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Desirable difficulties while learning collocations in a second language: Conditions that induce L1 interference improve learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2019

Manuel F. Pulido Open the ORCID record for Manuel F. Pulido [Opens in a new window]  and
Paola E. Dussias
Manuel F. Pulido*
Affiliation:
Center for Language Science, Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, Penn State University
Paola E. Dussias
Affiliation:
Center for Language Science, Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, Penn State University
*
Address for correspondence: Manuel F. Pulido, E-mail: mfp149@psu.edu
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Abstract

Learning conventional verb-noun combinations in a second language is known to be highly problematic when word choices differ from those in the native language. Grounded on recent proposals of desirable difficulties in vocabulary learning (Bjork & Kroll, 2015), we tested Spanish learners of English on a new paradigm that aimed to induce interference from the native language during lexical selection in a second language, as a way to train regulation of the dominant language. Results showed that recall rates were significantly higher in the group of learners that practiced in conditions of L1-interference. Faster RTs showed more efficient lexical selection in those same learners. Additionally, RTs revealed that the more successful learners in both groups incurred a cost in accessing verb choices congruent with the native language, a finding that is consistent with an inhibitory account.

Keywords

multi-word unitssecond language learninginterferencelexical selectionL1 Regulation Hypothesis
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , May 2020 , pp. 652 - 667
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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