Is Vocabulary Knowledge Sufficient for Word-Meaning Inference? An Investigation of the Role of Morphological Awareness in Adult L2 Learners of Chinese

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 456-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sihui Ke ◽  
Keiko Koda
Keyword(s):  
Word Meaning ◽  
Morphological Awareness ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
L2 Learners

On the nature of morphological awareness in Japanese–English bilingual children: A cross-linguistic perspective

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUKO HAYASHI ◽  
VICTORIA A. MURPHY
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Morphological Awareness ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Morphological Development ◽  
Morphological Knowledge ◽  
Japanese Learners ◽  
Reciprocal Transfer ◽  
Japanese English

While morphological awareness has received much attention to date, little is understood about how morphological awareness develops within bilingual children learning typologically different languages. Therefore, we investigated children's knowledge of inflections and derivations in Japanese and English, and also asked whether morphological awareness in one language predicted morphological awareness in the other. To that end, 24 Japanese learners of L2 English (ESL) and 21 English learners of Japanese as a heritage language (JHL) were recruited and participated in a range of tasks assessing both vocabulary and morphological knowledge. Cross-linguistic contributions of morphological awareness were identified in both directions (Japanese ↔ English), after controlling for age, IQ, and vocabulary knowledge. This bidirectional transfer was, however, identified only in the ESL group. The group-specific and reciprocal transfer observed is discussed in terms of morphological complexities and relative competence in each language. The potential role of different types of L2 instruction in morphological development is also discussed.

Multi-Faceted Morphological Awareness and Vocabulary Knowledge in English as a Second Language Learners: A Multivariate Analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhang Haomin ◽  
Zhuang Bilü
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Morphological Awareness ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Chinese College Students ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Vocabulary Depth

AbstractThis study investigates the role of morphological awareness in ESL vocabulary acquisition. Participants were 198 Chinese college students enrolled in a joint program which required them to study in China for the first two years and then study in the U.K. to complete their degrees. They completed a total of four paper-and-pencil tests: morpheme discrimination, morpheme recognition, vocabulary size test (VST) and word associates test (WAT) tests. We drew upon path analysis to explore the interconnected relationships among multiple explanatory variables (facets of morphological awareness) and outcome variables (facets of vocabulary knowledge). The results demonstrated that English derivational awareness was strongly predictive of both ESL vocabulary breadth and ESL vocabulary depth, and that preexisting ESL vocabulary breadth could enhance the relation between derivational awareness and ESL vocabulary depth. To summarize, these results indicate that an improved English derivational awareness not only helps to expand ESL vocabulary size but can also consolidate learners’ deep understanding of word properties, which will in turn assist them to establish connections with other associative words and phrases.

scholarly journals Morphological Awareness in L2 Chinese Reading Comprehension: Testing of Mediating Routes

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haomin Zhang ◽  
Xing Zhang ◽  
Mengjie Li ◽  
Yiming Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Morphological Awareness ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Chinese Reading ◽  
Morphological Knowledge ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
L2 Chinese ◽  
Path Models ◽  
Inference Task

This study aims to examine the contribution of morphological awareness to second language (L2) Chinese reading comprehension through potential mediating factors. Adult L2 Chinese learners (n = 447) participated in the study and completed two morphological awareness tasks (segmentation and discrimination), two vocabulary knowledge tasks (character knowledge and word-meaning knowledge), one lexical inference task, and one reading comprehension task. By testing alternative path models, this study identified the preferred model assuming the covariates of morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge. Morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge jointly contributed to L2 Chinese reading comprehension through lexical inference. The written modality of morphological awareness induced the activation of both morphological and orthographic information in print. The result suggests that morphological awareness (in the form of grapho-morphological knowledge) and vocabulary knowledge seem to be two parallel components under the same construct predicting Chinese reading comprehension. More importantly, this study underscores the intermediary effect of lexical inference in associating morphological awareness and reading comprehension in L2 Chinese learners.

Word knowledge in academic literacy skills among collegiate ESL learners

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haomin Zhang ◽  
Winfred Wenhui Xuan
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Academic Literacy ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Morphological Awareness ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
College Level ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe study probed into the relationship between word knowledge and academic literacy skills in college-level English as a second language (ESL) learners. Morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge were included in the word knowledge measures. In addition, reading comprehension and academic writing were the outcome variables. Using the data from 118 ESL students in Hong Kong, we found that both morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge contributed to academic literacy skills. More important, direct and indirect effects of word knowledge on academic literacy skills were tested to provide insight into how two facets of word knowledge interact in shaping academic literacy acquisition. The results demonstrated that vocabulary knowledge mediated the relationship between morphological awareness and academic literacy skills. The study suggests that morphological sensitivity could enhance word meaning extraction and local meaning construction, which subsequently facilitates academic literacy skills.

The role of morphological awareness in children's vocabulary acquisition in English

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
CATHERINE McBRIDE–CHANG ◽  
RICHARD K. WAGNER ◽  
ANDREA MUSE ◽  
BONNIE W.-Y. CHOW ◽  
HUA SHU
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Morphological Awareness ◽  
Morphological Structure ◽  
Second Graders ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Word Repetition ◽  
Two Measures

Tasks of speeded naming, phonological awareness, word identification, nonsense word repetition, and vocabulary, along with two measures of morphological awareness (morphological structure awareness and morpheme identification), were administered to 115 kindergartners and 105 second graders. In the combined sample, 48% of the variance in vocabulary knowledge was predicted by the phonological processing and reading variables. Morphological structure awareness and morpheme identification together predicted an additional unique 10% of variance in vocabulary knowledge, for a total of 58% of the variance explained; both measures of morphological awareness were uniquely associated with vocabulary knowledge. Results underscore the potential importance of different facets of morphological awareness, as distinct from phonological processing skills, for understanding variability in early vocabulary acquisition.

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