Abstract

Research suggests that readers learn about word meanings from the various contexts of words in texts. Therefore, context clue instruction is often recommended as a way of boosting students’ word learning skills. Ideally, such instruction should focus on context clue types that are common in authentic texts. We examined the prevalence of context clue types in authentic texts for Danish 3^rd and 4^th graders, focusing on contexts surrounding so-called Tier 2 words. A classification system with eight specific clue types was developed with inspiration from prior research, and the contexts of a sample of 150 words were analysed. We found that clues to target word meanings were present in the majority (63 pct.) of contexts. Among these helpful contexts, the most frequent clue types were Example and Cause and effect. We discuss how word type and text type may have influenced the results, and the implications for instruction are highlighted.

摘要

研究表明，读者可以从文本中各种单词的上下文中了解单词的含义。因此，通常建议使用上下文线索教学作为提高学生单词学习技能的一种方法。理想情况下，此类说明应关注真实文本中常见的上下文线索类型。我们研究范围内的线索类型的发生率在丹麦3真确^次和4^个平地机，重点围绕所谓的二级单词的上下文。在先前研究的启发下，开发了一种具有八种特定线索类型的分类系统，并分析了150个单词的样本的上下文。我们发现在大多数情况下（63 pct。），存在针对目标词义的线索。在这些有用的上下文中，最常见的线索类型是示例和因果关系。我们讨论单词类型和文本类型如何影响结果，并着重说明教学的含义。