoire of children with language delay. Two studies were developed to explore the performance of this population in these tasks: the first tested the responding by exclusion of children in matching-to-sample tasks for the teaching of audio-visual conditional discriminations with names and pictures of objects. The second also used matching-tosample tasks and assessed the responding by exclusion at probes with auditory stimuli with topography of nouns and verbs in gerund, using as stimuli comparison videos of actions and images of static objects. The participants were 64 children, 32 with typical development and 32 with language delay, ages 3 and 4 years-old. These studies had as general objectives: a) to investigate the occurrence of responding by exclusion in objectname relations in children with language delay indications compared with children with typical development, and b) to verify the interference of contextual cues in responding by exclusion, using stimuli with topography of nouns and verbs. The results in both studies indicate that children with normal development and language delay can display responding by exclusion consistently since a baseline procedure ensures learning the task. The results of the second study, however, indicate that both groups exhibited a sudden decrease in their performances in tasks of responding under the control of lexical cue. Differences were found during the acquisition of baseline verbs, in which the typically developed children presented a significantly better performance than children with language delay. Significant differences were also found comparing ages: between children of 3 and 4 years old from the same group, and amid 3 year-old-children from different groups, but the same was not found in relation to the participants of 4 years from different groups. These findings indicate that language delay did not affect the responding by exclusion, even with different lexical classes stimuli. In addition, baseline training with nouns and verbs was not sufficient to establish two classes of effective stimuli and to maintain a responding performance as robust as the exclusion probes phase for all children.

Several studies have been made in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) regarding incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading. However, the majority have focused on the meaning of a word to measure complete acquisition. Nation (2001) argues that there are three main criteria for knowing a word, namely form, meaning and use, and it is not until all three criteria are met that one acquires new vocabulary. Therefore, we chose to create a study which focuses on incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading, but that focuses on three sub-criteria of Nation’s three main ones, namely recognition, association and collocation. In a previous study (Erlandsson and G. Wallgren 2017) we concluded that higher vocabulary knowledge contributes to better reading comprehension. Additionally, researchers (Horst et al. 1998; Day et al. 1991; Zahar et al. 2001; Waring and Takaki 2003; Pigada and Smith 2006, and Zhao et al. 2016) have also brought up several factors, such as learners’ prior proficiency level and word frequency, that can affect the outcome of incidental vocabulary acquisition. Therefore, we decided to investigate what impact these two factors have as well.  Our research questions are: How much vocabulary is learnt incidentally through reading, and how do proficiency and word frequency affect incidental vocabulary acquisition? These questions were answered through a study made in a classroom environment with students in the 8th grade. We were inspired by a study made by Waring and Takaki (2003) who focused on two main criteria for knowing a word, form and meaning. Our study was done through reading nine chapters from the novel Holes by Louis Sachar (2001) and to determine the degree to which rate word frequency played a part in incidental vocabulary acquisition, 24 words were chosen within four different ranges of word frequency (ranging between two occurrences to 39 occurrences in the text). These 24 words were then replaced with substitute words to ensure that each test word was new to the participants. First, the participants completed a reading comprehension test to establish the participants’ reading proficiency levels in English. They were later asked to read the chapters containing the substitute words. Directly after the reading exercise, the participants completed a vocabulary acquisition test. The vocabulary acquisition test consisted of three parts that focused on recognition (word recognition), association (multiple choice) and collocation (putting the target words in a context). Results show that words are acquired incidentally through reading. Our findings show a positive correlation between high reading proficiency levels and a higher amount of words acquired. The findings also indicate a positive correlation between words within a higher frequency range with a higher chance of being acquired. Furthermore, we also observed that substitute words with low frequency in some situations had a higher uptake than those words with a higher frequency. After this observation we tried to explain the anomaly by looking into the textual context of the surrounding words and found a potential explanation in the fact that the low frequency words had very descriptive surroundings.

<p>Video games are very popular among children in the Western world. This study was done in order to investigate if video games had an effect on 49 Swedish students‟ comprehension of English words (grades 7-8). The investigation was based on questionnaire and word test data. The questionnaire aimed to measure with which frequency students were playing video games, and the word test aimed to measure their word comprehension in general. In addition, data from the word test were used to investigate how students explained the words. Depending on their explanations, students were categorized as either using a “video game approach” or a “dictionary approach” in their explanations.</p><p>The results showed a gender difference, both with regard to the frequency of playing and what types of games that were played. Playing video games seemed to increase the students‟ comprehension of English words, though there was no clear connection between the frequency with which students were playing video games and the choice of a dictionary or video game approach as an explanation.</p>

The purpose of this study, which is grounded in applied linguistics, was to investigate two ways of presenting vocabulary in a German language class in order to determine whether Frame Semantics is a feasible tool with regards to students’ vocabulary acquisition and culturally appropriate usage of vocabulary. In addition, this study examined learners’ attitudes toward the new method of vocabulary teaching and learning. A total of 34 university students enrolled in four second-semester German classes participated in this study. In the Control Group rote memorization techniques were used, while the in the Treatment Group frame semantics was utilized for the teaching and learning of vocabulary. The data was analyzed through quantitative methods. The quantitative data was derived from an online demographic survey, a vocabulary pre-test, two vocabulary post-tests (an immediate post-test and delayed post-test), a cultural appropriateness pre-test, two cultural appropriateness post-tests (an immediate post-test and delayed post-test), as well as an pre-test and post-test attitude scale provided as an online questionnaire. Analysis of the data indicates that there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups with regards to their cultural appropriate usage of the vocabulary items, and no statistically significant differences were observed with regards to vocabulary recall and retention. In addition, only the factor of enjoyment yielded significant differences with regards to learners’ attitude, while the factors of motivation, interest and confidence did not show statistically significant differences between the groups. Thus, the results indicate that both methods – Frame Semantics and the more traditional methods – are suitable for vocabulary learning and teaching as both methods resulted in an increase of learners’ vocabulary knowledge, including long-term retention. / text

本研究旨在探討網絡圖教學對高中生英文字彙習得的影響。網絡圖已廣泛運用於閱讀教學，且the Frayer model之前的研究都專注在學科領域的單字與閱讀教學。然而在以英語為第二外語的環境中，針對使用the Frayer model於網絡圖教學是否能增進學習者字彙習得(vocabulary acquisition)與記憶保留(word retention)，其相關研究仍顯不足。因此，本研究採用量化研究方法，以探究「網絡圖暨傳統單字教法」與「純傳統單字教法」對高中生英文字彙習得與記憶保留的影響。 研究對象為台灣北部一所公立高中一年級兩個班的六十九位學生，具有相同英文能力的這兩個班級被隨機指定為實驗組與控制組。在歷時六週的實驗教學中，實驗組與控制組分別接受「網絡圖暨傳統單字教法」與「純傳統單字教法」來學習三十二個主要單字。之後，兩組受試者隨即接受包含所有主要單字的研究者自編測驗，以得知兩組受試者的單字習得情形。一個月後，兩組受試者再次接受相同的單字測驗，以進一步得知單字的記憶保留情形。本研究主要發現如下：(1)整體而言，接受「網絡圖暨傳統單字教法」的實驗組學生習得大多數的主要單字，但單字保留成效不佳；(2)總括來說，接受「純傳統單字教法」的控制組學生習得並保留大多數的主要單字；(3)在單字習得與記憶保留成效方面，接受「網絡圖暨傳統單字教法」的實驗組學生顯著優於接受「純傳統單字教法」的控制組學生；(4)「網絡圖暨傳統單字教法」與「純傳統單字教法」對於高英語學習成就者的單字習得與記憶保留皆有正面影響，但只對低英語學習成就者的單字習得有正面影響；(5)對於高英語學習成就者之單字習得而言，「網絡圖暨傳統單字教法」的成效優於「純傳統單字教法」：然而，對於單字記憶保留而言，「網絡圖暨傳統單字教法」與「純傳統單字教法」的成效相同。對於低英語學習成就者之單字習得與記憶保留而言，「網絡圖暨傳統單字教法」與「純傳統單字教法」的成效相同。最後，研究者針對「網絡圖暨傳統單字教法」與「純傳統單字教法」在實際教學上的應用提供建議，以作為教育學者們的參考。 / This study intends to explore the effects of graphic organizer instruction on vocabulary acquisition of senior high school students. Though graphic organizers have been widely employed in reading instruction and previous studies on the Frayer model focus on vocabulary and reading in content areas, little research has been conducted on whether graphic organizer instruction utilizing the adapted Frayer model will facilitate learners’ vocabulary acquisition and word retention in an EFL context. Therefore, this present study adopted a quantitative research method to investigate the effectiveness of two different vocabulary instructions, i.e., “graphic organizer plus traditional vocabulary instruction” and “traditional vocabulary instruction only” on senior high school students’ vocabulary acquisition and word retention. Participants of this study were two classes of 69 first year students in a public senior high school in northern Taiwan. With similar English proficiency on General English Proficiency Test (GEPT), the two classes were randomly assigned as the experimental and control groups. During the six-week instructional experiment, the experimental and control groups received “graphic organizer plus traditional vocabulary instruction” and “traditional vocabulary instruction only” respectively to learn 32 target words selected in this study. After receiving the last vocabulary instructions, both groups took the immediate post-test, a researcher self-designed test, to assess their acquisition of all the target words. One month after the immediate post-test, both groups received the delayed post-test, which was the same as the immediate post-test, to track their word retention. The major findings are summarized as follows. (1) As a whole, learners receiving “graphic organizer plus traditional vocabulary instruction” acquired most of the target words but did not retain them one month after. (2) Overall, learners receiving “traditional vocabulary instruction only” not only acquired the target words but also retained them in a month. (3) In terms of vocabulary acquisition and word retention, learners receiving “graphic organizer plus traditional vocabulary instruction” significantly performed better than those receiving “traditional vocabulary instruction only”. (4) Both “graphic organizer plus traditional vocabulary instruction” and “traditional vocabulary instruction only” promoted high proficiency learners’ vocabulary acquisition and word retention, but were only effective in low proficiency learners’ vocabulary acquisition. (5) High proficiency learners receiving “graphic organizer plus traditional vocabulary instruction” significantly acquired much more target words than those receiving “traditional vocabulary instruction only”, but similarly retained target words as those receiving “traditional vocabulary instruction only”. Low proficiency learners receiving “graphic organizer plus traditional vocabulary instruction” and “traditional vocabulary instruction only” acquired target words as well as retained the words to a similar extent. Pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research were provided at the end of the thesis.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:30:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5022.pdf: 1889377 bytes, checksum: f804286a43c335f751c6d1742038211b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-25 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / Exclusion responding has been considered one of the processes by which children learn to relate new words to objects. This pattern of responding is usually tested with a matching to sample task. The goal of the present experiment was to verify if exclusion responding also occurs with properties-object relations: dictated model stimuli were adjectives (/happy/, /sad/ and /anger/) and comparison stimuli were properties of objects (dolls facial expression). A second goal was to investigate the relation between the quantity of exclusion trials and a learning outcome. Phase 1 established a baseline of auditory-visual discriminations in a natural situation with dolls; Phase 2 established the baseline among dictated words and pictures of the doll (a girl) with a specific software presented with a notebook; Phase 3 consisted of exclusion probes in which the pseudo words /piva/ and /fobam/ were presented as models in different trials and a defined face (related to baseline words), an undefined face (not related to baseline words) and a mask (blank comparison) were presented as comparison. Selection of undefined face showed exclusion control. Phase 3 also consisted of presentation of learning probes. In Phase 4 experimental blocks presented as comparison stimuli figures of another doll (boy) expressing the same emotions of the doll of Phase 3. The purpose of Phase 4 was to evaluate generalization of the results obtained in Phase 3. Experiment was finished if the participant had responded correctly the three learning probes or if he or she had been exposed to 10 exclusion trials with each relation. Data was collected with 22 typically developing preschool children between 24 and 29 months of age. All participants responded by exclusion along the experiment. 11 of the 22 participants showed a learning outcome, responding correctly the three learning probes (100% of correct responses) with one of the taught relations in Phase 3 or with one of the tested relations in Phase 4. Data confirm and extend regularity of exclusion responding. The amount of exclusion trials necessary to obtain a learning outcome and the best learning probes to be used still needs to be investigated. / O responder por exclusão é considerado um dos processos pelos quais as crianças aprendem a relacionar palavras novas a objetos. A tarefa experimental típica é a de escolha de acordo com o modelo. Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar se o responder por exclusão ocorre no ensino de relações palavra-qualidade (adjetivos): os estímulos modelo ditados eram adjetivos (/feliz/, /triste/, /brava/) e os estímulos de comparação visuais eram faces estilizadas de um fantoche. Verificou-se também a relação entre a quantidade de tentativas de exclusão e a aprendizagem de novas relações palavra-qualidade. A Fase 1 consistiu no estabelecimento da linha de base de discriminações auditivo-visuais em uma situação natural. Na Fase 2, a linha de base foi estabelecida em um computador portátil. A Fase 3 consistiu na apresentação de tentativas de exclusão em que duas pseudopalavras /piva/ e /fobam/ eram ditadas como modelos em diferentes tentativas. Os estímulos de comparação eram uma face definida (relacionada à linha de base), uma face indefinida (não relacionada à linha de base) e um estímulo comparação vazio (máscara). A seleção da face indefinida evidenciaria o controle por exclusão. Durante a Fase 3 foram apresentadas também sondas de aprendizagem. Na Fase 4, os blocos experimentais apresentavam como estímulos de comparação bonecos do sexo masculino com as mesmas expressões faciais das do fantoche da Fase 3. Essa fase teve como objetivo verificar a generalização do padrão comportamental dos participantes na fase anterior. O procedimento era finalizado caso o participante acertasse as três sondas de aprendizagem ou após o máximo de 10 tentativas de exclusão com cada relação. Os participantes, 22 crianças pré-escolares, com desenvolvimento típico e idades entre 24 e 29 meses, responderam por exclusão em praticamente todas as sondas ao longo do experimento. Desses, 11 apresentaram desempenho correspondente com aprendizagem em pelo menos uma das novas relações ensinadas na Fase 3 e avaliadas na Fase 4. Os dados confirmam e estendem a regularidade do responder por exclusão. A quantidade de exposição a tentativas de exclusão necessárias para assegurar aprendizagem e a validade dos tipos de sondas de aprendizagem ainda devem ser verificadas experimentalmente.

Crianças com atraso de linguagem são geralmente identificadas a partir dos dois anos de idade, e são indicadas por seu vocabulário menor do que de seus pares de mesma idade, ainda que sem nenhuma patologia subjacente. Tarefas de responder por exclusão e dica contextual têm sido empregadas na literatura como meios para estudar as possíveis dificuldades presentes no repertório verbal de crianças com atraso de linguagem. Foram realizados dois estudos voltados para explorar o desempenho desta população nestas tarefas: o primeiro testou o responder por exclusão destas crianças, em tarefas de matching-to-sample para ensino de discriminações condicionais auditivo-visuais com nomes e figuras de objetos. O segundo também utilizou tarefas de matching-to-sample e avaliou o responder por exclusão em sondas com estímulos auditivos com topografia de substantivos e verbos no gerúndio, utilizando como estímulos comparação vídeos de ações e imagens de objetos estáticos. Participaram da pesquisa 64 crianças, sendo 32 com desenvolvimento típico e 32 com atraso de linguagem, com idades entre 3 e 4 anos. Esses estudos tiveram como objetivos gerais: a) investigar a ocorrência de responder por exclusão em relações nome-objeto em crianças com indícios de atraso de linguagem, em comparação com crianças de desenvolvimento típico, e b) verificar a interferência de dicas contextuais no responder por exclusão destas crianças, empregando estímulos com topografia de substantivos e de verbos. Os resultados encontrados em ambos os estudos indicam que crianças com desenvolvimento típico e com atraso de linguagem conseguem apresentar responder por exclusão de maneira consistente uma vez que um procedimento de linha de base garanta a aprendizagem da tarefa. Os resultados do segundo estudo, entretanto, indicam que ambos os grupos apresentaram uma queda brusca em seu resultado em tarefas de responder sob controle da dica lexical. Foram encontradas diferenças durante a aquisição da linha de base de verbos, na qual as crianças com desenvolvimento típico apresentaram um desempenho significativamente melhor do que seus pares com atraso de linguagem. Diferenças significativas entre idades também foram encontradas: entre crianças de 3 anos e 4 anos do mesmo grupo e, entre crianças de 3 anos de grupos de diferentes. O mesmo não foi encontrado em relação aos participantes de 4 anos de grupos diferentes. Estes achados permitem concluir que o atraso de linguagem não interferiu no responder por exclusão, mesmo com estímulos de classes lexicais distintas. Além disso, o treino de linha de base de substantivos e verbos, não foram suficientes para estabelecer efetivamente duas classes de estímulos e manter um responder tão robusto quanto na fase de sondas de exclusão para todas as crianças. / Children with language delay are usually identified by the age of two years old, and are appointed by their smaller vocabulary than peers of the same age, although without any underlying pathology. Tasks of responding by exclusion and contextual cue have been reported in the literature as resources to study the possible difficulties present in the verbal repertoire of children with language delay. Two studies were developed to explore the performance of this population in these tasks: the first tested the responding by exclusion of children in matching-to-sample tasks for the teaching of audio-visual conditional discriminations with names and pictures of objects. The second also used matching-tosample tasks and assessed the responding by exclusion at probes with auditory stimuli with topography of nouns and verbs in gerund, using as stimuli comparison videos of actions and images of static objects. The participants were 64 children, 32 with typical development and 32 with language delay, ages 3 and 4 years-old. These studies had as general objectives: a) to investigate the occurrence of responding by exclusion in objectname relations in children with language delay indications compared with children with typical development, and b) to verify the interference of contextual cues in responding by exclusion, using stimuli with topography of nouns and verbs. The results in both studies indicate that children with normal development and language delay can display responding by exclusion consistently since a baseline procedure ensures learning the task. The results of the second study, however, indicate that both groups exhibited a sudden decrease in their performances in tasks of responding under the control of lexical cue. Differences were found during the acquisition of baseline verbs, in which the typically developed children presented a significantly better performance than children with language delay. Significant differences were also found comparing ages: between children of 3 and 4 years old from the same group, and amid 3 year-old-children from different groups, but the same was not found in relation to the participants of 4 years from different groups. These findings indicate that language delay did not affect the responding by exclusion, even with different lexical classes stimuli. In addition, baseline training with nouns and verbs was not sufficient to establish two classes of effective stimuli and to maintain a responding performance as robust as the exclusion probes phase for all children.

Video games are very popular among children in the Western world. This study was done in order to investigate if video games had an effect on 49 Swedish students‟ comprehension of English words (grades 7-8). The investigation was based on questionnaire and word test data. The questionnaire aimed to measure with which frequency students were playing video games, and the word test aimed to measure their word comprehension in general. In addition, data from the word test were used to investigate how students explained the words. Depending on their explanations, students were categorized as either using a “video game approach” or a “dictionary approach” in their explanations. The results showed a gender difference, both with regard to the frequency of playing and what types of games that were played. Playing video games seemed to increase the students‟ comprehension of English words, though there was no clear connection between the frequency with which students were playing video games and the choice of a dictionary or video game approach as an explanation.

The aim of this study was to identify effective teaching strategies for vocabulary acquisition for primary school-age children in natural sciences. Primarily, using qualitative method observation, it was empirically shown that the primary vocabulary instructions used during natural science studies were indirect incidental word learning activities such as conversation in the classroom. A test was standardized from Homegaard and Johansson Kokkinakis (2006) to asses and measure pupils’ breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge for vocabulary words that were used during science class. The conducted test showed that the pupils’ trough incidental word learning had low vocabulary acquisition, primarily because of the everyday language used in a scientific context, leading this study to aim to answer the following questions:   Will providing explicit instructions for word acquisition increase pupils’ vocabulary?   Which possible explanations are there for the vocabulary increase?   An intervention practice was conducted to improve vocabulary acquisition, using five evidence-based suggestions for meaningful vocabulary intervention activities, provided by Steele and Mills (2011) and Becks, McKeown and Kucan (2002). The steps are based on explicit instructional activities which were used in teaching natural science. The same test that was used to asses and measure pupils’ breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge of vocabulary words was used after the intervention. The empirical results showed that instructional strategies providing explicit instruction were successful in increasing pupils’ breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge. Hence, this study identifies the empirical link between vocabulary instructions and vocabulary acquisition, as to increase the pupils’ breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge, by the acknowledgement of the difference between everyday language and scientific vocabulary with explicit teaching of the scientific language.