Loanword proportion in vocabulary size tests
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Batia Laufer
Abstract
We investigated the effect of English-Hebrew loanwords on English vocabulary test scores when the number of loanwords in the test is random and when it is representative of their proportion in the vocabulary lists from which the test items were taken. 303 EFL learners, speakers of Hebrew as L1, at three L2 proficiency levels, received tests with no loanwords, with a representative number of loanwords and with a random number of loanwords in four modalities: word form recall, word meaning recall, word form recognition, word meaning recognition. Though different effects were found for different modalities and different language proficiencies, the score increases from the representative loanword test version to the random loanword version were low and the effect sizes of the differences were very low. We suggest that the inclusion of loanwords in vocabulary tests may not inflate the true vocabulary knowledge score.
Abstract
We investigated the effect of English-Hebrew loanwords on English vocabulary test scores when the number of loanwords in the test is random and when it is representative of their proportion in the vocabulary lists from which the test items were taken. 303 EFL learners, speakers of Hebrew as L1, at three L2 proficiency levels, received tests with no loanwords, with a representative number of loanwords and with a random number of loanwords in four modalities: word form recall, word meaning recall, word form recognition, word meaning recognition. Though different effects were found for different modalities and different language proficiencies, the score increases from the representative loanword test version to the random loanword version were low and the effect sizes of the differences were very low. We suggest that the inclusion of loanwords in vocabulary tests may not inflate the true vocabulary knowledge score.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Guest editorial 1
- Eye movements in vocabulary research 5
- Reading a whole book to learn vocabulary 31
- A Hard Science Spoken Word List 45
- Re-examining the effects of word writing on vocabulary learning 73
- Loanword proportion in vocabulary size tests 95
- The guessing from context test 117
- The effect of out-of-class exposure to English language media on learners’ vocabulary knowledge 143
- Examining incidental vocabulary acquisition from captioned video 169
- The images in television programs and the potential for learning unknown words 191
- Vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension at an intermediate level in English and French as foreign languages 213
- Index 233
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Guest editorial 1
- Eye movements in vocabulary research 5
- Reading a whole book to learn vocabulary 31
- A Hard Science Spoken Word List 45
- Re-examining the effects of word writing on vocabulary learning 73
- Loanword proportion in vocabulary size tests 95
- The guessing from context test 117
- The effect of out-of-class exposure to English language media on learners’ vocabulary knowledge 143
- Examining incidental vocabulary acquisition from captioned video 169
- The images in television programs and the potential for learning unknown words 191
- Vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension at an intermediate level in English and French as foreign languages 213
- Index 233
