Proficiency and sentence constraint effects on second language word learning

The influence of conceptual concreteness on the reading acquisition and integration of novel words into semantic memory via thematic relations

Plenty of studies have been conducted to reveal neurocognitive underpinnings of conceptual representation. Compared with that of concrete concepts, the neurocognitive correlates of abstract concepts remain elusive. The current study aimed to investigate the influence of conceptual concreteness on the reading acquisition and integration of novel words into semantic memory. We constructed two-sentence contexts in which two-character pseudowords were embedded as novel words. Participants read the contexts to infer the meaning of novel words which were either concrete or abstract, and then performed a lexical decision task and a cued-recall memory task. In lexical decision task, primed by the learned novel words, their corresponding concepts, thematically related or unrelated words as well as unlearned pseudowords were judged whether they were words or not. In memory task, participants were presented with the novel words and asked to write down their meaning. The contextual reading and memory test can demonstrate the modulation of conceptual concreteness on novel word learning and the lexical decision task can reveal whether concrete and abstract novel words are integrated into semantic memory similarly or not. During contextual reading, abstract novel words presented for the first time elicited a larger N400 than concrete ones. In memory task, the meaning of concrete novel words was recollected better than abstract novel words. These results indicate that abstract novel words are more difficult to acquire during contextual reading, and to retain afterwards. For lexical decision task behavioral and ERPs were graded, with the longest reaction time, the lowest accuracy and the largest N400s for the unrelated words, then the thematically related words and finally the corresponding concepts of the novel words, regardless of conceptual concreteness. The results suggest that both concrete and abstract novel words can be integrated into semantic memory via thematic relations. These findings are discussed in terms of differential representational framework which posits that concrete words connect with each other via semantic similarities, and abstract ones via thematic relations.

Costs and Benefits of Native Language Similarity for Non-native Word Learning

The present study examined the costs and benefits of native language similarity for non-native vocabulary learning. Because learning a second language (L2) is difficult, many learners start with easy words that look like their native language (L1) to jumpstart their vocabulary. However, this approach may not be the most effective strategy in the long-term, compared to introducing difficult L2 vocabulary early on. We examined how L1 orthographic typicality affects pattern learning of novel vocabulary by teaching English monolinguals either Englishlike or Non-Englishlike pseudowords that contained repeated orthographic patterns. We found that overall, the first words that individuals learned during initial acquisition influenced which words they acquired later. Specifically, learning a new word in one session made it easier to acquire an orthographically similar word in the next session. Similarity among non-native words interacted with native language similarity, so that words that looked more like English were easier to learn at first, but they were less effective at influencing later word learning. This demonstrates that although native language similarity has a beneficial effect early on, it may reduce learners' ability to benefit from non-native word patterns during continued acquisition. This surprising finding demonstrates that making learning easier may not be the most effective long-term strategy. Learning difficult vocabulary teaches the learner what makes non-native words unique, and this general wordform knowledge may be more valuable than the words themselves. We conclude that native language similarity modulates new vocabulary acquisition and that difficulties during learning are not always to be avoided, as additional effort early on can pay later dividends.

Rapid L2 Word Learning through High Constraint Sentence Context: An Event-Related Potential Study

Previous studies have found quantity of exposure, i.e., frequency of exposure (Horst et al., 1998; Webb, 2008; Pellicer-Sánchez and Schmitt, 2010), is important for second language (L2) contextual word learning. Besides this factor, context constraint and L2 proficiency level have also been found to affect contextual word learning (Pulido, 2003; Tekmen and Daloglu, 2006; Elgort et al., 2015; Ma et al., 2015). In the present study, we adopted the event-related potential (ERP) technique and chose high constraint sentences as reading materials to further explore the effects of quantity of exposure and proficiency on L2 contextual word learning. Participants were Chinese learners of English with different English proficiency levels. For each novel word, there were four high constraint sentences with the critical word at the end of the sentence. Learners read sentences and made semantic relatedness judgment afterwards, with ERPs recorded. Results showed that in the high constraint condition where each pseudoword was embedded in four sentences with consistent meaning, N400 amplitude upon this pseudoword decreased significantly as learners read the first two sentences. High proficiency learners responded faster in the semantic relatedness judgment task. These results suggest that in high quality sentence contexts, L2 learners could rapidly acquire word meaning without multiple exposures, and L2 proficiency facilitated this learning process.

The Effect of Number and Presentation Order of High-Constraint Sentences on Second Language Word Learning

This paper presents the results of an experiment that investigated the effects of number and presentation order of high-constraint sentences on semantic processing of unknown second language (L2) words (pseudowords) through reading. All participants were Chinese native speakers who learned English as a foreign language. In the experiment, sentence constraint and order of different constraint sentences were manipulated in English sentences, as well as L2 proficiency level of participants. We found that the number of high-constraint sentences was supportive for L2 word learning except in the condition in which high-constraint exposure was presented first. Moreover, when the number of high-constraint sentences was the same, learning was significantly better when the first exposure was a high-constraint exposure. And no proficiency level effects were found. Our results provided direct evidence that L2 word learning benefited from high quality language input and first presentations of high quality language input.