Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T13:44:06.275Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Kindergarten children can be taught to detect lexical ambiguities*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2015

MARGARET T. KAMOWSKI-SHAKIBAI  and
HELEN SMITH CAIRNS
MARGARET T. KAMOWSKI-SHAKIBAI*
Affiliation:
Marymount Manhattan College and City University of New York, Graduate Center
HELEN SMITH CAIRNS*
Affiliation:
City University of New York, Queens College and Graduate Center
*
*Address for correspondence: Margaret T. Kamowski-Shakibai, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Marymount Manhattan College, 221 East 71st Street, 7th Floor Main, New York, New York 10021. e-mail: [email protected]. Helen S. Cairns e-mail: [email protected]
*Address for correspondence: Margaret T. Kamowski-Shakibai, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Marymount Manhattan College, 221 East 71st Street, 7th Floor Main, New York, New York 10021. e-mail: [email protected]. Helen S. Cairns e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study investigates the development of metalinguistic skills, particularly ambiguity detection, and whether training accelerates this development for prereaders in kindergarten (5;5–6;6). It is the first to compare homophone detection with lexically ambiguous sentence detection in which the same homophones appear. The experimental group received ambiguity detection training; the control group received vocabulary training. Results showed that there is a spontaneous development of homophone detection abilities at the end of kindergarten, and training may accelerate this trajectory. The development of lexical ambiguity detection is not apparent in kindergarteners. However, explicit training improves this trajectory significantly. The knowledge of both meanings of a homophone is not sufficient to report both meanings of a sentence that contains that homophone. We propose that detecting the dual meanings of an ambiguous sentence involves sentence processing operations and an ability to think flexibly about language that may be enhanced with training.

Type
Brief Research Reports
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , March 2016 , pp. 442 - 456
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Burton, V. L. (1942). The Little House. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.Google Scholar
Cairns, H. S., Waltzman, D. & Schlisselberg, G. (2004). Detecting the ambiguity of sentences: the relationship to early reading skills. Communication Disorders Quarterly 25(2), 68–77.Google Scholar
Doherty, M. J. (2000). Children's understanding of homonymy: metalinguistic awareness and false belief. Journal of Child Language 27, 367–392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunn, L. M. & Dunn, L. M. (1997). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 3rd ed (PPVT-III). San Antonio, TX: Pearson Education, Inc.Google Scholar
Leonard, L. B. (2002). Children with Specific Language Impairment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Leonard, L. B., Camarata, S., Rowan, L. & Chapman, K. (1982). The communicative functions of lexical usage by language impaired children. Applied Psycholinguistics 3, 109–125. Reprinted In Leonard, L. B. (2002) Children with Specific Language Impairment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 44.Google Scholar
McGuirk, L. (1999). Tucker Flips. New York: Dutton Children's Books.Google Scholar
Mosel, A. (1968). Tiki Tiki Tembo. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.Google Scholar
Nation, K., Cocksey, J., Taylor, J. S. &Bishop, D. V. (2010). A longitudinal investigation of early reading and language skills in children with poor reading comprehension. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 51(9), 1031–1039.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peters, A. M. & Zaidel, E. (1980). The acquisition of homonymy. Cognition 8, 187–207.Google Scholar
Roth, F. P. (1984). Accelerating language learning in young children. Journal of Child Language 11, 89–107.Google Scholar
Seuss, Dr (1990). Oh, The Places You'll Go! New York: Random House, Inc. Google Scholar
Shultz, T. R. & Pilon, R. (1973). Development of the ability to detect linguistic ambiguity. Child Development 44, 728–733.Google Scholar
Slingerland, B. (1977). Revised pre-reading screening procedures. Cambridge, MA: Educators Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Tunmer, W. E. & Bowey, J. A. (1984). Metalinguistic awareness and reading acquisition. In Pratt, C., Tunmer, W. E. & Herriman, M. L. (eds), Metalinguistic awareness in children (pp. 144–168). New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wankoff, L. S. & Cairns, H. S. (2009). Why ambiguity detection is a predictor of early reading skill. Communication Disorders Quarterly 30, 183–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yuill, N. (1998). Reading and riddling: the role of riddle appreciation in understanding and improving poor text comprehension in children. Cahiers de Psychologie Cognitive 17(2), 313–342.Google Scholar
Zipke, M. (2007a). Metalinguistic instruction improves third graders’ reading comprehension. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The City University of New York.Google Scholar
Zipke, M. (2007b). The role of metalinguistic awareness in the reading comprehension of sixth and seventh graders. Reading Psychology 28(4), 375–396.Google Scholar
Zipke, M. (2008). Teaching metalinguistic awareness and reading comprehension with riddles. Reading Teacher 62(2), 128–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zipke, M. (2011). First graders receive instruction in homonym detection and meaning articulation: the effect of explicit metalinguistic awareness practice on beginning readers. Reading Psychology 32, 349–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zipke, M., Ehri, L.C. & Cairns, H. S. (2009). Using semantic ambiguity instruction to improve third graders’ metalinguistic awareness and reading comprehension: an experimental study. Reading Research Quarterly 44(3), 300–321.Google Scholar