Semantic information boosts the acquisition of a novel grammatical system in different presentation formats
Designing effective language learning settings requires an understanding of the processes taking place in language learning and the way they interact. One important issue concerns the interaction between meaning and grammar. A number of studies have shown a beneficial effect of semantics in grammar...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Language and Cognition |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1866980823000479/type/journal_article |
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| author | Katharina Wendebourg Birgit Öttl Detmar Meurers Barbara Kaup |
| author_facet | Katharina Wendebourg Birgit Öttl Detmar Meurers Barbara Kaup |
| author_sort | Katharina Wendebourg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Designing effective language learning settings requires an understanding of the processes taking place in language learning and the way they interact. One important issue concerns the interaction between meaning and grammar. A number of studies have shown a beneficial effect of semantics in grammar learning. What is unclear, however, is how far this effect may be influenced by the presentation formats of the semantic content. In two experiments, participants performed rule search tasks on Latin sentences. In Experiment 1, we presented semantic information in the form of naturalistic photographs, whereas in Experiment 2, the semantic information was implemented by quasi-translations. The control groups did not receive any semantic information. Learning performance was assessed by a grammaticality-judgment task combined with a source-attributions task. In both experiments, participants in the with-semantics group outperformed the respective control groups. Yet, only in Experiment 1, participants report having more explicit than implicit knowledge. We argue that semantic information boosts the acquisition of grammatical structures regardless of the presentation format. Furthermore, we suggest that, consistent with multimedia learning theories, the pictorial presentation format of Experiment 1 helped to use working memory capacity efficiently, which may have led to the generation of more explicit knowledge. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1e4599860a324d348999248b750dd77e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1866-9808 1866-9859 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Language and Cognition |
| spelling | doaj-art-1e4599860a324d348999248b750dd77e2025-01-28T05:10:03ZengCambridge University PressLanguage and Cognition1866-98081866-98592025-01-011710.1017/langcog.2023.47Semantic information boosts the acquisition of a novel grammatical system in different presentation formatsKatharina Wendebourg0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5903-7180Birgit Öttl1Detmar Meurers2Barbara Kaup3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7400-0789Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of TübingenDepartment of Psychology, University of TübingenLeibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen Department of Linguistics, University of TübingenDepartment of Psychology, University of TübingenDesigning effective language learning settings requires an understanding of the processes taking place in language learning and the way they interact. One important issue concerns the interaction between meaning and grammar. A number of studies have shown a beneficial effect of semantics in grammar learning. What is unclear, however, is how far this effect may be influenced by the presentation formats of the semantic content. In two experiments, participants performed rule search tasks on Latin sentences. In Experiment 1, we presented semantic information in the form of naturalistic photographs, whereas in Experiment 2, the semantic information was implemented by quasi-translations. The control groups did not receive any semantic information. Learning performance was assessed by a grammaticality-judgment task combined with a source-attributions task. In both experiments, participants in the with-semantics group outperformed the respective control groups. Yet, only in Experiment 1, participants report having more explicit than implicit knowledge. We argue that semantic information boosts the acquisition of grammatical structures regardless of the presentation format. Furthermore, we suggest that, consistent with multimedia learning theories, the pictorial presentation format of Experiment 1 helped to use working memory capacity efficiently, which may have led to the generation of more explicit knowledge.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1866980823000479/type/journal_articlegrammarLatinsecond language acquisitionsemantics |
| spellingShingle | Katharina Wendebourg Birgit Öttl Detmar Meurers Barbara Kaup Semantic information boosts the acquisition of a novel grammatical system in different presentation formats Language and Cognition grammar Latin second language acquisition semantics |
| title | Semantic information boosts the acquisition of a novel grammatical system in different presentation formats |
| title_full | Semantic information boosts the acquisition of a novel grammatical system in different presentation formats |
| title_fullStr | Semantic information boosts the acquisition of a novel grammatical system in different presentation formats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Semantic information boosts the acquisition of a novel grammatical system in different presentation formats |
| title_short | Semantic information boosts the acquisition of a novel grammatical system in different presentation formats |
| title_sort | semantic information boosts the acquisition of a novel grammatical system in different presentation formats |
| topic | grammar Latin second language acquisition semantics |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1866980823000479/type/journal_article |
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