Development of the retrieval of word meanings and its impact on reading comprehension throughout elementary school: A longitudinal study.

Autor/inn/en	Dahdah, Patrick; Naumann, Johannes; Haffmans, Maj-Britt; Schindler, Julia; Richter, Tobias
Titel	Development of the retrieval of word meanings and its impact on reading comprehension throughout elementary school: A longitudinal study. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Die Entwicklung des Abrufs von Wortbedeutungen und ihre Auswirkungen auf das Leseverständnis in der Grundschule: Eine Längsschnittstudie.
Quelle	In: The journal of educational psychology, 117 (2025) 8, S. 1285-1312Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1939-2176
DOI	10.1037/edu0000962
Schlagwörter	Grundschule; Schüler; Sprachentwicklung; Wort; Zweisprachigkeit; Lesenlernen; Leseverstehen; Bedeutung; Entwicklung
Abstract	The present study examined the development of the efficiency in retrieving word meanings from spoken and written language, its impact as a precondition of reading comprehension, and investigated the potential differences between first (L1) and second (L2) language learners. A longitudinal study was conducted with two cohorts of elementary school children across five time points between the beginning of Grade 1 and the end of Grade 4. The retrieval of word meanings was measured with auditory and visual semantic categorization tasks. Multiple-group latent growth curve models were estimated, which included reading comprehension after Grades 2 and 4 as dependent variables. L1 and L2 children showed different levels and trajectories of the retrieval of word meanings for both spoken and written language. L1 children had an overall higher level than L2 children, but their improvements flattened throughout elementary school. L2 children improved linearly for spoken words and showed stronger improvements in the later school years for written words. In both groups and modalities, the initial level of the retrieval of word meanings predicted reading comprehension after Grades 2 and 4. Reading comprehension after Grade 4 was additionally predicted by the rate of improvement. These results suggest the possibility of reducing comprehension deficits by improving the retrieval of semantic representations throughout elementary school. (ZPID).
Erfasst von	Leibniz-Institut für Psychologie, Trier
Update	2026/3