Lexical learning of novel words in Bi/Multilingual children

Abstract

Learning new linguistic forms in a bi/multilingual environment is an interesting phenomenon. Studies have reported that new vocabulary learning is more lexically mediated during the earlier stages of learning than in later stages (Kroll & Curley, 1988).While the literature provides some findings that pertain to lexical learning in monolinguals,comparable lexical learning studies involving bilinguals and trilinguals/multilinguals are unavailable. Indian context presents a unique scenario as individuals are routinely exposed to new words in a hitherto unknown language. It is thus imperative to attain some understanding of the strategies that come into play when they encounter these new words.Present study aimed to investigate novel word learning in Malayalam-English bilinguals (Group A) andTuluKannada-English multilinguals(Group B).Forty(40) bilingual/multilingualsin the age group of 15-16 years were selected as participants. Stimuli consisted of 32 novel words, 8 words in each language. Each participant was assessed for acquisition of novel words using two tasks namely referent identification task and picture naming task. Mean reaction time and error analysis was carried out for both groups.Bilingual children learned novel words faster in L1 (Malayalam) when compared to L2 (English) whereas multilingual children learned words faster in L3 (English) followed by L1 (Tulu) and L2 (Kannada).The results obtained in the present study are consistent with the view that novel word learning is not an idiosyncratic reflection of a subject’s personal linguistic history, but that generalizations are possible involving such factors as language proficiency,degree of exposure and opportunities for frequent conversational use.