Learning word meanings during reading: Effects of phonological and semantic cues on children with language impairment

Abstract

Phonological and semantic deficits in spoken word learning have been documented in children with language impairment (LI), and cues that address these deficits have been shown to improve their word learning performance. However, the effects of such cues on word learning during reading remain largely unexplored. This study investigated whether (a) control, (b) phonological, (c) semantic, and (d) combined phonological-semantic conditions affected semantic word learning during reading in 9- to 11-year-old children with LI (n = 12) and with typical language (TL, n = 11) from low-income backgrounds. Children were exposed to 20 novel words across these four conditions prior to reading passages containing the novel words. After reading, a dynamic semantic assessment was given, which included oral definitions, contextual clues, and multiple choices. Results indicated that the LI group performed more poorly than the TL group in phonological and combined conditions, but not in the control or semantic conditions. Also, a similar trend for both groups was suggested, with improved performance in the semantic and combined conditions relative to the control and phonological conditions. Clinical implications include a continued need for explicit instruction in semantic properties of novel words to facilitate semantic word learning during reading in children with LI.

Keywords::

• Language impairment
• language disorder
• word learning
• vocabulary
• instruction
• intervention
• evidence-base
• school-age

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Dr Angele Thibodeux-Burns, Dr John Jackson, and the Office of Charter Liaisons at Missouri Baptist University for their support of the project. We extend a special thank you to our graduate assistants, Rebecca Doss, Mary Hoehl, Emily Huelsman, Margaret Schonaur, and Amanda Spillson, for their help with data collection and data entry. Finally, we sincerely appreciate the delightful children and their families who participated in the study, as well as the speech-language pathologists and teachers who assisted us.

Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. This project was supported by the Beaumont Faculty Development Fund at Saint Louis University (PI: Sara C. Steele).

Appendix A: Example passage

Oscar did not want to go to school. He did not like his teacher. And he did not like math. Oscar would have more fun staying at home. He could play in the snow. He could draw in his notebook. Or he could take a nap by the ingle. The fire in the fireplace would feel so warm and cosy. Anything would be better than school. So Oscar told his mom that he had quinsy. He said, “My throat is so sore! I cannot go to school”. Oscar's mom went into the bathroom. She opened the closet and pulled out a flacon. She pulled the stopper out of the small bottle. She poured out medicine for Oscar. “This should make you feel better”, his mom said. Yuck. Oscar hated medicine. Then his mom went into the kitchen to make him breakfast. First he had some zwieback. The crisp and sweet bread tasted good. Oscar drank his milk and ate some applesauce, too. Then, Mom told Oscar to go back to bed. Since he was too sick for school, Oscar had to go to bed! No playing outside and no drawing. This was worse than math! So Oscar decided to go to school. “I feel much better now”, Oscar told his mom. He put on his shirt and his nankeen. The light yellow cotton pants were too short! Oscar wore them to school anyway. He was happy that he did not have to stay at home in bed.

Appendix B: Example dynamic assessment and scoring

Oral definition: Can you tell me what ingle means?

• Three points for a correct definition, defined as: (a) a category plus one correct feature (e.g., “food that you eat for breakfast” for rasher) or an appropriate synonym (e.g., “fireplace” for ingle).

Contextual clue: In the story you read ‘Or he could take a nap by the ingle’. Does that make you think of anything else about ingle?

• Two points for a correct definition, as defined under oral definition, given the contextual clue.

Multiple choice: Do you think ingle means:

(A) igloo

(B) pet snake

(C) fire in a fireplace

(D) furnace

• One point for a correct response (e.g., C).

• No points for incorrect response (i.e. any of the three foils).