Efectos de la diversidad contextual en la decisión semántica y la lectura en voz alta: evidencia de un estudio de aprendizaje de palabras en inglés como segundo idioma

Translated title of the contribution: Effects of contextual diversity on semantic decision and reading aloud: Evidence from a word learning study in English as a second language

Roberto A. Ferreira*, Andrew W. Ellis

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This experiment investigated contextual diversity effects on novel word learning in English as a second language (L2). A group of advanced English speakers, whose native language was Spanish, participated in the study. Participants learned the meaning of real but obscure words that were embedded in either two or 12 different sentences and learned over two days (frequency of exposure was kept constant). On day three, participants were tested using reading aloud and semantic decision tasks. The results showed that participants learned the meaning of words in both conditions fairly well as revealed by their accuracy in the semantic decision task. However, words experienced in 12 different contexts generated more accurate and faster reaction times (RTs), suggesting the acquisition of more robust semantic representations. Strikingly, reading latencies were also faster for the 12-sentence condition, which might imply that semantics has an effect on reading newly learned words in English as a second language. These results are discussed and accommodated in view of the DRC and the PDP models of single-word reading.

Translated title of the contributionEffects of contextual diversity on semantic decision and reading aloud: Evidence from a word learning study in English as a second language
Original languageSpanish
Pages (from-to)162-182
Number of pages21
JournalEstudios de Psicologia
Volume37
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Jan 2016

Keywords

  • Contextual diversity
  • L2
  • reading aloud
  • semantic decision
  • word learning

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