Semantically Unrelated Effects on Nonnative English-Speaking Adolescents

Researchers are increasingly interested in second language vocabulary training. However, current research has obtain only limited understanding about how to improve adolescents’ vocabulary learning, particularly adolescents learning English as a foreign language. This study focuses on the effectiveness of learning words in semantic clusters—an instructional technique not well explored by second language researchers. Specifically, the present study investigated whether semantically unrelated contextual words are easier to learn and acquire than semantically related ones for advanced second language learners. Korean-speaking adolescent learners (N = 105) read a series of sentences containing 16 target words over two regular class sessions. The independent samples t-test found that presenting words in a semantically related sentence-level context hindered the learning of the targeted words. It appears, however, that presenting new words in unrelated sets in context, rather than in semantically related contextual groups, is a promising technique for teaching novel words.