Specifying the nature of the vocabulary gap

指定词汇差距的性质

• 批准号: 1421494
• 负责人: Amy Booth
• 金额: $ 35.03万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-15 至 2018-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1421494&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Specifying; nature; vocabulary; gap

The United States is facing an education crisis as far too many of our children enter school ill prepared to learn. Challenges to achievement begin early and are strongly connected to social disparities, with measures of vocabulary providing a particularly striking illustration. According to previous research, children from socioeconomically disadvantaged homes enter preschool knowing as many as 3000 fewer words than their peers. This gap persists into adolescence, with implications for later literacy and general academic success. This work moves beyond documenting these disparities to address how and why socioeconomic disparities lead to vocabulary differences. Specifically, the research investigates the hypothesis that differences in vocabulary may be the result of differences in children's basic ability to learn new words when the opportunity presents itself. To this end, children from widely varying socioeconomic strata will be tested on several word learning tasks designed to index different component word learning skills. Their performance will be considered in relation to both measures of socioeconomic status and accumulated vocabulary. This project lays the foundation for an innovative approach to early intervention that focuses on teaching children how to learn words rather than solely on teaching words per se. This approach could powerfully facilitate the generalization of vocabulary gains well beyond the scope of words targeted in any particular intervention. In order for this approach to gain effective momentum, however, it is critical that this project first establish the role of word-learning skills in the 'vocabulary gap', and in so doing, identify which of a number of specific word-learning skills are in greatest need of educational intervention.

美国正面临一场教育危机，因为我们有太多的孩子在入学时没有做好学习准备。成就方面的挑战很早就开始了，并且与社会差异密切相关，词汇量的衡量提供了一个特别引人注目的例证。根据之前的研究，来自社会经济弱势家庭的孩子进入学前班时比同龄人少掌握多达 3000 个单词。这种差距一直持续到青春期，对以后的识字能力和一般学业成功产生影响。 这项工作不仅仅是记录这些差异，而是解决社会经济差异如何以及为何导致词汇差异。具体来说，该研究调查了这样一个假设：词汇量的差异可能是由于儿童在机会出现时学习新单词的基本能力的差异造成的。为此，来自不同社会经济阶层的儿童将接受多项单词学习任务的测试，这些任务旨在索引不同组成部分的单词学习技能。他们的表现将根据社会经济地位和积累的词汇量来衡量。该项目为早期干预的创新方法奠定了基础，该方法的重点是教孩子如何学习单词，而不仅仅是教授单词本身。这种方法可以有力地促进词汇增益的泛化，远远超出任何特定干预措施的目标词汇范围。然而，为了使这种方法获得有效的动力，该项目首先要确定单词学习技能在“词汇差距”中的作用，并在此过程中确定哪些特定的单词学习技能最需要教育干预。

项目成果

Early word‐learning skills: A missing link in understanding the vocabulary gap?

早期单词学习技能：理解词汇差距时缺失的一环？

• DOI: 10.1111/desc.13034
• 发表时间: 2020-09
• 期刊: Developmental Science
• 影响因子: 3.7
• 作者: Shavlik, Margaret;Davis‐Kean, Pamela E.;Schwab, Jessica F.;Booth, Amy E.
• 通讯作者: Booth, Amy E.

Early word-Learning as a mediator between socioeconomic status and vocabulary

早期单词学习作为社会经济地位和词汇之间的中介

• 发表时间: 2020-04
• 期刊: AERA
• 作者: Shavlik, Margaret M.;Booth, Amy E.
• 通讯作者: Booth, Amy E.