ERIC Number: EJ1099977
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Apr
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0142-7237
EISSN: N/A
The Effect of Phonotactic Probability and Neighbourhood Density on Pseudoword Learning in 6- and 7-Year-Old Children
van der Kleij, Sanne W.; Rispens, Judith E.; Scheper, Annette R.
First Language, v36 n2 p93-108 Apr 2016
The aim of this study was to examine the influence of phonotactic probability (PP) and neighbourhood density (ND) on pseudoword learning in 17 Dutch-speaking typically developing children (mean age 7;2). They were familiarized with 16 one-syllable pseudowords varying in PP (high vs low) and ND (high vs low) via a storytelling procedure. The participants were tested on their production and comprehension of the pseudowords on three testing sessions: immediately after training, after a consolidation period without further training and after a one week retention period during which one more training session was given. The results show that both in production and comprehension PP had a significant influence on pseudowords with low ND: pseudowords in the condition with converging characteristics (low PP--low ND) were learned significantly better than those in the high PP--low ND condition. No effect of PP was found for pseudowords high in ND. These results give cross-linguistic support for earlier English findings that convergent PP/ND (low PP--low ND) facilitates triggering word learning in children.
Descriptors: Phonology, Vocabulary Development, Teaching Methods, Retention (Psychology), Indo European Languages, Contrastive Linguistics, Story Telling, Familiarity, Language Acquisition, Foreign Countries, Children, Phonemes, Statistical Analysis, Accuracy
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 1; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A