Contextual learning of L2 word meanings: second language proficiency modulates behavioural and event-related brain potential (ERP) indicators of learning
Open accessAbstract
New word learning occurs incidentally through exposure to language. Hypothesizing that effectiveness of contextual word learning in a second language (L2) depends on the quality of existing lexical semantic knowledge, we tested more and less proficient adult bilinguals in an incidental word learning task. One day after being exposed to rare words in an L2 (English) reading task, the bilinguals read sentences with the newly-learned words in the sentence-final position, followed by related or unrelated meaning probes. Both proficiency groups showed some learning through faster responses on related trials and a frontal N400 effect observed during probe word reading. However, word learning was more robust for the higher-proficiency group, who showed a larger semantic relatedness effect in unfamiliar contexts and a canonical N400 (central-parietal). The results suggest that the ability to learn the meanings of new words from context depends on the L2 lexical semantic knowledge of the reader.
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Previous research on adult foreign language learners has shown L2 lexical inferencing to be dependent on L2 vocabulary knowledge and L2 reading comprehension skills.
“Previous research on adult foreign language learners has shown L2 lexical inferencing to be dependent on L2 vocabulary knowledge and L2 reading comprehension skills (Elgort, Perfetti, Rickles, & Stafura, 2015;Elgort & Warren, 2014;Nassaji, 2006;Pulido, 2007).”
From Use of morphological and contextual cues in children’s lexical inferencing in L1 and L2 (2021) · cites this paper as Elgort, Perfetti, Rickles, & Stafura, 2015
In “Effects of second language proficiency” (page unavailable), the paper reports better contextual word learning among L2 learners with larger vocabularies, and its abstract links learning to lexical-semantic knowledge. It says the advantage *may* be related to better text comprehension; it does not establish that lexical inferencing depends on reading-comprehension skills. The general discussion also says sentence comprehension was comparable between the study’s proficiency groups. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Elgort, I., Perfetti, C. A., Rickles, B., & Stafura, J. Z.
- Affiliations
- Victoria University of Wellington (NZ)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Corresponding author
- Elgort, Irina
- Venue
- Language, Cognition and Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2014-07-23
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 506-528
- ISSN
- 2327-3798 (ISSN-L)
- 2327-3801
- PMC
- PMC4428693
- OpenAlex
- W2464926514
- Cited by
- 72
- References
- 89
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 1.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Language Cognition and Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5R01HD058566)
- National Science Foundation (SBE-0836012)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Second Language Acquisition and Learning
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
- Keywords
- incidental vocabulary learning, second language proficiency, lexical-semantic knowledge, bilinguals, N400, event-related potentials, rare words, sentence reading, word meaning acquisition
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