scholarly journals Girl – lass or curl?

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 22.1-22.17
Author(s):  
Catrin Elisabeth Norrby ◽  
Gisela Håkansson
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Lexical Development ◽  
Association Tests

One of the ways to investigate the mental lexicon is to use word association tests. Empirical studies comparing associations by children and adults have indicated a tendency for children to give syntagmatic responses, whereas adults give paradigmatic responses. In order to investigate lexical development in L2 acquisition of Swedish we collected data from two groups of students, one in MalmÖ, Sweden and one in Melbourne. Part of the Melbourne group also took the association test in their L1 six months later. Native speakers were used as a control group. The results demonstrate that learners in general tend to focus more on form than content compared to native speakers. This trend was particularly strong for the L2 group in Melbourne who also exhibited more variation in their responses compared to the L2 group in Sweden and the NS control group.

Girl – lass or curl?

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 22.1-22.17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catrin Elisabeth Norrby ◽  
Gisela Håkansson
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Lexical Development ◽  
Association Tests

One of the ways to investigate the mental lexicon is to use word association tests. Empirical studies comparing associations by children and adults have indicated a tendency for children to give syntagmatic responses, whereas adults give paradigmatic responses. In order to investigate lexical development in L2 acquisition of Swedish we collected data from two groups of students, one in MalmÖ, Sweden and one in Melbourne. Part of the Melbourne group also took the association test in their L1 six months later. Native speakers were used as a control group. The results demonstrate that learners in general tend to focus more on form than content compared to native speakers. This trend was particularly strong for the L2 group in Melbourne who also exhibited more variation in their responses compared to the L2 group in Sweden and the NS control group.

scholarly journals Tracking Syntactic Conflict between Languages over the Course of L2 Acquisition: A Cross-sectional Event-related Potential Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 822-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Mickan ◽  
Kristin Lemhöfer
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Control Group ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Sentence Reading ◽  
Conflict Condition ◽  
Beginning Learners ◽  
L1 And L2

One challenge of learning a foreign language (L2) in adulthood is the mastery of syntactic structures that are implemented differently in L2 and one's native language (L1). Here, we asked how L2 speakers learn to process syntactic constructions that are in direct conflict between L1 and L2, in comparison to structures without such a conflict. To do so, we measured EEG during sentence reading in three groups of German learners of Dutch with different degrees of L2 experience (from 3 to more than 18 months of L2 immersion) as well as a control group of Dutch native speakers. They read grammatical and ungrammatical Dutch sentences that, in the conflict condition, contained a structure with opposing word orders in Dutch and German (sentence-final double infinitives) and, in the no-conflict condition, a structure for which word order is identical in Dutch and German (subordinate clause inversion). Results showed, first, that beginning learners showed N400-like signatures instead of the expected P600 for both types of violations, suggesting that, in the very early stages of learning, different neurocognitive processes are employed compared with native speakers, regardless of L1–L2 similarity. In contrast, both advanced and intermediate learners already showed native-like P600 signatures for the no-conflict sentences. However, their P600 signatures were significantly delayed in processing the conflicting structure, even though behavioral performance was on a native level for both these groups and structures. These findings suggest that L1–L2 word order conflicts clearly remain an obstacle to native-like processing, even for advanced L2 learners.

Can Implicit Associative Responses Be Measured by Word Association Tests?

1968 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 921-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Jung ◽  
Sonya Weber
Keyword(s):  
Time Pressure ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Association Tests ◽  
Word Association Test ◽  
Administrative Procedures ◽  
The Relationship

The number of superordinate responses on a categorized word association test was lower when stimulus words from each category were presented in blocks or when there was no time pressure for responding. Both findings illustrate the susceptibility of word associations to the influence of variations in administrative procedures. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the relationship between overt word-association-test responses and implicit associative responses.

Word-Association Tests: A Statistical Approach

1982 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 283-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Zinger
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Approach ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Association Tests ◽  
Word Association Test

Measures are proposed for the diversity of responses to the Kent-Rosanoff Word Association Test. Comparisons of stimuli are possible.

scholarly journals Emerging ASL Distinctions in Sign-Speech Bilinguals' Signs and Co-speech Gestures in Placement Descriptions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Therese Frederiksen
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Group Placement

Previous work on placement expressions (e.g., “she put the cup on the table”) has demonstrated cross-linguistic differences in the specificity of placement expressions in the native language (L1), with some languages preferring more general, widely applicable expressions and others preferring more specific expressions based on more fine-grained distinctions. Research on second language (L2) acquisition of an additional spoken language has shown that learning the appropriate L2 placement distinctions poses a challenge for adult learners whose L2 semantic representations can be non-target like and have fuzzy boundaries. Unknown is whether similar effects apply to learners acquiring a L2 in a different sensory-motor modality, e.g., hearing learners of a sign language. Placement verbs in signed languages tend to be highly iconic and to exhibit transparent semantic boundaries. This may facilitate acquisition of signed placement verbs. In addition, little is known about how exposure to different semantic boundaries in placement events in a typologically different language affects lexical semantic meaning in the L1. In this study, we examined placement event descriptions (in American Sign Language (ASL) and English) in hearing L2 learners of ASL who were native speakers of English. L2 signers' ASL placement descriptions looked similar to those of two Deaf, native ASL signer controls, suggesting that the iconicity and transparency of placement distinctions in the visual modality may facilitate L2 acquisition. Nevertheless, L2 signers used a wider range of handshapes in ASL and used them less appropriately, indicating that fuzzy semantic boundaries occur in cross-modal L2 acquisition as well. In addition, while the L2 signers' English verbal expressions were not different from those of a non-signing control group, placement distinctions expressed in co-speech gesture were marginally more ASL-like for L2 signers, suggesting that exposure to different semantic boundaries can cause changes to how placement is conceptualized in the L1 as well.

scholarly journals Exploration of the relationship between word-association and learners’ lexical development with a focus on American L1 and Croatian L2 speakers

ExELL ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-101
Author(s):  
Maja Séguin
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Process ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Lexical Development ◽  
Personal Involvement ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Constant Change ◽  
Mental Mapping ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractVocabulary acquisition is a dynamic process and there is a constant change in the way words are stored in the mental lexicon. Word association tests are used in linguistic research to observe to which extent mental mapping can be understood. This paper presents the results of a word association game consisting of seven words administered to second language speakers, and native speakers for comparative purposes. The results indicate the possibility of a link between experiences and associations, which leads to the recommendation for teachers to create activities and new experiences that demand the learner’s personal involvement in expanding their vocabulary.

Effects of corrective feedback on L2 acquisition of tense-aspect verbal morphology

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Mifka-Profozic
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Control Group ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Improving Accuracy ◽  
Passe Compose

In this study, the effectiveness of implicit corrective feedback was examined with a group of 30 sixteen-year-old English native speakers learning French, who received either recasts or clarification requests on errors they made with the passé composé and the imparfait. The control group did not receive any feedback. Overall, the results indicate that recasts were more effective in improving accuracy of form and use for both the passé composé and the imparfait. However, an examination of language development with reference to the Aspect Hypothesis and the inherent lexical aspect of verbs showed that no change occurred between the pretest and the posttests. The passé composé was associated exclusively with achievement verbs, whereas the imparfait was limited to several frequent irregular stative verbs and a few activity verbs.

scholarly journals Comprehension of grammatically modified and nonmodified sentences by second language learners

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana C. Issidorides ◽  
Jan H. Hulstijn
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
State Of Affairs

ABSTRACTAt issue in the present research is whether native speakers' “simplified” or modified utterances, as in foreigner-talk (FT), actually facilitate comprehension for nonnative speakers hearing such utterances. It was hypothesized that (grammatical) Dutch inversion sentences (AdvVSO) that have proven to be problematic in studies on Dutch second language (L2) acquisition - as reflected both in the (ungrammatical) output of L2 learners and in the (ungrammatical) FT input to L2 learners - would not be problematic in terms of comprehension, when compared with modified, ungrammatical AdvSVO and AdvSOV sentences, as long as such sentences do not express an implausible state of affairs. Three subject groups participated in the experiment: 20 English and 22 Turkish L2 learners of Dutch and 30 Dutch native speakers (control group). Subjects heard and interpreted declarative Dutch sentences, in which word order (NVN, VNN, NNV) and animacy configurations (Al [i.e., animate/inanimate], AA, LA) were systematically manipulated. Subjects had to name the noun (first or second) that functions as actor/subject of the sentence. Positive evidence was found for the hypotheses. It is concluded from the present study, as well as from a previous study (Issidorides, 1988), that linguistically more complex input will not necessarily impede comprehension. The fact that normative speakers have difficulties in producing a certain grammatical structure (e.g., the AdvVSO structure) does not imply that such a structure is also more difficult to understand in the speech of others.

The L2 acquisition of dative experiencer subjects

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina A. Montrul
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Control Group ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Dative Case ◽  
Psych Verbs ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Preference Task

This longitudinal experimental study is concerned with the L2 acquisition of argument structure and its relationship with Case Theory. French ( n = 17) and English ( n = 19) intermediate learners of Spanish as a Second Language were tested three times over a period of eight months on their knowledge of dative experiencers. Eighteen Spanish native speakers acted as a control group. Dative experiencers in Spanish are common with a subset of psych verbs and unaccusative predicates. These experiencers look like indirect objects on the surface, and indeed can appear in the position of indirect objects. Most of the time, however, they appear in canonical subject position and behave like subjects for some modules of the grammar, such as Control PRO in adjunct clauses. It was hypothesized that if a thematic hierarchy is operative in SLA,both English and French learners would have no difficulty interpreting experiencers as subjects, but that English learners would experience greater difficulty with dative case because there is no dative case in English.An Interpretation Task and a Preference Task were designed to test these hypotheses. Results indicate that,whereas both groups of subjects have access to the thematic hierarchy (a UG component),L1 influence plays an important role with case assignment and checking.

scholarly journals A Study on the Way in which Words Are Organized in Iranian EFL Learners’ Mental Lexicon

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Sedigheh Sharifi ◽  
Masoud Khalili Sabet ◽  
Abdorreza Tahriri
Keyword(s):  
Word Association ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Word Association Test ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
The Way

Vocabulary learning in both L1 and L2 is considered important to master a language. Individuals need to learn the words in order to express ideas and to communicate. As a result, research into word knowledge is important as it provides useful information considering the way in which words are learned and organized in individuals’ mind; however different studies have been conducted in this regard, there is a long way to fully understand individuals’ mental lexicon. So, word association tests are used to examine the word knowledge, to study vocabulary learning process, and how it occurs in the language learners’ mind. Similarly, the aim of this paper is to investigate the way in which words are stored and organized in Iranian EFL learners’ mental lexicon through a word association test. To this end, a word association test was designed including eight prompt words from different word classes and was administered to 50 Iranian EFL learners. They were randomly selected and included 22 males and 28 females from Razi University and an institute in Kermanshah, Iran. After administering the test, to analyze the data, learners’ responses were classified and the frequency of each classification of word association was calculated and chi-square tests were run to compare responses. Results reveal that the participants displayed different patterns in their responses as syntagmatic and paradigmatic classification. Most of them made more syntagmatic responses than paradigmatic ones. As a result, it can be concluded that more participants make mental links with syntagmatic compared to others who make links with paradigmatic and there are significant differences between male and female learners in the use of syntagmatic and paradigmatic responses; on the other hand, it appears that there is no significant differences in learners’ word association regarding age. This study has useful implications for both EFL teachers and learners by helping them understand and improve the lexical acquisition process.

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