Abstract:

The purpose of the present study is to determine the effects of Frayer model on the development of vocabulary knowledge in social studies. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design was used in the study. For the research, an experimental (N=19) and a control group (N=18) were randomly selected. While Frayer model as text based organizer was utilized on vocabulary instruction in the experimental group, the definitional and contextual approaches by integrating were used in the control group. This research was implemented at a state school with the 4th grade students in Bayburt, in 2013-2014 academic season. The scale, which was developed by Wesche and Paribakht (1996) and validity and reliability of which were examined and adapted to Turkish by the researcher, was used to determine the students� vocabulary knowledge level. As for the results, it was found that the experimental group was more successful in vocabulary knowledge through the meanings of the target words by enlarging their vocabulary capacity in-depth. The data obtained from the study demonstrated that Frayer model facilitated the students to identify relevant, irrelevant attributes, examples and non-examples of the concepts and uncover the relationships and hierarchical structures between the concepts, thus guide to generate the meanings of terms by activating prior knowledge. Therefore, it helps to the students facilitate development of vocabulary knowledge and vocabulary acquisition.

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