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List of contents
Part I: What Do We Know About Incidental Word Learning from Reading?
1. Theoretical Background in Word Learning from Reading
2. Mechanism of Word Learning from Reading
3. Factors in Word Learning from Reading
Part II: How Do We Obtain Information from Reading and Use It for Learning Words?
4. Introducing the Cognitive Model of Word-Meaning Inference
5. Extracting Word-Form Information and Using It for Word Learning
6. Generating Contextual Information and Using It for Word Learning
7. Pedagogical Applications
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Megumi Hamada is Professor of English in the TESOL and Linguistics programs at Ball State University, USA.
Summary
An increasingly popular approach to second and foreign language education, this book focuses on incidental learning: how students learn words from reading. Despite its popularity, some researchers have questioned this theory that students can learn new words by inferring meanings based on a text they are reading. So, why does the incidental method not work for some students? What are the conditions for naturalistic learning to occur? What do students need to be able to do while reading in order to learn words successfully?
Tackling these questions head-on, this book provides researchers and educators with a more specific account of the processes behind the seemingly naturalistic method. Clarifying the connection between reading and word learning processes, Megumi Hamada proposes a new model, the Cognitive Model of Word-Meaning Inference, to describe how we obtain and use word-form and contextual information for learning words and the pedagogical applications of this. A significant new contribution to research in the field, Learning Words from Reading provides a cognitive perspective on how students learn new words from reading in a second or foreign language.
Foreword
Proposes the new Cognitive Model of Word-Meaning Inference to provide a cognitive perspective on how we learn new words from reading in a second or foreign language.
Additional text
This book provides a valuable resource on reading and vocabulary learning. It provides a succinct overview of the theoretical and empirical literature on incidental word learning and also covers the processes involved in inferring word meaning from reading. The book is laudable for its quality and clarity of presentation.
