Retrieval practice of isolated words (e.g., with flashcards) enhances foreign vocabulary learning. However, vocabulary is often encountered in context. We investigated whether retrieval opportunities also enhance contextualized word learning. In two within-subjects experiments, participants encoded 24 foreign words and then read a story to further…

The authors examined the influence of context meaning consistency on incidental vocabulary acquisition during reading. "Context meaning consistency" refers to informational context that reflected the same meaning (i.e., consistent) or different meanings (i.e., inconsistent) across two self-paced reading sessions for a given item (both…

The relation between incidental word learning and two cognitive-linguistic variables--phonological memory and phonological awareness--is not fully understood. Thirty-five typically developing, 5-year-old, preschool children participated in a study examining the association between phonological memory, phonological awareness, and incidental word…

Context-dependent metaphoric sentences of literally equivalent paraphrases were used as concluding statements for short didactic passages to investigate whether metaphors help or hinder prose comprehension. Adult participants' recall protocols indicated increased memorability for passages with metaphoric conclusions. (Author/LC)