Cargando…

Native-likeness in second language lexical categorization reflects individual language history and linguistic community norms

Second language learners face a dual challenge in vocabulary learning: First, they must learn new names for the 100s of common objects that they encounter every day. Second, after some time, they discover that these names do not generalize according to the same rules used in their first language. Le...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Zinszer, Benjamin D., Malt, Barbara C., Ameel, Eef, Li, Ping
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4209811/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25386149
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01203
_version_ 1782341298819170304
author Zinszer, Benjamin D.
Malt, Barbara C.
Ameel, Eef
Li, Ping
author_facet Zinszer, Benjamin D.
Malt, Barbara C.
Ameel, Eef
Li, Ping
author_sort Zinszer, Benjamin D.
collection PubMed
description Second language learners face a dual challenge in vocabulary learning: First, they must learn new names for the 100s of common objects that they encounter every day. Second, after some time, they discover that these names do not generalize according to the same rules used in their first language. Lexical categories frequently differ between languages (Malt et al., 1999), and successful language learning requires that bilinguals learn not just new words but new patterns for labeling objects. In the present study, Chinese learners of English with varying language histories and resident in two different language settings (Beijing, China and State College, PA, USA) named 67 photographs of common serving dishes (e.g., cups, plates, and bowls) in both Chinese and English. Participants’ response patterns were quantified in terms of similarity to the responses of functionally monolingual native speakers of Chinese and English and showed the cross-language convergence previously observed in simultaneous bilinguals (Ameel et al., 2005). For English, bilinguals’ names for each individual stimulus were also compared to the dominant name generated by the native speakers for the object. Using two statistical models, we disentangle the effects of several highly interactive variables from bilinguals’ language histories and the naming norms of the native speaker community to predict inter-personal and inter-item variation in L2 (English) native-likeness. We find only a modest age of earliest exposure effect on L2 category native-likeness, but importantly, we find that classroom instruction in L2 negatively impacts L2 category native-likeness, even after significant immersion experience. We also identify a significant role of both L1 and L2 norms in bilinguals’ L2 picture naming responses.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4209811
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2014
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-42098112014-11-10 Native-likeness in second language lexical categorization reflects individual language history and linguistic community norms Zinszer, Benjamin D. Malt, Barbara C. Ameel, Eef Li, Ping Front Psychol Psychology Second language learners face a dual challenge in vocabulary learning: First, they must learn new names for the 100s of common objects that they encounter every day. Second, after some time, they discover that these names do not generalize according to the same rules used in their first language. Lexical categories frequently differ between languages (Malt et al., 1999), and successful language learning requires that bilinguals learn not just new words but new patterns for labeling objects. In the present study, Chinese learners of English with varying language histories and resident in two different language settings (Beijing, China and State College, PA, USA) named 67 photographs of common serving dishes (e.g., cups, plates, and bowls) in both Chinese and English. Participants’ response patterns were quantified in terms of similarity to the responses of functionally monolingual native speakers of Chinese and English and showed the cross-language convergence previously observed in simultaneous bilinguals (Ameel et al., 2005). For English, bilinguals’ names for each individual stimulus were also compared to the dominant name generated by the native speakers for the object. Using two statistical models, we disentangle the effects of several highly interactive variables from bilinguals’ language histories and the naming norms of the native speaker community to predict inter-personal and inter-item variation in L2 (English) native-likeness. We find only a modest age of earliest exposure effect on L2 category native-likeness, but importantly, we find that classroom instruction in L2 negatively impacts L2 category native-likeness, even after significant immersion experience. We also identify a significant role of both L1 and L2 norms in bilinguals’ L2 picture naming responses. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-10-27 /pmc/articles/PMC4209811/ /pubmed/25386149 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01203 Text en Copyright © 2014 Zinszer, Malt, Ameel and Li. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Zinszer, Benjamin D.
Malt, Barbara C.
Ameel, Eef
Li, Ping
Native-likeness in second language lexical categorization reflects individual language history and linguistic community norms
title Native-likeness in second language lexical categorization reflects individual language history and linguistic community norms
title_full Native-likeness in second language lexical categorization reflects individual language history and linguistic community norms
title_fullStr Native-likeness in second language lexical categorization reflects individual language history and linguistic community norms
title_full_unstemmed Native-likeness in second language lexical categorization reflects individual language history and linguistic community norms
title_short Native-likeness in second language lexical categorization reflects individual language history and linguistic community norms
title_sort native-likeness in second language lexical categorization reflects individual language history and linguistic community norms
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4209811/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25386149
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01203
work_keys_str_mv AT zinszerbenjamind nativelikenessinsecondlanguagelexicalcategorizationreflectsindividuallanguagehistoryandlinguisticcommunitynorms
AT maltbarbarac nativelikenessinsecondlanguagelexicalcategorizationreflectsindividuallanguagehistoryandlinguisticcommunitynorms
AT ameeleef nativelikenessinsecondlanguagelexicalcategorizationreflectsindividuallanguagehistoryandlinguisticcommunitynorms
AT liping nativelikenessinsecondlanguagelexicalcategorizationreflectsindividuallanguagehistoryandlinguisticcommunitynorms