Chapter 3. Some costs of fooling Mother Nature
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Joe Barcroft
Abstract
This study compared the effects of the Keyword Method and rote rehearsal on the quality of developing second language (L2) lexical representations. We assessed accuracy and latency of English-to-Spanish translations provided by English-speaking absolute beginning learners of Spanish after each of three learning phases. Each translation was primed by either a keyword used during the learning phase (dad for dado “dice”) or an unrelated word (book for dado “dice”). Keyword primes, which are similar in form to the target L2 words, speeded recall for the rote-rehearsal group but slowed recall for the keyword group. These findings demonstrate clear differences in the quality of developing L2 lexical representations between the two groups, disfavoring the Keyword Method of L2 vocabulary instruction.
Abstract
This study compared the effects of the Keyword Method and rote rehearsal on the quality of developing second language (L2) lexical representations. We assessed accuracy and latency of English-to-Spanish translations provided by English-speaking absolute beginning learners of Spanish after each of three learning phases. Each translation was primed by either a keyword used during the learning phase (dad for dado “dice”) or an unrelated word (book for dado “dice”). Keyword primes, which are similar in form to the target L2 words, speeded recall for the rote-rehearsal group but slowed recall for the keyword group. These findings demonstrate clear differences in the quality of developing L2 lexical representations between the two groups, disfavoring the Keyword Method of L2 vocabulary instruction.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
-
Introduction
- Chapter 1. Using priming methods to study L2 learning and teaching 3
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Part I. Using priming methods in L2 learning research
- Chapter 2. Acquiring second language vocabulary through the use of images and words 21
- Chapter 3. Some costs of fooling Mother Nature 49
- Chapter 4. Using priming to explore early word learning 73
- Chapter 5. When three equals tree 105
- Chapter 6. Eliciting wh-questions through collaborative syntactic priming activities during peer interaction 131
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Part II. Innovative approaches to L2 priming research
- Chapter 7. The L2 semantic attentional blink 155
- Chapter 8. Task effects in second language sentence processing research 179
- Chapter 9. Semantic integration in listening comprehension in a second language 199
- Chapter 10. Conceptual mediation in second language learners 219
-
Conclusion
- Chapter 11. Expanding the scope of priming research 241
- Index 251
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
-
Introduction
- Chapter 1. Using priming methods to study L2 learning and teaching 3
-
Part I. Using priming methods in L2 learning research
- Chapter 2. Acquiring second language vocabulary through the use of images and words 21
- Chapter 3. Some costs of fooling Mother Nature 49
- Chapter 4. Using priming to explore early word learning 73
- Chapter 5. When three equals tree 105
- Chapter 6. Eliciting wh-questions through collaborative syntactic priming activities during peer interaction 131
-
Part II. Innovative approaches to L2 priming research
- Chapter 7. The L2 semantic attentional blink 155
- Chapter 8. Task effects in second language sentence processing research 179
- Chapter 9. Semantic integration in listening comprehension in a second language 199
- Chapter 10. Conceptual mediation in second language learners 219
-
Conclusion
- Chapter 11. Expanding the scope of priming research 241
- Index 251
