Bilingual novel word learning in sentence contexts: Effects of semantic and language variation

Abstract

Abstract Research on word learning demonstrates that meanings of novel words are better recalled when those words are encountered in a variety of semantic contexts than when encountered in the same repeated context. The present study examines how semantic and non-semantic contextual variations in word learning encounters impact learning the meanings of novel words. Across two experiments, highly proficient Spanish-English bilinguals studied rare words in repeated or varied semantic contexts, presented in only one language or in both languages. Participants recalled more word meanings when semantic context was varied rather than repeated at study, and this effect did not differ for the more and less proficient languages. However, varying the language context provided no benefit relative to studying words in only one language. Performance patterns were consistent for visual and auditory study modalities, and in both recall and recognition tasks, performance was less accurate overall in the less proficient language than in the more proficient language. These findings replicate the advantage of semantic variation observed in monolingual studies and is the first to directly compare learning from varied and repeated semantic contexts for more and less proficient languages in bilinguals.