Learning to Read Words on Flashcards: Effects of Sentence Contexts and Word Class in Native and Nonnative English-Speaking Kindergartners

This study investigated three questions: 1) Does clarifying the meanings of words during flashcard reading better support word learning over not providing meanings? 2) Does grammatical word class affect word learning? 3) Do these manipulations affect word learning differently in native and nonnative speakers of English? Native (n = 40) and nonnative (n = 41) English-speaking kindergartners practiced learning to read nouns and function words on flashcards in a repeated measures, counterbalanced design with random assignment. In one condition words were taught in meaningful sentences. In the other condition words were taught in isolation. Results of ANOVAs revealed that both native and nonnative speakers of English were better able to read words when they were taught in isolation than in sentences, and native speakers were better able to spell the words as well. However, both groups showed better ability to express their meanings when words were read in semantically rich sentences than when read in isolation. Children learned to read, spell, and produce sentences for content words more easily than for function words. Results indicate that the way children practice reading words and the type of words being read influence what they learn about the words.