Constructing word meanings: Strategies and perceptions of four middle school learners

Journal of Literacy Research, Dec 1998 by Harmon, Janis M

Using verbal protocols as the major methodological tool, this qualitative inquiry investigated word meaning constructions of four middle school learners during self-selected reading events where learners targeted unfamiliar words. Interviews were also used to explore learner perceptions about vocabulary acquisition. Individual case study analyses and cross-case analyses unveiled similarities and differences in how focal learners constructed meanings for self-targeted words when forced to examine context. Focal learners used multiple strategies in single encounters with new words, were not inhibited by inaccurate word meaning constructions, focused on key words and phrases as they explored content, and relied on syntax to articulate definitions. Results indicate that these middle school learners were at least aware of ways to figure out unfamiliar words. Some readers in the study processed word meanings in flexible and diverse ways, whereas others exhibited a narrow band of strategies. Perceptions about word learning and attitude toward learning new words are important considerations for understanding vocabulary learning through independent reading

AS A LONG-STANDING ISSUE IN LITERACY RESEARCH, vocabulary studies have focused on the number of words students need to know to keep up with language growth (Anderson & Nagy, 2992; Nagy eS Anderson, 1984), effects of vocabulary knowledge on reading comprehension (Beck, McKeown, eS Omanson, 1987; Davis as cited in Baumann e'r Kameenui, 1991; Nagy, 1988; Singer, 1965), instructional procedures that promote vocabulary knowledge (Beck et al., 1987; Graves, 1987; Stahl eS Fairbanks, 1986), and the influence of context and wide reading on vocabulary growth and development (Anderson eS Nagy, 1992; Herman, Anderson, Pearson, 6 Nagy, 1987; Jenkins, Stein, e'r Wysocki, 984; Nagy, 1988; Nagy, Anderson, eS Herman, 1987; Nagy, Herman, eS Anderson, 1985). Few, if any, studies have focused on the learner's perspective about strategies for constructing word meanings and the nature of these strategies in self-selected reading events.

By the time children enter middle school, they are expected to have an emerging repertoire of strategies that should serve them well as they encounter new words. We know little, however, about the procedures and conditions under which students activate these strategies as they construct meanings for unfamiliar words in natural reading settings. What strategies are they using? How effective are these strategies? What perceptions do middle school learners have about vocabulary learning? A close look at learners' transactions with unfamiliar words in self-selected reading events can perhaps reveal useful information for driving instructional plans, especially for those students with limited vocabularies. The present study provides a description of four focal learners (ages 12-13) as they interacted with self-selected, unfamiliar words during independent reading. It presents information about their use of context clues to figure out unknown words as well as information about their perceptions of vocabulary acquisition. A conceptual framework for such an inquiry is grounded in current hypotheses about vocabulary learning and what we know about incidental word learning from context.

Vocabulary Learning

Hypotheses concerning vocabulary learning have focused on different aspects of word learning, including its relationship to comprehension and verbal ability, its conceptual connections, and speed of retrieval of specific word meanings (Anderson e'r Freebody, 1981; Mezynski, 1983). M. Ruddell (1994) supported another theoretical perspective which conceptualized vocabulary learning in terms of declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge as described by Paris, Lipson, and Wixson (1983). Declarative knowledge refers to what we know about specific word meanings; procedural knowledge involves knowing how to process text information including quick and accurate processing; and conditional knowledge focuses on "the readers' ability to apply various actions strategically - knowing when to use information in context, the structure of a word, or a reference source to gain meaning, or knowing when to apply procedural knowledge of any kind" (M. Ruddell, 1994, p. 417).

How learners construct meanings for unfamiliar words during independent reading is tied closely to their conceptual understanding and overall transactions with texts (Herman et al., 1987; Nagy et al., 1987; M. Ruddell, 1994). Whatever strategies they activate to construct word meanings while interacting with texts will in one way or another influence their interpretations. Not only will their already established declarative knowledge about words affect comprehension, but also their procedural and conditional knowledge of strategies can influence the outcomes of their reading (M. Ruddell, 1994). We know much about the declarative knowledge of vocabulary, but we know little about the procedures and conditions under which learners mobilize their existing strategies as they encounter unfamiliar words in self-selected reading.