Vocabulary Items Research Articles

Semantic agreement in Russian: Gender, declension, and morphological ineffability

In this paper, I argue that declension classes are not primitives (see Aronoff 1994; Alexiadou 2004; Kramer 2015; i.a.), but are decomposed into simpler features, one of which is gender (Harris 1991; Wiese 2004; Caha 2019). The argument is based on semantic gender agreement in Russian, where a grammatically masculine noun can trigger feminine agreement if its referent is female (Mučnik 1971; Pesetsky 2013). Semantic agreement is grammatical only in those forms where a regular nominal exponent is syncretic with an exponent of a declension class that includes feminine nouns. In other forms, conflicting masculine and feminine gender features lead to ineffability in morphology (cf. Schütze 2003; Asarina 2011; Coon and Keine 2020). Ineffability arises because the Subset Principle (Halle 1997) that holds between features of a vocabulary item and a terminal at the point of Vocabulary Insertion is violated later in the derivation. This is in turn possible if Vocabulary Insertion applying cyclically bottom-up (Bobaljik 2000) is interleaved with Lowering that alters structure below a triggering node (Embick and Noyer 2001). Finally, I show that Russian also has a number of cases where conflicting gender features in a noun phrase do not result in a realization failure (Iomdin 1980). The difference between these patterns is derived in a principled way and follows from the positions where conflicting features are introduced.

A misleading syllable-based generalization about Japanese SJ+/zu/ compounds

AbstractIn 1910, Ogura Shinpei published a meticulous critique of Benjamin Smith Lyman’s famous 1894 article onrendaku. In the course of a thorough examination of compounds consisting of a single Sino-Japanese morpheme followed by /su/∼/zu/ ‘to do’, Ogura noted that all the examples withrendaku(i.e., with /zu/) have a monosyllabic first element. This observation invites the inference that there is a causal connection between first-element monosyllabicity andrendakuin X+/zu/ compounds, but a careful review of the history of these vocabulary items indicates that the correlation between monosyllabicity andrendakuis just an accident. There is no reason to believe that first-element monosyllabicity has ever been an active phonological constraint, and the pattern that Ogura identified cannot be used to bolster the view that syllables distinct from moras are real units in modern Tokyo Japanese.

The effect of color on short-term memory performance

Introduction. The relevance of the research topic is justified by new trends in modern education, namely, active introduction of innovative technologies and solutions to expand opportunities and improve the quality of education. In the context of educational improvements, the focus is on searching for advanced techniques that can increase the efficiency of cognitive processing of educational information and facilitate memorization of educational material. The study aims to assess the impact that various conditions of color stimulation have on short-term verbal memory indicators (capacity, memorization efficiency, trajectories and successful learning of vocabulary items). Methods. The study involved 53 participants (15 male and 38 female) aged 18-36 years (average age 20.5 years, SD = 3.59). Short-term memory indicators were measured with the help of ten-word memorization technique and a test for memorizing numerical series. The color stimuli of the experiment included the focal colors of the 27 most popular categories among Russian speakers, the coordinates of which were determined in the CIELAB system. To develop and conduct the experiment, the HTC VIVE PRO Eye virtual reality system was used, which allowed demonstrating the experimental stimuli on the helmet screens and simultaneously record eye movements. Results. Memory span averaged 5.6±1.5 and was higher among the participants who saw dark and red-violet hues and lower among those who looked at swamp green and green stimuli. The highest efficiency coefficients for memorizing words were recorded in cases with black (median = 0.87) and dark purple (median = 0.84) color stimulation. When memorizing numerical series, the maximum coefficient was for saturated hues – red, green and fuchsia (median = 0.86). Successful memorization averaged 7.7±1.8 and reached the maximum (10) in cases with exposure to primary basic colors – black, green and blue, as well as non-primary turquoise and crimson. Cluster data analysis showed that memory indicators are most similar for the stimuli that are comparable in their impact on pupil diameter, blinking frequency and dynamics of gaze direction, namely, for light warm hues; dark hues; rich stimuli from the warm part of the color spectrum; light purple hues; red and gray-green hues. Discussion. As in previous studies, certain indicators of short-term memory were higher under the influence of ‘warm’ stimuli compared to ‘cold’ ones, but the present study did not confirm the advantage of achromatic colors compared to chromatic ones. The experiment revealed that changes in memory parameters correlate not only with the tone of color stimuli but also with their other characteristics, primarily with lightness and saturation. Conclusion. The results of this study can be applied used in educational practice to develop effective ways of improving memory performance and of memorizing information using color. Further research should regard possible gender, age and cross-cultural differences.

Sensory Emotion in Words: Evidence From an Event-related Potential (ERP) Study in Light of the Emotioncy Model.

Delving into the prominent role of emotions and senses in language is not something new in the field. Thereupon, the newly developed notion of emotioncy has been introduced to foreign language education to underscore the role of sense-induced emotions in the language learning and teaching process. The present study implemented event-related potentials (ERPs) to provide evidence of the significance of employing emosensory instructional strategies in teaching vocabulary items. Hence, 18 female participants were randomly instructed on six English nouns toward which they had no prior knowledge and received no instruction for the other three words. Then, while the participants' electroencephalogram (EEG) was being recorded, they took a sentence comprehension task. Behavioral results demonstrated significant differences among the avolved, the exvolved, and the involved nouns. However, ERP analyses of target words indicated the modulations of N100 and N480 components while no significant effect was observed at P200. Further, the analysis of sensory N100 for the critical words revealed no significant effect. In conclusion, emotioncy-based language instruction can affect neural correlates of emotional word comprehension from the early stages of EEG recording. The results of this study can clarify the importance of including senses and emotions in language teaching, learning, and testing, along with materials development. Direct emosensory involvement can affect word semantic processing.Indirect emosensory involvement can affect sensorial comprehension of the word.Direct sensory involvement may enhance the accuracy of the responses.Direct sensory involvement may reduce the response time. Nowadays, learning a foreign language is considered one of the challenges in our lives. It is believed that including senses and emotions in education can foster learning new words in a foreign language. One concept that focuses on the use of sensory emotions is called emotioncy. This study employed brain imaging to analyze the effects of teaching through emotioncy on related neural modulations. Based on the results of the study, higher levels of employing senses and emotions can affect the processing and comprehension of words.

Effects of Two Vocabulary Instructional Methods: Contrasting and Separating Orthographically Similar Words

While Chinese EFL learners memorize vocabulary items, they may encounter some words that are similar in semantics, orthography, phonology, and so forth. Studies have conducted research on whether the similarity of vocabulary would facilitate or hinder students learning outcomes. While most scholars found that learners can perform better when they memorize similar lexis than learning unrelated sets, i.e., dissimilar words. This research compares two ways of giving students instructions about orthographically similar English vocabulary. A total of 52 university junior students participated in this study. Pre-test, immediate, and delayed post-test were conducted for examining students learning outcomes. Results demonstrated that instructions with a highlight on contrasting the nuances of orthographically similar words impede students retention performance compared with those in the control group who were instructed without emphasizing the similarity and nuances of the words. Although the result may not generalize to all EFL contexts, it provides significant pedagogical implications to teachers and other educational practitioners. It is suggested that emphasizing the nuances of orthographically similar words is less effective for students vocabulary learning than without the emphasis. Students should be encouraged to explore and find out the similarity and nuances of orthographically similar words by themselves rather than being told by teachers.

LexVEN

While there is growing awareness that knowledge of regional minority languages must be protected, assessing the vitality of such varieties is challenging due to the lack of assessment materials. Our contribution documents the creation and validation of LexVEN, a bimodal yes/no vocabulary task, with the purpose of assessing the proficiency of users of Venetan with receptive and/or productive skills. The materials will be freely available. The vocabulary items were validated in a survey with 161 speakers of Italian, of which 136 came from the Veneto area. We have relied on Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) in validating test items, and we demonstrate correlations with self-reported measures of proficiency and language use. Given the absence of any other assessment tools of Venetan for cross-validation, we further collected speech samples from a subset of the Venetan participants with active proficiency whose proficiency was rated by native speakers of Venetan. We discuss the procedures within a validation framework, concluding that LexVEN is reliable as a proficiency assessment tool of Venetan.

Corpus linguistics in building professional communicative competencies of graduates of higher educational institutions

The purpose of the article is to study the role of corpus linguistics methods in the formation of students’ professional communicative competence. The study used the method of expert evaluation, a method of questionnaire with open questions. There was a change in the minimum score in the experimental group ranging from 50 to 67. Such results are signifi cant and demonstrate the eff ectiveness of the method under consideration. After the experimental training, the value of the criterion was Temp2=4.41, which is higher than the critical value. The practice of creating a corpus at the stage of course planning and selection of educational content has proven its capability and, most importantly, its versatility. The use of both the idea of compiling a subject area corpus and the statistical evaluation of vocabulary is highly eff ective. A scientifi cally based selection of professionally relevant foreign language vocabulary items is eff ective in Teaching a foreign language for any profession. Further research should be aimed at expanding the scope of corpus linguistics in this area.

The Use Of Tiktok Application: The Impact On Efl Learners’ Speaking

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of using TikTok application in improving speaking skill for EFL learners. The research design employs pre-experimental research with the sample of 25 students. The technique data collection was done by administering pre-test and post-test. This research used descriptive statistic Paired Sample T-Test to analyze the data. The mean score of pre-test was 46.6 and 71.4 for post-test. Based on the statistical analysis, it showed that the use of TikTok application give a good impact for the students speaking skill because the mean score of post-test was higher than pre-test. In testing hypothesis, it was found that the significance value of the result of TikTok application thought self-introduction was 0.00 lower than 0.05, so the hypothesis was accepted. Additionally, some improvements were seen after the treatment such as “I em” to be “I am”, “lipe” to be “live” and other vocabulary items. In conclusion, TikTok application was significantly effective in improving speaking skill for EFL learners at X grade in SMK Unwanul Falah NWDI Paok Lombok.

Using corpora in teaching vocabulary to advanced EFL learners in a higher education context

Abstract This study focuses on the development of lexical competence of tertiary level EFL learners who have reached C1 level according to CEFR during their course of study, but who still have difficulty in recognizing and producing academic words in terms of their correct and appropriate use in various contexts. Following a data-driven learning (DDL) approach within an action research paradigm, this study aims to discover whether corpus investigation makes a difference in students’ vocabulary knowledge and how they react to corpus data in learning vocabulary. To this end, the study was carried out in a listening/speaking course of two C1 level classes in an EFL classroom at an English preparatory school in Higher Education. In one of the classes, conventional lesson materials, and in the other, corpus-based lesson materials were used to teach the selected vocabulary items. The effect of corpus-based lesson materials on vocabulary learning was examined in relation to conventional materials. The data obtained from pre and post-tests showed that although there was a significant increase in students’ scores from pre-test to post-test, corpus use made statistically no significant difference in their scores as compared to the conventional method that had been adopted during the regular course of study based on the contextual guesswork involved in the coursebook. Students’ reactions throughout the implementation of corpus-based materials and the feedback sessions held with the students, shed light on the results and suggested some pedagogical guidelines for using corpora in teaching L2 vocabulary.

Adopting Religious Course’s Translation in Colleges and Universities as an Essential part of English as a Foreign Language Syllabus for Enhancing English Language Learning

This study aimed to reveal the role of religious course translation in assisting students to gain professionality in producing well-formed syntactically, terminologically, and semantically English texts. Also, the paper is concerned with reflecting on the importance of including this course as a crucial part of English as a Foreign language syllabus in universities and colleges, explicitly rendering the Holy Quran, Hadiths of the prophet, and general religious texts. The study claimed that religious course translation is an effective tool and approach that helps L2 learners acquire English as a Foreign Language EFL/ESL. The researcher adopted quantitative and qualitative approaches for collecting and analyzing the data. For gathering the data, a questionnaire was conducted among undergraduate EFL/ESL students of level 8 at King Khalid University, Almajardah campus, during the academic year 2023-2024 (1444-1445H). Sixty-two students who studied Religious Course Translation (Eng3-330) in the first and second semesters participated in the study. The majority of the students show positive attitudes toward the effectiveness and appropriateness of the religious course translation as an essential method that helps them to understand some aspects of English as a foreign language, such as correct word order, sentences’ structures, new items of vocabulary, cultural issues, besides the style and genre, all of the mentioned essences helping them in improving their four language skills particularly, their communicative skills. Additionally, the findings confirm the significant role of this course in developing and promoting the students’ overall English language learning, resulting in acquiring English as a Forging Language EL/ESL. The findings of this study will be beneficial for instructors who teach English as a second language and for the syllabi designers.

Models of assessment in the classroom: a comparative research of CALL-based vs. traditional assessment on vocabulary learning among Iranian EFL learners

There are a few empirical studies on comparative effects of CALL-based assessment and traditional assessment on Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary learning; therefore, the present research tried to fill this gap. To achieve this purpose, the NELT was administered to 89 EFL students, and 58 of them whose level of English proficiency was the intermediate were chosen for the target sample of the current research. Then, they were randomly divided into two groups of control and experimental, and a vocabulary pre-test was given to them. Next, the experimental group (EG) received a CALL-based assessment treatment, and the control group (CG) received a traditional-based assessment instruction. After instructing 100 new words to both groups, a vocabulary post-test was conducted, and an ANCOVA test and a paired samples t-test were utilized to analyze the scores of the pre- and post-tests. The gained outcomes indicated that the EG outstripped the CG on the post-test of vocabulary. It was concluded that using the CALL-based assessment was more useful than the conventional assessment for learning English vocabulary items. The research findings can be beneficial for EFL teachers, learners, and curriculum designers.

Developing and validating a mid-frequency word list for chemistry: a corpus-based approach using big data

Given the importance of specialized vocabulary in scientific communication and academic discourse, there is a growing need to create wordlists to address the vocabulary-learning needs of university students and researchers in different subject areas. The current study analyzed a corpus of chemistry research articles (with 278 million running words) to establish a mid-frequency vocabulary list for this field. Using frequency, range, and dispersion criteria, the study identified 560 lemmas in the fourth to the ninth British National Corpus/Corpus of Contemporary American English (BNC/COCA) lists that provided 6.4% coverage of all words in the corpus. The list was validated using specialized and general corpora, and the results confirmed the value and relevance of the items for chemistry. Moreover, for using the list for pedagogical goals, the vocabulary items were divided into five bands based on their coverage and importance. The 100 words in the first band were the most important mid-frequent vocabulary in chemistry, as they provided 3.05% coverage. The study highlights the significant contribution of mid-frequency words in research articles and the findings have implications for using large corpora as a big data source in identifying specialized and field-specific vocabulary.

Effective Use of Lexical Categorization in Vocabulary Development Using Short Stories Among Arab Female Learners

There are clear variations in the connotations and linguistics of Arabic and English languages. It has been observed that Arab learners study English as a functional language which does not expose them to the literature of English. As a result, the concept of English as a language emerges in an extremely concise and confined area of study for them. 
 The purpose of this research was to identify the process of acquisition of lexical items amongst the Arab female learners. The subjects were students studying Short Stories in the Bachelor’s program of English. The technique used to conduct the research was a blend of qualitative and quantitative method. To collect the data a post-test and pre-test was administered. Also, a closed ended questionnaire was distributed to collect responses from the subjects of study. The study aimed at providing solutions to the problem of low vocabulary among English language learners. The outcome of the current research holds a strong significance as the findings are impressively motivating for teachers using literature to develop language acquisition. Though the end results show a minimal decrease of 3% in incorrect responses after getting acquainted with lexical items used in pre-test, a sharp fall of 60% is seen in overall incorrect answers after collecting the data through lexical categorization. It is expected that if the technique of lexical categorization is used and the suggestions given here are implemented, the learners will be able to correctly use vocabulary items in a variety of contexts in various situations.

Working Memory and Language Aptitude in Relation to the Retention of New Vocabulary Items among Iranian ELF Learners

Language aptitude studies have recently been noticed to develop into a modern interdisciplinary research topic with a great enthusiasm related to educational psychology, second language learning, and cognitive neuroscience, especially with regard to working memory. Moreover, because in the process of teaching and learning, lexical knowledge has a leading role which may be touched by the differences that are observed in the degree of the working memory and the learner’s aptitude. This study was organized to explore the significance of the difference between the working memory and language aptitude among Iranian foreign language learners in relation to the retention of new vocabulary items. For this end, 47 Iranian EFL learners studying at grade nine were randomly chosen from different high schools in different districts in Saravan, Iran. In this study, a LLAMA test was applied to measure the participant’s language aptitude, an N-back test to measure working memory and Vocabulary Knowledge Scale for measuring knowledge of vocabulary. Mann-Whitney U test was used to answer the research questions since the assumptions of parametric tests did not met. The results revealed that learners who had a higher working memory and higher language aptitude had similarly better performances in the retention of new vocabulary items. The present investigation offers some speculative and performative visions for not only teachers, but also researchers mainly involved in the studies of language and mind.

Stakeholder validation of a Sepedi core vocabulary list as a resource for augmentative and alternative communication

Purpose The development of culturally and linguistically appropriate resources to support communication interventions for underserved communities is an urgent necessity. The purpose of the study was to obtain stakeholder feedback on vocabulary items from a Sepedi core vocabulary list developed as a resource for vocabulary selection for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems, and to expand the list based on stakeholders’ vocabulary recommendations. Method A questionnaire was used to obtain the ratings of 57 stakeholders regarding the importance of including 155 Sepedi words from the Sepedi core vocabulary list on an AAC system for a child with receptive language skills at the level of a 4-year-old or higher. Stakeholders also suggested additional words to include on the system. Result All words were rated as important or very important. However, there was a statistically significant inverse relationship between the average frequency of occurrence of words belonging to a specific category and the average importance rating that stakeholders assigned to words in that category. A total of 48 words were additionally suggested by three or more stakeholders. Conclusion Stakeholder ratings validated the list as relevant to consult in vocabulary selection for Sepedi AAC systems for children. Stakeholder-suggested words may be a useful supplement to this list.

Persian and Arabicized Expressions Al-I'itibar: An Analytical Studya

This paper aims at showing and studying Persian and Arabicized vocabulary items in Osama bin Munqith's Book Al-I'itibar which is one of this most important works. The paper is divided into two basic parts, the first is devoted to the scholars and linguists' opinions about the borrowed and Arabized utterances and expressions. It also tries to shed light on translation both linguistically and idiomatically depending on the traditional and modern linguists' opinions concerning this linguistic phenomenon and the borrowed vocabulary items in Arabic language, the methods used in translation and the benefits of translation and Arabization. The second part is devoted to the borrowed expressions, their origins meanings and they are classified into groups according to meaning depending on dictionaries and reliable source-books in both languages (Persian and Arabic).The paper concludes that Arabic language has borrowed from other languages such as Persian, Syriac and Indo-European languages. However, Persian it borrowed mostly from Persian due to many reasons such as neighbourhood, religion, commerce, geography and other factors. Corresponding Author: Mahdi

A'isha's Speech in Defence of her Father

This research is a study of the narrator of the speech, Zaki al-Din Abu Mohammed Abdul Adhim bin Abdul Qawi bin Abdullah al-Muntheri. The importance of this manuscript comes from the importance of her statement, her eloquence and her position in the house of prophecy and the importance of the defended person, the successor of the Messenger of Allah, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. The linguistic importance of this speech lies in its eloquence, the well-chosen words with deep meanings in defense and glorification of her father against his attackers. The paper is divided into two parts: The first part is subdivided into two sections; the first one is devoted to Al-Munthiri's career, his importance, his Shekhs and students and his works.The second section deals with the importance of the manscript, its description and my job as an editor. The second Part deals with the editing of the text and the statement of the meanings of the problematic vocabulary items in it. It ends with the conclusion which sums up the results of the study.

Tracking learnables and teachables in L2 Arabic dyadic conversations‐for‐learning

AbstractThis article adopts learning‐behavior tracking as a research methodology within conversation analysis for second language acquisition to investigate its applicability to track and document how learning opportunities through collaborative repair work are brought about and whether they lead to second language (L2) word learning. To this end, the study examines longitudinal video‐recorded data from L2 Arabic dyadic conversations‐for‐learning beyond the classroom over 3 months. Findings highlight empirical and methodological contributions. First, the detailed analyses show that other‐initiated repair of a vocabulary item by the first language (L1) conversation partner is found to create opportunities for learning and lead to learning when it is oriented to as worthy of teaching by the L1 speaker and as a learnable by the L2 learner. Second, the study demonstrates the applicability of the learning‐behavior tracking model in illuminating learnables and teachables and providing evidence for whether learning has occurred as a result of being oriented to as such by both participants in real‐time interaction.

Exploring the experience of Year 10 South Korean students’ English language learning in immersive virtual reality.

A prescribed English language textbook often directs classroom teaching practices in secondary school classes in EFL contexts, such as in South Korea. The textbook is often accompanied by multimedia resources which are delivered to students as input at a regulated pace with limited opportunities for communicative interaction or spoken output. Such opportunities are further limited in the community outside of the English classroom. Immersive virtual reality (i-VR) has the potential to situate learners in a real-world context for authentic application of textbook language learning. English teachers in the formal classroom focus on linguistic competence development within time constraints by teaching new vocabulary and grammatical items in decontextualised forms. By comparison, i-VR environments focus on learning to construct meaning in communicative events in contextualised, real-world settings based on students’ existing linguistic knowledge and ability. In a small-scale pilot study, two teachers of Year 10 English classes in Seoul implemented four i-VR language learning modules in their classes: one as a self-directed learning experience that extended beyond formal classroom learning, and the other as a teacher-facilitated learning experience within the formal classroom. Both teachers were interviewed after the two-week implementation to seek their views on their perceptions of the value of such i-VR learning for their students. Beyond the motivational and entertainment value, the teachers viewed the i-VR experience as capable of incorporating pedagogical structures using the embedded multimodal resources that is not possible in other immersive forms of language learning. Moreover, the teachers believed that incorporation of authentic conversations and interactional opportunities could further enhance the learning potential.

A Diachronic Account of τ–Features and of Their Output as Vocabulary Items: On the Limits to the Vocabulary Item Ø

Assuming basic tenets of Distributed Morphology and likewise the minimalist framework of Agree, it is argued that the segmentation into Vocabulary Items (VIs) of the Past forms of verbs in Present Day English is as in e.g. deem-ed rather than deem-ed-Ø. The generalized position in the literature is for the Ø-VI to be subject to the Elsewhere condition, which entails that the proper form is deem-ed, that is the form with non-exponence after -ed. The main purpose of the discussion is to give evidence of the Elsewhere condition, and I propose to do so by taking a diachronic perspective and tracking down the relevant changes affecting verbal morphology in the language. It is argued that there are three types of τ–features in Old English and that the specific τ–feature that has as output the VI´s that are commonly referred to as subject agreement endings, which are those among which the Ø-VI steadily imposes itself from the end of the Old English period, is a τ–feature that combines φ– and τ–interpretation. The feature is labelled here [+/–past]AgrT and its τ–interpretation is identified as [morphological distinctiveness between Present and Past relative to Agreement]. The progressive imposition of the Ø-VI entails that the specific content of the cited [morphological distinctiveness…] varies in time, which variation is given diverse formulations throughout the discussion with the help of the Subset Principle requirements. The ultimate formulation is reached after analyzing the differences and similarities between English and Danish–Swedish being another case in point–as regards morpho-phonological loss and the connection with V-to-T movement. The cited formulation entails that the Ø-VI is not available if it is the only VI realizing a given formal feature (note the Elsewhere condition). A corollary of the account is for Present Day English, or rather from the English language from the eighteenth century onwards, not to rely on one binary feature like [+/–past] but on two privative features, each of a different type .