Single exposures yield partial word knowledge, and repeated encounters in varied contexts build complete word meaning (fast mapping then full mapping)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 2011 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? School-age children glean partial word knowledge from a single exposure during natural reading; repeated encounters with the same word in different contexts lead to acquisition of the word's complete meaning. → Ponniah 2011

Evidence¶

Ponniah 2011¶

Ponniah, R. J. (2011). The Effectiveness of the Comprehension Hypothesis: A Review on the Current Research on Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition. i-manager's Journal on English Language Teaching, 1(2), April-June 2011. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1071042 doi:10.26634/jelt.1.2.1452

q2 · i? · review · r1

The review attributes this to Carey (1978), cited as background on the fast mapping / full mapping course of word learning from reading exposure. No effect size is printed; the review reports the claim as the original author's assertion.

"Carey(1978) asserts that one or a few exposure to a word will help the child to acquire some of the syntactic and semantic aspects of the word (fast mapping) and, when the child encounters the same word repeatedly in different contexts will lead to the acquisition of the complete meaning of the word (full mapping)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Prior Knowledge — outcome: instruction changes it
• Reading and Language — outcome: instruction changes it
• Vocabulary — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Vocabulary Knowledge Grows Incrementally With Repeated Encounters In Varied Contexts — a broader claim this one bears on
• Incidental vocabulary exposure produces reliable learning, but learners pick up only a small share of the unknown words they meet — a broader claim this one bears on
• L2 learners pick up vocabulary incidentally from meaning-focused input, with reading the most-studied mode and listening yielding similar proportions of words learned — related
• Extensive reading improves vocabulary acquisition and spelling through repeated meaningful exposure — a broader claim this one bears on
• The more often learners meet a word while reading, the more likely they are to learn it incidentally; a meta-analysis of correlational studies finds a moderate correlation — related
• Disadvantaged children may struggle with reading comprehension because they often lack general vocabulary and strategies for organizing information from text — related
• Incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading is slow and unpredictable: there is no way to predict which words will be learned, when, nor to what degree — related
• First language evidence shows extensive reading for meaning leads to vocabulary acquisition over time, probably accounting for most L1 vocabulary growth beyond the first few thousand common words — related
• Reading times on unfamiliar words decrease non-linearly, following an S-shaped curve, as exposures accumulate during natural reading — related
• Total reading time independently contributed to the learning of word meaning — related
• Eighth-grade students acquire measurable partial knowledge of unfamiliar word meanings incidentally while reading natural text, with a small but statistically reliable context-learning effect — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• The probability of learning an unknown word from a single natural-context exposure is roughly .05 to .11, supporting an extrapolated 750 to 5,500 words learned per year from reading — related
• Explicit instruction in individual English word meanings, rich in-depth vocabulary instruction, visuals, L1 use, and word-learning strategies improved MLs' English vocabulary — related
• Reported prior exposure to machine-read instructional material rose from 44.5% to 69.9% between sessions, an effect of the study itself rather than a baseline difference — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Native-speaker children have about 2,500 words at school entry and vocabulary growth becomes exponential once independent reading begins — related