This study examined the effects of semantic and structural elaboration on second language (L2) lexical acquisition. English-speaking low-intermediate L2 Spanish learners attempted to learn 24 new Spanish words in three conditions: (a) make pleasantness ratings about each word referent based on previous experiences (+semantic); (b) count letters in each word (+structural); and (c) "do your best" only (no elaboration). Dependent variables were free recall of the target words in Spanish, free recall of the target words in English, and cued recall (generate Spanish words when presented with pictures). Results indicated higher Spanish free recall for +structural than for +seman-tic; higher English free recall for +semantic than for +structural; higher overall recall for no elaboration than for +semantic and +structural; and higher cued recall for control than for +semantic and +structural. The results provide evidence that increased semantic processing can inhibit one's ability to encode the formal properties of new words.Semantic elaboration refers to increased evaluation of an item with regard to its meaning. Structural elaboration refers to increased evaluation of an item with regard to its (phonemic,

This study examined the effects of acoustic variability on second language vocabulary learning. English native speakers learned new words in Spanish. Exposure frequency to the words was constant. Dependent measures were accuracy and latency of picture-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English recall. Experiment 1 compared presentation formats of neutral (conversational) voice only, three voice types, and six voice types. No significant differences emerged. Experiment 2 compared presentation formats of one speaker, three speakers, and six speakers. Vocabulary learning was superior in the higher-variability conditions. Experiment 3 partially replicated Experiment 1 while rotating voice types across subjects in moderate and no-variability conditions. Vocabulary learning was superior in the higher variability conditions. These results are consistent with an exemplar-based theory of initial lexical learning and representation.Successful speech comprehension in any language depends on the ability to perceive individual linguistic forms when presented with acoustically variant examples of those forms in the speech stream+ Among the sources of acoustic variability that produce these variant examples are~a! speech produced by different speakers and~b! speech produced by one talker in different voice

Research suggests that memory for an item improves when one is allowed to retrieve the item (Slamecka & Graf, 1978). This study explored benefits of providing opportunities for target-word retrieval during second language vocabulary learning. English speakers studied new Spanish words while viewing 24 word-picture pairs. They first viewed all 24 pairs. They then viewed 12 pairs with a 6-s lag between each picture and its word so that they could attempt to retrieve the word in their mind. The other 12 pairs were presented without the lag. Posttests were administered immediately, 2 days later, and 1 week later. Results indicated higher scores in the retrieval-oriented condition. This positive effect was maintained across significant decreases in scores over time.

International audienceThis study compared the effects of writing new words in sentences with word picture repetition learning alone. Second language (L2) Spanish learners attempted to learn 24 new Spanish words in one of two conditions while viewing word picture pairs. In Experiment 1, in the no sentence writing condition, the participants viewed 4 repetitions of each word for 6 seconds each. In the sentence writing condition, they viewed 1 repetition of each word for 48 seconds and were asked to write the word in a Spanish sentence. In Experiment 2, the participants were shown one repetition of each word for 24 seconds in both the sentence writing and no sentence writing conditions. Immediate and delayed posttests on productive vocabulary knowledge were administered in both experiments. Scores were submitted to analyses of variance. Condition and time were independent variables. Target word production was scored based on syllables and whole words produced. Results of both experiments indicated strong negative effects for the sentence writing conditions, suggesting that sentence writing can inhibit word form learning during the initial stages of L2 lexical acquisition

This study examined how three different sources of stimulus variability—overall amplitude, fundamental frequency, and speaking rate—affect second language (L2) vocabulary learning. Native English speakers learned Spanish words in presentation formats with no variability, moderate variability, and high variability. Dependent measures were accuracy and latency of picture-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English recall. The findings indicated that variability sources that do not affect first language (L1) word identification (amplitude, fundamental frequency) do not affect L2 vocabulary learning. Conversely, variability in speaking rate, which negatively affects L1 word identification, positively affected L2 vocabulary learning. These findings are consistent with an integrated account in which sources of variability that affect phonetically relevant properties of speech impede L1 speech processing but improve L2 vocabulary learning.