Link to the University of Pittsburgh Homepage
Link to the University Library System Homepage Link to the Contact Us Form
D-Scholarship @ Pitt Banner and Links to Homepage

THE EFFECTS OF THREE METHODS OF INTRODUCING VOCABULARY TO ELEMENTARY STUDENTS: TRADITIONAL, FRIENDLY DEFINITIONS, AND PARSING

Nichols, Constance Nelson (2007) THE EFFECTS OF THREE METHODS OF INTRODUCING VOCABULARY TO ELEMENTARY STUDENTS: TRADITIONAL, FRIENDLY DEFINITIONS, AND PARSING. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

[img]
Preview
 PDF
Primary Text
Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of three different approaches to vocabulary instruction on students' ability to learn initial meanings of new words: traditional definitions, friendly definitions, and parsing. Fourth and fifth grade students enrolled in a rural elementary school were introduced to new vocabulary terms in traditional, friendly definitions, and parsing conditions. Tasks to assess students understanding of the new terms included sentence generation, and responses to open ended questions about each term. Results indicated that across all three conditions no significant differences were found for sentence generation tasks. For open ended question tasks differences were found indicating students performed significantly better with traditional and friendly definitions than parsing. Qualitative analysis indicated that parsing was not only inadequate, but detrimental to learning new words from definitions. It was hypothesized that the design of the study may have influenced results. Implications for instruction and further research were discussed.

Share

Citation/Export:
Social Networking:
Share |

Details

Item Type: University of Pittsburgh ETD
Status: Unpublished
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Nichols, Constance Nelsoncnnichols@gcc.edu
ETD Committee:
TitleMemberEmail AddressPitt UsernameORCID
Committee ChairBeck, Isabelibeck@pitt.eduIBECK
Committee MemberKucan, Lindalkucan@pitt.eduLKUCAN
Committee MemberPingel, Louispingel@pitt.eduPINGEL
Committee MemberBean, Ritaritabean@pitt.eduRITABEAN
Date: 27 September 2007
Date Type: Completion
Defense Date: 6 April 2007
Approval Date: 27 September 2007
Submission Date: 16 April 2007
Access Restriction: No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately.
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs: School of Education > Instruction and Learning
Degree: EdD - Doctor of Education
Thesis Type: Doctoral Dissertation
Refereed: Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords: dictionary; dictionary definitions; elementary; friendly definitions; parsing; parsing; reading; student talk; teaching; vocabulary
Other ID: http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04162007-192339/, etd-04162007-192339
Date Deposited: 10 Nov 2011 19:37
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2016 13:40
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/7222

Metrics

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item