Affiliation:
1. Sam Houston State University
Abstract
Cognates have been heavily incorporated into second language (L2) vocabulary instruction as they share form and meaning across languages and have demonstrated an advantage for learning. The present article aims to measure the effects of explicit, cognate, derivational-driven instruction in L2 Spanish. 49 intermediate-low Spanish learners participated in the experiment and completed a pre- and post-lexical decision task in Spanish, followed by a language history questionnaire. 25 learners composed the explicit instruction group and 24 composed the control group. Results from a three-way ANOVA (2x4x2) analyzing reaction times and accuracy demonstrate that both explicit and control groups process cognates and non-cognates faster in the post-test. However, participants in the explicit instruction group process cognates less accurately and non-cognates more accurately in the post-test, which could be attributed to the activation of formal lexical features of the instruction intervention. Results are interpreted in light of the nature of L2 instruction and lexical representation.
Reference69 articles.
1. Aguinaga Echeverría, Silvia (2017). All Cognates are not created equal: Variation in cognate recognition and applications for second language acquisition. Rael: Revista Electronica De Linguística Aplicada, 16, 23–42.
2. Ard, Josh., & Homburg, Taco. (1983). Verification of language transfer. In Susan. Gass & Lary. Selinker (Eds.), Language Transfer and Language Learning (pp.157–176). Newbury House.
3. August, Diane., Carlo, Maria., Dressler, Cheryl., & Snow, Catherine. (2005). The critical role of vocabulary development for English language learners. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 20(1), 50-57. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5826.2005.00120.x
4. Barcroft, Joe. (2008). Semantic and structural elaboration in L2 lexical acquisition. Language Learning, 52(2), 323–363. https://doi.org/10.1111/0023-8333.00186
5. Barcroft, Joe. (2004). Promoting second language vocabulary acquisition during reading: Some pivotal issues and eight instructional techniques. The Southern Journal of Linguistics, 26(2), 94–114.