Toward a Precision Science of Word Learning: Understanding Individual Vocabulary Pathways

AbstractToddlers vary widely in the rate at which they develop vocabulary. This variation predicts later language development and school success at the group level; however, we cannot determine which children with slower vocabulary development in the second year will continue to have difficulty. In this article, I argue that this is because we lack theoretical understanding of how multiple processes operate as a system to create individual children ’s pathways to word learning. I discuss the difficulties children face when learning even a single concrete noun, the multiple general cognitive processes that support word learning, and some evidence of rapid development in the second year. I present work toward a formal model of the word learnin g system and how this system changes over time. The long-term goal of this work is to understand how individual children’s strengths and weaknesses create unique vocabulary pathways, and to enable us to predict outcomes and identify effective interventions.
Source: Child Development Perspectives - Category: Child Development Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research