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A Study of Vocabulary Learning in Context: The Effect of New‐Word Density in German Reading Materials *
Author(s) -
Holley Freda M.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
foreign language annals
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.258
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1944-9720
pISSN - 0015-718X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1944-9720.1973.tb02613.x
Subject(s) - vocabulary , word (group theory) , german , reading (process) , linguistics , vocabulary development , context (archaeology) , reading comprehension , foreign language , word recognition , psychology , computer science , mathematics education , history , philosophy , archaeology
An implicit assumption in foreign language reading material preparation has been that new‐word density should be kept low. The original hypothesis of the study reported here was that there would be a maximum facilitating density with respect to vocabulary acquisition and other factors. Several sources had suggested that a density of one new word per thirty to thirty‐five known words might be the desirable maximum. Seven new‐word densities ranging from one new word per 150 known words to one per fifteen known words were investigated. Results failed to support the original hypothesis: vocabulary learning continued to increase through the full range of densities investigated, and no consistently significant effects of new‐word density on comprehension, reading time, or student ratings of the material's difficulty or enjoyability were found.