The results OfExperiment 1 in relation to other findings demonstrate that immediate memory
processes are directly involved in the learning of new vocabulary items in young children.
One possible interpretation for the relationship between non-word repetition and vocabulary
acquisition reflects the contribution to both skills of the phonological loop component of
working memory, a system specialized for the temporary maintenance of incoming verbal
information. It has therefore been proposed, that the construction of a stable representation
of the phonological structure of the sounds of new words, depends on the adequacy of the
temporary representations of the items in the phonological loop (Baddeley et al., 1996;
Gathercole and Baddeley, 1996). Thus, children with good skills at maintaining new words
in the phonological loop are able to establish accurate long term representations of the words
more readily than children with poor phonological loop capacity.
However, Experiment 1 also demonstrated that the phonological memory does not predict
understanding of a words’ meaning as measured by the multiple choice task. Thus, the locus
of the phonological memory involvement in acquiring a new vocabulary item seem likely
to be in the process of achieving a stable phonological representation of its name than in the
understanding of the word’s meaning. Nevertheless, the testing took place immediately after
the children were introduced to the items. Therefore another possible interpretation would
have to do with children’s ability to recall and retrieve in a quite short period.
8.3.1.3 Existing VocabularyZPrior lexical knowledge is related to the acquisition
of the novel words from context
The effect of vocabulary size on word learning is what Stanovich (1986) has called a
“Matthew effect”, where the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer. He explained it as a
reciprocal relationship; development of vocabulary facilitates comprehension, and
comprehension feeds into vocabulary growth. The current knowledge base is of great
importance in acquiring new information. A rich elaborated knowledge of words will assist
the inference of meanings of unfamiliar words, allowing effective use of context cues. These
cues boost incidental learning, thus expanding the child’s knowledge base.
Experiment 1 demonstrated that children with high existing vocabulary knowledge (BPVS
score) tended to perform better in the naming, inference and lexical contrast task than
children with low existing vocabulary knowledge. However, vocabulary knowledge was not