Profiling vocabulary acquisition in Irish

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
CIARA O'TOOLE ◽  
PAUL FLETCHER
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Parent Report ◽  
Strong Preference ◽  
Closed Class

ABSTRACTInvestigations into early vocabulary development, including the timing of the acquisition of nouns, verbs and closed-class words, have produced conflicting results, both within and across languages. Studying vocabulary development in Irish can contribute to this area, as it has potentially informative features such as a VSO word order, and semantically rich prepositions. This study used a parent report adapted for Irish, to measure vocabulary development longitudinally for children aged between 1 ; 04 and 3 ; 04. The findings indicated that the children learned closed-class words at relatively smaller vocabulary sizes compared to children acquiring other languages, and had a strong preference for nouns.

scholarly journals Do Bilinguals Acquire Similar Words to Monolinguals? An Examination of Word Acquisition and the Similarity Effect in Japanese–English Bilinguals’ Vocabularies

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-182
Author(s):  
Aya Kutsuki
Keyword(s):  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Word Category ◽  
Word Acquisition ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Similarity Effect ◽  
Japanese English

Previous research has paid much attention to the overall acquisition of vocabularies among bilingual children in comparison to their monolingual counterparts. Much less attention has been paid to the type of words acquired and the possible transfer or cross-linguistic effects of the other language on vocabulary development. Thus, this study aims to explore similarities and dissimilarities in the vocabularies of simultaneous bilinguals and Japanese monolinguals and considers the possible cross-linguistic similarity effect on word acquisition. Six simultaneous Japanese–English bilingual children (mean age = 34.75 months (2.56)) were language–age-matched with six Japanese monolinguals; their productive vocabularies were compared regarding size and categories. Additionally, characteristic acquired words were compared using correspondence analyses. Results showed that, although delayed due to the reduced inputs, young bilinguals have a similar set of vocabularies in terms of word category as monolinguals. However, bilingual children’s vocabularies reflect their unevenly distributed experience with the language. Fewer interactive experiences with language speakers may result in a lower acquisition of interactive words. Furthermore, there is a cross-linguistic effect on acquisition, likely caused by form similarity between Japanese katakana words and English words. Even between languages with great dissimilarities, resources and cues are sought and used to facilitate bilingual vocabulary acquisition.

scholarly journals The impact of subtitled movies on vocabulary development

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Alisa Sadiku
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Adequate Knowledge ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Technology Resources

Learning new vocabulary compromises a significant factor for success within language learning since without the adequate knowledge of words and their meaning, learners are not able to use the target language efficiently. Moreover, vocabulary tends to be forgotten if it is not acquired and used through the right methods that will provide learners with language inputs in genuine target language environment. In this regard, the increasing access to different multimedia and technology resources facilitate spontaneous vocabulary acquisition for the contemporary age learners. In particular, movies with subtitles can be a great tool in bringing students closer to authentic real life communication vocabulary. As a result, previous studies have found out several benefits of using subtitled movies by confirming that subtitles indeed improve vocabulary development.

Grade 3 ESL teachers’ (mis)conceptions about vocabulary acquisition, learning and instruction: A case study

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jabulani Sibanda
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Teacher Interview ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
Grade 3

development-related (mis)conceptions of ten purposively selected Grade 3 English Second Language teachers in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, with a view to indexing their vocabulary pedagogical practices. The efficacy of teacher cognition on teaching  practices is the theory upon which the present study, which considers vocabulary development as a proxy for literacy attainment, is based. The theory is buttressed by literature on the research-based best practices in literature development against which teachers’ conceptionsare measured. Semi-structured teacher interview findings showed that vocabulary instruction proceeded largely on the basis of intuitive pedagogical decisions which evince dissonance with researchbased best practices. There was a manifest disregard for both incidental andcontextualised vocabulary development, and an apparent underestimation of learners’ potential for independent vocabulary acquisition. Professed instructional strategies only drew learners’ attention to the orthographic and phonological forms of the words at the expense of other crucial dimensions of word knowledge. The paper recommends a consideration of teachers’ vocabulary development-related  perceptions as a point of departure for teacher education and teacher professional development, among others.  

Denominal verb formationin English and Modern Greek

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Nikos Koutsoukos
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Strong Preference ◽  
Modern Greek ◽  
Boundary Permeability ◽  
Category Assignment

Abstract Cross-linguistically, there are different patterns for denominal verb formation and languages show preferences for certain patterns (cf. McIntyre, 2015). In this paper, I focus on denominal verb formation in English and Modern Greek. The analyzed data come from the TenTen corpora (Sketch Engine, Kilgariff et al., 2014). The first aim is to quantify the use of the patterns of denominal verb formations in both languages. The results of the analysis corroborate the findings of previous analyses, such as the strong preference for conversion for denominal verb formation in English and for suffixation in Modern Greek. However, the present paper aims to go a step further. The second aim is to discuss why English and Modern Greek show these preferences. I propose that the preferences can be explained if we correlate the parameters of inflectional marking, word order/configurationality, system of lexical category assignment and boundary permeability.

scholarly journals Check This Word Out! Exploring the Factors That Affect Students’ Vocabulary Learning Using Smartphones via Partial Least Squares

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Madallh Alhabahba ◽  
Omer Hassan Ali Mahfoodh ◽  
Ambigapathy Pandian ◽  
Yazan Mdala Mohammad ◽  
Enas Waleed Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Preparatory Year

A rigorous understanding of the use of Smartphones for foreign language vocabulary acquisition is crucial. Employing the technology acceptance model, this study aims to investigate students’ behavioural factors affecting Saudi students’ attitudes towards employing Smartphones for foreign vocabulary acquisition. Two hundred and seventy-three students studying in a preparatory year programme were surveyed. SmartPLS was employed to analyse the data obtained from the study’s sample. The results revealed that perceived usefulness and attitude proved to be significantly and positively related to vocabulary development. In addition, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use proved to be significant predictors of students’ attitudes towards the use of Smartphone for vocabulary learning. However, the study showed that the relationship between perceived ease of use and vocabulary development is not significant. Thus, publishers of dictionaries may find it necessary to take into account the important role played by the design of dictionaries interfaces in facilitating the use of dictionaries in Smartphones. Furthermore, teachers and educators are encouraged to employ creative activities (e.g., word guessing games) that invest students’ use of Smartphones to learn vocabularies. Using Smartphones in learning improves interaction among students and teachers. Discussion and conclusions are also provided.

scholarly journals Vocabulary development in Greek children: a cross-linguistic comparison using the Language Development Survey*

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 861-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTINA F. PAPAELIOU ◽  
LESLIE A. RESCORLA
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Normative Sample ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Word Use ◽  
Closed Class ◽  
Late Talkers ◽  
Us Children

ABSTRACTThis study investigated vocabulary size and vocabulary composition in Greek children aged 1 ; 6 to 2 ; 11 using a Greek adaptation of Rescorla's Language Development Survey (LDS; Rescorla, 1989). Participants were 273 toddlers coming from monolingual Greek-speaking families. Greek LDS data were compared with US LDS data obtained from the instrument's normative sample (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000). Vocabulary size increased markedly with age, but Greek toddlers appeared to get off to a slower start in early word learning than US children. The correlation between percentage word use scores in Greek and US samples was moderate in size, indicating considerable overlap but some differences. Common nouns were the largest category among the fifty most frequent words in both samples. Numbers of adjectives and verbs were comparable across languages, but people and closed-class words were more numerous in the Greek sample. Finally, Greek late talkers showed similar patterns of vocabulary composition to those observed in typically developing Greek children.

scholarly journals Didactic Games in a Preschool Institution as a Means of Vocabulary Acquisition in Younger Preschoolers

2020 ◽  
pp. 20-23
Author(s):  
Viktoriia Evgenevna Khartova
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Preschool Age

In this article, features of vocabulary development in younger preschool children are considered, and resource capabilities of pedagogical conditions for its development in the conditions of a preschool institution are discussed. The directions for the successful vocabulary development in children of primary preschool age are determined.

Keeping up with the monolinguals

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liquan Liu ◽  
Mengru Han ◽  
René Kager
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Developmental Delay ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Dutch Version ◽  
Bilingual Learners ◽  
Dominant Language

Abstract Previous studies investigating possible differences between monolingual and bilingual infants’ vocabulary development have produced mixed results. The current study examines the size of the total receptive and expressive vocabulary, total conceptual vocabulary, and specific Dutch vocabulary of two hundred 8- to 18-month-old monolingual and bilingual infants born and living in the Netherlands. Families completed a Dutch version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Developmental Inventories. Results illustrate that bilingual infants keep up with monolinguals even in Dutch receptive and expressive vocabulary sizes, showing no trace of delay in the development of the socially dominant language. The overall findings constitute an extension of work on vocabulary acquisition and challenge existing theories that suggest a developmental delay among bilingual learners. The equal pace of development between the monolingual and bilingual groups provides new insights into the influence and perhaps advantages of early bilingual language acquisition.

scholarly journals Subject-verb word order in Spanish interrogatives

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther L. Brown ◽  
Javier Rivas
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Question Type ◽  
Strong Preference ◽  
Conversational Speech ◽  
Puerto Rican Spanish ◽  
Rule Analysis ◽  
Subject Expression

We conduct a quantitative analysis of conversational speech from native speakers of Puerto Rican Spanish to test whether optional non-inversion of subjects in wh-questions (¿qué tú piensas?) is indicative of a movement in Spanish from flexible to rigid word order (Morales 1989; Toribio 2000). We find high rates of subject expression (51%) and a strong preference for SV word order (47%) over VS (4%) in all sentence types, in line with assertions of fixed SVO word order. The usage-based examination of 882 wh-questions shows non-inversion occurs in 14% of the cases (25% of wh-questions containing an overt subject). Variable rule analysis reveals subject, verb and question type significantly constrain interrogative word order, but we find no evidence that word order is predicted by perseveration. SV word order is highest in rhetorical and quotative questions, revealing a pathway of change through which word order is becoming fixed in this variety.

scholarly journals The origins of the Romance analytic passive: Evidence from word order

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieven Danckaert
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Strong Preference ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Past Participle ◽  
Historical Source ◽  
Phonological Process ◽  
Present Tense

This chapter argues that despite formal resemblances, Latin perfect tense BE-periphrases of the type amatus sum ‘I was loved’ are not the historical source of Romance present tense passives like Italian sono amato and French je suis aimé (both meaning ‘I am (being) loved’). Evidence comes from the observation that Late Latin has a very strong preference for the head-final order ‘past participle–BE’, which goes against the otherwise general tendency for the language to move towards a strictly head-initial TP. As an alternative, I propose that amatus sum perfects disappeared from the language, and that the analytic present tense passives are new formations. The Late Latin preference for head-final BE-periphrases is explained in terms of phonological weakening of the auxiliary. I conclude by comparing this phonological process to the oft-discussed grammaticalization of HAVE (habeo) as a marker of futurity.

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