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.

scholarly journals Probing into Native and Nonnative Students’ Mental Lexicon: a Case of Word Association Comparison

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-213
Author(s):  
Afrooz Marzban ◽  
Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri ◽  
Firooz Sadighi ◽  
Ehsan Rassaei
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Word Association Test ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
High Level

The present study compared British English speakers’ (native) and Iranian EFL learners’ (nonnative) mental lexicon structure focusing on how words are selected and used by the two groups. The types of word association links, syntagmatic and paradigmatic, more frequently applied by the two groups of the participants, were probed into. To this end, 40 native and 40 nonnative college students, both male and female, were compared as far as mental lexicon was concerned. Accordingly, through the Oxford Placement Test (OPT), the nonnative subjects were assigned to three ability levels; namely, high, mid and low. Next, the Word Association Test (WAT) was administered respectively to all native and nonnative participants. The comparison of the WAT results through a series of Chi-square tests and a test of Mann-Whitney indicated that the employed word association links varied among the native and nonnative participants. The findings revealed that the low and mid level nonnatives which comprised a majority of Iranian EFL learners employed the syntagmatic relation to a greater extent than the high level nonnatives. However, only one resemblance was observed between the natives and the high level nonnatives who frequently applied the paradigmatic link. Thus, it was concluded that the advanced Iranian learners performed in a similar way as that of the native English speakers; as a result, it was suggested that the improvement in the proficiency level could lead to a change in making mental links. The findings would contribute to the psychological concerns in language teaching and learning in most academic contexts of higher age ranges.

Word Class Influence upon L1 and L2 English Word Association

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Xiaosa ◽  
Wang Wenyu
Keyword(s):  
Word Association ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
English Word ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Word Association Test ◽  
Word Classes ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
L1 English

AbstractThis study explores word class influence upon L1 and L2 word association. The participants included 26 L1 English speakers and 28 advanced EFL learners who finished an English word association test that involved three types of stimuli: nouns, verbs and adjectives. Response words to the stimuli were classified into paradigmatic, syntagmatic, encyclopedic and form-based categories. Results show that: 1) L2 mental lexicon largely resembled that of L1 English speakers in that both were dominated by paradigmatic association, but L2 syntagmatic association was obviously weaker than that of L1 across the three word classes; 2) Verbs and adjectives demonstrated a greater potential to elicit syntagmatic responses than nouns in both L1 and L2 association; 3) Compared with verbs and adjectives, nouns were more paradigmatically challenging to L2 learners.

scholarly journals Effects of reading Strategies and Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge on Turkish EFL Learners’ Text Inferencing Skills

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Abdulvahit Cakir ◽  
Ihsan Unaldi ◽  
Fadime Yalcin Arslan ◽  
Mehmet Kilic
Keyword(s):  
Reading Strategies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Word Association Test ◽  
Major Implication ◽  
National Test ◽  
Significant Factors

<p>Within the framework of foreign language teaching and learning, reading strategies, depth of vocabulary knowledge and text inferencing skills have not been researched extensively. This study tries to fill this gap by analyzing the effects of reading strategies used by Turkish EFL learners and their depth of vocabulary knowledge on their text inferencing skills. Three different measures were used in the study: Word Association Test (WAT), Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI), and inferencing questions used in a standardized national test. The association test and reading strategies scores were regressed on inferencing scores of the participants. The results revealed that depth of vocabulary knowledge was a better predictor of inferencing skills compared to reading strategies. However, the model created by using these two predictors accounted for only 15% of the variance, and the major implication of this result is that there are other more significant factors which affect text inferencing skills of EFL learners than reading strategies and depth of vocabulary knowledge.</p>

scholarly journals KETERBACAAN TEKS DALAM BUKU SISWA KELAS VI SEKOLAH DASAR

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 594
Author(s):  
Muhammad Choirul Imam
Keyword(s):  
Word Association ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Research Subject ◽  
Short Word ◽  
Word Association Test ◽  
Language Knowledge ◽  
Descriptive Method ◽  
Readability Formula ◽  
Cloze Test

ABSTRACTThis research purposed to describe the readability tex in the six grade book. This purpose atributed with three manners for analyzing readability levels, tes of question and answer, readability formula, and cloze tes. This research diversified quantitative-qualitative by descriptive method. This research subject was twenty seven text from nine theme, also student in Lamongan The Elementary School of Paciran 1. To collect data, used documentation technique (Fry Graph), also word association test, and cloze test. The data of  Fry Graph, word association test, and cloze tes taken from the described score taken from describe the parts. The result of this research is first, the readability text based on early knowledge of readers about topics were difficult because of the percentage result from the test of word association were 29%. Second, the readability tekt based on the readability levels based on readability formula(Fry Graph) is 7, 8, dan 9 also very close long word area. Third, the readability text based on the vocabularies control which was influenced by the language knowledge student was difficult because of the percentage result from Cloze test was 10%. Therefore, teks in The Six Grade Book was difficulted to readable and comprehended student class VI because the quality text based on long-short word, knowledge readers (early and vocabularies control) and Cloze test was difficult. Keywords: Readability Teks, Word Association Tes, Fry Graph, Cloze Tes. ABSTRAK                                                                                          Penelitian ini bertujuan mendeskripsikan tentang keterbacaan teks yang termuat dalam buku siswa kelas VI. Tujuan tersebut juga terkait dengan tiga cara untuk menganalisis tingkat keterbacaan, yakni tes tanya jawab, formula keterbacaan dan tes Cloze. Penelitian ini berjenis kualitatif-kuantitatif dengan metode deskriptif. Subjek penelitian ini adalah dua puluh tujuh teks dalam sembilan tema, serta siswa di SD Negeri Paciran I Lamongan. Untuk mengumpulkan data, digunakan teknik dokumentasi (Grafik Fry) serta tes asosiasi kata dan tes Cloze. Data dari Grafik Fry, tes asosiasi kata, dan tes Cloze berupa skor yang dideskripsikan serta data dari analisis berupa deskripsi. Hasil penelitian ini pertama, tingkat keterbacaan teks berdasarkan pengetahuan awal pembaca tentang topik adalah rendah karena hasil presentasi tes asosiasi kata 29%. Kedua, tingkat keterbacaan teks berdasarkan formula keterbacaan (Grafik Fry) adalah 7, 8, dan 9 serta mendekati daerah long word. Ketiga, tingkat keterbacaan berdasarkan tes Cloze  yang dipengaruhi oleh pengetahuan kebahasaan  siswa itu sulit karena hasil persentase tes Cloze 10%. Dengan demikian, teks dalam buku teks kelas VI sulit dibaca dan dipahami siswa kelas VI karena kualitas teks berdasarkan pengetahuan siswa, panjang-pendek, dan tes Cloze tergolong sulit. Kata Kunci: Tingkat Keterbacaan Teks, Asosiasi Kata, Grafik Fry, Tes Cloze

scholarly journals The Organization of Words in Mental Lexicon: Evidence from Word Association Test

TEKNOSASTIK ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Budi Eko Pranoto ◽  
Lidia K. Afrilita
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Word Association ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Word List ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Word Association Test ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
And Linguistics

Both in psychology and linguistics studies, memory is one of the core of interests amongst researchers. In linguistics, memory is the place where language processes consisting of language perception, storage, and access of words take place. Words, in memory, are stored in complex, clear, well-organized, and ordered networks called nodes, which can be represented by World Wide Web.  This word organization in psycholinguistics is referred to mental lexicon. This study aims to investigate what kind of nodes representation stored in mental lexicon of foreign language learners. Word Association Test (WAT), the well-known study method in both psychology and linguistics studies, is employed by using English Swadesh word list as the stimulus to elicit the lexical relation amongst words. The basic principle of the test is giving a stimulus to respondents and asking them to give the very first word coming out of their mind. Respondents are undergraduate students of English Literature a university in Indonesia.  Findings of this research support the previous findings stating that non-native speakers tend to make syntagmatic relation, which is mostly dominated by collocation association. Interestingly, the finding also shows that the words network in mental lexicon involves a dynamic development based on experience and perception of the respondents.Key Words: lexical relation, mental lexicon, word association

Controlled Oral Word Association Test

1983 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. Benton ◽  
de S. K. Hamsher ◽  
A. B. Sivan
Keyword(s):  
Word Association ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Word Association Test

Mobile-assisted vocabulary learning: Investigating receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge of Chinese EFL learners

ReCALL ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Yan Li ◽  
Christoph A. Hafner
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Mobile Platforms ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Learning Group ◽  
Chinese University ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

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.

Do word associations assess word knowledge? A comparison of L1 and L2, child and adult word associations

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjolein Cremer ◽  
Daphne Dingshoff ◽  
Meike de Beer ◽  
Rob Schoonen
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Development ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Association Behavior ◽  
Log Linear ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Free Word

Differences in word associations between monolingual and bilingual speakers of Dutch can reflect differences in how well seemingly familiar words are known. In this (exploratory) study mono-and bilingual, child and adult free word associations were compared. Responses of children and of monolingual speakers were found to be more dispersed across response categories than responses of adults and of L2 speakers, respectively. Log linear analyses show that the distributional patterns of association responses differ among the groups. Age has the largest effect on association responses. Adults give more meaning-related responses than children. Child L1 speakers give more meaning-related responses than child L2 speakers. Form-based and ‘Other’ associations were mostly given by (L2) children. The different findings for mono- and bilingual children and for mono- and bilingual adults show the influence of bilingualism on the development of word associations. The prominent effect of age emphasizes the role of conceptual development in word association behavior, and makes free word association tasks less suitable as an assessment tool for word knowledge.

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