Cognate Vocabulary in Language Acquisition and Use: Attitudes, Awareness, Activation

288 Pages·2015·3.279 MB·

by  Agnieszka Otwinowska

Cognate Vocabulary in
Language Acquisition
and Use
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Series Editors: Professor David Singleton, University of Pannonia, Hungary and
Fellow Emeritus, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland and Dr Simone E. Pfenninger,
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tion research, and researchers and teachers in general whose interests
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SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: 93
Cognate Vocabulary in
Language Acquisition
and Use
Attitudes, Awareness, Activation
Agnieszka Otwinowska
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS
Bristol • Buffalo • Toronto
To the memory of Professor Håkan Ringbom
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Otwinowska, Agnieszka, author.
Cognate Vocabulary in Language Acquisition and Use: Attitudes, Awareness, Activation/
Agnieszka Otwinowska.
Second Language Acquisition: 93
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Vocabulary—Study and teaching. 2. Cognate words. 3. Word recognition. 4. Languages
in contact. 5. Language awareness. 6. Second language acquisition—Study and teaching.
I. Title.
PE1449.O79 2015
418.0071–dc23 2015019557
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
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ISBN-13: 978-1-78309-438-7 (hbk)
ISBN-13: 978-1-78309-437-0 (pbk)
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Copyright © 2016 Agnieszka Otwinowska.
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Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction xi
Part 1: Bilingual and Multilingual Language Use
1 Language Users and Language Use 3
Introduction. Why do Linguists Often Study Monolinguals? 3
Defining Monolingualism 4
Defining Bilingualism 6
Defining Multilingualism 10
Bilingualism and Multilingualism in Social Settings 13
Defining Plurilingualism 15
2 Attitudes Towards Bilingual and Multilingual Language Use:
The Western and Central-European Perspective 18
Introduction 18
Prejudice Against Bilingualism and Multilingualism 19
The Current Position of English in the World 21
Multilingualism with English: Identity Issues 23
Between Obligation and Need: Attitudes Towards
Multilingualism in Poland 24
Part 2: Defining Lexical Crosslinguistic Similarity
3 Where Does Crosslinguistic Similarity Come From? 31
Introduction 31
Contact-induced Changes 32
Borrowing as a Linguistic Process 33
Lexical Borrowing 34
Languages in Contact: Lexical Similarity Between Polish
and English 36
4 Crosslinguistic Lexical Similarity 43
Introduction 43
v
vi Cognate Vocabulary in Language Acquisition and Use
Degrees of Crosslinguistic Lexical Similarity 43
Describing the Degrees of Cognate Similarity 50
Part 3: Lexical Crosslinguistic Similarity in Use
5 Crosslinguistic Similarity and Crosslinguistic Influences 59
Introduction 59
Transfer and Crosslinguistic Influences 60
Crosslinguistic Similarity and the Levels of Lexical Transfer 63
Conclusions: CLI and Linguistic Relativity 70
6 Cognate Vocabulary in Language Processing 72
Introduction 72
The Bilingual Mental Lexicon 72
Research on the Processing of Cognates 76
Cognates in Experimental Studies on Vocabulary Learning 80
7 Cognate Vocabulary in Second Language Acquisition 83
Introduction 83
The Assumed Role of Cognates in Language Acquisition 83
Mixed Evidence from SLA Studies 85
Conclusions: Why do we get Conflicting Results in Various
Types of Studies? 90
8 Language-related Factors in Lexical CLI 94
Introduction 94
Word-related Criteria Influencing CLI and Processing 95
Contextual Factors Influencing Processing and the
Recognition of Cognates 98
Typological and Psychotypological Factors in Lexical CLI 101
9 Learner-related Factors Affecting Lexical CLI 106
Introduction 106
The Role of L2 Proficiency 106
Advantages of Cumulative Learning Experience 114
Language Awareness, Metalinguistic Awareness and
Language Use 117
10 Reliance on Lexical CLI as a Strategic Behaviour 120
Introduction 120
Strategic Learning in Bilinguals and Multilinguals 120
Metalinguistic Awareness and Reliance on Cognate Vocabulary 122
Attention, Awareness and Noticing in Language Learning 126
Crosslinguistic Lexical Similarities as Affordances 128
Contents vii
Part 4: I nvestigating Lexical Crosslinguistic Similarity
in Language Learning
11 Introduction: Researching the Awareness of Cognates in Polish
Learners of English 137
Introduction: Aim and Scope of the Research 137
Methods of Study 139
Structure of the Research Project 139
12 Investigating the Awareness of Cognate Vocabulary: Polish Adult
Learners of English 143
Introduction 143
Study 1: Focus on Language Learners. Cognate Awareness
Questionnaire 144
Study 2: Focus on Cognate Words. Translation Task 165
13 Using Cognates as a Vocabulary Learning Strategy: Polish Adult
Learners of English 178
Introduction 178
Study 3: Focus on Beginners of English. A Case Study 179
Study 4: Focus on Advanced Learners of English 194
14 Awareness of Cognates as a Motivational Strategy: The Age Factor 216
Introduction 216
Study 5: Focus on Teenage Learners of English 217
Study 6: Motivating Teenagers. A Large-scale Study 226
15 Towards Plurilingual Language Teaching with English:
Conclusions and Pedagogical Implications 235
A Summary of the Research Aims 235
Factors that Affect the Awareness of Cognates 236
Benefits from Raising Awareness of Cognates 238
The Age Factor in Raising Awareness of Cognates 240
Implications for Teaching and Syllabus Design: The Way to
Plurilingual Education 242
A Final Comment: Multilingual Constellations with English 244
References 263
Index 284
Acknowledgements
Investigating the topic of crosslinguistic similarity and writing this book has
been a long process. Along the way, I have been encouraged and helped by a
number of people to whom I owe a lot. First and foremost, I would like to
express my thanks to my friends and colleagues from the International
Association of Multilingualism who some time ago convinced me that my
research (and my university career) makes sense. My special thanks are due
to Larissa Aronin, Gessica De Angelis, Danuta Gabrys´-Barker, Ulrike Jessner
and Jean-Marc Dewaele.
Profound thanks are also due to David Singleton, who supported the
book when it was still an early manuscript. Warm thanks are due to Aneta
Pavlenko, who saw the early version of the manuscript and assured me that
my perspective in writing about cognates was worthwhile. I would also like
to thank my reviewer, who provided detailed, tactful and constructive advice
on the manuscript regarding its content and the clarity of presentation
within the chapters. I do believe that the manuscript has improved consider-
ably as a result. Many thanks to Laura Longworth, the editor, for facilitating
the reviewing process and for her patience in answering my questions.
I have been really fortunate to have several Polish friends who were eager
to read the whole manuscript, or its parts, and who gave me suggestions on
how to improve my work. My very special thanks are due to Aniela Korzeni-
owska for her kindness and detailed language comments, and to Ewa
Haman and Maciej Haman for their feedback and ongoing statistical sup-
port whenever I needed to consult them. Last but not least, I am extremely
grateful to Jakub Szewczyk, who demanded precise answers to all his irri-
tating questions concerning cognateness, forced me to learn statistics and
assisted me in changing one of the research chapters at the very last moment.
Without my friends’ invaluable advice this book would not have taken the
present shape.
I would also like to thank all the teachers and nearly 1000 students from
various schools and universities who agreed to take part in the research.
Lastly, most special thanks are due to my family for their help, patience
and encouragement throughout the years.
ix
Introduction
Although published in the SLA series, this book brings together linguistic,
psycholinguistic and educational perspectives on the phenomenon of cognate
vocabulary across languages. It deals predominantly with Polish-English cog-
nates and their use by bilingual and multilingual Polish learners/users of
English. However, due to the widespread use of the English language, as well
as the universality of the processes discussed here, I hope that the topic and
the scope of the book will appeal to international readers of various language
backgrounds.
Let me begin by saying that I am Polish and I live in Poland, a central
European country that is surprisingly monolingual in comparison with
many other countries. This monolingualism often shapes the way languages
are viewed and taught in Poland. Why did I then decide to write a book on
bilingualism, multilingualism and the use of crosslinguistic similarity? My
interest in cognate vocabulary and multilingual language learners rose
thanks to three milestone observations made within a decade of language
teaching and learning. They well illustrate why crosslinguistic similarity
may be a fascinating topic of study and a highly useful tool in language
learning.
Observation 1. At the end of the 1990s, as an enthusiastic English lan-
guage teacher with a fresh MA diploma in applied linguistics, I worked in a
private English language teaching (ELT) school for adult learners in Warsaw,
Poland. What was rare for such schools, the groups we taught were small and
the learners were well matched in terms of their English language profi-
ciency. Since classes aimed at communicativeness, we conducted a lot of
speaking activities and closely monitored our students’ discussions. I noticed
that one of my intermediate-level learners clearly differed from the rest of the
group. Whenever she spoke, she sounded more mature, proficient and sophis-
ticated than the rest of the group. I loved the way she could elaborate on
more abstract topics when the rest were lost for words. I tried to find out
why she seemed so ‘special’ although her written tests did not differ much
from the rest, and she made intermediate-level mistakes. As it turned out,
this lady was a teacher of French. In her speech she often resorted to using
French-English cognates, which boosted her fluency.
xi
xii Cognate Vocabulary in Language Acquisition and Use
Observation 2. Sometime later, I went to live in Germany with my (pre)
intermediate German, my husband (who does not speak the language) and
two toddlers. I tried to speak English, but my neighbours, of course, preferred
using German when talking. What helped me survive were my metalinguis-
tic knowledge and the awareness of crosslinguistic similarity between Polish,
English and German. Obviously, falling into the trap of false friends was
never a nice experience, but the benefit of trying to use some familiar words
and constructions was stronger than the embarrassment of saying some-
thing that was not entirely correct. After a year in Germany, my friends were
amazed how well I was able to communicate, although half of my articles
and endings followed the Polish morphological system and my prepositional
phrases strangely resembled those in English.
Observation 3. The final experience that aroused my interest in crosslin-
guistic comparisons and multilingual learners was teaching practical English
classes to advanced learners at the University of Warsaw. One of the groups
clearly stood out from the rest: they asked questions about language con-
structions that were different from my other groups, they compared English
with other languages and they seemed to know more words. These students
were multilingual and they were advanced in two or three foreign
languages.
These three findings led me to studying the topic of crosslinguistic simi-
larity and its role in multilingual language acquisition (MLA). Amazed by
the ‘discovery’ of cognates, I decided to investigate how cognateness ‘works’
across languages and how it can be helpful in individual language learning.
I mainly focused on Polish and English because Polish is my native language,
while teaching English is my main area of research. Thus, the entire research
presented in this book deals with the role of crosslinguistic lexical similarity
and multilingualism with English as a part of a language constellation.
My work presented here consists of four parts. The first part opens with
a discussion of the terminology used in studies on bilingualism, multilin-
gualism and language acquisition. It shows how ambiguous some terms may
be when taking into account a variety of language acquisition routes and
settings. This part continues by presenting an array of attitudes towards
bi- and multilingualism and the spread of English in the context of Western
Europe versus the context of central Europe and Poland.
The second part of the book focuses on the processes of language contact
and the origins of crosslinguistic similarity. It discusses definitions of cog-
nates, internationalisms and false friends, as well as various classifications
and scales of crosslinguistic similarity. Finally, it zooms in on Polish-English
cognate vocabulary. It shows cognates to result from macro-scale historical
processes of borrowing and change. These, in turn, depend on attitudes and
social prestige assigned to languages.
The third part of the volume dwells on the role of crosslinguistic similar-
ity in the micro-scale processes of language acquisition and use. It presents