Before reading about the next language strategy, it is important to understand how children learn vocabulary words. In the following video, Dr. Julie Washington will define and explain "fast mapping," or learning vocabulary through two steps. The first step is establishing a referent where children choose a word to define. The second step is refining the definition.
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It is also fundamental to understand that children will learn or “fast map” the first definition they hear. Because of this, it is best to define the word for the children as opposed to allowing children to guess the definition of objects. Guessing can lead to a child fast mapping or learning a definition that may be incorrect.
Dr. Washington used dog as an example of a referent in the video. During the first step, a child might decide a dog is an animal that has two ears, a tail and four legs. However, during this step the child concludes that all animals with four legs, a tail and two ears are dogs. This definition of a dog becomes the referent for the child. He or she will compare all animals with two ears, a tail and four legs to a dog to check their original definition of the word. During the second step, the child refines the definition.
In summary, fast mapping has two steps. The first step is when the child chooses a word to define and the second step is refining the definition.
