STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE OF LEXEMES FROM SECOND GRADE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL READERS

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to obtain the results on the degree of the independent understanding of lexemes contained in text books used by third grade elementary school students. The investigation is conducted using descriptive and statistical methods. Approximately 100 words were selected from various types of texts, with the percentages of successfully interpreted lexemes presented in a table. The results obtained warrant concern. In general, the students demonstrate a lack of understanding the true meaning of the lexemes used in the texts they already processed in class. The context in which a word appears is helpful in deciphering its meaning, but these results are also far from satisfactory. The lexicon contained in school reading materials is not adapted to children’s age and contains an abundance of loan words of Turkish origin, as well as archaic and foreign words. Likewise, the investigation showed that students have a very limited lexical inventory.