The Mental Lexicon of Low-Proficiency Korean Heritage Learners

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-35
Author(s):  
Mary Shin Kim
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Heritage Learners ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Insight Into

Previous studies have examined word association behaviors of native speakers and non-native speakers, pointing out differences in the organization of their mental lexicon. This study investigates a relatively underexplored area in word association studies—the word association of heritage learners. The study compares word association behaviors of low-proficiency Korean heritage learners to those of native Korean speakers and non-heritage learners. Preliminary results indicate that heritage learners exhibit a great deal of variability in their word association patterns compared to native speakers and non-heritage learners. All three subject groups show an overall preference for meaning-based association over position-based association for nouns. However, in subcategories of meaning-based and position-based responses, the three groups show significant differences. Heritage learners tend, like native speakers, to produce more responses based on strong conceptual associations than non-heritage learners. Yet heritage learners, despite their larger vocabulary size and their exposure to the language in authentic socio-cultural contexts at home, show little difference from non-heritage learners in their weak collocation-based associations. This preliminary study provides insight into heritage learners’ mental lexicon in contrast to those of native speakers and non-heritage learners, and also discusses pedagogical implications for teaching vocabulary to heritage learners.

How Game Designers Can Account for Those With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) When Designing Game Experiences

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-55
Author(s):  
Robert Costello ◽  
Jodie Donovan
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Verbal Cues ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Game Environment ◽  
Insight Into

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disability among gamers where individuals belonging to this group of conditions have difficulty understanding non-verbal cues. Though game accessibility is a focal point in the games industry, there has been a keen focus placed on developing accessibility. Consequently, this study examines the perspective of video games from individuals who have autism to gain further insight into the needs of these individuals. The preliminary study is to discover if autistic users' difficulty reading non-verbal cues extends to their perception of a game environment and if these individuals can experience sensory distress while playing video games. A prototype was created to further understand the non-verbal cues to help shape the foundation of accessibility framework. The preliminary results concluded that autistic users frequently misread or fail to pick up on the non-verbal cues used by developers to drive game flow and narrative (e.g., sign-posting), in addition to experiencing sensory distress while playing video games.

Form prominence in the L2 lexicon: Further evidence from word association

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-90
Author(s):  
Nan Jiang ◽  
Jianqin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
First Language ◽  
The Past ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Orthographic Priming ◽  
Selection Of

Two lines of evidence emerged in the past suggesting that lexical form seemed to play a more important role in the organization of the second language (L2) mental lexicon than in that of the first language (L1) lexicon. They were masked orthographic priming in L2 word recognition and an elevated proportion of form-related responses in L2 word association. However, findings from previous word association studies were inconsistent regarding (1) how often L2 speakers produced form-related responses ( flood–blood) and (2) whether L2 speakers were more likely than L1 speakers to provide such responses. Attributing this inconsistency to two methodological causes, the classification of form-related responses and the selection of stimuli, the present study adopted an improved approach by quantifying the definition of form-related responses and by selecting stimuli that had both strong semantic associates and orthographically similar words as potential responses. The latter improvement helped remove the bias for producing either meaning-based or form-based responses. A group of 30 English native speakers and two groups of 65 non-native speakers were tested on the same set of stimuli of 74 English words. Three findings were obtained: (1) non-native speakers produced significantly more form-related responses than native speakers, (2) the two non-native speaker group who differed in L2 experiences showed comparable results, and (3) the participants’ familiarity with the stimuli and the lexical frequency of the stimuli negatively correlated with the proportion of form-related responses among non-native speakers. These results provided more compelling evidence for form prominence in the L2 lexicon.

How Game Designers Can Account for Those With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) When Designing Game Experiences

2022 ◽  
pp. 202-224
Author(s):  
Robert Costello ◽  
Jodie Donovan
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Verbal Cues ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Game Environment ◽  
Insight Into

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disability among gamers where individuals belonging to this group of conditions have difficulty understanding non-verbal cues. Though game accessibility is a focal point in the games industry, there has been a keen focus placed on developing accessibility. Consequently, this study examines the perspective of video games from individuals who have autism to gain further insight into the needs of these individuals. The preliminary study is to discover if autistic users' difficulty reading non-verbal cues extends to their perception of a game environment and if these individuals can experience sensory distress while playing video games. A prototype was created to further understand the non-verbal cues to help shape the foundation of accessibility framework. The preliminary results concluded that autistic users frequently misread or fail to pick up on the non-verbal cues used by developers to drive game flow and narrative (e.g., sign-posting), in addition to experiencing sensory distress while playing video games.

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 Partial word knowledge: Frontier words in the L2 mental lexicon

2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-301
Author(s):  
Alla Zareva
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Partial Knowledge ◽  
Frequency Content ◽  
Association Task ◽  
Associative Behavior ◽  
Partial Word ◽  
Knowledge Scale

Abstract The study set out to examine the partial word knowledge of native speakers, L2 advanced, and intermediate learners of English with regard to four word features from Richards' (1976) taxonomy of aspects describing what knowing a word entails. To capture partial familiarity, the participants completed in writing a test containing low and mid frequency content words, accompanied by a word knowledge scale. The analysis showed that there were three distinctive patterns of partially familiar vocabulary but their distribution across the three groups was quite different, which indicated that partial knowledge was linked to different word features across the three proficiency groups. It was also of interest to explore whether the participants maintained similar associative connections for their frontier words and whether a word association task would capture partial familiarity. Overall, participants' associative domains for frontier words did not reveal any consistent associative behavior that would distinguish between proficiency groups.

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.

scholarly journals Habits and rabbits

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 121-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tess Fitzpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
New Method ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Association Response ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Insight Into

Word associations have traditionally been used in linguistic research as a means of accessing information about the organisation of the mental lexicon. A number of important studies have revealed differences in word association behaviour in the L1 and the L2, but have failed to find consistent behaviour patterns. The study reported here suggests that this failure might be due to two factors: the choice of stimulus words and the categorisation of responses, which impose artificial constraints on both association behaviour and the exploration of response types. In order to move the investigation of L2 word associations forward, this study compares native speaker responses to a specific set of stimuli with those of advanced non-native speakers. The types of association response made by each group of subjects are investigated by means of a retrospective interview, and patterns in response types are mapped. This results in a new method of categorising word association responses, and provides more precise insight into the differences between L1 and L2 association patterns.

De Vergeten Leerprincipes

1989 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 42-50
Author(s):  
Ludovic Beheydt
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Contextual Learning ◽  
Experimental Designs ◽  
Structured Design

Recently learning psychologists have tried to prove that learning vocabulary in paired lists is more efficient than learning vocabulary in contexts. However, closer inspection of their experimental designs reveals undeniably that the evidence presented is not very reliable. The experiments are based on linguistically naive assumptions. Polysemy within and heterosemy between languages have not sufficiently been taken into account. The assumptions concerning the mental lexicon are equally naive in that they do not account for the highly structured design of the mental lexicon. Fundamental insights from linguistics and learning psychology support contextual learning of vocabulary. Especially vocabulary learning by means of "pregnant" contexts that foster mental elaboration seems to be highly recommendable. It is furthermore argued that the acquisition of the polysemous and syntactically and morphologically versatile profile of vocabulary items should begin with the prototypical meaning of words, which can be inferred from word association lists obtained with native speakers

scholarly journals The Nativelikeness Problem in L2 Word-association Tasks: Examining Word Class and Trials

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Boji P. W. Lam ◽  
Li Sheng
Keyword(s):  
Significant Variation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Association Norm ◽  
L2 Learners

Significant variation exists in how native speakers respond to word association tasks and challenges the usage of nativelikeness as a benchmark to gauge second language (L2) performance. However, the influence of word class and trials of elicitation is not sufficiently addressed in previous work. With controlled stimuli from multiple word classes, repeated elicitations, and analytic approaches aiming to tease apart their interactions, this study compared the extent to which native speaker controls and late L2 learners generated associates that converged to a large-scale association norm, and examined the influence of word class and trial on the likelihood to elicit idiosyncratic responses within the two language groups. During initial elicitation, only adjectives elicited greater convergence to the norm among native speakers than L2 learners. Furthermore, native speakers were more likely to generate synonyms whereas L2 learners were more likely to generate antonyms to adjectives in the initial elicitation. For nouns and verbs, 30% of associates produced by the native speaker controls failed to converge to the norm. In fact, the native speaker controls were not more “nativelike” than L2 learners for nouns and verbs until later elicitations. Finally, despite reports of significant variation among native speakers in previous work, the amount of response idiosyncrasy was consistently lower in native speakers than in L2 learners, regardless of word class or elicitation trial. By revealing the effects of word class and trials on association performance, findings from this study suggest potential means to ameliorate the issue with nativelikeness in L2 word association studies.

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