1 Session 6 The Mental Lexicon Word association (WA) tests Comparing the L1 and L2 mental lexicons Pedagogic implications

2 Word association and the mental lexicon Cognitive processes -- how words and meanings are organized mentally (unobservable) ◄ = ► Language associative behavior (observable)

Word Association Test 3 Prompt WordAssociative wordRelationship

4 Word associations (English) Prompt WordAssociative wordRelationship green water open hill butterfly truth powerful blanket inclination hockey

Word Associations greenGrass (collocation) Red (co-ordination) Color (super-ordination) waterDrink (collocation) Melon (compound noun) Clear (collocation) openClose (antonym) Door (collocation) inclinationInformation (sound – stress pattern) Intonation hockeyJockey (sound - rhyme)

6 How words are stored in the mental lexicon L1 / L2 equivalence (cognates in related languages e.g. cream in English and crème in French) Orthographically (words that have similar spelling) Phonologically (rhyme, alliteration, stress pattern, etc.) Semantically (synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms e.g. color - red) Collocationally (e.g. make – a wish, catch – a bus) Morphologically (e.g. defensive-offensive; television- telescope) Encyclopedic associations (based on our knowledge / experience of the real world)

7 Meanings of words Meanings of words are often understood in relation to other words (like a web) e.g. you understand the meaning of ‘cold’ through your understanding of ‘hot’ e.g. you understand the meaning of ‘roses’ through your understanding of ‘garden’, ‘flowers’ or ‘lilies’

Word Associations and Language Proficiency How words are organised / stored in the brain is an indicator of language proficiency level Or how “native-like” you are 8

9 Paradigmatic associations Always belong to the same word class Substitutable in syntactic strings More semantics-oriented (synonyms, antonyms, superordinates, or hyponyms) E.g. I want to get a doggie for my daughter. pet Terrier cat wombat Syntagmatic associations Usually belong to a different word class, but sometimes can belong to the same word class Collocate well with prompt words in a grammatical string More grammar-oriented (in a grammatical string) E.g. Dogs bark. E.g. Walk the dog. E.g. Dog collar Phonological associations / Clangs E.g. dog - fog E.g. hockey - hockey

10 L1 mental lexicon Phonological Syntagmatic Paradigmatic ( developmental process) ( younger children older children ) Commonness / Homogeneity in the their mental lexicons (native speakers tend to give the same word associates – more stable / consistent associations) e.g. blanket: bed, warm, sheet, electric, cover, warmth, wool, soft, bath, snow

11 Mean proportion of NNS and NS response types for WA (Wolter, 2001)

12 L2 mental lexicon similar to L1 mental lexicon found t Earlier studies found NS had more paradigmatic associations than NNS. But later studies (e.g. Zareva, 2007) found the same shift in L2 learners, as they get more proficient in the language, and as they grow older Phonological Syntagmatic Paradigmatic

Looking at your word associates What kinds of associations do you have most (phonological, syntagmatic, paradigmatic) in your WA tests? 13

14 Pedagogical Implications Developmental/ cognitive aspect: Younger learners tend to favor syntagmatic associations: dog-bark Older learners tend to favor/ are capable of handling paradigmatic associations / semantically-related groups e.g. synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms: dog-cat or dog-pet

15 Superordinates and Hyponyms Sports ??? LionTiger Hors e

16 Superordinates and Hyponyms Flat Living room BedroomKitchen FridgeUtensils Saucepan Frying pan Bathroom

Word retention teach 8-12 vocabulary items in a 60-minute lesson (Gairns & Redman, 1986) The chances of learning and retaining a word from one exposure is only 5-14% (Nagy, 1997) 5 – 16 times for a word to be learned (Zahar, Cobb & Spada, 2001) An important role for recycling (revisiting) of the vocabulary learnt

Importance of Revision

Spaced / Distributed Repetition

Recycling of vocabulary Horst & Meara (1999) – far more vocab is learnt if the same text is read several times (the first reading focuses on understanding meaning, while the later readings focus on the forms) Following a piece of news for several days (word repetitions and synonyms); encountering the same words in different contexts Vocabulary quizzes Different parts of speech (e.g. “shoulder” as a noun, and as a verb) Other meanings (polysemy) of a word (e.g. “head as a body part, the school head, the department head, head of a queue) Replacing general words by specific words (e.g. nice – attractive, elegant, terrific)

Assignment Deadline: postponed to November 10 Hard copy to Cecilia; Soft copy via (instructions from Cecilia by ) All students have been given the cover sheet Assignments must be within the word limit: 2500 words excluding the reference list (+/-10% of the prescribed length). Assignments that are too long or too short should not be read and should be assigned a Fail grade. See page 7 of the Student Handbook. Assessment criteria on Course Website Assignments that plagiarize are assigned a Fail grade. Please paraphrase cited information in your own words and acknowledge the sources using the APA style. 21