Irene Turner

Learning English Spellings: Strategies Employed by Primary School Boys.

Abstract The use of visual and auditory information in learning to spell is explored, together with the effect, if any, of semantic information. One hundred boys aged from seven to eleven were tested, using eight nonsense words with contrived meanings. It was expected that visual information would be helpful in spelling irregular words and that, with age, use of strategies would become more flexible, incorporating semantic (along with visual and phonological) information. Contrary to expectations, it was only with the 10‐ and 11‐year‐olds that visual information produced better results than auditory presentation alone but for them, in conjunction with oral responses, it did aid spelling. Such a finding is in keeping with Ehris Amalgamation Theory (1980) which suggests that, in order to be able to manipulate printed words, the learner must draw on several strategies and accepts that no single strategy can be used to overcome all irregularities in written English.

Learning Multi‐unit Number Concepts and Understanding Decimal Place Value

Research indicates that many errors in secondary school mathematics can be attributed to lack of understanding of decimal place value. Recently it has been suggested that this arises from an underlying weakness in integer place value concepts and perception of multidigit numbers in unitary terms rather than base ten, multi‐unit structures. Development of place value and multidigit number concepts was examined in individual interviews with 262 primary school pupils, aged between 7 and 12 years, using subjects’ concrete representations of written numerals and associated verbal explanations. Almost all the children had some understanding of integer place value; most older children had multi‐unit concepts of three‐ or four‐digit numbers; but two‐digit numbers, especially values of 20 or less, were frequently perceived in terms of units by all age groups. This was particularly common for the value ten where 55% of subjects displayed unitary concepts. Implications for understanding and teaching decimal place va...

Stated intention and executive practice in a traditional pre-school programme

The aims of the adults implementing traditional nursery programmes in eight play-groups were elicited by questionnaire. The relative importance accorded to each was compared with everyday practice of the play-groups as described in semi-structured interviews and as assessed by interaction analysis. Socio-emotional development was accorded most prominence in the interview and questionnaire data, but the systematic observation revealed that activities likely to facilitate cognitive development received considerably more time (the ratio was almost 8 to 1). No correlations were found between the orderings of aims elicited by the other two methods and the observational data, and no relationship emerged between the ability level of the children (measured by the Columbia Mental Maturity Scale) and the types of behaviour employed by the adult concerned. However, there were indications that certain kinds of managerial behaviour were associated with lower listening vocabulary scores (measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test).

Mathematics and the Real World

Abstract It has been suggested that perception of mathematics as an academic exercise divorced from reality increases as children progress through school. The present study explores this suggestion with respect to primary school pupils; 144 pupils aged between 6 and 10 years, at four primary schools, were interviewed and asked for examples of everyday uses for familiar mathematical operations. Approximately 60% of suggestions were related to ordinary everyday activities and 30% related to demonstrating or practising mathematical procedures. Patterns of response were not related to age, gender or school. The results suggest that for many children, separation of school mathematics from everyday life starts early in primary school if not before.

Irrelevant information: Some effects on children's problem-solving

Abstract Children of 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 years of age were given simple, social-matching problems. Two conditions were employed: each involved verbal presentation but in one (Condition V) no concrete representation was involved while in the other (Condition M) models were also used. Within each condition, information was provided which was (a) sufficient, (b) superfluous, (c) irrelevant or which displayed a combination of these characteristics. For all age groups, the problems containing only irrelevant information were the most difficult, although Condition M enhanced the performance of younger children while depressing that of 7- and 9-year-olds. The results were interpreted as supporting the view that a major source of difficulty for the child may lie in selecting the appropriate referent. Some inferences are drawn regarding the abilities of children to cope with ambiguity.