Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T17:39:22.137Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

CONTEXTUAL WORD LEARNING IN THE FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE

DEFINITION PLACEMENT AND INFERENCE ERROR EFFECTS ON DECLARATIVE AND NONDECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2019

Irina Elgort Open the ORCID record for Irina Elgort [Opens in a new window] ,
Natalia Beliaeva  and
Frank Boers
Irina Elgort*
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington
Natalia Beliaeva
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington
Frank Boers
Affiliation:
Western University
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Irina Elgort, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Access to definitions facilitates the learning of word meanings when novel words are encountered in reading. However, the memorial costs and benefits of inferring word meanings from context, compared to seeing definitions of unfamiliar words before reading, are not yet well understood. We conducted two experiments with adult L1 (English) and L2 (Chinese) readers to investigate whether the development of declarative and nondeclarative word knowledge benefits more when definitions are supplied before reading (errorless treatment) or after reading (trial-and-error treatment). Study participants encountered 90 target vocabulary items three times in short informative texts under errorless or trial-and-error conditions and entered their meaning inferences immediately after reading each text. Posttreatment, we evaluated participants’ declarative knowledge of the target items using a meaning generation (recall) task and nondeclarative knowledge using a self-paced reading task. The trial-and-error treatment followed by definitions resulted in a superior declarative and nondeclarative knowledge, compared to the errorless treatment, for L1 and L2 readers. Inference errors affected the development of declarative but not nondeclarative knowledge, and the trajectory of the development of nondeclarative knowledge was different for L1 and L2 readers. We interpret these findings in terms of the declarative and nondeclarative memory processes underpinning contextual word learning.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 7 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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

This research was supported by a research grants from Victoria University of Wellington. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Murielle Demecheleer and Mark Toomer in the data collection. We thank Susan Gass and Luke Plonsky for their editorial support, and three anonymous SSLA reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.

References

REFERENCES

Adelman, J. S., Johnson, R. L., McCormick, S. F., McKague, M., Kinoshita, S., Bowers, J. S., … Davis, C. J. (2014). A behavioral database for masked form priming. Behavior Research Methods, 46, 1052–1067. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-013-0442-yCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Avery, N., & Marsden, E. (2019). A meta-analysis of sensitivity to grammatical information during self-paced reading: Towards a framework of reference for reading time effect sizes. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1–33. doi: 10.1017/S0272263119000196Google Scholar
Baayen, R. (2008). Analyzing linguistic data: A practical introduction to statistics using R. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baayen, R., Davidson, D., & Bates, D. (2008). Mixed-effects modelling with crossed random effects for subjects and items. Journal of Memory and Language, 59, 390–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2007.12.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, A., & Wilson, B. A. (1994). When implicit learning fails: Amnesia and the problem of error elimination. Neuropsychologia, 32, 53–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(94)90068-XCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2015). Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67, 1–48. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bauer, L., & Nation, P. (1993). Word families. International Journal of Lexicography, 6, 253–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bensoussan, M., & Laufer, B. (1984). Lexical guessing in context in EFL reading comprehension. Journal of Research in Reading, 7, 15–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9817.1984.tb00252.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolger, D. J., Balass, M., Landen, E. & Perfetti, C. A. (2008). Contextual variation and definitions in learning the meaning of words. Discourse Processes, 45, 122–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/01638530701792826CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordag, D., Kirschenbaum, A., Tschirner, E., & Opitz, A. (2015). Incidental acquisition of new words during reading in L2: Inference of meaning and its integration in the L2 mental lexicon. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18, 372–390. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728914000078CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brysbaert, M., & Stevens, M. (2018). Power analysis and effect size in mixed effects models: A tutorial. Journal of Cognition, 1, 9. http://doi.org/10.5334/joc.10CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carpenter, S. K., Sachs, R. E., Martin, B., Schmidt, K., & Looft, R. (2012). Learning new vocabulary in German: The effects of inferring word meanings, type of feedback, and time of test. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 19, 81–86. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-011-0185-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chaffin, R. (1997). Associations to unfamiliar words: Learning the meaning of new words. Memory and Cognition, 25, 203–226. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03201113CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chaffin, R., Morris, R. K., & Seely, R. E. (2001). Learning new word meanings from context: A study of eye movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 27, 225–235. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.27.1.225Google ScholarPubMed
Chinn, S. (2000). A simple method for converting an odds ratio to effect size for use in meta-analysis. Statistics in Medicine, 19, 3127–3131. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0258(20001130)19:22<3127::AID-SIM784>3.0.CO;2-M3.0.CO;2-M>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clare, L., & Jones, R. S. P. (2008). Errorless learning in the rehabilitation of memory impairment: A critical review. Neuropsychology Review, 18, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-008-9051-4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Craik, F. I. M., & Tulving, E. (1975). Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104, 268–294. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.104.3.268CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cyr, A.-A., & Anderson, N. D. (2015). Mistakes as stepping stones: Effects of errors on episodic memory among younger and older adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 41, 841–850. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000073Google ScholarPubMed
Cyr, A.-A., & Anderson, N. D. (2018). Learning from your mistakes: Does it matter if you’re out in left foot, I mean field? Memory, 26, 1281–1290. http://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2018.1464189CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dóczi, B., & Kormos, J. (2016). Second language learning and vocabulary development. In Dóczi, B. & Kormos, J., Longitudinal developments in vocabulary knowledge and lexical organization (pp. 118–138). New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elgort, I. (2017). Incorrect inferences and contextual word learning in English as a second language. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 1, 1–11. http://doi.org/10.22599/jesla.3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elgort, I., Brysbaert, M., Stevens, M., & Van Assche, E. (2018). Contextual word learning during reading in a second language: An eye-movement study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40, 341–366. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263117000109CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elgort, I., Perfetti, C. A., Rickles, B., & Stafura, J. Z. (2015). Contextual learning of L2 word meanings: Second language proficiency modulates behavioural and event-related brain potential (ERP) indicators of learning. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 30, 506–528. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2014.942673CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elgort, I., & Warren, P. (2014). L2 vocabulary learning from reading: Explicit and tacit lexical knowledge and the role of learner and item variables. Language Learning, 64, 365–414. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12052CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Favreau, M., & Segalowitz, N. (1983). Automatic and controlled processes in the first and second language reading of fluent bilinguals. Memory and Cognition, 11, 565–574. https://doi-org.helicon.vuw.ac.nz/10.3758/BF03198281CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frantzen, D. (2003). Factors affecting how second language Spanish students derive meaning from context. Modern Language Journal, 87, 168–199. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4781.00185CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, C. A. (1999). Lexical processing strategy use and vocabulary learning through reading. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 225–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frenck-Mestre, C., & Prince, P. (1997). Second language autonomy. Journal of Memory and Language, 37, 481–501. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1997.2526CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frishkoff, G. A., Collins-Thompson, K., Hodges, L. L., & Crossley, S. (2016). Accuracy feedback improves word learning from context: Evidence from a meaning-generation task. Reading and Writing, 29, 609–632. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9615-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Godfroid, A., Ahn, J., Choi, I., Ballard, L., Cui, Y., Johnston, S., … Yoon, H. (2018). Incidental vocabulary learning in a natural reading context: An eye-tracking study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21, 563–584. https://doi.org/10.1017/S136672891700021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Godfroid, A., Boers, F., & Housen, A. (2013). An eye for words: Gauging the role of attention in incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition by means of eye tracking. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35, 483–517. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263113000119CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, P., & MacLeod, C. (2016). SIMR: An R package for power analysis of generalized linear mixed models by simulation. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 7, 493–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haist, F., Shimamura, A. P., & Squire, L. R. (1992). On the relationship between recall and recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 18, 691–702. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.18.4.691Google ScholarPubMed
Hothorn, T., Bretz, F., & Westfall, P. (2008). Simultaneous inference in general parametric models. Biometrical Journal 50, 346–363. https://doi.org/10.1002/bimj.200810425CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huelser, B. J., & Metcalfe, J. (2012). Making related errors facilitates learning, but learners do not know it. Memory & Cognition, 40, 514–527. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-011-0167-zCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hulstijn, J. H. (1992). Retention of inferred and given word meanings: Experiments in incidental vocabulary learning. In Arnaud, P. J. L. & Béjoint, H. (Eds.), Vocabulary and applied linguistics (pp. 113–125). London, UK: Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12396-4_11CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hulstijn, J. H. (2002). Towards a unified account of the representation, processing and acquisition of second language knowledge. Second Language Research, 18, 193–223. https://doi.org/10.1191/0267658302sr207oaCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, J. R., Stein, M., & Wysocki, K. (1984). Learning vocabulary through reading. American Educational Research Journal, 21, 767–787. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1163000CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joseph, H. S. S. L., Wonnacott, E., Forbes, P., & Nation, K. (2014). Becoming a written word: Eye movements reveal order of acquisition effects following incidental exposure to new words during silent reading. Cognition, 133, 238–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2014.06.015CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Just, M. A., Carpenter, P. A., & Woolley, J. D. (1982). Paradigms and processes in reading comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 111, 228–238. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.111.2.228CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karpicke, J., & Roediger, H. L. III. (2007). Expanding retrieval practice promotes short-term retention, but equally spaced retrieval enhances long-term retention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 33, 704–719. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.33.4.704Google ScholarPubMed
Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. III. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319, 966–968. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1152408CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelly, P. (1990). Guessing: No substitute for systematic learning of lexis. System, 18, 199–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/0346-251X(90)90054-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, M., Crossley, S. A., & Skalicky, S. (2018). Effects of lexical features, textual properties, and individual differences on word processing times during second language reading comprehension. Reading & Writing, 31, 1155–1180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9833-xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knight, J. B., Ball, H., Brewer, G. A., DeWitt, M. R., & Marsh, R. L. (2012). Testing unsuccessfully: A specification of the underlying mechanisms supporting its influence on retention. Journal of Memory and Language, 66, 731–746. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2011.12.008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koriat, A., & Bjork, R. A. (2005). Illusions of competence in monitoring one’s knowledge during study. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 31, 187–194. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.31.2.187Google ScholarPubMed
Laufer, B. (1997). The lexical plight in second language reading: Words you don’t know, words you think you know, and words you can’t guess. In Coady, J. & Huckin, T. (Eds.) Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rationale for pedagogy (pp. 20–34). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Laufer, B., & Shmueli, K. (1997). Memorizing new words: Does teaching have anything to do with it? RELC Journal, 28, 89–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/003368829702800106CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lemhöfer, K., & Broersma, M. (2012). Introducing LexTALE: A quick and valid lexical test for advanced learners of English. Behavior Research Methods, 44, 325–343. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0146-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marsden, E., Thompson, S., & Plonsky, L. (2018). A methodological synthesis of self-paced reading in second language research. Applied Psycholinguistics, 39, 861–904. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716418000036CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matuschek, H., Kliegl, R., Vasishth, S., Baayen, H., & Bates, D. (2017). Balancing Type I error and power in linear mixed models. Journal of Memory and Language, 94, 305–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2017.01.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medler, D. A., & Binder, J. R. (2005). MCWord: An on-line orthographic database of English language. Retrieved from http://www.neuro.mcw.edu/mcword/Google Scholar
Mestres-Missé, A., Rodríguez-Fornells, A., & Münte, T. F. (2007). Watching the brain during meaning acquisition. Cerebral Cortex, 17, 1858–1866.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Metcalfe, J., & Kornell, N. (2007). Principles of cognitive science in education: The effects of generation, errors, and feedback. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 225–229. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194056CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Middleton, E. L., & Schwartz, M. F. (2012). Errorless learning in cognitive rehabilitation: A critical review. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 22, 138–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602011.2011.639619CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mondria, J. (2003). The effects of inferring, verifying, and memorizing on the retention of L2 word meanings: An experimental comparison of the “meaning-inferred method” and the “meaning-given method.” Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 25, 473–499. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263103000202CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paradis, M. (1994). Neurolinguistic aspects of implicit and explicit memory: Implications for bilingualism and SLA. In Ellis, N. (Ed.), Implicit and explicit learning of languages (pp. 393–419). London, UK: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Pellicer-Sánchez, A. (2015). Incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition from and while reading: An eye-tracking study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 38, 97–130. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263115000224CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pellicer-Sánchez, A., & Schmitt, N. (2010). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from an authentic novel: Do things fall apart? Reading in a Foreign Language, 22, 31–55.Google Scholar
Perfetti, C. A., & Stafura, J. (2014). Word knowledge in a theory of reading comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18, 22–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2013.827687CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, N. A., Segalowitz, N., O’Brien, I., & Yamasakia, N. (2004). Semantic priming in a first and second language: Evidence from reaction time variability and event-related brain potentials. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 17, 237–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0911-6044(03)00055-1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potts, R., Davies, G., & Shanks, D. R. (2018, July 19). The benefit of generating errors during learning: What is the locus of the effect? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 46, 1023–1041. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000637Google Scholar
Potts, R., & Shanks, D. R. (2014). The benefit of generating errors during learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 644–667. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0033194CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
R Core Team (2018). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Retrieved from https://www.R-project.org/Google Scholar
Reber, P. J. (2008). Cognitive neuroscience of declarative and nondeclarative memory. InAaron, , Benjamin, A. S., De Belle, J. S., Etnyre, B., & Polk, T. A. (Eds.), Advances in psychology, Vol. 139 (pp. 113–123). Amsterdam and New York: North-Holland Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Reber, P. (2013). The neural basis of implicit learning and memory: A review of neuropsychological and neuroimaging research. Neuropsychologia, 51, 2026–2042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.06.019CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reichle, E. D., & Perfetti, C. A. (2003). Morphology in word identification: A word experience model that accounts for morpheme frequency effects. Scientific Studies of Reading, 7, 219–237. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532799XSSR0703_2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rieder, A. (2002). A cognitive view of incidental vocabulary acquisition: From text meaning to word meaning. VIEWS, 11, 53–71. Retrieved from https://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/views/02_1&2/AR.PDFGoogle Scholar
Rodríguez-Fornells, A., Kofidis, C., & Muente, T. F. (2004). An electrophysiological study of errorless learning. Cognitive Brain Research, 19, 160–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2003.11.009CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saragi, T., Nation, I. S. P., & Meister, G. F. (1978). Vocabulary learning and reading. System, 6, 72–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/0346-251X(78)90027-1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, W., Eschman, A., & Zuccolotto, A. (2002). E-Prime (Version 2.0) [Computer software and manual]. Pittsburgh, PA: Psychology Software Tools Inc.Google Scholar
Seabrooke, T., Hollins, T. J., Kent, C., Wills, A. J., & Mitchell, C. J. (2019). Learning from failure: Errorful generation improves memory for items, not associations. Journal of Memory and Language, 104, 70–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2018.10.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silverberg, S., & Samuel, A. G. (2004). The effect of age of second language acquisition on the representation and processing of second language words. Journal of Memory and Language, 51, 381–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2004.05.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stahl, S., & Fairbanks, M. (1986). The effects of vocabulary instruction: A model-based meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 56, 72–110. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543056001072CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ullman, M. T., & Lovelett, J. T. (2018). Implications of the declarative/procedural model for improving second language learning: The role of memory enhancement techniques. Second Language Research, 34, 39–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658316675195CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Dijk, T. A., & Kintsch, W. (1983). Strategies of discourse comprehension. New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Waring, R., & Takaki, M. (2003). At what rate do learners learn and retain new vocabulary from reading a graded reader? Reading in a Foreign Language, 15, 130–163.Google Scholar
Warmington, M., & Hitch, G. J. (2014). Enhancing the learning of new words using an errorless learning procedure: Evidence from typical adults. Memory, 22, 582– 94. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2013.807841CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warmington, M., Hitch, G. J., & Gathercole, S. E. (2013). Improving word learning in children using an errorless technique. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 114, 456–465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.10.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webb, S. (2007). The effects of repetition on vocabulary knowledge. Applied Linguistics, 28, 46–65. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/aml048CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westfall, J., Kenny, D., & Judd, C. (2014). Statistical power and optimal design in experiments in which samples of participants respond to samples of stimuli. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 2020–2045. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, R. S., & Morris, R. K. (2004). Eye movements, word familiarity, and vocabulary acquisition. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 16, 312–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/09541440340000196CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witzel, N., Witzel, J. & Forster, K. (2012). Comparisons of online reading paradigms: Eye tracking, moving-window, and maze. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 41, 105–128. https://doi-org.helicon.vuw.ac.nz/10.1007/s10936-011-9179-xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yang, C., Potts, R., & Shanks, D. R. (2017). Metacognitive unawareness of the errorful generation benefit and its effects on self-regulated learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 43, 1073–1092. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000363Google ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Elgort et al. supplementary material

Elgort et al. supplementary material

Download Elgort et al. supplementary material(File)
File 37.4 KB