Rice, Caitlin
(2020)
Learning vocabulary through generation with translation-ambiguous and semantically-ambiguous words.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
This is the latest version of this item.
Abstract
Learning a language involves learning both word forms and word meanings, as well as the ways in which these forms and meanings are connected (e.g., Rice & Tokowicz, 2019). Unfortunately for language learners, language is rife with both within-language semantic ambiguity and cross-language translation ambiguity. Ambiguity often leads to difficulty learning and processing new words (e.g., Degani & Tokowicz, 2010). In three experiments, I investigate whether strengthening meaning representations during learning via the generation of semantically-related material (i.e., the generation effect) may mitigate difficulties associated with learning translation-ambiguous and semantically-ambiguous words. In Experiment 1, native English speakers learned word pairs that were translation-ambiguous or unambiguous from German to English using a generation task (write a sentence containing a target word) or a control task (read an experimenter-generated sentence containing a target word). Results revealed that generation was more beneficial for ambiguous than unambiguous words, and furthermore that individual differences in WM and inhibitory control affected ambiguous and unambiguous words in different ways. In Experiment 2, native English speakers learned unknown English ambiguous and unambiguous words using the same generation or control tasks as in Experiment 1. Results revealed a complex interaction of ambiguity, generation, and inhibitory control during free recall. In Experiment 3, native English speakers learned the same words as in Experiment 2 with either generation or a control task, but additionally words were trained with either context sentences or definitions. Results revealed that ambiguity, generation, and working memory interact during free recall, and furthermore that meanings for words that were trained with definitions and generation were recalled significantly better than words trained with definitions but without generation, or words trained with context sentences with or without generation. Results are examined in light of the semantic settling dynamics account (Armstrong & Plaut, 2016) and the instance-based framework for word learning (Bolger, Balass, Landen, & Perfetti, 2008), and implications for models of translation ambiguity, semantic ambiguity, and generation effects are discussed.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
16 January 2020 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
25 November 2019 |
| Approval Date: |
16 January 2020 |
| Submission Date: |
5 December 2019 |
| Access Restriction: |
2 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 2 years. |
| Number of Pages: |
200 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Psychology |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
vocabulary; vocabulary learning; word learning; L1; L2; second language; generation; generation effect; ambiguity; lexical ambiguity; semantic ambiguity |
| Date Deposited: |
16 Jan 2020 19:37 |
| Last Modified: |
16 Jan 2022 06:15 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/38070 |
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