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Translation semantic variability: How semantic relatedness affects learning of translation-ambiguous words*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2016

JENNIFER BRACKEN ,
TAMAR DEGANI ,
CHELSEA EDDINGTON  and
NATASHA TOKOWICZ
JENNIFER BRACKEN
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
TAMAR DEGANI
Affiliation:
University of Haifa, Israel
CHELSEA EDDINGTON
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
NATASHA TOKOWICZ*
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
*
Address for correspondence: Natasha Tokowicz, Learning Research & Development Center, 3939 O'Hara St., Room 634, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260USA[email protected]
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Abstract

Translations often do not align directly across languages, and indirect mappings reduce the accuracy of language learning. To facilitate examination of this issue, we developed a new continuous measure for quantifying the semantic relatedness of words with more than one translation (hereafter translation-ambiguous words). Participants rated the similarity of each translation to every other translation, yielding a Translation Semantic Variability (TSV) score, ranging from 1.00 (unrelated) to 7.00 (related). Then, we determined how relatedness between translations affects translation-ambiguous word learning from German to English. German words with low TSV scores were recognized as translations more slowly and less accurately than German words with high TSV scores. TSV explains unique variance beyond the previously-used dichotomous classification of words as form vs. meaning ambiguous. We propose that the relatedness of the translation alternatives influences learning because it affects the ease with which a one-to-one mapping can be established between form and meaning.

Keywords

Translation ambiguityTranslation Semantic Variabilitymeaning similaritytranslation recognition
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , August 2017 , pp. 783 - 794
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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Footnotes

*

Study 2 formed the basis of JB's Honors thesis; we thank Timothy Nokes-Malach and Tessa Warren for their comments on this work. We thank the Office of Experiential Learning at the University of Pittsburgh for providing funding for Study 2. We thank the PLUM Lab members for research assistance. During the writing of this manuscript, TD was supported by EU-FP7 grant CIG-322016 and NT was supported by NIH R01 HD075800.

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