Transcript Slide 1

The Mnemonic Value of Orthography
for Vocabulary Learning
Linnea Ehri
Program in Educational
Psychology
CUNY Graduate Center
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Environmental Print Research
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The Mnemonic Value of Orthography
for Vocabulary Learning
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Collaborator: Julie Rosenthal
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Mnemonic value – improving memory
Orthography – spellings of words
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Two Ways to read words
DECODING
rume
rane
taik
gote
yung
interpossism
subharkible
contorrention
MEMORY
ocean
iron
yacht
tongue
sugar
Ways to Read Words
UNFAMILIAR WORDS
 By Decoding:
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Graphemes -> Phonemes
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Larger units: spelling patterns for syllables or morphemes
FAMILIAR WORDS
 By Memory or Sight
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Note: All words when practiced become read from memory
Reading Words from Memory
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Process of forming connections
Spelling
Meaning
glue
Pronunciation
Knowledge of the grapheme-phoneme
system provides the glue connecting
spellings to pronunciations in memory
Examples of connections for regularly
spelled words
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STOP
CH E CK
/s/-/t/-/a/-/p/
/c/-/E/-/k/
G I GG LE
B IR D
/g/-/I/-/g/-/L/
/b/-/r/-/d/
Examples of connections for
irregularly spelled words
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I S* L A N D
S W* O R D
/ay/-/L/-/ae/-/n/-/d/
/s/ - /o/ - /r/ - /d/
L I S T* E N
S I G* N
/L/-/I/-/s/-/t/-/e/-/n/
/s/ - /I/ - /n/
Knowledge needed to form
connections
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Phoneme segmentation
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Grapheme-phoneme correspondences
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To access constituents of the writing system (the glue)
Grapho-phonemic matching
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To analyze pronunciations into phonemes
To connect graphemes to phonemes within specific words
Connections for Specific Words are
Learned Quickly
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Reitsma (1983)
- Taught 1st graders to read words
- Minimum of 4 practice trials to read words from
memory
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Share (2004) – self teaching mechanism
- 1 exposure to words in text for 3rd graders
- Memory for letters persisted one month
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Application to Vocabulary Learning
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Examined connection forming process as it contributes to
vocabulary learning
Explicit Word Learning Task:
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Students rehearsed pronunciations and meanings of new words
over several trials
Procedure:
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Initial study trial: words and meanings were introduced
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Several test trials with feedback followed
Experimental Manipulation
– Treatment condition: spellings of words were shown during study
and feedback periods but NOT when recall of words was tested
– Control condition: same except spellings of words were not
shown
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Pictures and defining sentences
Hypothesis and Explanation
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Hypothesis: Students will learn the
pronunciations and meanings of words more
readily when they are exposed to spellings of
the words during study periods than when
they are not exposed to spellings.
Explanation: Grapheme-phoneme
connections are activated by spellings and
will better secure the words in memory.
First Experiment
N = 20 2nd graders, Mean age = 7yrs. 7 months
Pretests
 Woodcock word identification: M = 2.2 grade-equivalent
 CVC nonword reading (M=55%) and spelling (M=53%)
Word Learning Conditions
 They were taught two sets of 6 concrete nouns and their
meanings
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One set: spellings of words accompanied learning
The other set: spellings did not accompany learning
Counterbalancing
Examples:
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Gam – family of whales
Cur – a homeless dog
Sod – wet, grassy ground
Fet – big, fun party
Nib – tip of a pen
Yag – fake jewelry
Spelling Seen Condition:
Initial study trial: Student hears each word and a
defining sentence, sees picture and written word,
repeats word and sentence
(picture)
gam
(picture)
yag
(picture)
sod
(picture)
fet
(picture)
nib
(picture)
yag
An example:
Nib
Spelling Seen Condition:
Word Recall Test Trial: Student sees each picture and
recalls word. Then word is seen, pronounced, and
heard in a sentence. Students repeats the word and its
sentence.
(picture)
(picture)
(picture)
(picture)
(picture)
(picture)
Spelling Seen Condition:
Definition Recall Test Trial: Student hears and sees
each word and recalls its meaning. Then meaning is
given, and student repeats the word and its meaning.
sod
nib
gam
cur
fet
yag
No-Spelling Condition:
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Procedures are the same as in the Spelling
Condition
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Except:
Spellings of words are never shown
Students pronounce the words extra times
Summary of word learning events
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Each child learns one set of vocabulary words with
spellings and another set without spellings
One initial study trial to introduce words
Followed by trials to test recall of words and
definitions
Word recall trials are interleaved with definition
recall trials
Maximum of 9 trials are provided to learn words and
meanings
Note: Spellings of words are not shown when words
are tested, so recall depends upon having the
spellings of words in memory.
Mean number correct by trial
Number of words/definitions
(Study with 2nd graders)
Recall
6
Definitions / spell seen
Definitions / spell not seen
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Words / spell seen
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3
Words /spell not seen
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1
0
1
2
3
4
5
Trial number
Recall of words and definitions during the learning trials
Percent of students reaching a
criterion of 3 perfect successive
trials within a maximum of 9 trials
100%
80%
60%
Spell Seen
Spell Not Seen
40%
20%
0%
Words
Definitions
Recall Measure
Mean Percent Correct on Posttests
100%
80%
60%
Spell Seen
Spell Not Seen
40%
20%
0%
Words
Spellings Definitions
Posttest Measures
Conclusion and explanation
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Conclusion: 2nd graders learned vocabulary
words and their meanings better when they
were exposed to spellings of the words than
when they only practiced speaking the words
Explanation:
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Pronunciations were unfamiliar.
Grapho-phonemic connections better secured
their representations in memory
Stronger base for attaching meanings
Second Experiment
N = 32 5th graders, Mean age = 10 yrs. 11 months
Pretests
Reading words and nonwords; spelling words; vocabulary test;
Reader Ability Groups (word reading task)
Higher Readers (7.3 GE) vs. Lower Readers (4.6 GE)
Word Learning Conditions
 They were taught two sets of 10 concrete nouns and their meanings
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One set: spellings accompanied word learning
One set: spellings did not accompany word learning
Maximum of 8 trials to achieve 3 perfect successive trials
Examples:
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Barrow: a small hill
Tandem: a horse-drawn carriage
Fribble: a foolish shallow person
Tamarack: a big tree found all over America
Proboscis: a really big nose
Word-recall training/feedback card in the spellings
present vs. spellings absent conditions.
Tamarack
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Hypotheses
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Spellings will help 5th graders learn the
pronunciations and meanings of new
vocabulary words
Students with stronger orthographic
knowledge (hi readers) will benefit more from
spellings than students with weaker
orthographic knowledge (lo readers)
Recall of Words by 5th Graders (10 max)
Hi Readers,
Spell seen
Lo Readers,
Spell seen
Hi Readers,
Spell not seen
Lo Readers,
Spell not seen
Hi Readers
Lo Readers
Recall of Definitions by 5th graders (10 max)
Spell seen
Hi Readers
Lo Readers
Spell not seen
Percent of high readers and lo readers reaching a
criterion of 3 perfect successive trials within 8
trials
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Spell Seen
Spell Not Seen
Words Words Defin Defin
Hi Rs Lo Rs Hi Rs Lo Rs
Mean Percent Correct on Posttests
100%
80%
60%
Spell
No Spell
40%
20%
0%
Hi Rs Lo Rs Hi Rs Lo Rs Hi Rs Lo Rs
Recall Words
Write Spellings Fill Cloze Sentences
Conclusions
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Seeing spellings helped 5th graders learn the pronunciations and
meanings of new vocabulary words more than not seeing
spellings.
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Students with strong orthographic knowledge benefited more
from seeing spellings than students with weak orthographic
knowledge
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Matthew Effect: rich getting richer over time
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Explanation: grapho-phonemic connections better secured
pronunciations of words in memory; better specified
pronunciations provided a stronger base for learning meanings.
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Effect incidental: no attention directed at spellings; no instruction
to decode words; automatic activation of mapping relations
Implications for Vocabulary Instruction
and Learning
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Grapho-phonemic instruction:
- It is important for students to acquire strong
orthographic knowledge as they learn to read
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Strategy instruction:
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When students encounter new vocabulary words,
they should be taught to examine the spellings of
the words as they pronounce them aloud or as
they listen to someone else pronounce them
The End