Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T10:29:29.775Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cognitive correlates of vocabulary growth in English language learners

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2011

FATANEH FARNIA  and
ESTHER GEVA
FATANEH FARNIA*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
ESTHER GEVA
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Fataneh Farnia, Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and Hincks–Dellcrest Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Room 9-240a, 252 Bloor Street, West Toronto, ON M5S 1V6, Canada. E-mail: fataneh.farnia@utoronto.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study modeled vocabulary trajectories in 91 English language learners (ELLs) with Punjabi, Tamil, or Portuguese home languages, and 50 English monolinguals (EL1) from Grades 1 to 6. The concurrent and longitudinal relationships between phonological awareness and phonological short-term memory and vocabulary were examined. ELLs underperformed EL1s on vocabulary across all grades. Although vocabulary grew faster in ELLs than in EL1s in the primary grades, they did not close the gap after 6 years of English schooling. Mutual facilitation was found between phonological awareness, English-like nonwords, and vocabulary. A unidirectional relationship was found between Hebrew-like nonwords and vocabulary suggesting that the relationship between phonological short-term memory and vocabulary can be more accurately captured when using nonwords based on a remote, unfamiliar language.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 32 , Issue 4 , October 2011 , pp. 711 - 738
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., & Pickering, S. J. (2006). Verbal and visuospatial short-term memory in children: Are they separable? Child Devel opment, 77, 1698–1716.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., Willis, C. S., & Adams, A. M. (2004). A structural analysis of working memory and related cognitive skills in young children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 87, 85–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anglin, J. M. (1993). Vocabulary development: A morphological analysis. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 58 (Serial No. 238).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Archibald, L. M. D., & Gathercole, S. E. (2006a). Nonword repetition: A comparison of tests. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49, 970–983.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Archibald, L. M. D., & Gathercole, S. E. (2006b). Short-term and working memory in specific language impairment. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 41, 675–693.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
August, D., Carlo, M., Dressler, C., & Snow, C. (2005). The critical role of vocabulary development for English language learners. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 20, 50–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working memory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google ScholarPubMed
Baddeley, A. D. (2000). The episodic buffer: A new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 417–423.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baddeley, A. D. (2003). Working memory and la nguage: An overview. Journal of Communication Disorders, 36, 189–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, A. D., Gathercole, S. E., & Papagno, C. (1998). The phonological loop as a language learning device. Psychological Review, 105, 158–173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working memory. In Bower, G. A. (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 8, pp. 47–90). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Beck, I. L., & McKeown, M. G. (2007). Increasing young low-income children's oral vocabulary repertoires through rich and focused instruction. Elementary School Journal, 107, 251–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berman, R. A. (1985). The acquisition of Hebrew. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Berman, R. A. (Ed.). (2004). Language development across childhood and adolescence: Psycholinguistic and crosslinguistic perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beitchman, J. H., Jiang, H., Koyama, E., Johnson, C. J., Escobar, M., Atkinson, L., et al. (2008). Models and determinants of vocabulary growth from kindergarten to adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 626–634.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biemiller, A. (1999). Language and reading success. Cambridge, MA: Brookline.Google Scholar
Biemiller, A., & Boote, C. (2006). An effective method for building meaning vocabulary in primary grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 44–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowey, J. A. (2001). Nonword repetition and young children's receptive vocabulary: A longitudinal study. Applied Psycholinguistics, 22, 441–469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burani, C., Vallar, G., & Bottini, G. (1991). Articulatory coding and phonological judgements on written words and pictures: The role of the phonological output buffer. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 3, 379–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlo, M. S., August, D., McLaughlin, B., Snow, C. E., Dressler, C., Lippman, D. N. et al. , (2004). Closing the gap: Addressing the vocabulary needs of English-language learners in bilingual and mainstream classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 39, 188–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chall, J. S. (1983). Stages of reading development. New York: McGraw–Hill.Google Scholar
Chall, J. S. (1996). Stages of reading development. New York: Harcourt Brace.Google Scholar
Chiat, S. (2006). The developmental trajectory of nonword repetition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27, 8–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunn, L., & Dunn, L. (1981). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Revised. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service Inc.Google Scholar
Edwards, J., Beckman, M. E., & Munson, B. R. (2004). The interaction between vocabulary size and phonotactic probability effects on children's production accuracy and fluency in nonword repetition. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 47, 421–436.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, N. C., & Sinclaire, S. G. (1996). Working memory in the acquisition of vocabulary and syntax: Putting language in good order. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49, 234–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farkas, G., & Beron, K. (2004). The detailed age trajectory of oral vocabulary knowledge: Differences by class and race. Social Science Research, 33, 464–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francis, D. J., Fletcher, J. M., Stuebing, K. K., Davidson, K. C., & Thompson, N. (1991). Analysis of change: Modeling individual growth. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 27–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gathercole, S. E. (1995). Is nonword repetition a test of phonological memory or long-term knowledge? It all depends on the nonwords. Memory & Cognition, 23, 83–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gathercole, S. E. (2006). Nonword repetition and word learning: The nature of the relationship. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27, 513–543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S. E., Alloway, T. P., Willis, C., & Adams, A. (2006). Working memory in children with reading disabilities. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 93, 265–281.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gathercole, S. E., & 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.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S. E., Service, E., Hitch, G. J., Adams, A. M., & Martin, A. J. (1999). Phonological short-term memory and vocabulary development: Further evidence on the nature of the relationship. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 13, 65–77.3.0.CO;2-O>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S. E., Tiffany, C., Briscoe, J., Thorn, A., & ALSPAC team. (2005). Developmental consequences of poor phonological short-term memory function in childhood: A longitudinal study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 46, 598–611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gathercole, S. E., Willis, C., & Baddeley, A. D. (1991). Differentiating phonological memory and awareness of rhyme: Reading and vocabulary development in children. British Journal of Psychology, 82, 387–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S. E., Willis, C., Baddeley, A. D., & Emslie, H. (1994). The children's test of nonword repetition: A test of phonological working memory. Memory, 2, 103–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gathercole, S. E., Willis, C., Emslie, H., & Baddeley, A. D. (1992). Phonological memory and vocabulary development during the early school years. Developmental Psychology, 28, 887–898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbs, S. (2004). Phonological awareness: An investigation into the developmental role of vocabulary and short-term memory. Educational Psychology, 24, 13–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbs, S. (2005). The interaction of vocabulary and short-term memory in predicting phonological awareness: A comparison of dyslexic and non-dyslexic children. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 5, 62–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, S. (2006). The relationship between phonological memory, receptive vocabulary, and fast mapping in young children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49, 955–969.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griffiths, Y. M., & Snowling, M. J. (2002). Predictors of exception word and nonword reading in dyslexic children: The severity hypothesis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 34–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamayan, E. V., & Damico, J. S. (1990). Limiting bias in the assessment of bilingual students. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.Google Scholar
Hart, B., & Risley, R. T. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.Google Scholar
Hecht, S. A., Torgesen, J. K., Wagner, R. K., & Rashotte, C. A. (2001). The relations between phonological processing abilities and emerging individual differences in mathematical computation skills: A longitudinal study from second to fifth grade. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 79, 192–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henson, R. N., Burgess, N., & Frith, C. D. (2000). Recoding, storage, rehearsal and grouping in verbal short-term memory: An fMRI study. Neuropsychologia, 38, 426–440.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holtzman, W. A. Jr., & Wilkinson, C. Y. (1990). Assessment of cognitive ability. In Hamayan, E. V. & Damico, J. S. (Eds.), Limiting bias in the assessment of bilingual students (pp. 247–280). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, M., Whitley, H. E., Smith, C. D., & Conners, L. (2003). The developmental progression of comprehension-related skills in children leaning EAL. Journal of Research in Reading, 26, 19–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huttenlocher, J., Haight, W., Bryk, A., Seltzer, M., & Lyons, T. (1991). Early vocabulary growth: Relation to language input and gender. Developmental Psychology, 27, 236–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, J., Tomblin, J. B., & Zhang, X. (2008). Characterizing the growth trajectories of language-impaired children between 7 and 11 years of age. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 51, 739–749.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Majerus, S., Poncelet, M., Greffe, C., & Van Der Linden, M. (2006). Relations between vocabulary development and verbal short-term memory: The relative importance of short-term memory for serial order and item information. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 93, 95–119.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masoura, E., & Gathercole, S. E. (1999). Phonological short-term memory and foreign language learning. International Journal of Psychology, 34, 383–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masoura, E., & Gathercole, S. E. (2005). Contrasting contributions of phonological short-term memory and long-term knowledge to vocabulary learning in foreign language. Memory, 13, 422–429.Google ScholarPubMed
Metsala, J. L. (1999). Young children's phonological awareness and nonword repetition as a function of vocabulary development. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 3–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naglieri, J. (1989). Matrix Analogies Test. New York: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Nagy, W., Berninger, V., & Abbott, R. (2006). Contributions of morphology beyond phonology to literacy outcomes of upper elementary and middle school students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 134–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nation, K., & Snowling, M. J. (2004). Beyond phonological skills: Broader language skills contribute to the development of reading. Journal of Research in Reading, 27, 342–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peugh, J. L., & Enders, C. K. (2004). Missing data in educational research: A review of reporting practices and suggestions for improvement. Review of Educational Research, 74, 525–556.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Proctor, C. P., Carlo, M., August, D., & Snow, C. (2005). Native Spanish-speaking children reading in English: Toward a model of comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 247–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Ravid, D., & Schiff, R. (2009). Morphophonological categories of noun plurals in Hebrew: A developmental study. Linguistics, 47, 45–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rice, M. L. (2004). Growth models of developmental language disorders. In Rice, M. L. & Waren, S. F. (Eds.), Developmental language disorders: From phenotypes to etiologies (pp. 207–240). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosner, J., & Simon, D. (1971). The auditory analysis test: An initial report. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 4, 40–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubin, D. B. (1987). Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys. New York: Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
San Francisco, A. R., Mo, E., Carlo, M., August, D., & Snow, C. (2006). The role of language of instruction and vocabulary in the English phonological awareness of Spanish–English bilingual children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27, 229–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schafer, J. L. (2000). NORM: Multiple imputations of incomplete multivariate data under a normal model (Version 2) [Computer software]. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University, Department of Statistics.Google Scholar
Service, E. (1992). Phonology, working memory, and foreign-language learning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 45A, 21–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Service, E., & Kohonen, V. (1995). Is the relation between phonological memory and foreign-language learning accounted for by vocabulary acquisition? Applied Psycholinguistics, 16, 155–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, D., & Willett, J. B. (2003). Applied longitudinal data analysis: Modeling change and event occurrence. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snowling, M., Chiat, S., & Hulme, C. (1991). Words, nonwords and phonological processes: Some comments on Gathercole, Willis, Emslie, & Baddeley. Applied Psycholinguistics, 12, 369–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swanson, H. L., Howard, C. B., & Saez, L. (2006). Do different components of working memory underlie different subgroups of reading disabilities? Journal of Learning Disabilities 39, 252–269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swanson, H. L., Sáez, L. & Gerber, M. (2006). Growth in literacy and cognition in bilingual children at risk or not at risk for reading disabilities. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 247–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorn, A. S. C., & Gathercole, S. E. (1999). Language-specific knowledge and short-term memory in bilingual and non-bilingual children. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 52, 303–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Uchikoshi, Y. (2006). English vocabulary development in bilingual kindergartners: What are the best predictors? Bilingualism, Language and Cognition, 9, 33–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vallar, G. (2005). Memory systems: The case of phonological short-term memory. A festschrift for cognitive neuropsychology. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 23, 135–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vallar, G., & Papagno, C. (2002). Neuropsychological impairments of short-term memory. In Baddeley, A. D., Kopelman, M. D., & Wilson, B. A. (Eds.), Handbook of memory disorders (2nd ed., pp. 249–270). Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Verhoeven, L., & van Leeuwe, J. (2008). Prediction of the development of reading comprehension: A longitudinal study. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wade-Woolley, L. (1999). First language influences on second language word reading: All roads lead to Rome. Language Learning, 49, 447–471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willms, J. D. (2004). Reading achievement in Canada and the United States: Findings from the OECD Programme of International Student Assessment. Ottawa: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.Google Scholar
Windfuhr, K. L., & Snowling, M. J. (2001). The relationship between paired associate learning and phonological skills in normally developing readers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 80, 160–173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zamuner, T. S. (2009). Phonotactic probabilities at the onset of language development: Speech production and word position. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52, 49–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed