A Study of Issues and Techniques for Creating Core Vocabulary Lists for English as an International Language

<p>Core vocabulary lists have long been a tool used by language learners and instructors seeking to facilitate the initial stages of foreign language learning (Fries & Traver, 1960: 2). In the past, these lists were typically based on the intuitions of experienced educators. Even before the advent of computer technology in the mid-twentieth century, attempts were made to create such lists using objective methodologies. These efforts regularly fell short, however, and – in the end – had to be tweaked subjectively. Now, in the 21st century, this is unfortunately still true, at least for those lists whose methodologies have been published. Given the present availability of sizable English-language corpora from around the world and affordable personal computers, this thesis seeks to fill this methodological gap by answering the research question: How can valid core vocabulary lists for English as an International Language be created? A practical taxonomy is proposed based on Biber’s (1988, 1995) multi-dimensional analysis of English texts. This taxonomy is based on correlated linguistic features and reasonably covers representative spoken and written texts in English. The four-part main study assesses the variance in vocabulary data within each of the four key text types: interactive (face-to-face conversation), academic exposition, imaginative narrative, and general reported exposition. The variation in word types found at progressive intervals in corpora of various sizes is measured using the Dice coefficient, a coefficient originally used to measure species variation in different biotic regions (Dice, 1945). The second study proceeds to compare the most frequent vocabulary types in each of the four text types using an equal-sized collection of each text type. Of special interest is the difference between spoken and written texts. Though types are arguably the proper unit to investigate when comparing vocabulary variation, few learners would want to approach vocabulary learning one word type at a time (Nation & Meara, 2002; Bauer & Nation, 1993). The third study thus compares the effect reordering words as families (as opposed to types) has on core vocabulary lists. An analysis is made of the major differences resulting from grouping the members of each word family under a single headword and summing their individual frequencies. Methods are then discussed for how core vocabulary lists of various sizes can be constructed based on the findings of these three studies. Recommendations are made regarding the size and composition of the source corpus and the core list extraction and construction methodology based on the learning objectives.</p>

A Study of Issues and Techniques for Creating Core Vocabulary Lists for English as an International Language

<p>Core vocabulary lists have long been a tool used by language learners and instructors seeking to facilitate the initial stages of foreign language learning (Fries & Traver, 1960: 2). In the past, these lists were typically based on the intuitions of experienced educators. Even before the advent of computer technology in the mid-twentieth century, attempts were made to create such lists using objective methodologies. These efforts regularly fell short, however, and – in the end – had to be tweaked subjectively. Now, in the 21st century, this is unfortunately still true, at least for those lists whose methodologies have been published. Given the present availability of sizable English-language corpora from around the world and affordable personal computers, this thesis seeks to fill this methodological gap by answering the research question: How can valid core vocabulary lists for English as an International Language be created? A practical taxonomy is proposed based on Biber’s (1988, 1995) multi-dimensional analysis of English texts. This taxonomy is based on correlated linguistic features and reasonably covers representative spoken and written texts in English. The four-part main study assesses the variance in vocabulary data within each of the four key text types: interactive (face-to-face conversation), academic exposition, imaginative narrative, and general reported exposition. The variation in word types found at progressive intervals in corpora of various sizes is measured using the Dice coefficient, a coefficient originally used to measure species variation in different biotic regions (Dice, 1945). The second study proceeds to compare the most frequent vocabulary types in each of the four text types using an equal-sized collection of each text type. Of special interest is the difference between spoken and written texts. Though types are arguably the proper unit to investigate when comparing vocabulary variation, few learners would want to approach vocabulary learning one word type at a time (Nation & Meara, 2002; Bauer & Nation, 1993). The third study thus compares the effect reordering words as families (as opposed to types) has on core vocabulary lists. An analysis is made of the major differences resulting from grouping the members of each word family under a single headword and summing their individual frequencies. Methods are then discussed for how core vocabulary lists of various sizes can be constructed based on the findings of these three studies. Recommendations are made regarding the size and composition of the source corpus and the core list extraction and construction methodology based on the learning objectives.</p>

The Impact of Different Context Levels on Vocabulary Learning and Retention

According to research on new vocabulary development by text, frequent experiences with foreign words, as well as the context in which these words appear, facilitate word learning and retention. The aim of this analysis was to see how context levels, word occurrence rates, and the combination of these variables affected the understanding and retention of unfamiliar words. Both zero, reduced, and high contexts were included in the study. The research included 60 Turkish EFL university students, with 20 in each of the three situations. The target words were the same for all learners in each condition. The high informative context was discovered that increasing word occurrences had significant effects on both productive and receptive knowledge of meaning while increasing word occurrences had significant effects on both productive and receptive knowledge of word type. The influence of frequent experiences with new words on vocabulary learning was only seen in the more comprehensive sense. It is realistic to provide learners with new words in high context to trigger vocabulary acquisition and retention.

Online search trends and word-related emotional response during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: a cross-sectional online study

Background The strong and long lockdown adopted by the Italian government to limit COVID-19 spreading represents the first threat-related mass isolation in history that can be studied in depth by scientists to understand individuals’ emotional response to a pandemic. Methods We investigated the effects on individuals’ mental wellbeing of this long-term isolation by means of an online survey on 71 Italian volunteers. They completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and Fear of COVID-19 Scale and judged valence, arousal, and dominance of words either related or unrelated to COVID-19, as identified by Google search trends. Results Emotional judgments changes from normative data varied depending on word type and individuals’ emotional state, revealing early signals of individuals’ mental distress to COVID-19 confinement. All individuals judged COVID-19-related words to be less positive and dominant. However, individuals with more negative feelings and COVID-19 fear also judged COVID-19-unrelated words to be less positive and dominant. Moreover, arousal ratings increased for all words among individuals with more negative feelings and COVID-19 fear but decreased among individuals with less negative feelings and COVID-19 fear. Discussion Our results show a rich picture of emotional reactions of Italians to tight and 2-month long confinement, identifying early signals of mental health distress. They are an alert to the need for intervention strategies and psychological assessment of individuals potentially needing mental health support following the COVID-19 situation.

Animate and Inanimate Words Demonstrate Equivalent Retrieval Dynamics Despite the Occurrence of the Animacy Advantage

People demonstrate a memory advantage for animate (living) concepts over inanimate (nonliving) concepts in a variety of memory tasks, including free recall, but we do not know the mechanism(s) that produces this effect. We compared the retrieval dynamics (serial-position effects, probability of first recall, output order, categorical clustering, and recall contiguity) of animate and inanimate words in a typical free recall task to help elucidate this effect. Participants were more likely to recall animate than inanimate words, but we found few, if any, differences in retrieval dynamics by word type. The animacy advantage was obtained across serial position, including occurring in both the primacy and recency regions of the lists. Participants were equally likely to recall an animate or inanimate word first on the tests and did not prioritize recalling words of one type earlier in retrieval or demonstrate strong clustering by animacy at recall. Participants showed some greater contiguity of recall for inanimate words, but this outcome ran counter to the animacy effect. Together, the results suggest that the animacy advantage stems from increased item-specific memory strength for animate over inanimate words and is unlikely to stem from intentional or strategic differences in encoding or retrieval by word type, categorical strategies, or differences in temporal organization. Although the present results do not directly support or refute any current explanations for the animacy advantage, we suggest that measures of retrieval dynamics can help to inspire or constrain future accounts for this effect and can be incorporated into relevant hypothesis testing.

Exploring Affective Priming Effect of Emotion-Label Words and Emotion-Laden Words: An Event-Related Potential Study

In order to explore the affective priming effect of emotion-label words and emotion-laden words, the current study used unmasked (Experiment 1) and masked (Experiment 2) priming paradigm by including emotion-label words (e.g., sadness, anger) and emotion-laden words (e.g., death, gift) as primes and examined how the two kinds of words acted upon the processing of the target words (all emotion-laden words). Participants were instructed to decide the valence of target words, and their electroencephalogram was recorded at the same time. The behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) results showed that positive words produced a priming effect whereas negative words inhibited target word processing (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, the inhibition effect of negative emotion-label words on emotion word recognition was found in both behavioral and ERP results, suggesting that modulation of emotion word type on emotion word processing could be observed even in the masked priming paradigm. The two experiments further supported the necessity of defining emotion words under an emotion word type perspective. The implications of the findings are proffered. Specifically, a clear understanding of emotion-label words and emotion-laden words can improve the effectiveness of emotional communications in clinical settings. Theoretically, the emotion word type perspective awaits further explorations and is still at its infancy.

Cross-linguistic differences affect emotion and emotion-laden word processing: Evidence from Polish-English and Romanian-English bilinguals

Aims: We study how emotions are represented in Polish-English and Romanian-English bilinguals, whose respective languages either mostly share emotion lexicon (Romanian-English) or not (Polish-English). We test to what extent such variance in lexical proximity between the two bilingual groups affects their decisions about emotional word content. Methodology: In a masked priming paradigm, participants viewed prime-target adjective pairs, and judged whether the target adjective was positive or negative in meaning. Primes and targets either named (emotion word) or evoked (emotion-laden word) emotions, and were either related – that is, belonged to one word type (emotion or emotion-laden) – or unrelated. Data and analysis: Behavioural data were analysed using linear mixed-effects models, with within-subject fixed effects of language, word type, valence and relatedness, and their interactions. Findings/conclusions: We found processing facilitation of emotion-laden rather than emotion words in both participant groups, irrespective of language of operation. Emotion target adjectives, particularly of negative valence, tended to slow down responses of Polish-English bilinguals in their first language. In the Romanian-English group, emotion target adjectives were recognized with lower accuracy in the second language. This pattern of results suggests that affective responsiveness is modulated by the lexical proximity between the first language and second language. Originality: Extending bilingual emotion research, this study tests how emotions are represented in languages that vary in lexical proximity with English: Polish and Romanian. We demonstrate that cross-linguistic differences between the respective languages of a bilingual impact emotional meaning processing in the first and second language. Significance/implications: We provide support for the emotion context-of-learning theory, language-specific episodic trace theory and the sense model in bilingualism, showing that cross-linguistic differences between the first and second language modulate emotion and emotion-laden word processing. Our findings also demonstrate that the distinction between the emotion and emotion-laden words is not as universal as previously assumed.

MontefineseEtAl_2021_ANEW-COVID_PrePrint

Italy was the first Western country with numerous COVID-19 infections that underwent a strong lockdown. This represents the first threat-related mass isolation in the history that can be in-depth studied by scientists to understand the side effects of pandemic lockdown in the psychophysical domain. There is increasing evidence that Italian lockdown was associated with larger incidence of stress, anxiety, and mood symptoms. It was thus expected that, at a more basic level, also emotion perception -namely how an individual judges the affective content of common words- changed substantially during lockdown, especially in individuals with high COVID-19 fear and high negative affect. We measured the effects of this long-term isolation and the related pandemic phobia in an online survey on 71 healthy Italian participants. They completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and Fear of COVID-19 Scale and judged valence, arousal, and dominance of words either related or unrelated to COVID-19, as identified by Google search trends. We found that lockdown imposed by the COVID-19 epidemic had a substantial impact on participants’ emotional responses. Moreover, emotional judgments changes from normative data varied depending on word type and individuals’ emotional state, revealing early signals of individuals’ mental distress to COVID-19 confinement. Lower valence and dominance judgments were given only to COVID-19-related words by individuals with less negative feelings and COVID-19 fear, but also to COVID-19-unrelated words by individuals with more negative feelings and COVID-19 fear. Moreover, arousal judgments for all words decreased and increased, respectively, for individuals with less and more negative feelings and COVID-19 fear. With respect to more direct but demanding and expensive tools such as surveys and questionnaires, the methods used here allow to measure more conveniently but reliably the emotional alteration and clinical psychiatric risk of population through the analysis of word use in the web and their affective connotation.

فعالية نموذج تخمين الكلمة لنتائج تعليم اللغة العربية من فصل المتوسط مجلس تنمية اللغة الاجنبية بمنطقة دار اللغة

This research is motivated by the conditions of learning Arabic in Darul Lughoh Dormitory Foreign Language Development Institute, where student learning outcomes are still not optimal. Researchers try to solve these problems through the use of a cooperative model of guessing the word type to improve learning outcomes in Arabic for students. The formulation of the problems in this study are (1) How to apply the cooperative model of guessing words in Arabic subjects, the subject of the mufrodat subject of hobbies to improve Arabic learning outcomes for students in the Mutawassith class, the Institute for Foreign Language Development, Darul Lughoh Dormitory, Pondok Pesantren Darussalam Blokagung Banyuwangi in 2018 / 2019? (2) How to improve student learning outcomes through the use of the cooperative type guessing model in Arabic for students in the mutawassith class of the Foreign Language Development Institute of Darul Lughoh Boarding School, Darussalam Blokagung Banyuwangi Islamic Boarding School, 2018/2019 Academic Year. The results of the research on the application of the cooperative type guessing model in Arabic after going through the initial, core and final activity steps showed an increase in the learning outcomes of students in the Mutawassith class Foreign Language Development Institute Darul Lughoh boarding school Darussalam Blokagung Banyuwangi Academic Year 2018/2019 . Data from the first cycle shows the average value of student learning outcomes as a whole is 80 with a percentage of 63.63% completeness. Whereas in cycle II the average student learning outcomes became 90 with overall student learning completeness was 86.36%.

GovdeTurk: A Novel Turkish Natural Language Processing Tool for Stemming, Morphological Labelling and Verb Negation

GovdeTurk is a tool for stemming, morphological labeling and verb negation for Turkish language. We designed comprehensive finite automata to represent Turkish grammar rules. Based on these automata, GovdeTurk finds the stem of the word by removing the inflectional suffixes in a longest match strategy. Levenshtein Distance is used to correct spelling errors that may occur during suffix removal. Morphological labeling identifies the functionality of a given token. Nine different dictionaries are constructed for each specific word type. These dictionaries are used in the stemming and morphological labeling. Verb negation module is developed for lexicon based sentiment analysis. GovdeTurk is tested on a dataset of one million words. The results are compared with Zemberek and Turkish Snowball Algorithm. While the closest competitor, Zemberek, in the stemming step has an accuracy of 80%, GovdeTurk gives 97.3% of accuracy. Morphological labeling accuracy of GovdeTurk is 93.6%. With outperforming results, our model becomes foremost among its competitors