Word knowledge, learning and acquisition in a second language: Proposed replications of Elgort (2011) and Qiao and Forster (2017)

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Irina Elgort
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
L2 Word Learning ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
To Come ◽  
Prime Lexicality Effect ◽  
The Mind ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

AbstractWhat does it mean to learn a word? How can we tell when a sequence of letters or sounds becomes a word in the mind of the learner? While many second language (L2) vocabulary teaching and learning studies continue to use traditional vocabulary tests to measure learning (such as multiple choice, translation, gap-fill), these measures tend to come short when researchers want to address theoretical questions about the nature of L2 word knowledge. In the present paper, I argue for conceptualising word learning as lexicalisation, which necessitates the use of alternative approaches to measuring learning. I then propose approximate and conceptual replications of two theoretically motivated L2 word learning studies, Elgort (2011) and Qiao and Forster (2017), that used the Prime Lexicality Effect as a measure of lexicalisation of deliberately learned L2 words.

Deliberate Learning Of Second Language (L2) Vocabulary: Research-Based Guidelines

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
Syarifuddin .
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Word List ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Word Families ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Deliberate Learning ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

<p>This article is devoted to overviewing several current studies on L2 vocabulary learning, especially those aimed at investigating and exploring the ways in which deliberate vocabulary learning would be best facilitated, and thus would increase learning. It is argued that knowledge of vocabulary is fundamental in all language use, and becomes an essential part to master second language. A large amount of vocabulary is required to use English both receptively and productively: 8000 – 9000 word families needed in order to adequately comprehend a wide range of written discourse (Nation, 2006), and 2000 – 3000 word families required to get sufficient comprehension of spoken discourse (van Zeeland &amp; Schmitt, 2012). Knowing a lexical item entails several aspects of word knowledge i.e., form, meaning, and use, each of which is further comprised of several sub-aspects of word knowledge. In addition, vocabulary learning is incremental in nature. Taken all these into account, there should be a component of deliberate vocabulary learning in language teaching, regardless of the preferred teaching methods being applied. Most importantly, deliberate learning of vocabulary should be intensively focused on lexical items which fall into both the new GSL word list (Brezina &amp; Gablasova, 2015) and the new AWL word list (Coxhead, 2000). Finally, reviewing current studies on L2 vocabulary learning results in several research-based guidelines for deliberate or intentional vocabulary learning which are discussed throughout the rest of this article.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong><em>vocabulary learning, vocabulary size, word knowledge, high-frequency words, academic words, deliberately-learning-vocabulary guidelines</em><em> <strong></strong></em></p>

scholarly journals Harnessing the Power of a Student’s Mind by Practicing NLP Techniques in Classrooms

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohini Thukran ◽  
Aastha Dhingra
Keyword(s):  
Personal Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Self Help ◽  
The World ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
The Mind ◽  
And Behavior

Harnessing the power of the mind has led to the popularity of alternative approaches to personal development and communication. One of these methods is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, which was initiated as a self-help process. In a dynamic teacher-learner relationship, meaning is achieved through mutual feedback. All communication potentially influences learning. Teachers’ language and behavior crucially influence learners on at least two levels: Their understanding of the topic in question and their beliefs about the world, including about learning. Teachers’ awareness of their behavior and choice of words, and how sensitive they are to the influence of such words and behavior on learners, are vital to making the teaching and learning processes effective. Thus, the advocates of Neuro-linguistic programming are attempting to bridge the gap between neuro-linguistic programming and the academic community. This paper discusses NLP not as a business, but as phenomenology, or what happens subjectively inside the learning mind, various techniques to bind the power of mind, hoping the NLP ideas here will find their way into more and more classrooms.

scholarly journals Contrasting Similar Words Facilitates Second Language Vocabulary Learning in Children by Sharpening Lexical Representations

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peta Baxter ◽  
Mienke Droop ◽  
Marianne van den Hurk ◽  
Harold Bekkering ◽  
Ton Dijkstra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
The Other ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Learning Method ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Skilled Readers ◽  
Lexical Representations ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

This study considers one of the cognitive mechanisms underlying the development of second language (L2) vocabulary in children: The differentiation and sharpening of lexical representations. We propose that sharpening is triggered by an implicit comparison of similar representations, a process we call contrasting. We investigate whether integrating contrasting in a learning method in which children contrast orthographically and semantically similar L2 words facilitates learning of those words by sharpening their new lexical representations. In our study, 48 Dutch-speaking children learned unfamiliar orthographically and semantically similar English words in a multiple-choice learning task. One half of the group learned the similar words by contrasting them, while the other half did not contrast them. Their word knowledge was measured immediately after learning as well as 1 week later. Contrasting was found to facilitate learning by leading to more precise lexical representations. However, only highly skilled readers benefitted from contrasting. Our findings offer novel insights into the development of L2 lexical representations from fuzzy to more precise, and have potential implications for education.

scholarly journals Using eye-tracking in applied linguistics and second language research

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy Conklin ◽  
Ana Pellicer-Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Data Source ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Tracking Technology

With eye-tracking technology the eye is thought to give researchers a window into the mind. Importantly, eye-tracking has significant advantages over traditional online processing measures: chiefly that it allows for more ‘natural’ processing as it does not require a secondary task, and that it provides a very rich moment-to-moment data source. In recognition of the technology’s benefits, an ever increasing number of researchers in applied linguistics and second language research are beginning to use it. As eye-tracking gains traction in the field, it is important to ensure that it is established in an empirically sound fashion. To do this it is important for the field to come to an understanding about what eye-tracking is, what eye-tracking measures tell us, what it can be used for, and what different eye-tracking systems can and cannot do. Further, it is important to establish guidelines for designing sound research studies using the technology. The goal of the current review is to begin to address these issues.

scholarly journals CONTEXTUAL WORD LEARNING DURING READING IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Elgort ◽  
Marc Brysbaert ◽  
Michaël Stevens ◽  
Eva Van Assche
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Expository Text ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

AbstractReading affords opportunities for L2 vocabulary acquisition. Empirical research into the pace and trajectory of this acquisition has both theoretical and applied value. Charting the development of different aspects of word knowledge can verify and inform theoretical frameworks of word learning and reading comprehension. It can also inform practical decisions about using L2 readings in academic study. Monitoring readers’ eye movements provides real-time data on word learning, under the conditions that closely approximate adult L2 vocabulary acquisition from reading. In this study, Dutch-speaking university students read an English expository text, while their eye movements were recorded. Of interest were patterns of change in the eye movements on the target low-frequency words that occurred multiple times in the text, and whether differences in the processing of target and control (known) words decreased overtime. Target word reading outside of the familiar text was examined in a posttest using semantically neutral sentences. The findings show that orthographic processing develops relatively quickly and reliably. However, online retrieval of meaning remains insufficient for fluent word-to-text integration even after multiple contextual encounters.

In hand and in mind: Effects of gesture production and viewing on second language word learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURA M. MORETT
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Recall ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Spontaneous Production ◽  
L2 Word Learning ◽  
Gesture Production ◽  
Do So

ABSTRACTTo date, within the context of second language (L2) word learning, nonspontaneous representational gesture viewing's impact on memory and spontaneous gesture production's impact on communication have been examined separately. Thus, it is unclear whether and how these effects interact, particularly in the same individuals. The present study addresses this question by comparing these effects and by examining their influence on one another. To do so, a dialogic task was employed in which participants learned words from a novel L2 and taught them to other similar participants. The results show that viewing nonspontaneous representational gesture did not affect L2 word recall whereas spontaneous production of different gesture types affected communication and memory of L2 word meanings in varying ways. Furthermore, the results provide evidence that gesture viewing primes production of similar types of gestures, and that the quantity and types of gestures produced differ based on the context of communication. These results indicate that the effects of spontaneous gesture production on communication are stronger than the effects of nonspontaneous gesture viewing on memory, and that these effects influence one another. Together, these results demonstrate that spontaneous gesture production and nonspontaneous gesture viewing play distinct but interrelated roles in L2 acquisition.

scholarly journals UNDERSTANDING COGNATE WORDS IN A FIRST CONTACT WITH ENGLISH

2020 ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Pâmela Freitas Pereira Toassi ◽  
Silvia Hedine de Albuquerque Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Motivational Factor ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
L2 Vocabulary ◽  
First Contact

In the present study the cognate facilitation effect was investigated by means of a translation task applied to ten participants (mean age of 44 years old) who had never taken an English course and who were skeptical about being able to learn the language. The task consisted of the translation of 40 non identical cognate words from English to Portuguese. By means of this task, we could infer if the cognate words could be understood in a first contact with English. The results were positive: more than 50% of the words presented to these participants were correctly translated into Portuguese. In addition, the present study showed that cognate words work as a motivational factor to make people inspired to learn a second language, in this case English, as reported by all of the participants of who took part in the present study. Furthermore, the findings of the present study are aligned with the literature, favoring the view that cognate words are easily recognized. This data has implications for the teaching and learning of English in the Brazilian context.Keywords: Cognates; L2 vocabulary; bilingualism.

A Study on Lexical Sense Relations from the Perspective of Vocabulary Breadth and Word Frequency

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 988
Author(s):  
Xiaoli Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
L2 Vocabulary ◽  
Substantial Extent

In second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition, breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge are two indispensable components that interrelate with each other to a substantial extent. Breadth of vocabulary is actually vocabulary size. Lexical sense relations, part and parcel of depth of vocabulary, are reported to be able to facilitate the mastery of L2 words. Word frequency concerns the familiarity of words. The present research intends to make a synthetical analysis of the development of L2 word meaning under the influence of vocabulary size and word frequency in classroom settings. The merging of qualitative and quantitative aspects of words is to describe exhaustively how students fit the words into their mind, and to provide some pedagogical implications to L2 vocabulary teaching and learning.

Measuring Word Learning Ability in Sequential Bilingual Children

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pui Fong Kan
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Novel Word Learning ◽  
L1 And L2

Abstract The purpose of this article is to look at the word learning skills in sequential bilingual children—children who learn two languages (L1 and L2) at different times in their childhood. Learning a new word is a process of learning a word form and relating this form to a concept. For bilingual children, each concept might need to map onto two word forms (in L1 and in L2). In case studies, I present 3 typically developing Hmong-English bilingual preschoolers' word learning skills in Hmong (L1) and in English (L2) during an 8-week period (4 weeks for each language). The results showed gains in novel-word knowledge in L1 and in L2 when the amount of input is equal for both languages. The individual differences in novel word learning are discussed.

The Cycle of Academic Reading Fear Among Undergraduates

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 265
Author(s):  
Noor Hanim Rahmat ◽  
Mazlen Arepin ◽  
Suraiya Sulaiman
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Anxiety Scale ◽  
Academic Reading ◽  
Reading Anxiety

This study investigates students' fear in academic reading as well as the influence of perceived difficulties in their reading comprehension. The paper aims to study the level of anxiety as experienced by undergaduate students in academic reading. Data from 25 respondents were analyzed quantitatively using Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) developed by Saito, Horwitz, and Garza (1999). Te objectives of the study are to examine the influence of students' fear and perceived difficulties in academic reading. The findings of this study reveal that factors such as background and culture, general reading ability, vocabulary, grammar as well as teaching method can make readers fear reading. The results of this study bear interesting implications towards the teaching and learning of academic reading in English as a Second Language.

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