Lexical Sophistication across Languages: A Preliminary Study of Undergraduate Writing in Arabic (L1) and English (L2)

Autor/inn/en	Palfreyman, David M.; Karaki, Suha
Titel	Lexical Sophistication across Languages: A Preliminary Study of Undergraduate Writing in Arabic (L1) and English (L2)
Quelle	In: International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22 (2019) 8, S.992-1015 (24 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1367-0050
DOI	10.1080/13670050.2017.1326456
Schlagwörter	Semitic Languages; Native Language; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Writing (Composition); Multilingualism; Literacy; Language Usage; Vocabulary Development; Undergraduate Students; Word Frequency; Academic Achievement; Writing Achievement; Writing Instruction; Correlation; Foreign Countries; Language Tests; Specialists; Computational Linguistics; Transfer of Training; Language of Instruction; United Arab Emirates; International English Language Testing System + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Arabisch; Hebräisch; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Schreibübung; Mehrsprachigkeit; Multilingualismus; Alphabetisierung; Schreib- und Lesefähigkeit; Sprachgebrauch; Wortschatzarbeit; Word analysis; Frequency; Wortanalyse; Häufigkeit; Schulleistung; Schreibunterricht; Korrelation; Ausland; Language test; Sprachtest; Linguistics; Computerlinguistik; Training; Transfer; Ausbildung; Teaching language; Unterrichtssprache; Vereinigte Arabische Emirate; Language tests; Englisch
Abstract	Recent multilingual perspectives view second language writing as part of a language user's dynamic multilingual repertoire, always occurring in the (cognitive and social) context of some first language(s), and often of first language literacy and/or use of other languages. This paper focuses on one element of written language (lexical sophistication), and examines preliminary findings about this variable across languages in a sample of undergraduate student writers in two quite divergent languages: Arabic (L1) and English (L2). Significant differences were found in students' use of vocabulary from different frequency bands of vocabulary in their L1 writing, their writing in L2, and a sample of expert native speaker writing in each language. There was, however, little evidence for development in lexical sophistication in either language over sixteen weeks of a semester. Overall, lexical sophistication did not seem to bear a clear relation to academic achievement in either writing course, nor to previous language learning experience, except in one measure of English vocabulary. There is the possibility of a positive correlation between lexical sophistication in the two languages, although this was not significant in this study. Implications for further research are discussed. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01