The Parasitic Model of L2 and L3 vocabulary acquisition: evidence from naturalistic and experimental studies (original) (raw)
Related papers
Parasitic vocabulary acquisition, cross-linguistic influence, and lexical retrieval in multilinguals
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Cambridge University Press 2014, doi:10.1017/S1366728913000722, 2015
The first part of this paper reviews research evidence for typological similarity and/or L2 status as determinants of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in multilingual lexical production. The second part presents a model of vocabulary acquisition as a framework to explain CLI at form, (syntactic) frame, and meaning levels as well as some of the developmental changes that have been reported for CLI patterns in relation to L3 learners’ proficiency. It is suggested that these patterns can be related to default processes and stages involved in the acquisition of individual word forms and their integration into networks of existing lexical triads as described in the Parasitic Model of vocabulary acquisition. The third part of this paper points to research into the complexity and non-linearity of multilingual lexical development and the need to learn more about it.
Models of Lexical and Conceptual Representations in Second Language Acquisition
The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, 2012
Words are the basic building blocks of a language. A simple combination of the letters d, o, and g opens up a world of meaningful images and experiences with this four-legged hairy pet. Over the years, children who learn a language accrue fi ne-grained knowledge on the various meaning aspects related to a word form like dog, and learn that not only grandma's black doggie is a dog but also the white barking creature living next door. How does a learner of a second language (L2), who has already established basic relationships between a word form in the fi rst language (L1) and its meaning, acquire the form and meaning of words in the L2? This is one of the key questions in research on L2 learning, and a question that attracts an increasing amount of attention from researchers interested in the cognitive and neural mechanisms of L2 learning. In this entry, we will review theoretical models on lexical (form) and conceptual/semantic (meaning) representation in L2 learners, and outline empirical studies on how L2 learners at different levels of profi ciency access L2 word meanings and fi ne-tune conceptual representations of L2 words. In this entry, we make no distinction between semantic and conceptual levels (cf. . We focus on late learners who learned their L2 after the basics of the L1 have already been acquired.
Task Effects on the Acquisition of L2 Vocabulary
… Conference on Task- …, 2005
This paper discusses a theoretical framework, based on insights from second language acquisition, cognitive psychology and, more specifically connectionism, to predict the effectiveness of second language learning tasks. According to the Multi-Feature Hypothesis (Westhoff, ...
Vocabulary Learning Strategies and the Representation of L2 and L3 Words in the Mental Lexicon
Springer eBooks, 2021
The study aims to investigate the representations of second (L2) and third (L3) language words in the multilingual mental lexicon. Even though access to the contents of lexical entries is limited, the spontaneous verbalization of word meanings and, possibly, of their use in context, provides some insight into the participants’ declarative and to some extent procedural knowledge of the target words. As the results indicate, the choice of vocabulary learning strategies does not depend on the language combination, but is rather individual and, in fact, students tend to combine different learning strategies, which is also reflected in their ways of presenting the words. For example, one L2 word may be described by a definition in L2, its Polish equivalent and an example of its use in context. However, the learners’ choices of means to define the L2 and L3 words and the correctness of their definitions do seem to depend on the language combination, as the results of the chi-square tests were statistically significant. Still, it can be supposed that this depends not only on the individual learners’ learning strategies and lexical representations, but also on their programs of studies.
Learning Conditions for Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition in L1 and L2
It is believed that language learners can acquire vocabulary as they are exposed to the target language. Second language learners in particular, can pick up unfamiliar words spontaneously from either oral or written context. However, the level of incidental vocabulary learning varies across studies. Having examined various researches on both incidental and intentional vocabulary learning either in first language (L1) or in second language (L2) acquisition, it is informed that these variations are affected by several factors such as students' proficiency, the richness of context, the number of exposures and the types of words being learned.
2022
The present study sheds light on cross-linguistic influence in third language learning, and it aims to explore the role of the previously acquired languages in third language acquisition and test the Cumulative Enhancement Model (Flynn et al, 2004) and Typological Similarity Model (Rothman, 2011). The CE Model supports the facilitation role of the previously acquired languages (L1 and L2) during the learning process of a third language (L3). The participants of this study are 35 middle school students who have Arabic as a first language, French as a second language, and they are learning English as a third language. A multiple-choice translation task that aims to test the participants' knowledge of the non-native language they learn, in addition to a text in L3 in which they have to translate into their L1 and L2. The findings showed that participants transfer from the more typologically similar language (i.e. French) due to the typological similarity, which gives evidence for the Typological Similarity Model in which learners use the languages that is typologically similar to L3 at early stages of L3 acquisition.
The automatic cognate form assumption: Evidence for the Parasitic Model of vocabulary development
The Parasitic Hypothesis, formulated to account for early stages of vocabulary development in second language learners, claims that on initial exposure to a word, learners automatically exploit existing lexical material in the L1 or L2 in order to establish an initial memory representation. At the level of phonological and orthographic form, it is claimed that significant overlaps with existing forms, i.e. cognates, are automatically detected and new forms are subordinately connected to them in the mental lexicon. In the study reported here, English nonwords overlapping with real words in Spanish (pseudocognates), together with noncognate nonwords, were presented to Spanishspeaking learners of English in a word familiarity task. Participants reported significantly higher levels of familiarity with the pseudocognates and showed greater consistency in providing translations for them. These results, together with measures of the degree of overlap between nonword stimuli and translations, were interpreted as evidence for the automatic use of cognates in early word learning.
Conceptual and Lexical Development in Second Language Acquisition
Lexical and conceptual representation in bilingual memory for both novice and expert bilinguals was examined in a series of three experiments. In Experiment 1a, monolingual English speakers learned a set of Spanish-English translations and were then tested using a translation recognition task. Response times to orthographically related foils were longer than response times to unrelated words. Lexical interference was also found to a lesser extent for expert bilinguals. In Experiment 1b, semantically related foils also produced interference, but the interference was greatest for expert bilingual participants. A bilingual version of the Stroop colorword task was used in Experiment 2, and novice and expert bilinguals each demonstrated Stroop effects both within and between languages. The results of all three experiments indicate that both conceptual and lexical links are formed for second language words, even after a single learning session. These results call into question the asymmetrical model of bilingual memory proposed by which suggests that novice bilinguals rely exclusively on lexical representations when first acquiring a second language. ᭧ 1997 Academic Press
2019
This paper reviews the literature on similarities and differences between fi rst and second language lexical acquisition. After a brief discussion of differences in input, we go on to early lexical development, considering both the speed of acquisition as well as possible reasons for more effi cient lexical learning in fi rst language acquisition as compared to second language acquisition. We discuss the role of phonological representations in facilitating the extraction of units from incoming speech. We continue with a discussion of unanalysed units, arguing that their role as a stepping stone into language is much the same in fi rst and second language acquisition. Finally, we review methods for investigating the fi rst and second language lexicons.