Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T08:44:13.190Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Learning written word vocabulary in a second language: Theoretical and practical implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2017

BRENDAN STUART WEEKES
BRENDAN STUART WEEKES*
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Communication Science, University of Hong Kong School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Brendan S. Weekes, Laboratory for Communication Science, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Short-term memory (STM) is required for second language learning. However, it is not clear what components of STM are necessary for the acquisition and lexicalisation of new written words. Studies suggest that memory for serial order is a critical cognitive process in spoken word acquisition although correlated mechanisms such as executive control also play a role. In this study, bilingual Cantonese–English speakers who are learning written expert words in a non-native language were tested over a one year period in their first year of instruction. Written word lexicalisation was measured using lexical decision and spelling to dictation tasks. Results showed measures of executive control (Stroop performance) and serial order memory capacity predict recognition and recall of written expert words at different stages. Whereas serial order memory predicts improvements to lexical decision accuracy, executive control predicts spelling to dictation performance after one year. The conclusion is that STM processes do constrain written word lexicalisation in a second language. However, executive control and serial order memory capacity have differential effects during word lexicalisation.

Keywords

serial order short term memoryexecutive controlfluid intelligenceexpert word learningCantonese–English bilinguals
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , May 2018 , pp. 585 - 597
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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 study was supported by Research Grant Number 754412 from the General Research Fund, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong. Thanks to Nathalie Ip, Josephine Tze, Kevin Lee and Loan Vuong for assistance with data collection and analysis.

References

Albanese, M. A., & Mitchell, S. (1993). Problem-based learning: A review of literature on its outcomes and implementation. Academic Medicine, 68 (1), 52–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Andrews, S. (2015). Individual differences among skilled readers: The role of lexical quality. In Pollatsek, Alexander, Treiman, Rebecca (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Reading, pp. 129–148. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Barrett, E. A. (2011). The Effects of Second Language Proficiency and Linguistic Distance on Cognitive Abilities in Bilingual Children. (PhD Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.5353/th_b4722941CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartolotti, J., Marian, V., Schroeder, S. R., & Shook, A. (2011). Bilingualism and inhibitory control influence statistical learning of novel word forms. Bilingualism: Cognitive and Language, 522, 146–155.Google Scholar
Benton, A. L., Varney, N. R., & Hamsher, K. D. (1978). Visuospatial judgment. A clinical test. Archives of Neurology, 35 (6), 364–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Botvinick, M. M., & Plaut, D. C. (2006). Short-term memory for serial order: A recurrent neural network model. Psychological Review, 113 (2), 201–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgess, N., & Hitch, G. J. (2006). A revised model of short-term memory and long-term learning of verbal sequences. Journal of Memory and Language, 55, 627–652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burt, J. S. (2006). Spelling in adults: The combined influences of language skills and reading experience. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 35 (5), 447–470.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheung, H., Kemper, S., & Leung, E. (2000). A phonological account for the cross-language variation in working memory processing. The Psychological Record, 50, 373–386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chincotta, D., & Hoosain, R. (1995). Reading rate, articulatory suppression and bilingual digit span. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 7 (2), 201–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cobb, T. (1999). Breadth and depth of lexical acquisition with hands-on concordancing. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 12 (4), 345–360CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowan, N. (1995). Attention and Memory: An Integrated Framework. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Dearden, J. (2015). English as a Medium of Instruction – A Growing Global Phenomenon. The British Council, Oxford.Google Scholar
Dunn, L. M., Dunn, L. M., Whetton, C., & Pintilie, D. (1982). British Picture Vocabulary Scale. NFER-Nelson, Windsor.Google Scholar
Ehrich, J. F., & Meuter, R. F. I. (2009). Acquiring an artificial logographic orthography: The beneficial effects of a logographic L1 background and bilinguality. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40 (5), 711–745.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fan, J., McCandliss, B. D., Sommer, T., Raz, A., & Posner, M. I. (2002). Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14 (3), 340–347.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gathercole, S. E., Hitch, G. J., Service, E., & Martin, A. J. (1997). Phonological short-term memory and new word learning in children. Developmental Psychology, 33, 966– 979.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gathercole, S. E., Service, E., Hitch, G. J., Adams, A. M., & Martin, A. J. (1999). Phonological short-term memory and vocabulary development: Further evidence on the nature of the relationship. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 13, 65–77.3.0.CO;2-O>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S. E., & Masoura, E. V. (2003). Contrasting contributions of phonological short-term memory and long-term knowledge to vocabulary learning in a foreign language. Memory, 13 (3-4), 422–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gupta, P. (2003). Examining the relationship between word learning, nonword repetition and immediate serial recall in adults. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56, 1213–1236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gupta, P., Lipinski, J., Abbs, B., Lin, P. H., Aktunc, E., Ludden, D., Martin, N., & Newman, R. (2004). Space aliens and nonwords: Stimuli for investigating the learning of novel word-meaning pairs. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments and Computers, 36 (4), 599–603.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, A. C., & Martin, R. C. (2005). Dissociation among tasks involving inhibition: A single-case study. Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 5 (1), 1–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holmes, V. M., Malone, A. M., & Redenbach, H. (2008), Orthographic processing and visual sequential memory in unexpectedly poor spellers. Journal of Research in Reading, 31, 136–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jubera, J. F. (2016). Working Memory and Phonological Short-term Memory in Second Language Learning. Universidad de La Rioja, Servicio de Publicacione.Google Scholar
Kaushanskaya, M., & Marian, V. (2009). Bilingualism reduces native-language interference during novel-word learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 35 (3), 829–839.Google ScholarPubMed
Lanfranchi, S., & Swanson, H. L. (2005). Short-term memory and working memory in children as a function of language-specific knowledge in English and Spanish. Learning and Individual Differences, 15, 299–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leclercq, A. L., & Majerus, S. (2010). Serial-order short-term memory predicts vocabulary development: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 46 (2), 417–427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leck, K. J., Weekes, B. S., & Chen, M. J. (1995). Visual and phonological pathways to the lexicon: Evidence from Chinese readers. Memory and Cognition, 23 (4), 468–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, L., Liu, M. H., & Su, D. L. (2010). An investigation of Chinese undergraduates’ foreign language anxiety: Changes and differences. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 20, 1–12.Google Scholar
Majerus, S. (2013). Language repetition and short-term memory: an integrative framework. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7 (357), 1–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Majerus, S., Poncelet, M., Greffe, C., & Van der Linden, M. (2006). Relations between vocabulary development and verbal short-term memory: The relative importance of short-term memory for serial order and item information. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 93, 95–119.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Majerus, S., Poncelet, M., Van der Linden, M., & Weekes, B. (2008a). Lexical learning in bilingual adults: the relative importance of short-term memory for serial order and phonological knowledge. Cognition, 107 (2), 395–419.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Majerus, S., Belayachi, S., De Smedt, B., Leclercq, A. L., Martinez, T., Schmidt, C., Weekes, B., & Maquet, P. (2008b). Neural networks for short-term memory for order differentiate high and low proficiency bilinguals. NeuroImage, 42, 1698–1713.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Majerus, S., Heiligenstein, L., Gautherot, N., Poncelet, M., & Van der Linden, M. (2009). The impact of auditory selective attention on verbal short-term memory and vocabulary development. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 103, 66–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masoura, E. V., & Gathercole, S. E. (2005). Contrasting contributions of phonological short-term memory and long-term knowledge to vocabulary learning in a foreign language. Memory, 13, 422–429.Google Scholar
McBride-Chang, C., Tong, X.-L., Shu, H., Wong, A.M.-Y., Leung, K.-W., & Tardif, T. (2008). Syllable, phoneme, and tone: Psycholinguistic units in early Chinese and English word recognition. Scientific Studies of Reading, 12 (2), 171–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGrew, K. S. (2009). CHC theory and the human cognitive abilities project: Standing on the shoulders of the giants of psychometric intelligence research. Intelligence, 37 (1), 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mikan, K. A. M. (2013). Verbal Short-term Memory and Vocabulary Learning. Doctoral thesis (PhD), University of Sussex.Google Scholar
Nassaji, H. (2006). The relationship between depth of vocabulary knowledge and L2 learners lexical inferencing strategy use and success. Modern Language Journal, 90, 387–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ooi, C.-W. (2016). Phonological Short term Memory and Relative Clause Comprehension in Cantonese Speaking Children with SLI. Doctoral thesis (PhD), University of Sussex.Google Scholar
PISA (2012). http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results.htmGoogle Scholar
Pishghadam, R., Khajavy, G. H. (2013). Intelligence and metacognition as predictors of foreign language achievement: A structural equation modeling approach. Learning and Individual Differences, 24, 176–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raven, J. C. (1984). Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices. London: H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd.Google Scholar
Ridderinkhof, K. R., van der Molen, W., Band, G., & Bashore, T. R. (1997). Sources of interference from irrelevant information: A developmental study. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 65, 315–341.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rossion, B., & Pourtois, G. (2004). Revisiting Snodgrass and Vanderwart's object set: The role of surface detail in basic-level object recognition. Perception, 33, 217–236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shen, H. H. (2013), Chinese L2 literacy development: Cognitive characteristics, learning strategies, and pedagogical interventions. Language and Linguistics Compass, 7, 371–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shen, H. H., & Xu, W. (2015). Active learning: Qualitative inquiries in vocabulary instruction in Chinese L2 classrooms. Foreign Language Annals, 48, 82–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stadthagen-Gonzalez, H., Bowers, J. S., & Damian, M. F. (2004). Age of acquisition effects in visual word recognition: Evidence from expert vocabularies. Cognition, 93, 11–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643–662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorn, A. S. C., & Gathercole, S. E. (2001). Language differences in short-term memory do not exclusively originate in the process of subvocal rehearsal. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 8, 357–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tian, L., & Macaro, E. (2012). Comparing the effect of teacher code switching with English-only explanations on the vocabulary acquisition of Chinese university students: A Lexical Focus-on-Form study. Language Teaching Research, 16 (3), 367–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tong, X., & McBride-Chang, C. (2010). Chinese-English bi-scriptal reading: Cognitive component skills across orthographies. Reading and Writing, 3–4, 293–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, M., Ying, L., & Perfetti, C. A. (2004). The implicit and explicit learning of orthographic structure and function of a new writing system. Scientific Studies of Reading, 8 (4), 357–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weekes, B. S. (1991). A Cognitive Neuropsychological Investigation of the Orthographic Processing System. Macquarie University, PhD thesis.Google Scholar
Weekes, B. S. (1993). A test of episodic visual memory. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 77 (3), 1091–1096.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weekes, B. S. (1994). Spelling skills of lexical readers. British Journal of Psychology, 85, 245–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weekes, B. S. (1996). Surface dyslexia and surface dysgraphia: Treatment studies and their theoretical implications. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 13 (2), 277–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weekes, B. S. (2005). Acquired Dyslexia and Dysgraphia Across Scripts. IOS press, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Weekes, B. S. (2006). Deep dysgraphia: Evidence for a summation account of written word production. Brain and Language, 99, 30–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weekes, B. S. (2010). Lexical retrieval in alphabetic and non-alphabetic scripts: Evidence from brain imaging. In Brunswick, N. (Ed). The Role of Orthographies in Reading and Spelling. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Weekes, B. S. (2012). Reading and writing across scripts. Behavioural Neurology, 25 (3), 159–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weekes, B. S., Davies, R. A., Parris, B. A., & Robinson, G. A. (2003). Age of acquisition effects on spelling in surface dysgraphia. Aphasiology, 17 (6–7), 563–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weekes, B. S., Castles, A. E., & Davies, R. A. (2006). Effects of consistency and age of acquisition on reading and spelling in developing readers. Reading and Writing, 19 (2), 133–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, Y., Chang, L., & Perfetti, C. A. (2014). The effect of radical-based grouping in character learning in Chinese as a foreign language. The Modern Language Journal, 98, 773–793.Google Scholar
Xu, X., & Padilla, A. M. (2013). Using meaningful interpretation and chunking to enhance memory: The case of Chinese character learning. Foreign Language Annals, 46, 402–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yao, M. [姚君霓]. (2005). How English Speakers Learn Chinese Characters. (PhD Thesis). University of Hong Kong. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.5353/th_b3160179CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yim, O., & Bialystok, E. (2012). Degree of conversational code-switching enhances verbal task switching in Cantonese–English bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15 (04), 873–883.CrossRefGoogle Scholar