Research on strategies for word learning indicates that young children
A) learn to speak grammatically because these types of statements will effectively communicate their desires and needs.
B) use different syntactic structures to associate vocabulary words with objects.
C) develop specialized linguistic processing skills that enable them to analyze speech and detect semantic relationships.
D) figure out the meanings of words by contrasting them with words they already know and assigning the new label to a gap in their vocabulary.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Research has shown that young children often use a "gap-filling" strategy when learning new words. This involves encountering a new word and contrasting it with words they already know, then assigning the new label to a gap in their vocabulary. For example, if a child knows the words "dog" and "cat," and encounters a new animal labeled "horse," they may assign "horse" to a gap in their vocabulary, rather than assuming that it is similar to either "dog" or "cat." This strategy allows children to quickly learn a large number of words with limited exposure.

Research on Strategies for Word Learning Indicates That Young Children