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

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.

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-89
Author(s):  
Marta Łockiewicz ◽  
Martyna Jaskulska

The aim of our study was to examine the relationship between access to the mental lexicon, working memory and knowledge of English (L2) vocabulary. Analyses were undertaken amongst monolingual speakers of Polish (26 with dyslexia, 24 without) who studied English as a second language as part of their compulsory educational programme at school.We assumed that students with dyslexia would manifest deficits in access to the mental lexicon and verbal working memory, and would have a limited L2 vocabulary. We also assumed that better access to the mental lexicon facilitates knowledge of English (L2) vocabulary, and that this relationship is present in both the criterion and the control group. All of the students participated in both parts of the assessment, the group part (i.e., questionnaire, IQ test, two vocabulary tasks) and the individual part (i.e., psychological measures: verbal working memory, RAN, verbal fluency, and single word reading in L1 task). We found that students with dyslexia exhibited deficits in the speed of access to data from the mental lexicon. The predictive function of memory for vocabulary was more conspicuous in the control group; in the criterion group, the result might constitute a risk factor for L2 vocabulary acquisition in dyslexia, which may manifest with increased proficiency in word knowledge. Poor vocabulary knowledge renders the L2 learning experience difficult, as it impairs students’ reading comprehension, writing and conversational skills.


2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Irina Elgort

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.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annina Hessel ◽  
Kate Nation ◽  
Victoria Murphy

This experiment investigated comprehension monitoring in children learning English as an additional language (EAL) compared to monolinguals. Sixty-three 9–10-year-old children read texts containing an internal inconsistency (e.g. a barking kitten vs. barking puppy) while their eye movements were monitored. Standardized tests measured word reading fluency and vocabulary size and the children completed a questionnaire tapping rereading behavior. There was no overall difference between EAL and monolingual children. Regardless of EAL status, children with larger vocabularies were more efficient in their re-analysis of inconsistent information, as revealed by regressive eye movements. However, rereading of inconsistent vs consistent words in the eye movement record was not related to children’s self-reported rereading, not providing any support for deliberate rereading. Our findings indicate that successful online monitoring relies on strong word knowledge leading to efficient processing of texts, both for bilingual and monolingual children, and beyond deliberate rereading.


2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-488
Author(s):  
Qian Wang

Abstract There has been a consensus that vocabulary knowledge has become a major contributor to L2 learners ’ efficient communication and comprehension. Incidental vocabulary acquisition relates to lexical gains as a by-product resulting from accomplishing another activity which is not aimed at learning vocabulary. This article intends to provide a digest of research on incidental vocabulary acquisition over the past few decades by primarily focusing on related theoretical frameworks, possible explanatory variables mediating incidental vocabulary learning, and tasks targeted at enhancing incidental lexical growth. In line with analyses of findings yielded from an impressive number of illuminating studies conducted, this article calls for a diversification of efforts in relation to multi-word lexical items, multi-modal e-learning technologies, and insights from neuroscience that may warrant more scholarly attention. These possible areas would further enrich the current scope of L2 incidental vocabulary acquisition research.


Author(s):  
Pui Fong Kan

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.


ReCALL ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Yan Li ◽  
Christoph A. Hafner

Abstract Considerable research has been conducted on the advancement of mobile technologies to facilitate vocabulary learning and acquisition in a second language (L2). However, whether mobile platforms lead to a comprehensive mastery of both receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge has seldom been addressed in previous literature. This study investigated English vocabulary learning from engagement with mobile-based word cards and paper word cards in the context of the Chinese university classroom. A total of 85 undergraduate students were recruited to take part in the study. The students were divided into two groups, a mobile learning group and a paper-based learning group, and tested on two word knowledge components: receptive knowledge of the form–meaning connection and productive knowledge of collocations. Both the digital and non-digital word cards enhanced L2 vocabulary learning, and the results showed that the mobile application (app) promoted greater gains than physical word cards.


2002 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Anne Calhoon ◽  
Lauren Leslie

Beginning readers' rime reading accuracy was assessed over three years to examine the influence of word frequency and rime-neighborhood size (the number of single syllable words with the same rime) on words presented in lists and stories. Twenty-seven 1st- and 2nd- grade students read 54 words and 27 nonwords containing rimes from different size neighborhoods. In Year 1, children showed effects of neighborhood size in high frequency words read in stories and in low frequency words read in lists and stories. In Year 2, rimes from large neighborhoods were read more accurately than rimes from medium and small neighborhoods in high- and low-frequency words. In Year 3, no effects of rime-neighborhood size were found for high-frequency words, but effects on low-frequency words continued. These results support Leslie and Calhoon's (1995) developmental model of the effects of rime-neighborhood size and word frequency as a function of higher levels of word learning.


2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  

JALT member Joseph Poulshock recently posted a video entitled “How do humans acquire language?” to the extensive reading (ER) website BeeOasis.com. In it, he describes his ALBUM Theory (acquire language by understanding messages), by which he means that the comprehension of input―for example, through ER―is the best way to acquire a second language. The video prompted an online discussion in which a number of JALT members exchanged ideas about the acquisition of vocabulary, the role of ER in the acquisition of various aspects of word knowledge, and the relative importance of input to the language acquisition process. An abbreviated version of this conversation is presented here.


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