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FORMAL VERSUS INFORMAL L2 LEARNING

HOW DO INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND WORD-RELATED VARIABLES INFLUENCE FRENCH AND ENGLISH L2 VOCABULARY LEARNING IN DUTCH-SPEAKING CHILDREN?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2021

Vanessa De Wilde Open the ORCID record for Vanessa De Wilde [Opens in a new window] ,
Marc Brysbaert Open the ORCID record for Marc Brysbaert [Opens in a new window]  and
June Eyckmans
Vanessa De Wilde*
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Artevelde University of Applied Sciences Ghent
Marc Brysbaert
Affiliation:
Ghent University
June Eyckmans
Affiliation:
Ghent University
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Vanessa De Wilde, Department of Translation, Interpreting and Communication, Ghent University, Groot-Brittanniëlaan 45, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. E-mail: vanessa.dewilde@ugent.be
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Abstract

A second language can be learned inside and outside the classroom. In this study we investigated the English and French vocabulary knowledge of 110 Dutch-speaking children (age 10–12), who received 100 hours of instruction in French, whereas their contact with English came from out-of-school exposure only. We examined the role of individual differences (out-of-school exposure and gender) and word-related variables (cognateness, frequency, and language). The children completed a receptive vocabulary test in English and French and filled in a questionnaire. The results showed that the children had a larger vocabulary knowledge in English than in French, illustrating the power of contextual language learning. Word learning was influenced by the amount of exposure, word frequency, and cognateness. Additionally, English words were easier to learn than French words for the participants we tested. Our results point to the need for out-of-school exposure to supplement language learning in the classroom.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 87 - 111
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© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

We thank Emma Boone and Elise Vanhoecke for help with testing. We thank the schools, the teachers, and the pupils and their parents for participating in the project.

The experiment in this article earned Open Materials and Open Data badge for transparent practices. The materials and data are available at both https://osf.io/5y4x3/ and on the Iris Database https://www.iris-database.org/

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