Understanding the time course of incidental context-based word learning in adolescents

Authors

Abstract

The existing literature on incidental word learning has not studied the time course of this process in adolescents, even though this type of learning is the first source of acquisition of new words, particularly in secondary education. The present study fills this gap, and also examines the role of preexisting vocabulary in this process, and the relationship between the percentage of words learned and reading times. A sample of fourteen adolescents completed self-paced reading study with three-phase (exposure, implicit assessment, explicit assessment) plus a vocabulary test. The results show that those participants who learned more words spent more reading time on the new words in the exposure phase, and furthermore, evidenced a facilitation effect after only four exposures. Tentatively, this ability could be related in part to the adolescents’ pre-existing vocabulary.

Keywords:

Incidental learning, Vocabulary, Adolescents, Reading times

Author Biographies

Florencia Fuenzalida, Universidad de Chile

Departamento de Fonoaudiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile

Geraldine Muñoz, Universidad de Chile

Departamento de Lingüística, Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Universidad de Chile

Camila Cortés, Universidad de Chile

Departamento de LingüísticaFacultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Universidad de Chile

Josué Pino, Universidad de Chile

Departamento de Fonoaudiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile

Andrea Helo, Universidad de Chile

Departamento de Fonoaudiología y Departamento de Neurociencias, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile,  Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación, Instituto de Educación, Universidad de Chile

Ernesto Guerra, Universidad de Chile

Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación, Instituto de Educación, Universidad de Chile

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