Snow C E
Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.
J Child Lang. 1990 Oct;17(3):697-710. doi: 10.1017/s0305000900010953.
Giving good definitions requires controlling both word meaning and definitional form. Definitions from 137 second to fifth graders (i.e. aged seven to eleven) were scored to reflect conformity to the classic Aristotelian form and quality of information provided. Comparisons among children with different backgrounds indicated that school exposure to English was strongly related to per cent formal definitions given and their quality. 63 children were also tested in French, their foreign language. Performance in French was lower than in English; exposure to French at home related to the amount of information the children provided in informal definitions, not to quality of formal definitions. The results suggest that performance on definitions is most strongly affected by opportunities to practise the required form.
给出恰当的定义需要同时把控词义和定义形式。对137名二至五年级学生（即7至11岁）给出的定义进行打分，以反映其与经典亚里士多德形式的契合度以及所提供信息的质量。对不同背景的儿童进行比较后发现，学校的英语学习经历与给出的形式正确定义的比例及其质量密切相关。此外，还对63名儿童进行了他们的外语——法语的测试。他们的法语表现低于英语；在家中接触法语与儿童在非正式定义中提供的信息量有关，而与形式正确定义的质量无关。结果表明，定义方面的表现受练习所需形式机会的影响最大。
