A comparison of vocabulary learning by moderately retarded students under direct instruction and incidental presentation

Flash cards were used to teach new vocabulary words to six moderately retarded adolescents in a group format. From a pool of 119 words that were not known by any student, 10 were randomly selected and taught to each student in the presence of the group. All students were tested periodically on their own 10 words, on the 50 words presented to their peers, and on 10 uninstructed control words. Students all showed significant learning of their own words, and the faster learners showed significant learning of their classmates' words as well. The results were interpreted as favoring small-group instruction of moderately mentally retarded students.