A comparative investigation into effects of L1 lexicalization and cultural loadedness on incidental vocabulary acquisition and retention

Abstract

Of primary importance to this study was to compare the incidental acquisition and retention of non-lexicalized (NL) and culturally-loaded (CL) words by 90 Persian-speaking EFL learners. An NL word was defined as an English word which despite bearing the same meaning(s)could not be translated with one single word in the learners' L1 (i.e. Persian). CL words also referred to the lexical items which despite the same primary meaning(s) in both languages (i.e.Persian and English), bore significantly-different cultural connotations. The findings revealed that both NL and CL words were significantly different in the semantic aspects of vocabulary knowledge such as meaning and associations. Nevertheless, NL words were more sensitive to the number of repetition. It seems both groups of words may cause extra difficulty for EFL learners. Thus, the researchers recommend that language teachers have a special focus on such troublesome words through an intensive, systematic recycling program.

Raising Cultural Awareness through Implicit Exposure to Culturally-loaded Vocabulary

“…Although culturally-loaded words have always attracted some attention (see Lado, 1972), they have not yet been investigated from the viewpoint of implicit vocabulary acquisition in general and the effects of exposure frequency in particular (Heidari-Shahreza, Moinzadeh, & Barati, 2014b). To the best of the researcher's knowledge, the only exception is Heidari-Shahreza, Moinzadeh, & Barati's study (2014 b) in which they took a brief account of the acquisition and retention of culturally-loaded and culturally-neutral words.…”

“…In the present study, only semantic subtests of the original test were used because the study focused on culturally-loaded words which were semantically-different. In addition, the relevant literature suggested that the semantic areas of vocabulary knowledge such as meaning and associations could be the main venue of lexical differences (see Heidari-Shahreza & Tavakoli, 2012;Heidari-Shahreza, Moinzadeh, & Barati, 2014b). Therefore, the vocabulary test used in this study measured three aspects of vocabulary To measure this aspect of lexical knowledge, the participants were instructed to translate the TWs into their L1 (i.e.…”

Research on the Influence of Computer Hypermedia Annotations on Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition in English Reading

“…This paper takes an excerpt ( As shown in Figure 1, the learner can view the corresponding notes by clicking on the underlined keywords [7,8]. The hypermedia annotations make it more convenient and less time-consuming for students to complete the reading of the whole article, and improve the efficiency and conciseness of the English reading process.…”