Oral comprehension skills are crucial for language acquisition in early childhood and academic success in later life. They
involve a child’s ability to understand and process spoken language, which is essential for effective communication and learning.
Enhancing this ability in young children is vital because strong oral comprehension skills lay the foundation for future literacy
and academic achievement. Children with stronger oral comprehension skills are better equipped to follow instructions, engage
in classroom discussions, and understand complex concepts presented in both spoken and written forms. Despite the recognized
importance of oral comprehension skills, few studies have explored the effectiveness of various pedagogical methods and
strategies in improving these skills.
The breadth of a child’s vocabulary is a robust predictor of oral comprehension skills. However, how other dimensions of
vocabulary knowledge, such as vocabulary depth, contribute to these skills remains unclear. The term vocabulary depth refers
to the richness and interconnectedness of an individual’s word knowledge; this encompasses not only the number of words a
child knows but also the quality of his/her understanding of these words and the relationships between them. This multifaceted
understanding includes knowledge of word meanings, associations, and usage in different contexts. In consideration of the
importance of vocabulary depth, the current study explored the relationships between vocabulary depth and oral comprehension
skills in young Chinese children. Specifically, this study investigated how different types of vocabulary associations contribute
to oral comprehension skills.
Vocabulary associations are commonly classified into two main types: paradigmatic and syntagmatic. Paradigmatic
associations refer to links in which the response and stimulus words are semantically related—such as synonyms, antonyms,
or hypernyms—that are typically of the same part of speech. These associations highlight semantic connections and indicate a
deeper, conceptual understanding of words. By contrast, syntagmatic associations involve the manner in which words combine
in linear sequences, such as in phrases and sentences, and reflect a syntactical connection between response and stimulus
words that are often of different parts of speech. By analyzing these associations, the present study sought to determine which
aspects of vocabulary depth are most predictive of children’s oral comprehension skills and investigated how these associations
contribute to children’s understanding of complex linguistic inputs. The insights obtained in this study can inform the
development of targeted educational strategies for enhancing children’s oral comprehension skills through focused vocabulary
instruction.
This study employed convenience sampling and recruited 79 kindergarten children (age: 5 to 6 years; mean age: 6 years 1
month) from northern Taiwan. Four research instruments were used: the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, a working memory
test, an oral comprehension test, and a researcher-developed word association test. The children’s oral comprehension skills were assessed by presenting them with three short stories and asking them comprehension-related questions. In the word
association test, the children were asked to generate as many associative words as possible upon hearing a given word. The
test was conducted on an individual basis; the examiner verbally presented a word, and each child was asked to respond with
associative words as quickly as possible. The test instrument comprised 10 items, and the children were given 30 s to respond
to each item (with this excluding the time spent asking the children to explain the rationale underlying the associations). During
the test, if a child’s response was not directly related to the given word, the examiner asked the child to explain their reasoning
to confirm that the association was based on the stimulus word rather than from a preceding self-generated association.
Additionally, the study incorporated a measure for children’s working memory. The data of this study were analyzed using
partial correlation and regression analysis to control for vocabulary size and examine the predictive power of vocabulary
associations on oral comprehension skills.
In the word association test, no significant difference was noted between the number of paradigmatic responses and that of
syntagmatic responses. After controlling for vocabulary size, a significant partial correlation was found between the children’s
oral comprehension skills and their paradigmatic, but not syntagmatic, knowledge of words. Furthermore, a regression analysis
showed that, after statistically controlling for vocabulary size and working memory, the children’s paradigmatic knowledge
uniquely explained a significant 11% of the variance in their oral comprehension skills.
The findings of the present study suggest that paradigmatic knowledge can predict the oral comprehension skills of young
children. This study further emphasizes the necessity of a nuanced understanding of vocabulary depth in early language
development. Paradigmatic associations—connections between words based on their shared meanings and contexts—appear
to particularly influence the development of oral comprehension skills. This type of vocabulary knowledge enables children
to grasp abstract and complex language concepts, enhancing their ability to understand and interpret spoken words in various
contexts.
The study also highlights the disparity between the findings of this research and previous studies. While past studies
suggested that children predominantly attend to syntagmatic associations between words, this study found no specific tendency,
instead aligning more closely with findings observed in older children. This discrepancy between the present and previous
studies may be attributable to differences in definitions and methodological approaches. Some studies have defined paradigmatic
associations by part of speech, whereas the current study focused on semantic connections regardless of syntactic similarity.
This study highlighted the importance of paradigmatic vocabulary knowledge in supporting children’s oral comprehension
skills. Therefore, improving the paradigmatic aspects of vocabulary knowledge may be an effective strategy for enhancing oral
comprehension skills in early childhood. Educators should integrate activities that foster paradigmatic vocabulary knowledge—
for example, exercises that encourage children to make connections between words and their meanings and contexts. This
approach contrasts with traditional pedagogical methods, which focus primarily on rote memorization and isolated word
learning. In practice, educators and curriculum developers should incorporate activities that promote paradigmatic vocabulary
knowledge. For example, encouraging thematic explorations through associations can enable children to learn a concept and its
related words. Educators should focus on not only increasing children’s vocabulary size but also deepening their understanding
of word meanings and associations. Employing this dual approach can support the development of oral comprehension skills
and facilitate the implementation of effective educational practices.
Future studies on this topic should explore different types of paradigmatic associations and their specific effects on oral
comprehension skills. Longitudinal research can be conducted to track the development of vocabulary depth and its effects on
oral comprehension skills over time to clarify how early interventions can confer long-term benefits. In addition, the reliability
and validity of free word association tests should be examined, and alternative test formats should be considered to ensure
stability and effectiveness. Furthermore, inquiries about the rationale for word associations should be postponed until after each
question to minimize semantic priming effects and capture children’s natural associative abilities.
In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into the complex interplay between vocabulary depth and oral
comprehension skills. The findings from this study can guide the development of targeted and effective educational interventions
for enhancing language learning outcomes in early childhood.
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Exploring the Relationship Between Vocabulary Knowledge and Oral Comprehension Skills by Examining Children’s Word Association Performance
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