The Mnemonic Effect of Noticing Alliteration in Lexical Chunks

Abstract

If good proficiency in L2 entails the acquisition not only of many single words but of many lexical chunks as well, it must then be asked how all this additional lexis is to be committed to long-term memory in the limited time available on non-intensive classroom-based language courses. If it is the case that a significant fraction of conventionalized lexical chunks exhibit mnemonic phonological repetition—alliteration—for example, then the L2 learner's task may be less daunting. We note evidence that alliteration is relatively common in lexical chunks in English. Because of this evidence, three experiments were carried out involving advanced level young adult, Dutch-speaking language majors. Experiment 1 addresses the possibility that two-word alliterative phrases such as day dream are more memorable than ‘no repetition’ phrases such as phone call. Experiment 2 assesses the likelihood that alliteration in chunks will be autonomously noticed. Experiment 3 assesses the effect on the recall of alliterative chunks of very brief teacher-led noticing of the phonemic/orthographic repetition involved. Collectively, the results of the experiments suggest that alliteration has considerable mnemonic potential that could be exploited to facilitate chunk-learning, but also that learners are not very likely to unlock this potential autonomously.