Short- and long-term effects of rote rehearsal on ESL learners’ processing of L2 collocations

Worldwide there is thought to be around 750 million people who speak English as a foreign language (Crystal, 2003, p. 69). For these speakers the difference between make a picture and take a picture may seem arbitrary. However, use of the former is likely to influence how their second language (L2) performance is perceived (Boers, Eyckmans, Kappel, Stengers, & Demecheleer, 2006). Consequently, L2 speakers' use of collocations (“fixed, identifiable, non-idiomatic phrases and constructions”; Benson, Benson, & Ilson, 1997, p. xv) and other formulaic sequences is an important aspect of L2 competence (Wray, 2002). Several factors appear to influence the acquisition and use of L2 collocations. One of them is L1–L2 collocational congruency. Research has demonstrated that word-for-word translation equivalents (congruent collocations) are processed more efficiently than incongruent collocations (Wolter & Gyllstad, 2011; Yamashita & Jiang, 2010). Moreover, research has demonstrated that collocational frequency, and the frequency of formulaic sequences more generally, influences processing, with more frequent combinations being processed more quickly (Siyanova-Chanturia, Conklin, & van Heuven, 2011; Wolter & Gyllstad, 2013). Researchers have also explored the role of different L2 input conditions on the processing of collocations. Sonbul and Schmitt (2013) compared the effects of three treatments (enriched, enhanced, and decontextualized input) on the collocational competence of learners of English as a second language (ESL). For explicit knowledge, they observed an improvement in both receptive and productive tests for all treatment conditions, but for implicit knowledge no gains were found. Peters (2012) examined L2-German learners' acquisition of words and formulaic sequences as dependent on an instructional method (directing learners' attention through instructions) and input enhancement (bolding and underlining). In a form recall test, input enhancement led to gains in learners' knowledge, whereas the instructional method did not seem to affect their results. The present study brings together a number of questions that have been prominent in the literature by examining the short- and long-term effects of two different input conditions on ESL learners' processing of L2 collocations, as well as exploring the influence of frequency and collocational congruency

La «confluencia» de los géneros a través del sistema mediático : de la mujer sumisa y el macho ibérico al «ser andrógino

En este artículo, pretende examinarse la evolución de los modelos referenciales que, en torno a los elementos constitutivos de la feminidad y la masculinidad, vendrían siendo masivamente difundidos a través de los medios de comunicación en la sociedad española desde el comienzo de la transición a la democracia. Partiendo de la estricta delimitación en el reflejo mediático de «el hombre» y «la mujer» que trasciende del franquismo, se analiza el modo en que las representaciones simbólicas predominantes de ambos géneros terminan actualmente convergiendo en un particular paradigma de ser humano, caracterizado por un cierto perfil andrógino.This article aims to examine the evolution of the referential models which, regarding the constitutive elements of femininity and masculinity, have been circulating on a massive scale through the mass media in Spanish society since the beginning of the Transition. Starting with an exact definition, as reflected by the media, of «man» and «woman» which has come about from the Franco era, the article analyses the way in which predominant symbolic representations of both genders actually end up converging in one particular paradigm if the human being, characterised by a certain androgynous profile

Eye-tracking multi-word units: some methodological questions

Eye-tracking in linguistics has focused mainly on reading at the level of the word or sentence. In this paper we discuss how the phenomenon of formulaic language might best be examined using this methodology. Formulaic language is fundamentally multi-word in nature, therefore an approach to eye-tracking that considers the “word” as the basic unit of analysis may require re-evaluation. We review the existing literature on single word and sentence processing, and also those studies that have used eye-tracking as a way of investigating formulaic language to date. We discuss how eye-tracking might elucidate the “added extra” processing advantage for formulaic language. We conclude with some suggestions about the best way to utilise eye-tracking within this sub-field of linguistic investigation

The impact of Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) on reading by nonnative speakers

With the proliferation of cell phones and other small handheld electronic devices, more and more people are using software that presents texts one word at a time. This trend can be attributed to the small screen sizes afforded by these modern electronics. Importantly, software companies often claim that such products, which present texts word-by-word, make reading more efficient, as reading speed is increased without sacrificing comprehension. Alongside this, nonnative speakers are often told to read more in their second language to improve their language skills. This leads to important questions about whether the manner in which reading is done is important. To address this, the current study explores the impact of word-by-word presentation of a text on nonnative reading comprehension, as well as on native speakers who provide a baseline of performance. Nonnative and native speakers were presented with a full text on a piece of paper to read naturally, as well as texts presented one word at a time at rates of 500-wpm and 1000-wpm. For native speakers, reading comprehension was impaired when single words were presented at rates of 500-wpm and 1000-wpm compared to natural reading. When compared to the native speakers, the nonnative speakers show the same pattern of impaired reading comprehension for words presented one at a time at rates of 500-wpm and 1000-wpm compared to natural reading

Getting your wires crossed: Evidence for fast processing of L1 idioms in an L2

Monolingual speakers show priming for idiomatic sequences (e.g. a pain in the neck) relative to matched controls (e.g. a pain in the foot); single word translation equivalents show cross-language activation (e.g. dog–chien) for bilinguals. If the lexicon is heteromorphic (Wray, 2002), larger units may show cross-language priming in the same way as single words. We used the initial words of English idioms (e.g. to spill the . . . beans) and transliterated Chinese idioms (e.g. draw a snake and add . . . feet) as primes for the final words in a lexical decision task with high proficiency Chinese–English bilinguals and English monolinguals. Bilinguals responded to targets significantly faster when they completed a Chinese idiom (e.g. feet) than when they were presented with a matched control word (e.g. hair). The results are discussed in terms of conceptual activation and lexical translation processes, and are also incorporated into a dual route model of formulaic and novel language processing

Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Readers’ responses to experimental techniques of speech, thought and consciousness presentation in Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway

Woolf’s work has been the object of several studies concerned with her experimental use of techniques of speech, thought and consciousness presentation. These investigated the way in which different perspectives coexist and alternate in her writing, suggesting that the use of such techniques often results in ambiguous perspective shifts. However, there is hardly any empirical evidence as to whether readers experience difficulty while reading her narratives as a result of these narrative techniques. This article examines empirically readers’ responses to extracts from Woolf’s two major novels – To the Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway – to provide evidence to whether Woolf’s techniques for the presentation of characters’ voices, thoughts and perspectives represent a challenge for readers. To achieve this, a mixed-methods approach that combines a stylistic analysis with a detailed questionnaire has been employed. Selected extracts that were hypothesised to be complex due to the presence of free indirect style and/or interior monologue were modified by substituting these with less ambiguous modes of consciousness presentation, such as direct speech or direct thought. Readers’ responses to the modified and unmodified versions of the same extracts were compared: results show that the presence of free indirect style and/or interior monologue increases the number of perspectives identified by readers, suggesting that this technique increases the texts’ difficulty, laying a more solid ground for future investigations

Passivizability of Idioms: Has the Wrong Tree Been Barked Up?

A growing number of studies support the partial compositionality of idiomatic phrases while idioms are thought to vary in their syntactic flexibility. Some idioms, like kick the bucket, have been classified as inflexible and incapable of being passivized without losing their figurative interpretation (i.e. the bucket was kicked ≠ died). Crucially, this has never been substantiated by empirical findings. In the current study, we used eye-tracking to examine whether the passive forms of (flexible and inflexible) idioms retain or lose their figurative meaning. Active and passivized idioms (he kicked the bucket/the bucket was kicked) and incongruous active and passive control phrases (he kicked the apple/the apple was kicked) were inserted in sentences biasing the figurative meaning of the respective idiom (die). Active idioms served as a baseline. We hypothesised that if passivized idioms retain their figurative meaning (the bucket was kicked = died), they should be processed more efficiently than the control phrases, since their figurative meaning would be congruous in the context. If, on the other hand, passivized idioms lose their figurative interpretation (the bucket was kicked = the pail was kicked), then their meaning should be just as incongruous as that of both control phrases, in which case we would expect no difference in their processing. Eye movement patterns demonstrated a processing advantage for passivized idioms (flexible and inflexible) over control phrases, thus indicating that their figurative meaning was not compromised. These findings challenge classifications of idiom flexibility and highlight the creative nature of language

Cross-linguistic similarity and task demands in Japanese-English bilingual processing

Even in languages that do not share script, bilinguals process cognates faster than matched noncognates in a range of tasks. The current research more fully explores what underpins the cognate ‘advantage’ in different script bilinguals (Japanese-English). To do this, instead of the more traditional binary cognate/noncognate distinction, the current study uses continuous measures of phonological and semantic overlap, L2 (second language) proficiency and lexical variables (e.g., frequency). An L2 picture naming (Experiment 1) revealed a significant interaction between phonological and semantic similarity and demonstrates that degree of overlap modulates naming times. In lexical decision (Experiment 2), increased phonological similarity (e.g., bus/basu/vs. radio/rajio/) lead to faster response times. Interestingly, increased semantic similarity slowed response times in lexical decision. The studies also indicate how L2 proficiency and lexical variables modulate L2 word processing. These findings are explained in terms of current models of bilingual lexical processing