Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T14:06:52.208Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Accessing word meaning in beginning second language learners: Lexical or conceptual mediation?*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 October 2014

GREGORY J. POARCH ,
JANET G. VAN HELL  and
JUDITH F. KROLL
GREGORY J. POARCH*
Affiliation:
University of Tübingen, Germany Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands
JANET G. VAN HELL
Affiliation:
The Pennsylvania State University, USA Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands
JUDITH F. KROLL
Affiliation:
The Pennsylvania State University, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Gregory J. Poarch, Department of English Linguistics, University of Tübingen, Wilhelmstr. 50, 72074 Tübingen, Germany[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We tested the predictions of the Revised Hierarchical Model (Kroll & Stewart, 1994) to examine how children map novel words to concepts during early stages of L2 learning. Fifth grade Dutch L2 learners with 8 months of English instruction performed a translation recognition task followed by translation production in both directions. The children were already sensitive to L2 word meaning in translation recognition, showing longer RTs and lower accuracies for semantically related than semantically unrelated word pairs. In translation production, they were faster in backward than forward direction as predicted by the RHM. Critically, these children had learned L2 words in contexts enriched by pictures and listening/speaking exercises. Depending on the task, Dutch beginning L2 learners exploit conceptual information during L2 processing and map L2 word-forms to concepts. This study also contributes to accumulating evidence that manner of L2 instruction may majorly impact the activation of lexical and conceptual information during translation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , July 2015 , pp. 357 - 371
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The writing of this paper was supported by DAAD Grant D/09/50588 to Gregory J. Poarch, NSF Grants BCS-0955090 and OISE-0968369 to Judith F. Kroll and Janet G. van Hell, NSF Grant BCS-1349110 to Janet G. van Hell, and NIH Grant HD053146 to Judith F. Kroll. We thank Linde Mannie and Evie van Heeswijk for their assistance in the data collection.

References

Altarriba, J., & Mathis, K. M. (1997). Conceptual and lexical development in second language acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language, 36, 550–568.Google Scholar
Baayen, R. H., Piepenbrock, R., & Van Rijn, H. (1993). The CELEX lexical database. Philadelphia PA: Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Brenders, P., Van Hell, J. G., & Dijkstra, A. (2011). Word recognition in child second language learners: Evidence from cognates and false friends. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 109, 383–396.Google Scholar
Brysbaert, M., & Duyck, W. (2010). Is it time to leave behind the Revised Hierarchical Model of bilingual language processing after fifteen years of service? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13, 359–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bultena, S., Dijkstra, T. & Van Hell, J. G. (2013). Cognate and word class ambiguity effects in noun and verb processing. Language and Cognitive Processes, 28, 1350–1377.Google Scholar
Bultena, S., Dijkstra, T., & Van Hell, J. G. (2014). Cognate effects in sentence context depend on word class, L2 proficiency, and task. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 67, 1214–1241.Google Scholar
Chen, H.-C., & Leung, Y.-S. (1989). Patterns of lexical processing in a nonnative language. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 316–325.Google Scholar
Comesaña, M., Perea, M., Piñeiro, A., & Fraga, I. (2009). Vocabulary teaching strategies and conceptual representations of words in L2 in children: Evidence with novice learners. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 104, 22–33.Google Scholar
Comesaña, M., Soares, A. P., Sánchez-Casas, R., & Lima, C. (2012). Lexical and semantic representations in the acquisition of L2 cognate and non-cognate words: Evidence from two learning methods in children. British Journal of Psychology, 103, 378–392.Google Scholar
De Groot, A. M. B., Dannenburg, L., & Van Hell, J. G. (1994). Forward and backward word translation by bilinguals. Journal of Memory and Language, 33, 600–629.Google Scholar
Dufour, R., & Kroll, J. F. (1995). Matching words to concepts in two languages: A test of the concept mediation model of bilingual representation. Memory & Cognition, 23, 166–180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Federmeier, K. D., Segal, J. B., Lombrozo, T., & Kutas, M. (2000). Brain responses to nouns, verbs and class-ambiguous words in context. Brain, 123, 2552–2566.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferré, P., Sánchez-Casas, R., & Guasch, M. (2006). Can a horse be a donkey? Semantic and form interference effects in translation recognition in early and late proficient and nonproficient Spanish–Catalan bilinguals. Language Learning, 56, 571–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkbeiner, M., & Nicol, J. (2003). Semantic category effects in second language word learning. Applied Psycholinguistics, 24, 369–383.Google Scholar
Guo, T., Misra, M., Tam, J. W., & Kroll, J. F. (2012). On the time course of accessing meaning in a second language: An electrophysiological investigation of translation recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 38, 1165–1186.Google Scholar
Heesters, K., Feddema, M., Van der Schoot, F., & Hemker, B. (2008). Balans van het Engels aan het einde van de basisschool 3. Uitkomsten van de derde peiling in 2006. [Results in English at the end of elementary school 3. Results from the third poll in 2006]. Arnhem: Cito.Google Scholar
Koolstra, C. M., & Beentjes, J. W. J. (1999). Children's vocabulary acquisition in a foreign language through watching subtitled television programs at home. Educational Technology Research & Development, 47, 51–60.Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., & Curley, J. (1988). Lexical memory in novice bilinguals: The role of concepts in retrieving second language words. In Gruneberg, M., Morris, P., & Sykes, R. (eds.), Practical aspects of memory (Vol. 2), pp. 389–395. London: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., Michael, E., Tokowicz, N., & Dufour, R. (2002). The development of lexical fluency in a second language. Second Language Research, 18, 137–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E. (1994). Category interference in translation and picture naming: Evidence for asymmetric connections between bilingual memory representations. Journal of Memory and Language, 33, 149–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kroll, J. F., & Tokowicz, N. (2005). Models of bilingual representation and processing. In Kroll, J. F. & De Groot, A. M. B. (eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches, pp. 531–553. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., Van Hell, J. G, Tokowicz, N., & Green, D. W. (2010). The Revised Hierarchical Model: A critical review and assessment. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13, 373–381.Google Scholar
La Heij, W., Hooglander, A., Kerling, R., & Van der Velden, E. (1996). Nonverbal context effects in forward and backward word translation: Evidence for concept mediation. Journal of Memory and Language, 35, 648–665.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, W., & Tops, G. A. J. (1984). Van Dale Groot Woordenboek Engels-Nederlands [Van Dale large English–Dutch dictionary]. Utrecht, The Netherlands/Antwerpen, Belgium: Van Dale Lexicografie.Google Scholar
Martin, W., & Tops, G. A. J. (1986). Van Dale Groot Woordenboek Nederlands-Engels [Van Dale large Dutch–English dictionary]. Utrecht, The Netherlands/Antwerpen, Belgium: Van Dale Lexicografie.Google Scholar
Poarch, G. J., & Van Hell, J. G. (2012). Cross-language activation in children's speech production: Evidence from second language learners, bilinguals, and trilinguals. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 111, 419–438.Google Scholar
Potter, M. C., So, K.-F., Von Eckhardt, B., & Feldman, L. B. (1984). Lexical and conceptual representation in beginning and proficient bilinguals. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 23, 23–38.Google Scholar
Schneider, W. (1995). Micro Experimental Laboratory. Pittsburgh: Psychology Software Tools Inc.Google Scholar
Schneider, W., Eschman, A., & Zuccolotto, A. (2002). E-Prime reference guide. Pittsburgh: Psychology Software Tools Inc.Google Scholar
Sunderman, G., & Kroll, J. F. (2006). First language activation during second language lexical processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28, 387–422.Google Scholar
Székely, A., Jacobsen, T., D’Amico, S., Devescovi, A., Andonova, E., Herron, D. . . . Bates, E. (2004). A new on-line resource for psycholinguistic studies. Journal of Memory and Language, 51, 247–250.Google Scholar
Talamas, A., Kroll, J. F., & Dufour, R. (1999). From form to meaning: Stages in the acquisition of second-language vocabulary. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 2, 45–58.Google Scholar
Tonzar, C., Lotto, L., & Job, R. (2009). L2 Vocabulary Acquisition in Children: Effects of Learning Method and Cognate Status. Language Learning, 59, 623–646.Google Scholar
Van der Voort, P., & Mol, H. (1998). Real English. Baarn: Uitgeverij Bekadidact.Google Scholar
Van Hell, J. G., & De Groot, A. M. B. (1998a). Disentangling context availability and concreteness in lexical decision and word translation. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49A, 41–63.Google Scholar
Van Hell, J. G., & De Groot, A. M. B. (1998b). Conceptual representation in bilingual memory: Effects of concreteness and cognate status in word association. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1, 193–211.Google Scholar
Van Hell, J. G., & De Groot, A. M. B. (2008). Sentence context modulates visual word recognition and translation in bilinguals. Acta Psychologica, 128, 431–451.Google Scholar
Van Hell, J. G., & Kroll, J. F. (2013). Using electrophysiological measures to track the mapping of words to concepts in the bilingual brain: a focus on translation. In Altarriba, J. & Isurin, L. (eds.), Memory, Language, and Bilingualism: Theoretical and Applied Approaches, pp. 126–160. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar