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Article published In: The Mental Lexicon
Vol. 13:1 (2018) ► pp.74–104

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The strength of meaning

Representations of new words with different properties in the L2 semantic network

 | University of Leipzig
 | University of Leipzig
 | University of Leipzig
 | University of Leipzig
Published online: 10 August 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ml.17005.bor
Abstract
In two experiments, we explored the integration of newly learned L2 German lexical units with differing semantic properties into the L2 semantic network. Previous studies (Dagenbach, D., Carr, T. H., & Barnhardt, T. M. (1990). Inhibitory semantic priming of lexical decisions due to failure to retrieve weakly activated codes. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16(2), 328–340.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar for L1; Bordag, D., Kirschenbaum, A., Rogahn, M., Opitz, A., & Tschirner, E. (2016). Semantic representation of newly learned L2 words and their integration in the L2 lexicon. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. Advance online publication. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar for L2) have indicated that the access to emergent representations with weak memory traces is supported by a retrieval mechanism that inhibits their semantically related competitors with lower activation thresholds and higher selection potential. In this study used pseudowords as novel L2 items and employed semantic priming and semantic categorization tasks as well as an introspective post-test to explore whether the access to new L2 words is modulated by meaning novelty (Experiment 1) and elaborateness (Experiment 2).
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • The present study
  • Experiment 1: Existing vs. non-existing meanings
    • Participants
    • Learning phase
      • Novel words
      • Fillers
      • Definitions
      • Procedure
    • Test phase
  • Task 1: Semantically primed lexical decision
    • Materials
    • Procedure
  • Task 2: Semantic categorization
    • Procedure
      • Post-test
      • Results
  • Experiment 2: Elaborate vs. non-elaborate meanings
    • Participants
    • Learning phase
      • Novel words
      • Definitions
    • Test phase
      • Task 1: Semantically primed lexical decision
      • Task 2: Semantic categorization
    • Post-test
    • Results
  • General discussion
  • Notes
  • References
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