GEN TEFL Journal Volume 3 (2018)
E-ISSN 2520 209X
VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR JAPANESE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH
MAIKU KIMURA Mukogawa Women‘s University, Japan
HIROKO ARAO Mie University, Japan
The present study aims at highlighting the importance of systematic vocabulary instruction and the possibility of solutions via the use of triangle meaning models to the challenges that polysemy sets for learners. Vocabulary acquisition is an essential part of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learning. However, Japanese learners of English often fail to appropriately grasp the meanings of words in context. One of the root causes of this failure is polysemy, the coexistence of multiple meanings in words. This is partly due to their haphazard ways of learning vocabulary. The study reveals that Japanese learners of English are likely to take the meanings of polysemous words that they have memorized as their central meanings, and that can frequently lead to misreading. One solution is to enhance the function of learners‘ mental lexicon by creating connections among polysemous meanings based on prototype theory.
Date Published: 15 December 2018
E-ISSN 2520 209X
VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR JAPANESE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH
MAIKU KIMURA Mukogawa Women‘s University, Japan
HIROKO ARAO Mie University, Japan
The present study aims at highlighting the importance of systematic vocabulary instruction and the possibility of solutions via the use of triangle meaning models to the challenges that polysemy sets for learners. Vocabulary acquisition is an essential part of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learning. However, Japanese learners of English often fail to appropriately grasp the meanings of words in context. One of the root causes of this failure is polysemy, the coexistence of multiple meanings in words. This is partly due to their haphazard ways of learning vocabulary. The study reveals that Japanese learners of English are likely to take the meanings of polysemous words that they have memorized as their central meanings, and that can frequently lead to misreading. One solution is to enhance the function of learners‘ mental lexicon by creating connections among polysemous meanings based on prototype theory.
Date Published: 15 December 2018
