Is Vocabulary Knowledge Sufficient for Word-Meaning Inference? An Investigation of the Role of Morphological Awareness in Adult L2 Learners of Chinese.

Autor/inn/en	Ke, Sihui; Koda, Keiko
Titel	Is Vocabulary Knowledge Sufficient for Word-Meaning Inference? An Investigation of the Role of Morphological Awareness in Adult L2 Learners of Chinese.
Quelle	In: Applied linguistics, 40 (2019) 3, S. 456-477Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Beigaben	Abbildungen 2; Literaturangaben; Tabellen 6
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1477-450X
Schlagwörter	Empirische Forschung; Inferenz; Wortschatz; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Chinesischunterricht; Bedeutung
Abstract	This study examined whether vocabulary knowledge is sufficient for second language (L2) word-meaning inferencing. Specifically, it investigated the role of the learner's sensitivity to a word's morphological structure (referred to 'morphological awareness' or 'MA' hereafter) as additional support that enhances multi-character word-meaning inferencing in adult learners of Chinese as a second language. Two hypotheses were tested: (i) L2 vocabulary knowledge is the sole predictor of word-meaning inferencing involving morphologically simple multi-character words. (ii) L2 vocabulary knowledge and MA jointly contribute to word-meaning inferencing involving morphologically complex multi-character words. A set of paper-and-pencil tests was administered to 56 English-speaking learners of L2 Chinese, measuring their L2 vocabulary knowledge, MA, and word-meaning inferencing ability. The results are as follows: L2 vocabulary knowledge contributed directly and consistently to inferring the meanings of multi-character words. Yet, L2 vocabulary knowledge was not the sole predictor of L2 word-meaning inferencing; L2 MA made an additional unique contribution. Last, L2 MA contributed indirectly to L2 word-meaning inferencing through the mediation of L2 vocabulary knowledge. (Verlag).
Erfasst von	Informationszentrum für Fremdsprachenforschung, Marburg
Update	2022/2