Lexical profiles of children and adolescent EFL learners in the semantic domain of animals
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Rosa M. Jiménez Catalán
Abstract
This chapter looks at the English lexical output and word association of children and adolescent EFL learners in the semantic domain of animals. Research on the relation of age and the productive vocabulary of these groups is scarce and has focused on the comparison of scores obtained on tests or in the words used in compositions, showing a greater production in older learners than in young learners. However, the lexical output generated by EFL learners in response to cue-words in semantic categorization tasks has hardly been investigated, let alone the examination of qualitative aspects of their lexical output such as the strategies and associations that children and adolescent EFL learners use in word retrieval (clusters) and word search (switches). The present study contributes to fill this gap by considering the age-group as a factor of possible learning differences as observed in the words retrieved in a semantic fluency task by children and adolescents EFL learners. The quantitative results show differences concerning word production, clusters, and switches. Likewise, although similarities are observed concerning the most frequent words and association patterns, the qualitative analysis reveal inter and intragroup differences that need to be considered when researching individual language learning differences in English as a target. The findings also have implications for education as they provide teachers with actual words, and the associations produced by children and adolescent EFL learners when asked to generate words related to the semantic domain of animals.
Abstract
This chapter looks at the English lexical output and word association of children and adolescent EFL learners in the semantic domain of animals. Research on the relation of age and the productive vocabulary of these groups is scarce and has focused on the comparison of scores obtained on tests or in the words used in compositions, showing a greater production in older learners than in young learners. However, the lexical output generated by EFL learners in response to cue-words in semantic categorization tasks has hardly been investigated, let alone the examination of qualitative aspects of their lexical output such as the strategies and associations that children and adolescent EFL learners use in word retrieval (clusters) and word search (switches). The present study contributes to fill this gap by considering the age-group as a factor of possible learning differences as observed in the words retrieved in a semantic fluency task by children and adolescents EFL learners. The quantitative results show differences concerning word production, clusters, and switches. Likewise, although similarities are observed concerning the most frequent words and association patterns, the qualitative analysis reveal inter and intragroup differences that need to be considered when researching individual language learning differences in English as a target. The findings also have implications for education as they provide teachers with actual words, and the associations produced by children and adolescent EFL learners when asked to generate words related to the semantic domain of animals.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Learning disabilities as external individual differences in second language acquisition 9
- The role of memory in the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar in the first language and in English as a foreign language 31
- Individual differences and young learners’ L2 vocabulary development: The case of language aptitude and exposure to subtitled TV series 65
- ‘In love with English’: A mixed-methods investigation of Flemish children’s spontaneous engagement with out-of-school exposure 87
- The relation between out-of-school exposure to English and English vocabulary development in Dutch primary school pupils 109
- Lexical profiles of children and adolescent EFL learners in the semantic domain of animals 133
- The contribution of motivation and emotions to language learning autonomy in the Hungarian secondary school classroom: The results of a questionnaire study 155
- Effects of authentic communication experiences on linguistic self-confidence: Individual differences in perceptions among Japanese primary school students 177
- Emotion and motivation in younger learners’ second foreign language acquisition 203
- Secondary school pupils’ language choice satisfaction in the L3 classroom: The roles of teaching, motivation, language choice and language classroom anxiety 225
- Index 261
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Learning disabilities as external individual differences in second language acquisition 9
- The role of memory in the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar in the first language and in English as a foreign language 31
- Individual differences and young learners’ L2 vocabulary development: The case of language aptitude and exposure to subtitled TV series 65
- ‘In love with English’: A mixed-methods investigation of Flemish children’s spontaneous engagement with out-of-school exposure 87
- The relation between out-of-school exposure to English and English vocabulary development in Dutch primary school pupils 109
- Lexical profiles of children and adolescent EFL learners in the semantic domain of animals 133
- The contribution of motivation and emotions to language learning autonomy in the Hungarian secondary school classroom: The results of a questionnaire study 155
- Effects of authentic communication experiences on linguistic self-confidence: Individual differences in perceptions among Japanese primary school students 177
- Emotion and motivation in younger learners’ second foreign language acquisition 203
- Secondary school pupils’ language choice satisfaction in the L3 classroom: The roles of teaching, motivation, language choice and language classroom anxiety 225
- Index 261
