Browsing by Subject "Receptive vocabulary"

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Open Access
The effect of proficiency level on the rate of receptive and productive vocabulary acquisition
(2010) Şener, Murat
This study investigated the effect of proficiency level on the rate of receptive and productive vocabulary acquisition, in conjunction with an examination of materials and instruction. The study was conducted with the participation of 68 beginner and elementary level students, and their teachers at the English Language Preparatory School of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University. The data was gathered through receptive and productive vocabulary tests, a one-to-one interview with teachers of the beginner and elementary groups, and materials analysis. After the administration of the pre-tests, the students continued their foreign language education for about three months until the administration of the post-tests. The quantitative analysis demonstrated that the students at both levels improved their vocabulary both receptively and productively; however, the students at the elementary level gained more words in a shorter period of time. The qualitative data analyses showed that instruction and the materials played a certain role in improving the students’ vocabulary acquisition. However, the elementary groups’ greater gains in vocabulary could not be satisfactorily explained by either the materials or instruction. It is possible that the results that could not be explained by either materials or instruction are because of differences in proficiency. The elementary students’ higher level of proficiency appeared to allow them to benefit more from the materials and instruction in terms of vocabulary acquisition. The study implied that teachers and curriculum designers should pay attention to the aim of the program. While selecting the materials and teaching methods, selected materials and teaching methods should be compatible with the aim of the program. The study also implied that providing a few more hours of instruction for the beginner students is not enough to help these students reach the same level of proficiency by the end of the year as higher level students. Even more hours of instruction per week and different instruction should be provided to lower level students in order to help them reach the required proficiency level by the end of the year.
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The link between early iconic gesture comprehension and receptive language
(John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2024-10-09) Doğan, Işıl; Özer, Demet; Aktan-Erciyes, Aslı; Furman, Reyhan; Demir-Lira, O. Ece; Özçalışkan, Şeyda; Göksun, Tilbe
Children comprehend iconic gestures relatively later than deictic gestures. Previous research with English-learning children indicated that they could comprehend iconic gestures at 26 months, a pattern whose extension to other languages is not yet known. The present study examined Turkish-learning children's iconic gesture comprehension and its relation to their receptive vocabulary knowledge. Turkish-learning children between the ages of 22- and 30-month-olds (N = 92, M = 25.6 months, SD = 1.6; 51 girls) completed a gesture comprehension task in which they were asked to choose the correct picture that matched the experimenter's speech and iconic gestures. They were also administered a standardized receptive vocabulary test. Children's performance in the gesture comprehension task increased with age, which was also related to their receptive vocabulary knowledge. When children were categorized into younger and older age groups based on the median age (i.e., 26 months-the age at which iconic gesture comprehension was present for English-learning children), only the older group performed at chance level in the task. At the same time, receptive vocabulary was positively related to gesture comprehension for younger but not older children. These findings suggest a shift in iconic gesture comprehension at around 26 months and indicate a possible link between receptive vocabulary knowledge and iconic gesture comprehension, particularly for children younger than 26 months.