Lexical availability in English and Spanish as a second language

Abstract

This volume contributes to the research in two different research areas: lexical availability studies and vocabulary research in second or foreign languages. Lexical availability is defined as the words that immediately come to mind as a response to a stimulus provided by topics related to domains closely connected to daily life: for instance animals, food and drink, daily activities, politics, or poverty. Lexical availability is a dimension of learners receptive and productive lexical competence, and, consequently, an important variable of learners communicative competence. Written by leading researchers in Spanish and English applied linguistics, the studies presented in this volume offer the reader findings and insights from studies conducted in learners with different mother tongues, who learn English or Spanish as their second or third language. This book made me aware of an approach to vocabulary acquisition which has a long tradition in European research, but has been somewhat neglected by English-speaking researchers. The methodology was pioneered in France where it developed into the Francais Fondamental project - an influential approach to the vocabulary needs of learners of French. It was also taken up by Spanish researchers, and more recently developed by the team at La Rioja University. Where English-language research has focused on the frequency of words in large corpora and the implications of this feature for L2 vocabulary acquisition, the lexical availability tradition takes a much more learner-centred approach to L2 vocabulary skills, directly reflecting learners' needs and learners' ability to do things with small, effective vocabularies. 1. Lexical Availability Studies -- Part I . 2. Lexical Availability of Basic and Advanced Semantic Categories in English L1 and English L2 -- 3. The Effect of Age on EFL Learners Lexical Availability: Word Responses to the Cue Words Town and Countryside -- 4. The Incidence of Previous Foreign Language Contact in a Lexical Availability Task. A Study of Senior Learners -- 5. Lexical Variation in Learners Responses to Cue Words: The Effect of Gender -- 6. Frequency Profiles of EFL Learners Lexical Availability -- Part II . 7. The Relationship of Language Proficiency to the Lexical Availability of Learners of Spanish -- 8. Slovene Students Lexical Availability in English and Spanish -- 9. The Effect of Instruction on Polish Spanish Learners Lexical Availability -- 10. Cognitive Factors of Lexical Availability in a Second Language -- Conclusion -- 11. Researching Lexical Availability in L2: some Methodological Issues.