Lexical Acquisition in Skilled and Less Skilled Readers

Lexical acquisition ability was studied in fourth grade children through use of a paired associate design. Reading achievement predicted ability to learn words more highly than did other factors, including estimated I.Q., and short-term memory did not. Examination of two subgroups of skilled and less skilled readers indicated that less skilled readers had more difficulty in acquiring new words. Less skilled readers made more errors and required more trials than did skilled readers. Less skilled readers also achieved lower scores on measures of short and long term recognition of the word\u27s referents. No differences in rate of forgetting over time were found between groups. No between group differences were found in the ability to provide definitions for the newly learned words. No significant differences between groups were found on a measure of incidental word learning