Journal article

Semantic diversity, frequency and the development of lexical quality in children’s word reading

Abstract:: Frequency exerts a powerful influence on lexical processing but it is possible that at least part of its effect is caused by high frequency words being experienced in more diverse contexts over an individual’s language experience. To capture this variability, we applied Latent Semantic Analysis on a 35-million-word corpus of texts written for children, deriving a measure of semantic diversity that quantifies the similarity of all the contexts a word appears in. Across three experiments with 6–13-year-old children involving reading aloud and lexical decision, we found a main effect of semantic diversity: high diversity words were responded to faster and read more accurately than low diversity words. Frequency, document count and age of acquisition were also significant predictors of reading behaviour. These findings demonstrate that contextual variability contributes to word learning and the development of lexical quality, beyond the effect of frequency.

Publication status:: Published

Peer review status:: Peer reviewed

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APA Style

Hsiao, Y., & Nation, K. (2018). Semantic diversity, frequency and the development of lexical quality in children’s word reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 103, 114–126.

MLA Style

Hsiao, Y, and K Nation. “Semantic Diversity, Frequency and the Development of Lexical Quality in Children’s Word Reading.” Journal of Memory and Language, vol. 103, 2018, pp. 114–26.

Chicago Style

Hsiao, Y, and K Nation. 2018. “Semantic Diversity, Frequency and the Development of Lexical Quality in Children’s Word Reading.” Journal of Memory and Language 103: 114–26.
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Files:: Hsiao&Nation_JML_Final.pdf

(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 935.6KB, Terms of use)

Publisher copy:: 10.1016/j.jml.2018.08.005

Authors

+ Hsiao, Y More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: Medical Sciences Division
Department:: Experimental Psychology
Role:: Author

+ Nation, K More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: MSD
Department:: Experimental Psychology
Oxford college:: St John's College
Role:: Author

+ Leverhulme Trust More from this funder

Grant:: RPG-2015-079

Publisher:: Elsevier
Journal:: Journal of Memory and Language More from this journal
Volume:: 103
Pages:: 114-126
Publication date:: 2018-08-24
Acceptance date:: 2018-08-14
DOI:: 10.1016/j.jml.2018.08.005
EISSN:: 1096-0821
ISSN:: 0749-596X

Keywords:: lexical quality

contextual diversity

reading development

frequency effect

semantic diversity
Pubs id:: pubs:908492
UUID:: uuid:355bf74b-e6da-4111-851c-f0b202662413
Local pid:: pubs:908492
Source identifiers:: 908492
Deposit date:: 2018-08-17
ARK identifier:: ark:/29072/ora_355bf74be6da4111851cf0b202662413

Terms of use

Copyright holder:: Elsevier Inc
Copyright date:: 2018
Notes:: © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from Elsevier at: 10.1016/j.jml.2018.08.005

Licence:: Terms and Conditions of Use for Oxford University Research Archive

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