Is there a differential effect of the type of exposure to new lexical items that the children
receive on the provision of contrasts?
No significant differences were found during post test 1. Significant differences were found
during post test 2 (Kruskall-Wallis I-Way Anova: X2=I 1.8, df=2, p<.005) and post test 3.
Particularly, during post test 2 the Lexical contrast and Definition groups provided
significantly more contrasts than the Ostensive definition group (Wilcoxon: Z=3.2, p<.005
and Z=2.8, p<.005 respectively). During post test 3 the Lexical contrast group provided
significantly more contrasts than the Control, Phonological control and Ostensive definition
groups (Z=3.06, p<.005; Z=3.2, p<.005; Z=3.4, p<.005).The Definition group also
performed provided significantly more contrasts than the Control, the Phonological control
and Ostensive definition groups (Wilcoxon: Z=3.03, p<.005; Z=3.1, p<.005; Z=3.4, p<.005).
Diagram 7.8 presents all the significant differences between the groups.
Diagram 7.8 Significant group differences in the provision of contrasts in the contrast
task across testing
Abbreviations: Co= Confrol; PC/ Phono-Co=Phonological control; Ostdefin=Ostensive definition; Lex. contr. Lexical contrast
Does children ,s performance on the Contrast task improve with increased exposure to the
lexical items ?
No significant differences were found over time.