Vocabulary teaching strategies and conceptual representations of words in L2 in children: Evidence with novice learners

Comesaña, Montserrat; Perea, Manuel; Piñeiro, Antonio; Fraga, Isabel

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2008.10.004

Cited by 67 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(81 reference statements)

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“…The present study also informs a popular model of bilingual language memory and processing—the revised hierarchical model proposed by Kroll and Stewart (1994). According to this model, the conceptual representation of L1 and L2 is shared while their lexical representation is organized in separate stores.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Neural Correlates of Task-Irrelevant First and Second Language Emotion Words – Evidence from the Emotional Face–Word Stroop Task

Fan

Wang

et al. 2016

Front. Psychol.

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Emotionally valenced words have thus far not been empirically examined in a bilingual population with the emotional face–word Stroop paradigm. Chinese-English bilinguals were asked to identify the facial expressions of emotion with their first (L1) or second (L2) language task-irrelevant emotion words superimposed on the face pictures. We attempted to examine how the emotional content of words modulated behavioral performance and cerebral functioning in the bilinguals’ two languages. The results indicated that there were significant congruency effects for both L1 and L2 emotion words, and that identifiable differences in the magnitude of the Stroop effect between the two languages were also observed, suggesting L1 is more capable of activating the emotional response to word stimuli. For event-related potentials data, an N350–550 effect was observed only in the L1 task with greater negativity for incongruent than congruent trials. The size of the N350–550 effect differed across languages, whereas no identifiable language distinction was observed in the effect of conflict slow potential (conflict SP). Finally, more pronounced negative amplitude at 230–330 ms was observed in L1 than in L2, but only for incongruent trials. This negativity, likened to an orthographic decoding N250, may reflect the extent of attention to emotion word processing at word-form level, while the N350–550 reflects a complicated set of processes in the conflict processing. Overall, the face–word congruency effect has reflected identifiable language distinction at 230–330 and 350-550 ms, which provides supporting evidence for the theoretical proposals assuming attenuated emotionality of L2 processing.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Neural Correlates of Task-Irrelevant First and Second Language Emotion Words – Evidence from the Emotional Face–Word Stroop Task

Fan

Wang

et al. 2016

Front. Psychol.

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“…Interestingly, in the latter study, we showed reduced L1 activation (increased inhibition) during L2 processing in Attriters with less frequent L1 exposure/use and a longer LoR. These findings fit with frameworks of relative frequency of use and activation thresholds, where the more dominant language is associated with a higher baseline activation level and a better efficiency in inhibiting cross-linguistic competition (e.g., McDonald, 1987; MacWhinney, 1992; Kroll and Stewart, 1994; Jared and Kroll, 2001; Dijkstra and Van Heuven, 2002; Gollan et al, 2008). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Research has also examined the factors at play in modulating the degree of L1–L2 influence – linguistic similarity, L2 proficiency and exposure levels have been shown to affect the extent of L1-transfer and the degree of native-like-ness in the L2 (see reviews by Kotz, 2009 and Caffarra et al, 2015). Modulations of cross-linguistic transfer, in both lexical-semantic and morphosyntactic domains, have been explained in terms of relative frequency of use and activation thresholds, with the more dominant language (generally the L1) associated with a higher baseline activation level and a better efficiency in regulating cross-linguistic competition (e.g., McDonald, 1987; MacWhinney, 1992; Kroll and Stewart, 1994; Jared and Kroll, 2001; Dijkstra and Van Heuven, 2002; Gollan et al, 2008). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When the Second Language Takes the Lead: Neurocognitive Processing Changes in the First Language of Adult Attriters

Kasparian

Steinhauer

2017

Front. Psychol.

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Although research on multilingualism has revealed continued neuroplasticity for language-learning beyond what was previously expected, it remains controversial whether and to what extent a second language (L2) acquired in adulthood may induce changes in the neurocognitive processing of a first language (L1). First language (L1) attrition in adulthood offers new insight on neuroplasticity and the factors that modulate neurocognitive responses to language. To date, investigations of the neurocognitive correlates of L1 attrition and of factors influencing these mechanisms are still scarce. Moreover, most event-related-potential (ERP) studies of second language processing have focused on L1 influence on the L2, while cross-linguistic influence in the reverse direction has been underexplored. Using ERPs, we examined the real-time processing of Italian relative-clauses in 24 Italian-English adult migrants with predominant use of English since immigration and reporting attrition of their native-Italian (Attriters), compared to 30 non-attriting monolinguals in Italy (Controls). Our results showed that Attriters differed from Controls in their acceptability judgment ratings and ERP responses when relative clause constructions were ungrammatical in English, though grammatical in Italian. Controls’ ERP responses to unpreferred sentence constructions were consistent with garden path effects typically observed in the literature for these complex sentences. In contrast, due to L2-English influence, Attriters were less sensitive to semantic cues than to word-order preferences, and processed permissible Italian sentences as outright morphosyntactic violations. Key factors modulating processing differences within Attriters were the degree of maintained L1 exposure, length of residence in the L2 environment and L2 proficiency – with higher levels of L2 immersion and proficiency associated with increased L2 influence on the L1. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that high levels of L2 proficiency and exposure may render a grammatical sentence in one’s native language ungrammatical. These group differences strongly point to distinct processing strategies and provide evidence that even a “stabilized” L1 grammar is subject to change after a prolonged period of L2 immersion and reduced L1 use, especially in linguistic areas promoting cross-linguistic influence.

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“…According to several studies (e.g. [32]) a picture-based L2 vocabulary teaching method favours the establishment of direct links between the L2 lexicon and the conceptual system, downplaying the role of the L1 lexicon as a translation device; in turn, this should allow L2 words to benefit from the rich conceptual representation already available to the learner. In order to boost the semantic analysis of L2 words we used a picture-based method, predicting that such analysis may enhance semantic processing of the relationship among words, thus enhancing sentence level processing.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Words were also auditorily recorded. Following Tonzar, Lotto, and Job’s [37] procedure, words and pictures were used both in the learning phase and in the test phase (see also [32]).…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

It takes biking to learn: Physical activity improves learning a second language.

et al. 2017

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Recent studies have shown that concurrent physical activity enhances learning a completely unfamiliar L2 vocabulary as compared to learning it in a static condition. In this paper we report a study whose aim is twofold: to test for possible positive effects of physical activity when L2 learning has already reached some level of proficiency, and to test whether the assumed better performance when engaged in physical activity is limited to the linguistic level probed at training (i.e. L2 vocabulary tested by means of a Word-Picture Verification task), or whether it extends also to the sentence level (which was tested by means of a Sentence Semantic Judgment Task). The results show that Chinese speakers with basic knowledge of English benefited from physical activity while learning a set of new words. Furthermore, their better performance emerged also at the sentential level, as shown by their performance in a Semantic Judgment task. Finally, an interesting temporal asymmetry between the lexical and the sentential level emerges, with the difference between the experimental and control group emerging from the 1st testing session at the lexical level but after several weeks at the sentential level.

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Vocabulary teaching strategies and conceptual representations of words in L2 in children: Evidence with novice learners

Cited by 67 publications

References 41 publications

Neural Correlates of Task-Irrelevant First and Second Language Emotion Words – Evidence from the Emotional Face–Word Stroop Task

Neural Correlates of Task-Irrelevant First and Second Language Emotion Words – Evidence from the Emotional Face–Word Stroop Task

When the Second Language Takes the Lead: Neurocognitive Processing Changes in the First Language of Adult Attriters

It takes biking to learn: Physical activity improves learning a second language.

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