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This study investigates the roles of collaborative output, the modality of output, and word engagement in vocabulary learning and retention by Chinese-speaking undergraduate EFL learners. The two treatment groups reconstructed a passage that they had read in one of two ways: (1) dyadic oral interaction while producing a written report (Written Output); (2) dyadic oral interaction followed by an oral report (Oral Output). A control group completed a reading comprehension task (Reading) based on the same passage. Four posttests revealed that Oral Output led to significantly better productive and receptive lexical learning than Reading all the way to the last posttest. Written Output led to significantly better productive and receptive lexical learning than Reading on posttest 2, but not on posttests 3 and 4. However, the difference in lexical learning between the Written and Oral Output conditions did not achieve significance. Interaction analysis found that the Oral and Written Output groups differed in the types of word processing they favoured as well as in the frequency of their word engagement. The article discusses the reasons why collaborative output facilitates lexical learning; considers the association between the Output performers’ word engagement and lexical retention; and suggests what might have contributed to the better success of the Oral Output group in their lexical retention.

An event-related potential (ERP) study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of two learning methods for the acquisition of vocabulary in a foreign language (FL). In the semantic method, FL words were presented with pictures denoting their meaning and the learners practiced with a semantic categorization task (to indicate whether FL words were exemplars of a semantic category). In the lexical method, FL words were paired with their translation in the first language (L1) and the learners practiced with a letter-monitoring task (to indicate whether L1-FL words contained a grapheme). A translation task and a picture-naming task were used to evaluate FL acquisition. ERP modulations associated with semantic processing were more evident and broadly distributed in the semantic versus lexical learning group. The pattern of results suggests that a single session of semantic learning favors the establishment of connections between semantics and the words learned in a new language.

This article overviews current research on second language vocabulary learning. It concludes that a large vocabulary is necessary to function in English: 8000—9000 word families for reading, and perhaps as many as 5000—7000 families for oral discourse. In addition, a number of word knowledge aspects need to be learned about each lexical item. Taken together, this amounts to a substantial lexical learning challenge, one which many/most learners fail to meet. To facilitate adequate vocabulary learning, four vocabulary learning partners (students, teachers, materials writers, and researchers) need to contribute to the learning process. Vocabulary learning programs need to include both an explicit, intentional learning component and a component based around maximizing exposure and incidental learning. The four learning strands (meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focused learning, and fluency development) suggested by Nation (2001) provide a structure by which to integrate intentional and incidental vocabulary learning. The overriding principle for maximizing vocabulary learning is to increase the amount of engagement learners have with lexical items. All four learning partners need to acknowledge the incremental nature of vocabulary learning, and to develop learning programs which are principled, long-term, and which recognize the richness and scope of the lexical knowledge that needs to be mastered.

The present study brings together methods of extensive reading studies and eye-movement research to track the cognitive effects of exposure frequency on vocabulary processing and learning. Forty-two advanced second language learners of English read a stage 1 graded reader, Goodbye Mr. Hollywood , on a computer screen while their eye movements were recorded. The eye-tracking task was followed by comprehension questions and vocabulary posttests. Target vocabulary consisted of 20 pseudo words and 20 known words with a range of repetition from 1 to 30. Eye-movement data showed that readers spent more time on pseudo words than on familiar words and that fixation times decreased across encounters with more attention given to target words on early encounters. Repeated exposure supported form recognition but was not as significant for meaning recall and recognition. Total times spent on each encounter was positively associated with learning success in all vocabulary measures. The amount of attention, as reflected in total reading times on each pseudo word, positively predicted learning outcomes above and beyond the number of encounters. Results of the study add a cognitive dimension to the concept of engagement in lexical learning in the process of incidental learning from second language reading.

Human brain imaging revealed that the brain can undergo structural plasticity following new learning experiences. Most magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uncovered morphometric alternation in cortical density after the long-term training of weeks to months. A recent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study has found changes in diffusion indices after 2 h of training, primarily in the hippocampus. However, whether a short learning experience can induce microstructural changes in the neocortex is still unclear. Here, we used diffusion MRI, a method sensitive to tissue microstructure, to study cortical plasticity. To attain cortical involvement, we used a short language task (under 1 h) of introducing new lexical items (flower names) to the lexicon. We have found significant changes in diffusivity in cortical regions involved in language and reading (inferior frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobule). In addition, the difference in the values of diffusivity correlated with the lexical learning rate in the task. Moreover, significant changes were found in white matter tracts near the cortex, and the extent of change correlated with behavioral measures of lexical learning rate. These findings provide first evidence of short-term cortical plasticity in the human brain after a short language learning task. It seems that short training of less than an hour of high cognitive demand can induce microstructural changes in the cortex, suggesting a rapid time scale of neuroplasticity and providing additional evidence of the power of MRI to investigate the temporal and spatial progressions of this process.

Purpose: This study examined the effect of Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage for Late Talkers (VAULT) treatment on toddlers' expressive vocabulary and phonology. Parent acceptability of VAULT treatment was also considered. Method: We used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline single case experimental design with three late talking toddlers aged 21-25 months. The treatment was delivered twice weekly in 30-min sessions for 8 weeks by a rotating team of four speech-language pathologists. Toddlers heard three of their 10 strategically selected target words a minimum of 64 times in play activities each session. Expressive vocabulary and phonology was assessed pre-post, with parent interviews conducted posttreatment. Results: All toddlers increased production of target words and expressive vocabulary. Ambient expressive vocabulary size increased by an average of 16 words per week (range of 73-169 words learned over the treatment period). On a 20-item, single-word speech assessment, the toddlers' phonetic inventories increased on average from three to seven consonants, and five to eight vowels. Two toddlers used protowords pretreatment, which were replaced by recognizable attempts at words posttreatment. Parents reported the treatment was acceptable for the child and their family with future consideration of parent-based delivery of the treatment in the home. Conclusions: The results of this treatment provide further evidence of a model of intervention informed by the principles of implicit learning, and the interconnectedness of phonological and lexical learning. Investigation is required to establish the efficacy and feasibility of VAULT in clinical contexts.

In this paper, we propose a Bayesian generative model that can form multiple categories based on each sensory-channel and can associate words with any of the four sensory-channels (action, position, object, and color). This paper focuses on cross-situational learning using the co-occurrence between words and information of sensory-channels in complex situations rather than conventional situations of cross-situational learning. We conducted a learning scenario using a simulator and a real humanoid iCub robot. In the scenario, a human tutor provided a sentence that describes an object of visual attention and an accompanying action to the robot. The scenario was set as follows: the number of words per sensory-channel was three or four, and the number of trials for learning was 20 and 40 for the simulator and 25 and 40 for the real robot. The experimental results showed that the proposed method was able to estimate the multiple categorizations and to learn the relationships between multiple sensory-channels and words accurately. In addition, we conducted an action generation task and an action description task based on word meanings learned in the cross-situational learning scenario. The experimental results showed that the robot could successfully use the word meanings learned by using the proposed method.

High talker variability (i.e., multiple voices in the input) has been found effective in training nonnative phonetic contrasts in adults. A small number of studies suggest that children also benefit from high-variability phonetic training with some evidence that they show greater learning (more plasticity) than adults given matched input, although results are mixed. However, no study has directly compared the effectiveness of high versus low talker variability in children. Native Greek-speaking eight-year-olds ( = 52), and adults ( = 41) were exposed to the English /i/-/ɪ/ contrast in 10 training sessions through a computerized word-learning game. Pre- and post-training tests examined discrimination of the contrast as well as lexical learning. Participants were randomly assigned to high (four talkers) or low (one talker) variability training conditions. Both age groups improved during training, and both improved more while trained with a single talker. Results of a three-interval oddity discrimination test did not show the predicted benefit of high-variability training in either age group. Instead, children showed an effect in the direction-i.e., reliably greater improvements in discrimination following single talker training, even for untrained generalization items, although the result is qualified by (accidental) differences between participant groups at pre-test. Adults showed a numeric advantage for high-variability but were inconsistent with respect to voice and word novelty. In addition, no effect of variability was found for lexical learning. There was no evidence of greater plasticity for phonetic learning in child learners. This paper adds to the handful of studies demonstrating that, like adults, child learners can improve their discrimination of a phonetic contrast via computerized training. There was no evidence of a benefit of training with multiple talkers, either for discrimination or word learning. The results also do not support the findings of greater plasticity in child learners found in a previous paper (Giannakopoulou, Uther & Ylinen, 2013a). We discuss these results in terms of various differences between training and test tasks used in the current work compared with previous literature.

A considerable amount of research has been devoted to understanding individual differences in lexical learning, however, the majority of this research has been conducted with spoken languages rather than signed languages and thus we know very little about the cognitive processes involved in sign learning or the extent to which lexical learning processes are specific to word learning. The present study was conducted to address this gap. Two-hundred thirty-six non-signing adults completed 25 tasks assessing word learning and sign learning (via associative learning paradigms) as well as modality-specific phonological short-term memory, working memory capacity, crystallized intelligence, and fluid intelligence. Latent variable analyses indicated that, when other variables were held constant, fluid intelligence was predictive of both word and sign learning, however, modality-specific phonological short-term memory factors were only predictive of lexical learning within modality-none of the other variables made significant independent contributions. It was further observed that sign and word learning were strongly correlated. Exploratory analyses revealed that all lexical learning tasks loaded onto a general factor, however, sign learning tasks loaded onto an additional specific factor. As such, this study provides insight into the cognitive components that are common to associative L2 lexical learning regardless of language modality and those that are unique to either signed or spoken languages. Results are further discussed in light of established and more recent theories of intelligence, short-term memory, and working memory.

This study re-examines second language (L2) acquisition of English reflexives by testing 98 first language (L1)-Chinese learners of L2 English with different proficiency levels and 12 native English speakers as controls. Using a truth-value judgment task, we systematically tapped the learners’ judgments of various types of antecedents including long-distance objects. The results show that L2 English learners’ errors in referring English reflexives to long-distance antecedents cannot be due to L1 transfer of Chinese reflexive referential pattern. Instead, these errors align with those documented in the literature on native English children’s acquisition of reflexives. Moreover, as L1-Chinese learners’ English proficiency improved, most of them unlearned the errors, and performed similarly to native English adult controls. This developmental trajectory recapitulates the pattern seen in native English children’s acquisition of reflexives. These findings cast doubt on the view of L1 Chinese transfer and provide support for the Lexical Learning Hypothesis.