The Effects of Participatory Expectations in Classroom Discussion on the Learning of Science Vocabulary

Abstract

To study why discussion appears to improve vocabulary learning, children in two intact classes were divided into three subgroups and taught science vocabulary on 3 successive days. For each lesson, one subgroup was told they would not be called on and were to learn by listening. Of the other two subgroups, only one was actually called on (Called-on) and the other merely anticipated being called on (Ignored). Two additional classes served as comparison groups. Students in the treatment group generally outperformed those in the two comparison groups on the posttests, regardless of condition. Within the treatment group, students in both anticipatory conditions (Called-on and Ignored) significantly outperformed students in the Listening condition on the delayed posttest, but not on the immediate posttest. These results are discussed within the context of a generative model of vocabulary learning.