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The Mnemonic Value of Orthography for Vocabulary Learning

Linnea EhriProgram in Educational PsychologyCUNY Graduate Center

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Environmental Print Research

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The Mnemonic Value of Orthography for Vocabulary Learning

Collaborator: Julie Rosenthal

Mnemonic value – improving memory Orthography – spellings of words

Two Ways to read words

DECODING MEMORY

rume ocean

rane iron

taik yacht

gote tongue

yung sugar

interpossism

subharkible

contorrention

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Ways to Read Words

UNFAMILIAR WORDSBy Decoding:

– Graphemes -> Phonemes

– Larger units: spelling patterns for syllables or morphemes

FAMILIAR WORDSBy Memory or Sight

– Note: All words when practiced become read from memory

Reading Words from Memory

Process of forming connections

Spelling

Meaningglue

Pronunciation

Knowledge of the grapheme-phoneme system provides the glue connecting spellings to pronunciations in memory

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Examples of connections for regularly spelled words

S T O P CH E CK

/s/-/t/-/a/-/p/ /c/-/E/-/k/

G I GG LE B IR D

/g/-/I/-/g/-/L/ /b/-/r/-/d/

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Examples of connections for irregularly spelled words

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/

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Knowledge needed to form connections

Phoneme segmentation – To analyze pronunciations into phonemes

Grapheme-phoneme correspondences– To access constituents of the writing system (the glue)

Grapho-phonemic matching – To connect graphemes to phonemes within specific words

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Connections for Specific Words are Learned Quickly

Reitsma (1983)- Taught 1st graders to read words

- Minimum of 4 practice trials to read words from memory

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

Examined connection forming process as it contributes to vocabulary learning

Explicit Word Learning Task: – Students rehearsed pronunciations and meanings of new words

over several trials Procedure:

– Initial study trial: words and meanings were introduced Pictures and defining sentences

– Several test trials with feedback followedExperimental 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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Hypothesis and Explanation

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 monthsPretests 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– One set: spellings of words accompanied learning– The other set: spellings did not accompany learning

Counterbalancing Examples:

– Gam – family of whales– Cur – a homeless dog– Sod – wet, grassy ground– Fet – big, fun party– Nib – tip of a pen– Yag – fake jewelry

(picture)

gam

yag

sod

fet (picture)

nib

(picture)

(picture)

(picture)

Spelling Seen Condition:Initial study trial: Student hears each word and a defining sentence, sees picture and written word,

repeats word and sentence

(picture)

yag

Nib

An example:

(picture)

(picture)

(picture)

(picture)

(picture)

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)

sod

nib

gam

cur

fet

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.

yag

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No-Spelling Condition:

Procedures are the same as in the Spelling Condition– Except:

Spellings of words are never shown Students pronounce the words extra times

Summary of word learning events

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

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 2 3 4 5Trial number

Num

ber o

f wor

ds/d

efini

tions

Recall

Words /spell not seen

Words / spell seen

Definitions / spell not seen

Definitions / spell seen

(Study with 2nd graders)

Recall of words and definitions during the learning trials

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Words Definitions

Percent of students reaching a criterion of 3 perfect successive

trials within a maximum of 9 trials

Spell Seen

Spell Not Seen

Recall Measure

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Words Spellings Definitions

Mean Percent Correct on Posttests

Spell Seen

Spell Not Seen

Posttest Measures

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Conclusion and explanation

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: – 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 monthsPretests

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

– 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:– 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

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Word-recall training/feedback card in the spellings present vs. spellings absent conditions.

Tamarack

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Hypotheses

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

Hi Readers

Lo Readers

Spell seen

Spell not seen

Recall of Definitions by 5th graders (10 max)

0%20%40%60%80%

100%

WordsHi Rs

WordsLo Rs

Defin Hi Rs

DefinLo Rs

Percent of high readers and lo readers reaching a criterion of 3 perfect successive trials within 8

trials

Spell Seen

Spell Not Seen

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Hi Rs Lo Rs Hi Rs Lo Rs Hi Rs Lo Rs

Mean Percent Correct on Posttests

Spell

No Spell

Recall Words Write Spellings Fill Cloze Sentences

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Conclusions

Seeing spellings helped 5th graders learn the pronunciations and meanings of new vocabulary words more than not seeing spellings.

Students with strong orthographic knowledge benefited more from seeing spellings than students with weak orthographic knowledge

Matthew Effect: rich getting richer over time

Explanation: grapho-phonemic connections better secured pronunciations of words in memory; better specified pronunciations provided a stronger base for learning meanings.

Effect incidental: no attention directed at spellings; no instruction to decode words; automatic activation of mapping relations

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Implications for Vocabulary Instruction and Learning

Grapho-phonemic instruction: - It is important for students to acquire strong

orthographic knowledge as they learn to read

Strategy instruction:– 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