A STUDY OF UNDERSTANDING OF ENGLISH WORDS FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

This investigation was made to ascertain how much context helps students to understand the meaning of English words. Subjects: 584 students in Tokyo (7th-11th grades) For this purpose two forms of special tests for each grade were made: The words for which students were required to give Japanese equivalents and the words which were used contextually in sentences were selected from those which the students had already learned. The words given alone in form (A) tests were tested in form (B) tests in context. The other words given alone in form (B) tests were tested in form (A) tests in context. Form (A) tests and form (B) tests were given to different groups (nearly equal in ability). The results were as follows: (1) Words in sentences were easier to understand t han those given alone. (2) The percentage of understanding increased with grade level. There was a spurt at the 9th grade level. (3) The above results were also true in investigations controlled by I. Q. and in those using twins. (4) Context helped the superior students more than the inferior ones. The former showed a higher percentage of undersanding at the 9th grade ; the latter at the 10th grade. (5) The knowledge of words has some relation to general English ability. Superior students in the words tests showed better results not only in our all-round English test but also in the English ability checked by teachers in the following year. (6) The results of the present word test have rather high relation with those of the word test given by us in the previous year. (7) The same words tested at the different grades showd: Correct answers increased as the grade advanced. Inferior students did not know even the word they had learned in the lower grade, while most of the superior ones knew those words. (8) Analysis of the mistakes made by students showed: Mistakes due to the similarity of pronunciation and word form decreased in sentences, especially in the higher grades.