Contrasting Similar Words Facilitates Second Language Vocabulary Learning in Children by Sharpening Lexical Representations.
contrasting
language instruction
lexical representations
representational specificity
second language learning
vocabulary
Journal
Frontiers in psychology
ISSN: 1664-1078
Titre abrégé: Front Psychol
Pays: Switzerland
ID NLM: 101550902
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
2021
2021
Historique:
received:
30
03
2021
accepted:
08
06
2021
entrez:
23
7
2021
pubmed:
24
7
2021
medline:
24
7
2021
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
This study considers one of the cognitive mechanisms underlying the development of second language (L2) vocabulary in children: The differentiation and sharpening of lexical representations. We propose that sharpening is triggered by an implicit comparison of similar representations, a process we call contrasting. We investigate whether integrating contrasting in a learning method in which children contrast orthographically and semantically similar L2 words facilitates learning of those words by sharpening their new lexical representations. In our study, 48 Dutch-speaking children learned unfamiliar orthographically and semantically similar English words in a multiple-choice learning task. One half of the group learned the similar words by contrasting them, while the other half did not contrast them. Their word knowledge was measured immediately after learning as well as 1 week later. Contrasting was found to facilitate learning by leading to more precise lexical representations. However, only highly skilled readers benefitted from contrasting. Our findings offer novel insights into the development of L2 lexical representations from fuzzy to more precise, and have potential implications for education.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34295290
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.688160
pmc: PMC8290082
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
688160Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2021 Baxter, Droop, van den Hurk, Bekkering, Dijkstra and Leoné.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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