Lexical-semantic processing of nouns in preschool children

Abstract

The aim of the study is to determine the characteristics of lexical-semantic processing of nouns in children aged five and a half to seven years. The sample consists of 60 children, of which 30 (50%) are boys and 30 (50%) are girls. In relation to age, the sample of children is divided into three age groups with an age interval of six months. In order to research lexical-semantic abilities, the Test of speech development-Testofword definitions and the Semantic test were applied. The results of the study show that preschool children most often produce functional definitions (31%), while the literary and descriptive definitions (18%), as well as logical definitions (17%) are almostequally represented in the answers ofchildren. When analyzing the results of semantic abilities, itwas found that children achieve the best performance on the antonyms task, while the lowest achievement was accomplished within the synonyms task. Only on the antonyms taskstatistically significant differences were identified in achievement between the youngest and middle-aged group, in favor of older children (p < 0.05). Boys and girls show similar tendencies in development of different abilities, measured by overall performance on all tasks, as indicated by the absence of interaction between age and sex factors (p > 0.05). The importance of children's vocabulary development and its impact on school performance has been the subject of many studies. A well-developed vocabulary in children is part of their language competence and contributes to development of adequate communication skills, therefore, the linguistic indicators we used in our study representa significant indicator oflexical-semantic development.