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Cognate Vocabulary in Language Acquisition and Use

Cognate Vocabulary in Language Acquisition and Use

Agnieszka Otwinowska

(2015)

Abstract

This book brings together linguistic, psycholinguistic and educational perspectives on the phenomenon of cognate vocabulary across languages. It presents a large-scale, long-term research project focusing on Polish-English cognates and their use by bilingual and multilingual learners/users of English. It discusses extensive qualitative and quantitative data to explain which factors affect a learner’s awareness of cognates, how adult learners can benefit from raised awareness and whether cognate vocabulary can be used with younger learners as a motivational strategy. The work shows how cognate vocabulary can be examined from a range of methodological perspectives and provides considerable insights into crosslinguistic influences in language learning. While the focus of the studies is Polish-English cognates, the research will be of interest to anyone teaching learners of different language constellations, levels, ages and backgrounds.


Thoroughly researched and elegantly written, this book offers a much-needed introduction to the role of cognates in SLA, a comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of research on crosslinguistic similarities, and a richly-documented case study of cognate awareness used as a motivational strategy in a foreign language classroom. This text will be a valuable resource for scholars of multilingualism and for foreign language teachers looking for better ways to motivate their students and to make them more fluent and eloquent.


Aneta Pavlenko, Temple University, USA

This book offers one of the most extensive treatments of crosslinguistic lexical similarity. Otwinowska defines cognates broadly as words with similar forms and meanings across languages and discusses the origins of such words, how they become associated in the mind, what types of crosslinguistic influences arise from these associations, and how language learners and teachers can make the best use of them…a great resource for both researchers and teachers.


Scott Jarvis, Ohio University, USA

Agnieszka Otwinowska is Assistant Professor at the Institute of English Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland. Her research interests include crosslinguistic influences, bilingual and multilingual language acquisition in children and adults, language teaching, bilingual education and CLIL. She is the co-editor of Teaching and Learning in Multilingual Contexts (with Gessica De Angelis, Multilingual Matters, 2014).


This is a welcome addition to the literature on cognate vocabulary across languages. While its emphasis is on Polish-English cognates, the volume will equally appeal to teachers and researchers interested in the topic. The chapters offer an up-to-date review of the literature on crosslinguistic influence and an unambiguous distinction between bilingual and multilingual behaviour. This is an excellent volume that will be read widely.


Gessica De Angelis, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Contents v
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction xi
Part 1 Bilingual and Multilingual Language Use 1
1 Language Users and Language Use 3
2 Attitudes Towards Bilingual and Multilingual Language Use: The Western and Central-European Perspective 18
Part 2 Defining Lexical Crosslinguistic Similarity 29
3 Where Does Crosslinguistic Similarity Come From? 31
4 Crosslinguistic Lexical Similarity 43
Part 3 Lexical Crosslinguistic Similarity in Use 57
5 Crosslinguistic Similarity and Crosslinguistic Influences 59
6 Cognate Vocabulary in Language Processing 72
7 Cognate Vocabulary in Second Language Acquisition 83
8 Language-related Factors in Lexical CLI 94
9 Learner-related Factors Affecting Lexical CLI 106
10 Reliance on Lexical CLI as a Strategic Behaviour 120
Part 4 Investigating Lexical Crosslinguistic Similarity in Language Learning 135
11 Introduction: Researching the Awareness of Cognates in Polish Learners of English 137
12 Investigating the Awareness of Cognate Vocabulary: Polish Adult Learners of English 143
13 Using Cognates as a Vocabulary Learning Strategy: Polish Adult Learners of English 178
14 Awareness of Cognates as a Motivational Strategy: The Age Factor 216
15 Towards Plurilingual Language Teaching with English: Conclusions and Pedagogical Implications 235
Appendix 1 246
Appendix 2 247
Appendix 3 248
Appendix 4 250
Appendix 5 253
Appendix 6 256
Appendix 7 257
Appendix 8 260
Appendix 9 261
Appendix 10 262
References 263
Index 284