scholarly journals Emotion-Involved Semantic Processing and L2 Vocabulary Memory: A Micro-Level Emotion Manifesto

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-30
Author(s):  
Yu Kanazawa ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

Emotion is a pervasive phenomenon whose pivotal impacts on cognition have been proposed and increasingly acknowledged (e.g., operator effect and “(de-)energizing” effect; cf. Ciompi & Panksepp, 2005; Damasio, 2003; LeDoux, 2012). In accordance with this, second language acquisition (SLA) studies have recently seen an “affective turn” (Pavlenko, 2013) and several theories have been proposed and studies conducted concerning the effect of affect in SLA from such perspectives as motivation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011), foreign language anxiety/enjoyment (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2016), Directed Motivational Currents (Dörnyei, Henry, & Muir, 2016), and emotional intelligence (Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2017; Kanazawa, 2016b). The purpose of the experiments was to examine whether emotion-involved semantic processing (EmInvSemProc) results in better incidental L2 memory performance compared to other types of semantic processing (viz., a lexical decision task [LDT] for Experiment A and an imageability judgment task [IJT] for Experiment B).

Semantic processing in the neglected visual field: Evidence from a lexical decision task

1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regina McGlinchey-berroth ◽  
William P. Milberg ◽  
Mieke Verfaellie ◽  
Michael Alexander ◽  
Patrick T. Kilduff
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Field Evidence

Semantic Processing of Foveally and Parafoveally Presented Words in a Lexical Decision Task

1992 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis J. Fuentes ◽  
Pío Tudela
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Inhibitory Effects ◽  
Target Stimulus Onset Asynchrony ◽  
Onset Asynchrony ◽  
Prime Target

Using a lexical decision task in which two primes appeared simultaneously in the visual field for 150 msec followed by a target word, two experiments examined semantic priming from attended and unattended primes as a function of both the separation between the primes in the visual field and the prime-target stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA). In the first experiment significant priming effects were found for both the attended and unattended prime words, though the effect was much greater for the attended words. In addition, and also for both attention conditions, priming showed a tendency to increase with increasing eccentricity (2.3°, 3.3°, and 4.3°) between the prime words in the visual field at the long (550 and 850 msec) but not at the short (250 msec) prime-target SOA. In the second experiment the prime stimuli were either two words (W-W) or one word and five Xs (W-X). We manipulated the degree of eccentricity (2° and 3.6°) between the prime stimuli and used a prime-target SOA of 850 msec. Again significant priming was found for both the attended and unattended words but only the W-W condition showed a decrement in priming as a function of the separation between the primes; this decrement came to produce negative priming for the unattended word at the narrow (2°) separation. These results are discussed in relation to the semantic processing of parafoveal words and the inhibitory effects of focused attention.

Language learning grit, achievement, and anxiety among L2 and L3 learners in Russia

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Sudina ◽  
Luke Plonsky
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Specific Approach ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
General Perspective

Abstract Although most research into grit – an individual difference that encompasses perseverance and passion for achieving long-term goals – has taken a domain-general perspective (e.g., Duckworth et al., 2007), emerging interest in a domain-specific approach to grit (e.g., Clark & Malecki, 2019) provides the groundwork for research into language learning grit. Expanding upon this nascent line of research (e.g., Teimouri, Plonsky, & Tabandeh, in press), this exploratory study supports a two-dimensional factor structure of language learning grit and, given the superior criterion validity of the perseverance of effort (PE) grit subscale comparable to foreign language anxiety with regard to second (L2) and third (L3) language achievement and self-rated proficiency among 153 Russian undergraduates, a reconceptualization of – and further research into – grit as a language-domain-specific construct in second language acquisition (SLA).

Semantic processing in aphasia: Evidence from an auditory lexical decision task

1982 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheila E. Blumstein ◽  
William Milberg ◽  
Robin Shrier
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Auditory Lexical Decision

scholarly journals Semantic priming in the dual task paradigm

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etienne P. LeBel
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Additive Effect ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Central Processing ◽  
Early Effects

This study examined whether early effects of semantics could occur in the context of the PRP paradigm. Based on Reynolds and Besner (2004), it was predicted that early effects of semantics would possibly be observed. The study found that the difference in reaction times for the related and unrelated primes for the secondary lexical decision task were constant at the varying SOAs. This additive effect, using the locus-of-slack logic, means that semantic information occurs at or after the central processing bottleneck. Thus, the results did not lend support for our prediction, as semantic information did not feedback to letter representations. The results of this study thus contradict Reynolds and Besner’s (2004) position that the letter level receives information from the semantic and lexical levels. Johnston, McCann, and Remington’s (1995) position, on the other hand, is completely in line with the current data of this study. Their theory that words and semantic occur at or after central processing accounts for the additive effects observed in this study. The current study found that the faster related prime trials in the secondary lexical decision task remained as fast in the short SOA as compared to the long SOA. Thus, the additive effect found lends support that semantic analysis occurs at or after the central attention bottleneck. Although early effects of semantics were not found in the current investigation, one can only imagine that one day researchers may be able to show semantic processing occurring simultaneously with other cognitive tasks.

scholarly journals Getting a Grip on Sensorimotor Effects in Lexical-Semantic Processing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Heard ◽  
Christopher R Madan ◽  
Andrea Protzner ◽  
Penny M. Pexman
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Human Body ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Semantic Categorization ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Object Interaction ◽  
Sensorimotor Information ◽  
Theoretical Import

One of the strategies that researchers have used to investigate the role of sensorimotor information in lexical-semantic processing is to examine effects of words’ rated body-object interaction (BOI; the ease with which the human body can interact with a word’s referent). Processing tends to be facilitated for words with high BOI compared to words with low BOI, across a wide variety of tasks. Such effects have been referenced in debates over the nature of semantic representations, but their theoretical import has been limited by the fact that BOI is a fairly coarse measure of sensorimotor experience with words’ referents. In the present study we collected ratings for 621 words on seven semantic dimensions (graspability, ease of pantomime, number of actions, animacy, size, danger, and usefulness) in order to investigate which attributes are most strongly related to BOI ratings, and to lexical-semantic processing. BOI ratings were obtained from previous norming studies (Bennett, Burnett, Siakaluk, & Pexman, 2011; Tillotson, Siakaluk, & Pexman, 2008) and measures of lexical-semantic processing were obtained from previous behavioural megastudies involving the semantic categorization task (concrete/abstract decision; Pexman, Heard, Lloyd, & Yap, 2017) and the lexical decision task (Balota et al., 2007). Results showed that the motor dimension of graspability, ease of pantomime, and number of actions were all related to BOI and that these dimensions together explained more variance in semantic processing than did BOI ratings alone. These ratings will be useful for researchers who wish to study how different kinds of bodily interactions influence lexical-semantic processing and cognition.

Research in the Doctoral Program in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 542-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter I. De Costa ◽  
Carolina Bernales ◽  
Margaret Merrill
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Doctoral Program ◽  
Third Language ◽  
University Of Wisconsin ◽  
Foreign Language Policy ◽  
The University ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

Faculty and graduate students in the Doctoral Program in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison engage in a broad spectrum of research. From Professor Sally Magnan's research on study abroad and Professor Monika Chavez's work in foreign language policy through Professor Richard Young's examination of language-in-interaction, Professor Jane Zuengler's investigation of language socialization, Professor Diana Frantzen's research in second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition and linguistic analysis of literature, to Professor Catherine Stafford's investigation of processes involved in Spanish-English bilinguals’ acquisition of a third language (L3), our research interests encompass much of the SLA field.

Task effects in bilingual idiom comprehension

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna B. Cieślicka ◽  
Roberto R. Heredia ◽  
Tanya García
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Idiom Comprehension ◽  
Task Effects ◽  
Idiomatic Expressions

AbstractThe purpose of the experiments reported here is to explore the effects of task (implicit vs. explicit) on the activation of literal and figurative meanings of English idiomatic expressions in the course of their processing by Spanish–English bilinguals varying along their dominance in English or Spanish. Two experiments were carried out using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task: an implicit lexical decision task and an explicit meaningfulness judgment task. Stimuli included literally plausible English idioms (e.g.

scholarly journals Second Life: A Virtual Environment to Reduce Students’ Foreign Language Anxiety

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Gloria Sánchez Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Affective Factors

Second language acquisition (SLA) is a complex construct in which not only cognitive factors play a crucial role, but also affective ones. In the last decades, the analysis of affective factors in second (L2) and foreign language (FL) learning has gained prominence. Research has shown a strong correlation between language learning and aspects such as personality, motivation, attitude, or anxiety, to name but a few (e.g., Gardner, 2020; Hewitt & Stephenson, 2011; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1989). The purpose of this paper is to examine whether Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) levels could be lessened using Virtual Worlds (VWs) such as Second Life (SL) for language teaching. This investigation compares the FLA levels of an Experimental Group (EG), which completed three activities through SL, with a Control Group (CG), which completed the same activities in the traditional classroom. Results indicate that the FLA levels of participants in the EG decreased as lessons went by in comparison with those participants in the CG. Moreover, findings suggest that the confidence of those participants working in SL increased as time went by. This boost in learners’ confidence could be attributed to the crucial role played by anonymity in VWs.

scholarly journals Feature distinctiveness effects in language acquisition and lexical processing: Insights from megastudies

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia S. Q. Siew
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Semantic Feature ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Decision Performance ◽  
Semantic Decision ◽  
Visual Lexical Decision

Semantic features are central to many influential theories of word meaning and semantic memory, but new methods of quantifying the information embedded in feature production norms are needed to advance our understanding of semantic processing and language acquisition. This paper capitalized on databases of semantic feature production norms and age-of-acquisition ratings, and megastudies including the English Lexicon Project and the Calgary Semantic Decision Project, to examine the influence of feature distinctiveness on language acquisition, visual lexical decision, and semantic decision. A feature network of English words was constructed such that edges in the network represented feature distance, or dissimilarity, between words (i.e., Jaccard and Manhattan distances of probability distributions of features elicited for each pair of words), enabling us to quantify the relative feature distinctiveness of individual words relative to other words in the network. Words with greater feature distinctiveness tended to be acquired earlier. Regression analyses of megastudy data revealed that Manhattan feature distinctiveness inhibited performance on the visual lexical decision task, facilitated semantic decision performance for concrete concepts, and inhibited semantic decision performance for abstract concepts. These results demonstrate the importance of considering the structural properties of words embedded in a semantic feature space in order to increase our understanding of semantic processing and language acquisition.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document