The effects of word frequency and word predictability during first- and second-language paragraph reading in bilingual older and younger adults.

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Whitford ◽  
Debra Titone
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Word Predictability

scholarly journals Coverage-based Frequency Bands: A Proposal

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 52-60
Author(s):  
Dale Brown ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Frequency Distribution ◽  
Vocabulary Test ◽  
Frequency Bands ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Firm Basis

Second language vocabulary research makes much use of word frequency lists and their division into bands. In recent years, bands of 1,000 items have become conventional. However, there does not seem to be any firm basis or rationale for this. Conventional banding may be questioned since the utility of words varies greatly depending on frequency, because there are enormous differences in frequency within higher bands, and because the reliability of the placement of words in bands becomes progressively poorer at lower frequency levels. This article suggests an alternative approach: basing bands on coverage levels. Because of the frequency distribution of words, this means the highest frequency bands would contain very few words, while lower frequency bands would contain a great many words. The article shows how such bands can be constructed and presents a re-analysis of the results of a vocabulary test designed with conventional bands in terms of coverage-based bands. This re-analysis produces a very different profile of learners’ knowledge, and it is argued that the shape of this profile may be more useful in terms of guiding instruction in that it gives a clearer indication of which words should be targeted for a group of learners. It is further argued that the smaller number of words contained in coverage-based bands at higher frequency levels makes them a more feasible basis for instruction. The article thus concludes that coverage-based bands may be a fruitful avenue for researchers to explore.

Frequency effects and second language lexical acquisition

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Crossley ◽  
Tom Salsbury ◽  
Ashley Titak ◽  
Danielle McNamara
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Lexical Acquisition ◽  
Absolute Frequency ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
L1 And L2

Frequency effects in an L1 and L2 longitudinal corpus were investigated using Zipfian distribution analyses and linear curve estimations. The results demonstrated that the NS lexical input exhibited Zipfian distributions, but that the L2 lexical output did not match the NS Zipfian patterns. Word frequency analyses indicated that NS interlocutors modify their lexicon such that frequency scores decrease as a function of time that L2 learners have studied English. In contrast, the word frequency scores for the L2 output increased as a function of time. Post-hoc analyses indicated that differences in frequency scores between NS input and L2 output were best explained by the repetition of infrequent words, but not frequent words by L2 learners in the early stages of language acquisition. The results question absolute frequency interpretations of lexical acquisition for L2 learners and provide evidence for usage-based approaches for language learning.

scholarly journals Predicting pauses in L1 and L2 speech: the effects of utterance boundaries and word frequency

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nivja H de Jong
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Filled Pauses ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
L1 And L2

AbstractThis paper compares the distribution of silent and filled pauses in first (L1) and second language (L2) speech. The occurrence of pauses of 52 L2 and 18 L1 Dutch speakers was evaluated with respect to utterance boundaries and word frequency. We found that L2 speakers paused more often than L1 speakers within utterances; but not between utterances. Similarly, only within utterances, L2 pauses were longer than L1 pauses. Regarding word frequency, both L1 and L2 speakers are more likely to pause before lower frequency words as compared to higher frequency words. These findings imply that L1 and L2 speakers’ production processes may be similar in that (1) pauses at utterance boundaries are used for conceptual planning mostly and (2) lexical retrieval difficulties are comparable for L1 and L2 speakers. These findings furthermore imply that when using fluency for L2 testing, pause locations must be taken into account.

scholarly journals Teaching Second Language Vocabulary: the Role and Application of the AWL

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Ge Yan
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Word List ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
Writing Assignments

This paper focuses on the role and application of AWL in science-related subjects, namely the issue of whether or not students in science-related majors is advantaged or disadvantaged in using the Academic Word List (AWL) in their academic writing assignments as the imbalance of word frequency in AWL. Participants (n=18) are obliged to answer the Questionnaire. Furthermore, if needed, a brief interview would be arranged on some uncertain questions. Results show that learning and acquiring academic vocabulary would benefit participants in research articles, while AWL is inadequate for students in science-related disciplines in their academic writing. We claim that students in science-related majors may be disadvantaged than other majors’ students in using Coxhead’s Academic Word List, and a wordlist screened out from science-related corpus perhaps more suitable for ESP students. Meanwhile, AWL, as a role of reference, would aid language learning or acquisition.

Idiom properties influencing idiom production in younger and older adults

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
JungMoon Hyun ◽  
Peggy S. Conner ◽  
Loraine K. Obler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Grammatical Class ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Semantic Complexity

In order to study the factors influencing storage, access, and retrieval of idioms as they relate to advancing age, we investigated the properties of idioms that directly influence idiom production and their relation to aging. In particular, we selected measures of structural complexity (grammatical class, syntactic frozenness) and a measure of semantic complexity (compositionality) along with several other measures that interact with representation and processing (idiom familiarity, word frequency, semantic neighborhood density). The performance of younger adults (age 18–30) was predicted by idiom familiarity; that of older adults (age 60–85) was predicted by frozenness. In addition, both younger and older adults performed better on full-sentence idioms than on verb-phrase ones. The results are discussed within a theoretical framework of idiom production and aging.

FREQUENCY EFFECTS OR CONTEXT EFFECTS IN SECOND LANGUAGE WORD LEARNING

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 727-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Crossley ◽  
Nicholas Subtirelu ◽  
Tom Salsbury
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Word Production ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Oral Discourse ◽  
Contextual Diversity ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
Verb Acquisition ◽  
Post Hoc

This study examines frequency, contextual diversity, and contextual distinctiveness effects in predicting produced versus not-produced frequent nouns and verbs by early second language (L2) learners of English. The study analyzes whether word frequency is the strongest predictor of early L2 word production independent of contextual diversity and distinctiveness and whether differences exist in the lexical properties of nouns and verbs that can help explain beginning-level L2 word production. The study uses machine learning algorithms to develop models that predict produced and unproduced words in L2 oral discourse. The results demonstrate that word frequency is the strongest classifier of whether a noun is produced or not produced in beginning L2 oral discourse, whereas contextual diversity is the strongest classifier of whether a verb is produced or not produced. Post hoc tests reveal that nouns are more concrete, meaningful, imageable, specific, and unambiguous than verbs, which indicates that lexical properties may explain differences in noun and verb production. Thus, whereas distributional properties of nouns may allow lexical acquisition on the basis of association through exposure alone (i.e., nouns may adhere to frequency effects), the abstractness and ambiguity found in verbs make them difficult to acquire based solely on repetition. Therefore, verb acquisition may follow a principle of likely need characterized by contextual diversity effects.

Examining second language receptive knowledge of collocation and factors that affect learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thi My Hang Nguyen ◽  
Stuart Webb
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mutual Information ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Part Of Speech ◽  
Frequency Level ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Information Score ◽  
Positive Correlations

This study investigated Vietnamese EFL learners’ knowledge of verb–noun and adjective–noun collocations at the first three 1,000 word frequency levels, and the extent to which five factors (node word frequency, collocation frequency, mutual information score, congruency, and part of speech) predicted receptive knowledge of collocation. Knowledge of single-word items at the same word frequency levels was also examined. The results indicated that the participants were not close to a level of mastery of collocational knowledge at any word frequency level; knew less than 50% of each type of collocation overall; and that their knowledge of collocation significantly decreased at each level. The analysis also revealed that there were significant large positive correlations between knowledge of collocations and single-word items, and that node word frequency was the strongest predictor of receptive knowledge of collocation.

scholarly journals Words that second language learners are likely to hear, read, and use

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-146
Author(s):  
DOUGLAS J. DAVIDSON ◽  
PETER INDEFREY ◽  
MARIANNE GULLBERG
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Multiple Data Sources ◽  
Multiple Data ◽  
Language Frequency

In the present study, we explore whether multiple data sources may be more effective than single sources at predicting the words that language learners are likely to know. Second language researchers have hypothesized that there is a relationship between word frequency and the likelihood that words will be encountered or used by second language learners, but it is not yet clear how this relationship should be effectively measured. An analysis of word frequency measures showed that spoken language frequency alone may predict the occurrence of words in learner textbooks, but that multiple corpora as well as textbook status can improve predictions of learner usage.

A similarity in word-recognition procedures among second language readers with different first language backgrounds

2002 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
NOBUHIKO AKAMATSU
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
First Language ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
High Frequency Words ◽  
Second Language Readers

This study investigated word recognition among fluent readers of English as a second language (ESL). Specifically, the study examined whether ESL readers' first language (L1) affects the procedures underlying second language word recognition, with respect to the effects of word frequency and regularity on word recognition. The results revealed a similarity in word-recognition procedures between fluent ESL readers with various L1 backgrounds (i.e., Chinese, Japanese, and Persian). In processing high-frequency words, all the ESL groups recognized exception words as quickly as regular words; low-frequency exception words, on the contrary, took longer to recognize than low-frequency regular words.

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