A One-Month Experiment in Teaching Context Aids in Fifth Grade

FOR A number of years, reading authorities j have indicated that certain aids in the context of a reading selection are useful in unlocking the meaning of an unknown word. These helps are called context aids. One example of a context aid is a parenthetical element; another is the con trasting phrase. Artley (1) provided an extensive classification of context aids along with sugges tions for teaching their use. The major reading series include exercises designed to teach the child to read the entire sentence or paragraph to get help in unlocking the meaning of a word. The question of how context aids are to be learned arises. McKee (5) states that careful, definite instruction in using verbal context should be given. Steams (7) reviewed studies by Bur gard (3) and White (9) and found that inter mediate grade children had little success in using context. Peterson (6) studied the effect of in structing junior high-school students in the use of context aids. She reported a significant gain by one of her experimental groups. Butler (3), in an experimental study of the ability of children in grades five and six to unlock meanings of words, found no significant difference between the experi mental and control groups following the experi mental teaching period. These findings are inter esting in the light of the study by Eckert (4) which shows that context is a differential factor