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Bali, Persefoni (2024) Incidental foreign vocabulary learning through multimodal exposure; the role of orthographic input. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.

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Abstract

Incidental foreign vocabulary learning has mainly focussed on learning vocabulary through context. Recent research has shown that it is possible to acquire new foreign language vocabulary through multimodal situations without any prior knowledge of the foreign language. It has also shown that it is possible to learn the meaning of the words through the exposure to pictorial information. However, these studies focus on languages that use the same script. In this thesis, the multimodal situations were used with a language with a partially overlapping script (i.e. Greek). The study of partially overlapping scripts could shed light to less explored areas in incidental learning research and contribute to our understanding of the processes involved in foreign language learning. The aim of this thesis was to explore the impact of orthographic input on the incidental acquisition of foreign language vocabulary (both the auditory and the written form) in complete beginners in a foreign language. Participants were native English speakers without any prior knowledge of Greek.

Incidental learning of spoken words was explored under different conditions of orthographic input, i.e. written input in partially overlapping script (both uppercase and lowercase), in romanised letters and in absence of orthographic input. The incidental learning of the word forms was also explored under different multimodal situations. For the analyses of these experiments a subjective method of measuring script similarity and familiarity was employed. Results showed acquisition of foreign language vocabulary (both auditory and written forms) in complete beginners after multimodal exposure to the foreign words. Participants had higher recognition and recall for the words that they were exposed to in the incidental learning phase. Results also showed that the presence of a familiar orthographic input (Romanised) facilitates learning of the spoken foreign words.

The role of script similarity and familiarity was also explored in the incidental learning of the written form of the words. It was shown that script similarity and word familiarity have a positive impact in the learning of foreign different script written vocabulary. These findings are discussed in relation to current psychological theories of word learning.

Item Type:	Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (PhD)
Supervisors:	van Heuven, Walter Chapman, Peter
Keywords:	foreign language learning, vocabulary, incidental learning, Greek language
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1050 Educational psychology P Language and literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Faculties/Schools:	UK Campuses > Faculty of Science > School of Psychology
Item ID:	78770
Depositing User:	Bali, Persefoni
Date Deposited:	13 Dec 2024 04:40
Last Modified:	13 Dec 2024 04:40
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/78770

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