The Context Priming Effect and the Incremental Process of Learning English Vocabulary

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K13496
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Joetsu University of Education
• Principal Investigator: HASEGAWA Yusuke 上越教育大学, 大学院学校教育研究科, 准教授 (40758538)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 英語教育 / 語彙習得 / 意図的語彙学習 / プライミング効果

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Hasegawa (2017) found that graduates and undergraduates were able to respond to the newly learned English words faster in the lexical decision task when they were presented with prime words chosen from the short example sentences (i.e., the context priming effect). Using this methodology, the present study conducted a new experiment that investigated the mental connections between deliberately learned words and other words embedded in example sentences in the word list. The results showed that the length of the example sentences may influence the context priming effect, since the efficacy of comprehending longer contexts is more largely affected by the readers’ lower level processing skills. Therefore, this study developed a new proficiency test that assesses the lexical and syntactic knowledge at the intermediate level. Based on the findings, a new theoretical framework regarding the relationship of learner proficiency and the ability of using contextual input was proposed.

Free Research Field

英語教育学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

学習指導要領の改訂により小学校から高校までに指導する語彙数が大幅に増え、英語語彙指導法の改善は喫緊の課題となった。従来、新出語を学ぶ場合には語形と意味の組み合わせが最も重要であり、学習者は用例にあまり注意を払わないと考えられてきた。しかし、これまでに実施した研究では、意図的語彙学習の最中でも学習者はある程度の注意資源を用例に分配することができ、たとえ学習者が文脈の内容を覚えようとしなくても、一定の条件さえ整えば心内で語彙と文脈の関連づけが起こりうることが示唆された。本研究はその関連づけが起こるための条件を実証的・理論的な観点から検討し、さらに具体的な指導技術としての応用まで試みたものである。