Unfamiliar Words Research Articles

How Infants Link Nonce Phrases to Scenes With Objects and Predicates.

When infants hear sentences containing unfamiliar words, are some language-world links (such as noun-object) more readily formed than others (verb-predicate)? We examined English learning 14-15-month-olds' capacity for linking referents in scenes with bisyllabic nonce utterances. Each of the two syllables referred either to the object's identity, or the object's motion. Infants heard the syllables in either a Verb-Subject (VS) or Subject-Verb (SV) order. Learning was tested using preferential looking. The results showed that infants learned the nouns and verbs equally well. In addition, in both the VS- and SV-consistent conditions, infants learned the meaning of the utterance-final syllable, but not the utterance-initial one. A follow-up experiment that manipulated the prosodic cues of the test phrases confirmed that infants had decomposed the bisyllabic phrases into two distinct word-units. Thus, any biases potentially favoring noun or verb learning played a smaller role than utterance position did when noun and verb learning were equally supported by context.

Glossed video keyword captions and L2 vocabulary acquisition: an eye-tracking study

The effect of video captions on vocabulary acquisition is a growing topic of interest among L2 researchers. Expanding on this line of inquiry, this study explores how keyword captions enhanced with first language (L1) and second language (L2) glosses (i.e. definitions or brief explanations of unfamiliar words) impact L2 learners’ vocabulary acquisition. This study involved 101 Korean undergraduate students randomly assigned to a baseline (keyword caption only), L1 gloss (keyword caption + L1 gloss), or L2 gloss (keyword caption + L2 gloss) group. The participants viewed a video that corresponded to their group, during which their eye movements were tracked and recorded. Subsequently, the participants completed two vocabulary tests assessing word form and meaning recall. Linear mixed-effects analysis revealed that keyword captions with L1 and L2 glosses resulted in distinct attentional allocation and contributed differently to lexical acquisition. Notably, although the three groups spent similar durations reading the target word forms, the L1 gloss group significantly outperformed the other two groups in word form recall scores. Furthermore, although the L2 gloss group spent three times longer reading L2 glosses compared to the time the L1 gloss group spent reading L1 glosses, the latter had significantly higher scores in the form translation test. These findings have significant implications for L2 pedagogy, particularly regarding the choice between target-language-exclusive or bilingual approaches.

Exploring Efl Secondary Students’ Engagement In Reading Classroom Through Literature Circle

In reading classroom, students are required to comprehend text. One of its requirement is engagement as it is successful things in learning. However, one of recommended strategy is literature circle. Because a literature circle is strategies guide students to a deeper understanding of what they are reading through structured discussions about texts and books, and help students practice and develop the skills and strategies of being good readers. This study aims to investigate the students’ engagement of literature circles during the reading classroom. This is qualitative research with case study as a research design. To obtain data, observation, and interview were used for this research and then the obtained data was analyzed through thematic analysis. This research takes place in one of public junior high school in Telagasari and took several students from one class to interviews. There are three steps in the literature Circle, such as group discussion about books, they read books and discuss with the group and then find unfamiliar word. So we can solve the problem and find out the meaning of the word.

Importance of Visual Support Through Lipreading in the Identification of Words in Spanish Language.

We sought to examine the contribution of visual cues, such as lipreading, in the identification of familiar (words) and unfamiliar (phonemes) words in terms of percent accuracy. For that purpose, in this retrospective study, we presented lists of words and phonemes (adult female healthy voice) in auditory (A) and audiovisual (AV) modalities to 65 Spanish normal-hearing male and female listeners classified in four age groups. Our results showed a remarkable benefit of AV information in word and phoneme recognition. Regarding gender, women exhibited better performance than men in both A and AV modalities, although we only found significant differences for words but not for phonemes. Concerning age, significant differences were detected in word recognition in the A modality between the youngest (18-29 years old) and oldest (⩾50 years old) groups only. We conclude visual information enhances word and phoneme recognition and women are more influenced by visual signals than men in AV speech perception. On the contrary, it seems that, overall, age is not a limiting factor for word recognition, with no significant differences observed in the AV modality.

How do L1 glosses affect EFL learners’ reading comprehension performance? An eye-tracking study

Abstract This study employed eye-tracking technology to examine how English as a foreign language learners at different proficiency levels process L1-glossed words and how this processing relates to L2 reading comprehension. Forty-seven university students were divided into a higher-proficiency group (n = 23) and a lower-proficiency group (n = 24) based on their L2 proficiency. Both groups were asked to read an English passage with L1 (Chinese) glosses. Their eye movements were recorded with an eye-tracker as they read. After reading, they were immediately given a reading comprehension test. Analyses of the eye-tracking data showed that the higher-proficiency L2 learners spent more time on unfamiliar words than the lower-proficiency L2 learners. Furthermore, lower-proficiency L2 learners’ longer processing time on glossed unfamiliar words was related to their higher reading comprehension scores, whereas this relationship was not found in the higher-proficiency group. These results revealed that the contribution of L1 glosses to L2 reading comprehension performance varied across L2 learners’ proficiency levels. Our findings have important implications for second language instruction.

Meaning beyond lexicality: Capturing Pseudoword Definitions with Language Models

Abstract Pseudowords such as “knackets” or “spechy” – letter strings that are consistent with the orthotactical rules of a language but do not appear in its lexicon – are traditionally considered to be meaningless, and employed as such in empirical studies. However, recent studies that show specific semantic patterns associated with these words as well as semantic effects on human pseudoword processing have cast doubt on this view. While these studies suggest that pseudowords have meanings, they provide only extremely limited insight as to whether humans are able to ascribe explicit and declarative semantic content to unfamiliar word forms. In the present study, we employed an exploratory-confirmatory study design to examine this question. In a first exploratory study, we started from a pre-existing dataset of words and pseudowords alongside human-generated definitions for these items. Employing 18 different language models, we showed that the definitions actually produced for (pseudo)words were closer to their respective (pseudo)words than the definitions for the other items. Based on these initial results, we conducted a second, pre-registered, high-powered confirmatory study collecting a new, controlled set of (pseudo)word interpretations. This second study confirmed the results of the first one. Taken together, these findings support the idea that meaning construction is supported by a flexible form-to-meaning mapping system based on statistical regularities in the language environment that can accommodate novel lexical entries as soon as they are encountered.

‘Why do I listen to this?’ Voices from university students using websites to practice listening comprehension

Technological advancements in the 4.0 era have made it possible for English language learners to access online resources at any moment in any place, including websites that provide learners with a wider variety of auditory inputs. Despite this, some students may find it difficult to navigate independently owing to the vast quantity of websites. This research aims to discover the websites utilized by English major students at a state university in West Sumatra in independent listening practices, as well as their underlying motivations for selecting those websites. Using a qualitative case study, the data were collected using a questionnaire that was administered to 105 fifth-semester university students, and presented according to the frequency. The findings recorded a total of 34 websites used by students for practicing listening to enhance proficiency in deciphering unfamiliar words, acquiring knowledge of English sounds, and comprehending spoken utterances. The students further confirmed that materials found through the sources provided them with a sense of ease in learning. These initiatives demonstrated the students’ proficiency in utilizing technology for additional learning inputs. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these learning modes still needs to be confirmed as the duration spent by learners may not be sufficient. Further research is recommended to analyze the websites selected by students to provide more tangible evidence regarding the suitability of the material for learning.

Unveiling students’ learning strategies and barriers to extensive reading: a case study in an Indonesian university

The present study aims to investigate students’ learning strategies and barriers encountered in extensive reading activities. This research was designed with a qualitative case study method. The study recruited six Indonesian university EFL students majoring in English language education to participate and a lecturer in the study program. Data were garnered through semi-structured interviews as a data collection method. The data were analyzed thematically to find emerging themes. The research findings demonstrate that the EFL students employed three extensive reading comprehension strategies. The three strategies included predicting by inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words by making guesses based on the context, guessing from context by utilizing previous knowledge about the topics in the text, and paraphrasing by creating sentences from the obtained information. Another finding also uncovers the university students’ barriers in extensive reading, including the students’ language background and lack of interest in reading. This study concludes with practical implications for how EFL students engage in extensive reading with various learning strategies and how university teachers boost their students’ interests in more diverse extensive reading activities.

Assessment of Children’s Skill in Noticing Unfamiliar Words within Informational Context

ABSTRACT Reading and language standards, such as the Common State Standards for English Language Arts, indicate that primary-grade students should be able to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words from grade-level context. However, to be able to attempt determining the meaning of an unfamiliar word, the word must first be noticed. There is a lack of research on young children developing skill in noticing unfamiliar words, which may be an important skill for their vocabulary development and comprehension. In the present study, theories of word learning, earlier experimenter-created assessments with older learners, and research with multilingual learners guided the development of such an assessment, the Noticing Unfamiliar Words Assessment (NUWA). Instrument development methods, including expert review and piloting, were performed prior to administering the NUWA to a sample of 55 second graders. Results of the exploratory factor analysis supported the hypothesized unidimensional factor structure and indicated that the assessment had an adequate fit and internal consistency reliability. Findings suggest that the NUWA may be helpful in better understanding the developmental nature of skill in noticing unfamiliar words from context while listening and how it contributes to children’s vocabulary knowledge and other literacy skills.

The mirror effect in online survey data: Evidence and implications for marketing theory and strategy

AbstractThis research reveals the presence, in online survey data, of a key pattern documented in psychology lab research: the Mirror Effect. The Mirror Effect occurs when unfamiliar stimuli are unexpectedly recognized as accurately as familiar stimuli, or more accurately. Using a set of familiar and unfamiliar words (as determined by lexical frequency), we first report that we can robustly replicate psychology lab research in an online survey, detecting the Mirror Effect. We then apply the same analytical approach to surveying consumer recognition of everyday brands (supermarkets, banks and car brands). We find that unfamiliar brands can be recognized with the same level of accuracy as familiar brands, and this effect is stronger than age and gender memory biases present in the data. However, we detect a boundary condition for branded apps, which are extremely unfamiliar brands competing in highly fragmented marketplaces, so very few get downloaded or used. For these digital brands, we find a Concordant Effect, as most respondents find it difficult to recognize highly unfamiliar branded apps (i.e., those with fewer than 5000 downloads). The Mirror Effect re‐emerges for highly experienced app users. These results demonstrate the implications of a generalizable empirical pattern from cognitive psychology for branding and advertising theory. The outcomes of this research also translate into practical guidelines for brand performance measurement via online surveys, mitigating recognition memory bias for the development of marketing strategies based on more accurate interpretation of empirical evidence.

How well are primary and secondary meanings of L2 words acquired?

Abstract Most words in a language have more than one meaning. Yet, few studies have explicitly examined the acquisition of secondary meanings of L2 words and the extent to which polysemy and homonymy affect vocabulary learning. This study explores the effect of polysemy and homonymy on the deliberate acquisition of the form–meaning connections of L2 words. Thirty-six EFL learners (compared with a control group of 30) learned secondary polysemous and homonymous meanings of familiar words and primary meanings of unfamiliar words using flashcards. Knowledge of target words was measured using meaning–recall and meaning–recognition tests immediately after the treatment and again one week later. The findings indicated that learning another meaning for a familiar word was just as difficult as learning the primary meaning of an unfamiliar word, suggesting that the type of meaning (primary, secondary polysemous, or secondary homonymous) might not be an influencing factor in the deliberate acquisition of L2 words.

ENRICHMENT OF STUDENTS' VOCABULARY WITH PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS WITH INDEFINITE QUANTITATIVE MEANING

The article talks about the importance of enriching students' vocabulary, identifying unfamiliar words for lexical analysis, paying attention to reading and translating texts, and the multiple meanings of words. Use of innovative technologies: clusters, brainstorming, insert and other types.

Implication of Reading Skills Proficiency in First Year Students of UM Digos College: An in Depth Perception of First Year College students

Reading remains a fundamental pillar of education, beyond mere text decoding, proficient reading unlocks the doors to critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and the ability to navigate a world saturated with information. This study explored the implications of reading skills proficiency among first-year students of UM Digos College. The study used a phenomenological descriptive research design and thematic analysis to explore the perceptions of first-year students regarding the implication of reading skills proficiency in the school, their self-assessment of reading skill proficiency, and the difficulties they experience in reading. The result found that first-year students perceive reading skills proficiency as having a positive impact on their self-efficacy, knowledge, and ability to think critically. They also reported that reading skills proficiency helps them to improve their fluency and pronunciation. However, students also reported experiencing difficulties with reading, such as time management and encountering unfamiliar words. The findings of this study suggest that it is important to promote reading skills proficiency among first-year college students. This can be done by providing students with opportunities to practice their reading skills, teaching them strategies for dealing with difficulties, and helping them to build their background knowledge.

Understanding Unfamiliar Words in a Text: Different Tactics Used by Monolingual and Foreign-Language-Speaking Children

This article explores various tactics used by children to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words while reading. The study was performed on 24 children aged 8–9 years, including 12 monolinguals and 12 foreign-language speakers. In such a situation, the two primary tactics are relying on either context or the internal forms of words. The results of the experiment show that monolingual children typically focus on context, while children speaking a foreign language depend more on the inner forms of words, which often means giving priority to the second tactic and completely disregarding context, in terms of meaning and grammar. It was also revealed that the reliance on the internal forms of words persists even when all other words in a given context are clear, suggesting that children speaking a foreign language not only face challenges with comprehending certain Russian words but also have the habit of overlooking context in general. It is therefore important to address this tendency and emphasize the need for contextual understanding when working with such children.

Metacognitive Strategies Used in Comprehending Reading Academic Texts for Doctoral Students

The importance of metacognitive strategies in achieving proficiency in second or foreign language reading is widely acknowledged. There is a growing interest in the reading of specialized academic literature in a second language. The objective of this study was to examine qualitatively the metacognitive strategies employed by students majoring in English Education during academic reading. Participants involved in this study was seven students in second-year of the Doctoral Program of Makassar State University. The metacognitive strategies employed by the participants were determined through the collection of data integrating journal entries. The results revealed the overall metacognitive strategies used in comprehending academic reading of doctoral students were activated prior knowledge, relating the text to their own experiences, determining the meaning of unfamiliar words, summarizing the information, determining the most important information and what is worth remembering. Only the strategies that were frequently cited by the participants were established or changed by them are addressed in the rest of the study, based on the theory of Flavell (1976).

A Descriptive Study of the Students' Problems in English Reading Comprehension of X grade at SMAS AMKUR Sungai Pinyuh in the Academic year 2021/2022

This study investigates the problem of student English reading in the Senior High School of SMAS AMKUR Sungai Pinyuh in terms of types of material, reading tasks, and cognitive level of reading tasks. The participant of this study consists of 23 students of grade X Social Studies. The researchers used descriptive qualitative research to develop the material in teaching reading, especially for English subjects. Not only for the texts, vocabulary, and the information but also to build students’ critical thinking in reading comprehension. The book used as the instrument is Bahasa Inggris SMA/MA/SMK/MAK Kelas X Edisi Revisi 2017 published by Pusat Kurikulum dan Perbukuan, Balitbang, Kemendikbud. The findings based on the teacher’s observation from the students showed that some texts are too long and most of the time the readers do not suitable to the local contexts, the text used unfamiliar words to the students, and the books do not provide the list of vocabularies, used direct information to the answers of the questions after reading the text. Based on the research findings, the recommendation to improve students' reading comprehension is that the teacher needs to be more selective to know that the material is suitable for the students.

Effects of L1 and L2 word-level vs. L2 sentence-level glosses on vocabulary learning

Although previous research has substantiated the benefits of glosses for L2 vocabulary learning, the effectiveness of sentence-level compared to lexical glosses has remained elusive. The present study thus investigated the impacts of word-level first language (L1) and second language (L2) glosses along with the effects of sentence-level L2 glosses on L2 vocabulary learning. Participants included 110 intermediate level EFL learners randomly assigned to one control or one of three experimental groups. In two treatment sessions, the participants were presented with two computerized texts that included 15 unfamiliar target words. The learners in the experimental groups could hover their computer cursor over the underlined target words to see a gloss, which varied according to the treatment group. Participants of the L2 sentence-level glosses could see a sentence-level L2 gloss while the participants of the L1 and L2 word-level glosses could see either L1 or L2 word-level glosses when they hovered their cursor over the target words. The participants of the control group were presented with the same texts but without glosses. Two vocabulary tests, namely a vocabulary recognition test and a cued production task, were employed to measure vocabulary knowledge, obtained as a result of the treatment sessions. All three treatment conditions gained a significant edge over the control group in both the post- and delayed post-tests. The findings also indicated that sentence-level glosses are significantly more effective than either L1 or L2 word-level glosses for L2 vocabulary learning while no significant difference was observed between learning gains as a result of word-level L1 and L2 glosses. Results suggest the importance of incorporating sentence-level glosses in materials developed for L2 vocabulary teaching.

READING STRATEGIES USED BY ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY

In the accelerating pace of globalization and internationalization of trade, professionals from a wide range of organizations believed that English as an international language, which is a way of thinking, researching and practicing, was used in almost all areas of life, study, and work. That’s why the study's foremost objectives were to comprehend reading learning strategies used by English-majored students at Thu Dau Mot University. A quantitative method was used to conduct the research with a questionnaire divided into four parts. The subjects of this study are 100 English majors from the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Thu Dau Mot University. According to the results, the majority of students agree with the difficulties faced when learning English reading. Likewise, students also subscribe that they also use some reading learning strategies such as extensive reading strategy, the phonics strategy, the whole language strategy, reading comprehension strategy and vocabulary building strategy. Moreover, some solutions, such as the function of the word in the sentence, the main gist, guessing the unfamiliar word and reading aloud are recommended to them to read more effectively and improve their reading ability. Ultimately, some recommendations are made in the hope of helping both teachers and students.

EFL Student-Teachers’ Perception Toward Teaching English Vocabulary Through Poetry

Poetry has been reported to promote language awareness and authentic learning sources. As poems are composed in carefully arranged words to form rhyming sounds with beautiful rhythm, the present study aimed to reveal EFL students' perceptions of using poetry to teach English vocabulary. Conducted qualitatively, the present observed eighty-seven short essays on using English poems for improving students' vocabulary written by student-teachers from an English Language Education Department in Bali. It was revealed that the student-teachers perceived poetry to help improve students' acquisition of word form, use, and meaning. Forty-four students wrote poems that could improve students' understanding of English word forms: twenty-three students argued that poetry could improve students' pronunciation. Twenty-one participants believed poems could improve students' spelling. In terms of word meaning, a total of thirty vouched for the use of poetry for introducing figurative languages (twenty-three students), enhancing students' acquisition of colloquial vocabulary (eleven students), and familiarizing students with unfamiliar words (eleven participants). A total of nine students insisted that poems could be used to improve students' word use, whereas six students believed poems could display grammatical functions. At the same time, three participants recognize the use of poems for acquainting students with collocations. These results imply that future EFL teachers recognize the potential of bringing English poetry as a medium for improving their EFL students'' vocabulary, hinting at the need for further research on the systematic procedure of how to implement poetry into EFL classrooms.

Undergraduate Students’ Difficulties in Translating an Editorial of the Jakarta Post

The objective of this research was to find out the students’ dominant difficulties in translating an editorial text of The Jakarta Post. The subjects of this research were 30 seventh semester students of Education Study Program at Universitas Bengkulu in the academic year 2020/2021. This research used a quantitative descriptive method. The data were collected with a questionnaire and were counted in percentage terms. The results of this research showed that there were 5 students’ dominants difficulties in translating the editorial, i.e. a.)The difficulties in understanding unfamiliar words(60%), b.) The difficulties in understanding the texts although they understand the meaning of the words but they could not understand it coherently. Sometimes one sentence looked like disconnected with another sentence so it became odd (57%),c.)The difficulties in understanding the difficult sentences (47%), d.)The difficulties in translating the words that had multiple meanings which made it difficult for them to determine which meaning was correct and in understanding the ambiguous words (43%), and e.)The difficulties in translating phrases (43%). In conclusion, among all the dominant difficulties in translating the editorial the most dominant one was the difficulties in understanding unfamiliar words (60%). It was suggested that the undergraduate students should study lexicology and syntax intensively.