The Arabic Lexicon Project: Lexical decision data for 10,000 Modern Standard Arabic words

The Cross-Linguistic Lexical Task in Tunisian Arabic: Adaptation and Pilot Evidence from Monolingual Children.

An experimental and computational study of an Estonian single-subject word naming experiment

This study reports a large-scale single-subject experiment combining the word naming task with eye-tracking. Response variables (first fixation duration, total fixation duration, number of fixations, word naming latency, and spoken word duration) were subjected to statistical analyses with generalized additive models (GAMs). We compared GAMs with classical lexical predictors such as word frequency and inflectional paradigm size with GAMs that were given predictors derived from computational implementations of the discriminative lexicon model (DLM) for the lexical route in the word naming task, using word embeddings to represent words' meanings. With the exception of word length, lexical measures and DLM-based measures were found not to predict initial fixation duration and total number of fixations. DLM-based measures were statistically well supported as predictors of total fixation duration, naming latency, and spoken word duration. GAMs with classical predictors provided more precise fits for the first two response variables, but a GAM with DLM-based predictors provided a superior fit to the spoken word durations. These results support the possibility that in the naming task, word meaning is involved. The GAMs for spoken word duration and response latency revealed a novel phenomenon, namely that when the lexical route is not functioning, due to the mapping from meaning to form being unsuccessful, response latencies increase, spoken word durations decrease, and the speaker likely resorted to naming with the non-lexical grapheme-to-phoneme naming route.

Language is a factor in the identification and processing of number words.

Since the 1990s, the fields of numerical cognition and psycholinguistics have evolved largely independently. However, the research since then demonstrates that language and numbers are intrinsically related, particularly in multilingual contexts. Language characteristics (e.g., morpho-syntactic properties) and language status (e.g., monolingual vs. multilingual) influence numerical processing at multiple levels, from number identification and retrieval to advanced mathematical skills. This article builds on the contribution of Frenck-Mestre and Vaid (1992), "Language as a Factor in the Identification of Ordinary Words and Number Words", to further elaborate how language contributes to the learning of numerical concepts, especially the acquisition and representation of number words across development. While their findings provided initial important insights into bilingual number processing, subsequent research, which we discuss in the current article, further shows that language and multilingual experiences can shape lexical, semantic, and lexico-semantic access to numbers. We finish by outlining some future research directions for the study of multilingual number representations.

EXPRESS: Measuring Individual Differences in Word-Meaning Disambiguation.

Theories of the mental lexicon must explain how people use context to interpret ambiguous words (e.g., "internal organ" vs. "musical organ") and why people vary on this core aspect of comprehension. Theoretical development has been hampered by the lack of reliable tests of disambiguation skill. We introduce a task in which participants hear three-sentence narratives with an ambiguous final word (e.g., "organ") and select the appropriate picture from two alternatives. Experiment 1 (N=197) confirmed the viability of this task using a repeated-measures design optimized for detecting group-level ambiguity effects: participants were slower and less accurate for ambiguous compared with closely matched control items in which the final word was replaced with a similar but unambiguous word, e.g., "piano"). We replicated this ambiguity disadvantage using a less closely matched control condition that was developed for Experiment 2 (N=242) which was optimised to measure variation in disambiguation skill. Experiment 2 confirmed robust variability in accuracy and response time, but measurement reliability ranged from r=.41 to .65, below the conventional r=.70 threshold, and correlations with other cognitive tasks were inconsistent. These results highlight the challenges of adapting complex, repeated-measures experimental paradigms to detect individual differences, and provide a framework for developing and assessing such measures.

An Investigation into the Lexical Associations of Turkish Learners of English

Vocabulary knowledge is a key dimension of second language (L2) proficiency, yet the network organisation of words in the mental lexicon warrants further exploration. This study investigated the L2 English lexical associations of Turkish learners to unravel an understudied topic within this specific context. The study further examined the impact of learner proficiency and lexical properties on participants’ associative patterns. A Word Association Task (WAT), with 96 cue words from three lexical classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives) and two frequency bands (0–1000 and 2000–3000), was administered to 120 tertiary-level learners across two groups (lower vs. higher proficiency). The findings revealed a general dominance of meaning-based (semantic) associations. However, proficiency level and word-related differences were observed for position-based (collocational) and form-based (phonological/orthographic) responses: higher-proficiency learners produced a greater proportion of position-based links, whereas lower-proficiency ones relied more on form-based associations. Lexical class also shaped associative behaviour; while nouns and adjectives elicited largely semantic links, verbs, particularly lower-frequency ones, were more likely to trigger co-occurrence combinations. These findings provide insights into the developmental trajectory of the L2 mental lexicon of Turkish learners and offer pedagogical implications for designing vocabulary instruction that fosters deeper lexical networks.

Translation direction and word familiarity in word translation: an fNIRS study of intermediate Japanese learners of English

Introduction Many studies have examined the neural bases of word translation based on the revised hierarchical model (RHM). However, the findings reported thus far, mostly focusing on advanced or elementary second-language (L2) learners, have been diverse and often inconsistent. Thus, to explore possible neural bases for translation asymmetry, there is a distinct need to examine word translations by intermediate L2 learners. Methods We examined differences in cortical activation patterns during L1 (first language)-to-L2 and L2-to-L1word translation for high and low word familiarity in intermediate-level Japanese learners of English. TOEIC scores were used to confirm intermediate English proficiency, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to examine cortical activation patterns during word translation. Data from 36 participants were used for analyses. Results Greater activation was observed in the frontopolar area, the pars triangularis of Broca’s area, and the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for low-familiarity words regardless of translation direction. Discussion These findings provide no clear evidence of translation asymmetry in intermediate L2 learners but suggest the possible involvement of concept mediation in both translation directions.