Lexical Inferencing Strategies Research Articles

Vietnamese EFL Students’ Perceptions and Self-reported Use of Lexical Inferencing in L2 Reading

Lexical inferencing has long been proven to play an important role in reading comprehension, specifically when it comes to strategies for dealing with unfamiliar terms in reading texts. Although much research has been done on the employment of lexical inferencing strategies in L2 reading, empirical evidence concerning the perceptions and practices of lexical inferencing strategies in Vietnamese contexts is just humble. To contribute to narrowing this gap, the current study is aimed to investigate Vietnamese EFL learners’ perceptions and self-reported use of lexical inferencing strategies in reading comprehension. Data were collected from 60 English-majored students at a private university in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam through a questionnaire. The results indicated that most students perceived lexical inferencing as being of significant values in L2 reading. As for the strategies in this regard, it was found that contextual and intralingual cues were commonly used in the participants’ lexical inferencing with the same level of frequency. It is suggested that more attention should be paid to lexical inferencing strategy instruction in EFL classrooms for the sake of students’ learning, especially their reading comprehension performance.

Integrating morphological and contextual cues in lexical inferencing of Chinese fourth graders

AbstractThe study investigated the strategies used by Chinese students in inferring meanings of unfamiliar words and the influential factors of successful use of different lexical inferencing strategies. A total of 104 fourth graders inferred 36 unfamiliar semitransparent compound words in three conditions: word in isolation, contextual information only, and both word and context. Results revealed that students were more likely to obtain the correct meaning of words when both morphological information and contextual information were available. The likelihood of using a morpheme-based or context-based lexical inferencing strategy was strongly influenced by the presentation condition of target words and precursors. Students with higher vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension ability were more sensitive to morphological and contextual information and were able to synthesize multiple sources of information, whereas children with lower vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension ability showed difficulties in integration and tended to overly rely on morphological information. The findings reveal the interactions between available source information and individual differences in vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension in predicting lexical inferencing and have implications for vocabulary and reading instruction.

The Effect of Lexical Inference Strategy Instruction on Saudi EFL learners’ Reading Comprehension

Lexical inference strategy plays an important role in increasing the level of reading comprehension of second or foreign language learners. Lexical inferencing as an efficient strategy to deal with unfamiliar words has attracted much attention in the comprehension literature. However, few studies on lexical inferencing have been conducted in an English as a foreign language (EFL) setting. To fill in the existing gap, the current study aimed at investigating the effect of lexical inferencing strategy instruction on Saudi EFL students’ reading comprehension. Additionally, it sought to identify the lexical inferencing strategies used by Saudi EFL learners while they were inferring unknown words in a text. Last, the current study attempted to find the relationship between lexical inference strategies and reading comprehension among Saudi EFL learners. Sixty students from the English department were selected based on their scores on the Oxford Placement Test, indicating that they were at intermediate levels of English proficiency. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: control and experimental (each consisting of 30 students). The participants in the control group received regular instruction, while the participants in the experimental group were treated using lexical inference strategies. The instruments used for collecting data were Oxford Placement Test, reading comprehension test, and think-aloud protocol. A pre-test and post-test were administered for control and experimental groups. The results of the independent samples t-test revealed that teaching inference skills had a significant effect on reading comprehension performance among EFL learners. The results of the paired t-tests showed that lexical inferencing instruction had a statistically significant effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension development. The results of the Spearman correlation coefficient indicated that there was a significant relationship between lexical inferencing strategies and reading comprehension. The findings revealed the profound impact of lexical inferencing strategy instruction on the experimental group's performance in understanding reading text. Hence, it was concluded that lexical inferencing strategies were recommended to teach to improve the students’ reading comprehension performance.

Lexical Inferencing Strategy Instruction and the Development of Reading Comprehension: The Case of Iranian EFL Learners

Lexical inferencing has been recognized as an effective learning strategy in SLA. The present study investigated Iranian EFL learners’ development of reading comprehension as a result of exposure to lexical inferencing strategy instruction. To do so, 45 female participants studying in Simin Language Institute in Rasht, Iran were selected from among 60 students based on the results of a sample of Oxford quick Placement (OQP) test, who scored from 40 to 47. They were in two intact classes, assigned to one experimental (n=24) and one control group (n=21). The experimental group underwent the teaching of reading comprehension through lexical inferencing strategy to help learners infer the meaning of unknown words and promote their understanding of the text. However, the control group received the traditional instruction of reading comprehension concentrating on the translation of new words. The results of the pre- and post-tests of reading comprehension revealed the significant outperformance of the treatment group over the control group’s reading comprehension ability. It was concluded that lexical inferencing strategy teaching could develop the learners’ potential to improve their cognitive capacities in inferring the meaning of unknown words, which might be facilitative in their reading comprehension.

Toward the Establishment of a Data‐Driven Learning Model: Role of Learner Factors in Corpus‐Based Second Language Vocabulary Learning

AbstractWe investigated how learner factors, such as vocabulary proficiency, strategy use, and working memory, are associated with successful corpus‐based second language (L2) vocabulary learning, in which learners are encouraged to analyze and explore large, structured collections of authentic language data (i.e., corpora) to resolve their lexical issues (i.e., data‐driven learning [DDL]). After measuring L2 vocabulary proficiency and working memory capacity, 35 South Korean college students performed a DDL activity during an English reading task using a think‐aloud protocol to document their strategy use. Through this we identified participants’ lexical inferencing strategy use, including DDL‐focused strategies, based on qualitative coding. Using path analysis, we identified that participants’ DDL‐focused strategy use largely influenced their vocabulary acquisition and retention, highlighting the pedagogical advantages of these strategies for successful DDL. We found that participants’ L2 vocabulary proficiency and working memory contributed to their vocabulary acquisition and retention, indicating the roles of these factors in managing cognitive load in DDL. Future investigation into the causal relationship between improved working memory and corpus‐based L2 vocabulary learning and the role of other learner factors, including motivation and learning style, is needed to extend our understanding of DDL.

Word-specific and word-general knowledge in L2 Chinese lexical inference: An exploration of word learning strategies

Drawing on Kieffer and Lesaux’s (2012) categorization of word knowledge, the current study explored word-specific and word-general knowledge in second language (L2) Chinese lexical inferencing ability. L2 Chinese study-abroad students (N = 228) participated in the study and completed a series of word-specific (morpheme recognition and morpheme discrimination) and word-general (character knowledge and definitional knowledge) measurements. The multivariate path analysis found that word-specific and word-general knowledge collectively contributed to L2 Chinese lexical inference. In addition, definitional knowledge and morpheme discrimination were found to have the strongest predicting power. More important, the study suggests that there is a potential bidirectional relationship between word-specific and word-general knowledge in Chinese word-knowledge development. Both theoretical and pedagogical implications were discussed. The findings theoretically verified one of the underlying mechanisms of L2 Chinese lexical inferencing and also indicated that potential independent or moderating factors could be explored in future studies. Pedagogical implications focused on the explicit instruction of word-learning strategies (metalinguistic awareness and lexical inferencing strategies).

THE EFFECT OF LEXICAL STRATEGIES AND THE VOCABULARY MASTERY ON THE STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY ACHIEVEMENT

The objectives of the study are to describe whether : 1). Students’ vocabulary mastery taught by inferencing strategies (IS) higher than taught by Lexical Processing Strategies (LPSs) in students’ vocabulary achievement.2) Students’ who have high vocabulary mastery is significantly higher than students’ who have low vocabulary mastery in students’ vocabulary achievement. 3) The effect of simultaneously applying both Lexical Strategies and Vocabulary mastery on the students’ vocabulary achievement. An experimental research with factorial design 2x2 was used in this study. There was 80 students from grade X of 2017/2018 academic years of MAN 1 Takengon as sample of this study. The students divided in two groups. Each group consists of 40 students. The first group was treated by using Lexical Inferencing Strategies and the second group was treated by Lexical Processing Strategies. Vocabulary of the two groups was measured by giving questionnaire to classify the students having high and low vocabulary mastery, and achievement test measure by giving multiple choice test to know students’ achievement in vocabulary mastery. The data are analyzed by applying two-way ANOVA at the level significance ɑ = 0.05. The findings of the data shows that. 1) The students’ vocabulary mastery taught by using Lexical Inferencing Strategies was higher than that taught by using Lexical Processing Strategies, with Fobs (19.72) > Ftab (3.25). 2) The Vocabulary Achievement of the students who have high vocabulary mastery was higher than students who have low vocabulary mastery, with Fobs (2691.93) > Ftab (3.25). 3) There was significance interaction between teaching Lexical Strategies and Vocabulary Mastery on the students’ vocabulary achievement, with Fobs (3.27) > Ftable (3.25).

THE EFFECT OF LEXICAL INFERENCING STRATEGIES ON STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of lexical inferencing strategies on students’ reading comprehension. This study was aimed was to find out whether the use of lexical inferencing strategies had effect on students’ reading comprehension. The population of this study was 90 Informatics Engineering students of Potensi Utama University in the fifth semester of 2014-2015 academic year. A placement test was given to 90 students to select 60 similar English proficiency level students. The instruments used for collecting data were written test and spoken test. These tests were conducted to identify students’ reading comprehension performance toward lexical inferencing strategies. These data were analysed by applying an experimental research design involving pre-test and post-test which were administered for control and experimental groups. The control group was taught by using conventional method, while the experimental group was treated by using lexical inferencing strategies. The results of the test showed that the use of the lexical inferencing strategies had significantly affected to students’ reading comprehension performance. Hence, it was concluded that lexical inferencing strategies was recommended to improve the students’ reading comprehension performance.

The Comparative Impacts of Using Lexical Glossing and Inferencing Strategies on Students’ Reading Comprehension

The study compared the use of the lexical glossing and inferencing strategies that impact toward the students’ reading comprehension. The objective of the study was to find out the effective strategy to use for enhancing the students’ reading comprehension. The population of the study was 40 Informatics Systems students of Potensi Utama University. The data collection was used written test by comparing the scores results after giving the treatment. The written test was conducted to identify students’ reading comprehension performance toward the use of lexical glossing and inferencing strategies. The data was analyzed applying an experimental research design. There were two tests in this study before and after treatment. Before treatment without using the strategies, the first test was applied to first group and second group. After treatment with using the strategies, the second test was applied to the first and second group. The first group was taught using lexical glossing strategy, while the second group was treated using lexical inferencing strategies. The test resulted that the students in the second group using lexical inferencing strategies could guess the unfamiliar word meaning correctly that impact toward the students’ reading comprehension. While the students in the first group using the lexical glossing strategy make erroneous guesses about unfamiliar word meaning that impact on the students’ reading comprehension. Therefore, it can be concluded that lexical inferencing strategy was recommended to teach to enhance the students’ reading comprehension.

Individual Differences in Strategy Use for L2 Lexical Inferencing: The Case of Learning Styles

This study aimed to examine the effect of the second language (L2) learners’ perceptual learning style preferences on their strategy use for lexical inferencing and the treatment effect from an explicit instructional program. Joy Reid’s (1995) Perceptual Learning Style Preferences (PLSP) Inventory, a lexical inferencing test, and a vocabulary strategy questionnaire were administered to 145 university students during a 15-week reading course. The results of a simple regression analysis showed that the tactilc students tended to use more lexical inferencing strategies than the others with different learning styles; and that the visual learners tended to use strategies less frequently, compared to the other counterparts. Further analysis of simple regression indicated that the individual learners benefited most from the treatment effect, followed by the visual learners. The findings can be of significance for teachers and the L2 learners to concern individual differences in L2 inferential strategy use.

The role of text type and strategy use in L2 lexical inferencing

Abstract This study aimed to determine as to whether or not the text type and strategy usage affect the EFL learners’ lexical inferencing performance. The participants were comprised of 87 first-year English majors at a technical university. Data were collected from (1) a lexical inferencing test with excerpts of narrative and expository texts, for which both multiple-choice and definition tasks were designed, respectively, and then (2) the responses from the learners’ self-reported strategy usage. The quantitative analyses demonstrated that the text types significantly affected the EFL learners’ lexical inferencing performance, in which the EFL learners performed better for the narrative excerpt than for the expository texts. However, significant coefficients between the strategy use and the lexical inferencing performance were not found in this study. The results further implied that the text structure and the lexical inferencing strategies should be explicitly taught to the EFL learners.

The Role of Lexical Inferencing and Morphological Instruction On EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension Development

This study investigated whether Lexical Inferencing (L1) and Morphological Instruction (MI) can significantly affect EFL learners’ reading comprehension, furthermore, it also examined their effects on the learners’ vocabulary retention over time. 60 homogeneous EFLlearnerswere randomly assigned to two experimental and a control groups. After the pre-test, participants of the first experimental group received lexical inferencing strategy training for six 45-minute sessions. The second experimental group was also provided with a morphological instruction for six 45-minute sessions, and as for the control group, the participants followed their regular reading comprehension course. After the treatment, two post-tests with a short time interval were administered to the three groups and the obtained data were fed to different statistical tests to spot the probable differences among the three groups’ first post-test performance as a measure of their learning differences and the second post-test performance as a measure of the learners’vocabulary retention differences over time. Results of the paired t-tests showed that lexical inferencing instruction had a statistically significant effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension development. On the other hand, it was found that morphological instruction had no statistically significant effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension development. The ANOVA analyses revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between the effects of lexical inferencing and morphological instruction on EFL learners’ reading comprehension development. Furthermore, no significant difference was found between the effects of lexical inferencing and morphological instruction on EFL learners’ reading comprehension development over time.

Lexical Inferencing Strategies Used by Japanese EFL Students in Reading Comprehension

Lexical Inferencing Strategies Used by Japanese EFL Students in Reading Comprehension

Fremmedsprogspædagogikken - eksemplificeret ved 4 forskningsområder

The paper gives a brief introduction to Foreign Language Pedagogy. In order to show the wide scope in research interests and methodology within this field of research 4 specific areas of study are outlined: 1) cross-cultural pragmatics 2) lexical inferencing strategies 3) text quality in written texts and 4) classroom research within the action research paradigm. For each of the fields of study the research design, the results and possible pedagogical implications are outlined. Finally, the implications of the results in relation to the teaching of Greenlandic in secondary education in Greenland are discussed.

Iranian EFL Learners’ Lexical Inferencing Strategies at Both Text and Sentence levels

Lexical inferencing is one of the most important strategies in vocabulary learning and it plays an important role in dealing with unknown words in a text. In this regard, the aim of this study was to determine the lexical inferencing strategies used by Iranian EFL learners when they encounter unknown words at both text and sentence levels. To this end, forty lower intermediate students were divided into two groups. For the first group, a text with 10 underlined words was given and for the second group, the same underlined words were given in separate sentences. The students were supposed to read the text and the sentences and to guess the meaning of the underlined words. Then some lexical inferencing strategies were given to them to determine which strategies they used in guessing the meaning of unknown words. The results showed that they used different strategies like using local context and word association in lexical inferencing and also they were more successful at the text level than the sentence one. The results also indicated that they were strategic learners using their own strategies including translation and cultural background knowledge to guess the meaning of the unknown words.

Dealing with Unknown Words in L2 Reading: Vocabulary and Lexical Inferencing Strategies

AbstractVocabulary learning strategies constitute a subclass of language learning strategies which can be applied to the four language skills. The aim of the present study is to explore the vocabulary strategies adopted by adult learners of Greek as a second/ foreign language, when dealing with unknown words in L2 reading. To this end, the learners answered a questionnaire and so did their teachers. The results indicated that context and the general knowledge the learner of a second or foreign language brings with him/her about the topic -which is mainly supported by the other words in the sentence- play the most important role in understanding vocabulary. This conclusion probably confirms the power of the syntagmatic axis in the sentence, reinforcing mainly the holistic approach to be adopted in the classroom for the teaching of vocabulary. The process of triangulation has partially supported the research results.

The Effect of Explicit Teaching of Lexical Inferencing Strategies on the Vocabulary Learning Among Iranian Field-Dependent and Independent EFL Learners

It is claimed that lack of vocabulary knowledge is one of the most challenging issues for foreign language learners. Moreover, both language learners and teachers are after the most viable method of vocabulary learning and teaching. Along the same lines, this study focused on the effect of explicit teaching of lexical inferencing strategies on the vocabulary learning of Iranian foreign language learners with different cognitive styles. To this end, three groups of learners, namely, field dependent, field independent, and a control group of English language learners were formed. Field dependent and field independent language learners received explicit teaching of lexical inferencing strategies while the control group just received the conventional method of vocabulary teaching. The performances of the three groups of the study on a vocabulary posttest were analyzed using one way ANOVA. The results of statistical analysis indicated that both field dependent and field independent language learners outperformed the control group in terms of vocabulary learning. However, no significant difference was found between field dependent and field independent learners in terms of vocabulary learning when they received explicit instruction of inferencing strategies. This led to the conclusion that explicit teaching of lexical inferencing strategies has a positive effect on Iranian foreign language learners with different cognitive orientations.

Assessing vocabulary skills in Cantonese-speaking adolescents

Purpose: This study investigated the feasibility of a pilot version of Vocabulary Assessment for Cantonese-speaking Adolescents (VACA) in evaluating the vocabulary ability of Cantonese-speaking adolescents with and without language impairment (LI) in Hong Kong.Method: A list of 300 vocabularies was located from local textbooks, dictionaries, and multimedia resources. The list was reduced to 91 vocabularies according to secondary school teachers' judgment. Three receptive tasks, two expressive tasks, and a vocabulary-learning strategy task were devised to examine five domains: (1) academic words, (2) idioms, (3) slangs, (4) homophones, and (5) lexical inferencing strategies. Sixty Cantonese-speaking adolescents with normal language (NL) and 17 with LI (aged 12;01–17;06) were tested on VACA.Results: The composite scores increased significantly with grade level in the NL group. The LI group performed significantly weaker than their matched peers in the NL group in all five domains and the composite scores.Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated a continual growth of semantic knowledge during adolescence and VACA can be a feasible assessment tool for evaluating the vocabulary knowledge of Cantonese-speaking adolescents in Hong Kong.

An Insight into Lexical Inferencing Strategies Employed by ESP Students

An Insight into Lexical Inferencing Strategies Employed by ESP Students

Lexical inferencing strategies: The case of successful versus less successful inferencers

Abstract How L2 learners infer word meanings from context and what strategies they use to do so have recently become the subject of much research. However, there are still many questions about how readers infer word meanings from context and in particular what distinguishes successful from unsuccessful inferencers. Using think-aloud procedures with 11 Chinese ESL learners, this mixed-design study explored L2 learners' inferential strategies and the relationship with their success. Twelve types of inferential strategies were found to be used by all the learners, and two groups of learners were identified: successful and less successful inferencers. The results of both quantitative and qualitative analyses confirmed a number of differences between successful and less successful inferencers, which pertained to not only the degree to which they used certain strategies but also when and how to use them successfully. Several important characteristics of successful inferencers included frequent use of evaluation and monitoring strategies, a combination of both textual and background knowledge, self-awareness, and repeated efforts to infer the target word meanings. Implications of the findings for making successful inferences are discussed.