Assessing the Impact of Morphological Knowledge on Lexical Acquisition and Processing

Baraa A Rajab

doi:10.1155/2020/1561470

Abstract

The mastery of morphological structure and vocabulary acquisition are significantly associated. However, the association between the abilities of L2 learners to manipulate morphological elements and develop vocabulary size with native Arabic speakers needs to be assessed. This study assesses the impact of morphological knowledge on lexical acquisition and processing among English-speaking learners of Arabic. The study focused on gender (masculine/feminine) and the complete number system (singular/dual/plural) by native English speakers. The error rates and error patterns were analysed carefully to provide insight into the learner’s interlanguage grammar through the experiment. The experimental study design was used. The study sample included 40 of L2 Arabic speakers from Arabic language courses at major universities in Northern Virginia and Maryland. These were native English speakers with no exposure to Arabic before their enrolment in the university. The sample was divided into three groups (Group I, individual in the second year of Arabic program, Group II, individual in 3rd or 4th year of the program, and Group III control group, five native speakers of Arabic). Different tasks were presented to the groups, where PsychoPy software was used for task presentation. Audacity Version 2.0 was audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded by the experimenter. The production and comprehension test revealed that morphological problems are prevalent at the advanced proficiency level. It showed the role of animacy for the morphological variability and higher agreement accuracy for human targets. It concluded that morphological variability in L2 Arabic remains a persistent problem even at advanced levels of proficiency, extending to comprehension.

Highlights

Second language (L2) learners experience substantial difficulties in English reading and comprehension. e awareness of the learners concerning the English language issues associated with morphological knowledge and internal structure assists him/her in its texts decoding [1]
L2 learners need to have adequate knowledge regarding the hurdles of L2 vocabulary acquisition because morphological processing is linked to vocabulary learning. e morphological decomposition for lexical access comprises regular inflectional affixes and derivational affixes [4]
Recent studies on morphological variability in L2 acquisition stated that animacy and semantic gender contribute substantially in the acquisition of agreement

Summary

Introduction

Second language (L2) learners experience substantial difficulties in English reading and comprehension. e awareness of the learners concerning the English language issues associated with morphological knowledge and internal structure assists him/her in its texts decoding [1]. E awareness of the learners concerning the English language issues associated with morphological knowledge and internal structure assists him/her in its texts decoding [1]. No such efficient way has been derived for improving the English reading among L2 learners [2]. Santoro [8] assessed the acquisition of morphological features of gender and number agreement in L2 Italian determiners, adjectives, and pronouns It showed increased accuracy levels for masculine and singular targets as compared to feminine or plural ones. Erefore, the present study aims to assess the impact of morphological knowledge on lexical acquisition and processing among L2 learners. The study intends to evaluate the impact of morphological knowledge on lexical acquisition and processing among L2 learners

Materials and Methods

Human Nonhuman

Target adj gender Masc

Gender M

Non human

Singular Dual