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Morphological Decomposition in L2 Arabic: A Masked Priming Study

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Abstract

Previous findings indicate that the way words are organized in the mental lexicon may differ in Arabic and English. While words are organized according to both orthographic and morphological form similarity in English, they are organized primarily according to morphological form similarity in Semitic languages (Frost et al. in J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 23:829–856, 1997; J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 31:1293–1326, 2005). The purpose of this study was to determine whether L1 English learners of L2 Arabic organize their L2 mental lexicon so that they show nativelike patterns of lexical activation, and whether this depends on proficiency level. Native speakers of Arabic, intermediate-proficiency, and advanced-proficiency learners completed a masked priming, lexical decision task in Arabic. Response times were measured to target words preceded by primes that were orthographically or morphologically related, identical, or unrelated. Results showed that native speakers and L2 learners patterned alike regardless of proficiency level.

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Notes

  1. See Boudelaa and Marslen-Wilson (2015) for a more complete discussion of this and other theories of Arabic morphology.

  2. An analysis was run just on the advanced L2 group data to verify this lack of significant orthographic priming, first on transformed and then untransformed RTs. Prime type did not reach significance in either analysis.

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Acknowledgements

Earlier versions of the research reported in this article were presented at the Canadian Association for Applied Linguistics 2012, and the 11th International Conference on the Mental Lexicon. We are grateful to both audiences for their comments and feedback, as well as to the journal reviewer and editor for their helpful suggestions for improving the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of Arkansas, 425 Kimpel Hall, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA

    Rebecca Foote

  2. Department of English Language and Literature, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait

    Mousa Qasem

  3. Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Emma Trentman

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  1. Rebecca Foote
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  2. Mousa Qasem
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Correspondence to Rebecca Foote.

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Appendix

Appendix

Masked Priming Task Targets and Accompanying Primes

Target

Morph Related

Morph Control

Ortho Related

Ortho Control

Arabic

Trans

Arabic

Trans

Arabic

Trans

Arabic

Trans

Arabic

Trans

جمع

Plural

إجتماع

Meeting

ازدحام

Crowdedness

جمل

Sentences

عمر

Age

بعيد

Far

بعد

After

حيث

Where

معيد

Scholar

دفتر

Notebook

بيض

White (pl)

بيضاء

White (f)

أجنبي

Foreign(er)

بيت

House

جيش

Army

جواز

Pass

إجازة

Vacation

عبارة

Phrase

جواب

Answer

سلطة

Salad

حبيب

Darling

حب

Love

نص

Text

حليب

Milk

حذاء

Shoe

حدث

Happened

حادث

Accident

فندق

Hotel

حدد

Specified

درس

Studied

حقيقة

Truth

تحقيق

Achievement

رسالة

Message

دقيقة

Minute

رسالة

Message

حكم

Ruled, governed

حكومة

Government

فستان

Dress

حلم

Dreamed

أرز

Rice

خبر

News

خبرة

Experience

غداء

Lunch

خبز

Bread

بحر

Sea

خاص

Special

متخصص

Expert

متوسط

Intermediate

خال

Maternal uncle

رقم

Number

أخضر

Green

خضروات

Vegetables

مستقبل

Future

أخير

Final/last

قديم

Old

يدخل

Enter

دخول

Entry

طابق

Story

يدخن

Smoke

يقضي

Spend

مديرة

Director, manager

إدارة

Administration

طاولة

Table

مدينة

City

طاولة

Table

تذكر

Remembered

مذاكرة

Revision

برنامج

Program

مذكر

Masculine

متحف

Museum

رأس

Head

رئيس

Present

عشرة

Ten

رأي

Opinion

دين

Religion

رجع

Returned

رجوع

Return

شمال

North

شجع

Encourage

ثوم

Garlic

يريد

Want

إرادة

Desire

رواية

Novel

بريد

Mail

حياة

Life

زيارة

Visit

زار

Visited

سأل

Asked

زيادة

Increase

ترجمة

Translation

سفر

Travel

سفير

Ambassador

قناة

Channel

سهر

Staying up late

أخت

Sister

سكن

Residence

ساكن

Resident

ضابط

Officer

سكر

Sugar

ناس

People

شرب

Drink

شوربة

Soup

رطوبة

Humidity

شرق

East

أدب

Literature

شكل

Shape

مشكلة

Problem

هندسة

Engineering

شغل

Work

سنة

Year

صحة

Health

صحيح

Correct

قصير

Short

صحف

Newspapers

قصص

Stories

أصدر

Published

مصدر

Source

ضعيف

Weak

أصفر

Yellow

جنوب

South

صديقة

Friend

صداقة

Friendship

نصيحة

Advice

حديقة

Garden

نصيحة

Advice

صورة

Picture, photo

تصوير

Photography

أستاذ

Teacher

سورة

Chapter (of the Quran)

مساء

Evening

عرف

Recognized, knew

تعارف

Getting to know one another

عاصمة

Capital

عرب

Arabs

جزء

Part

علم

Science, knowledge

تعليم

Education

مقهى

Café

قلم

Pen

جسم

Body

عيد

Festival

عادة

Habit

عطلة

Holiday

جيد

Good

سهل

Easy

عيش

Living

معيشة

Living

جريدة

Newspaper

عين

Eye

سوق

Market

فرد

Individual

مفرد

Singular

صغير

Small

برد

Cold

شاي

Tea

فعل

Verb

فاعل

Doer, subject

عشاء

Dinner

فصل

Section, dismissal, classroom, season

شعر

Hair

فكرة

Idea

تفكير

Thinking

قاموس

Dictionary

فقرة

Paragraph

مسجد

Mosque

قدم

Foot

متقدم

Advanced

متفوق

Outstanding

قسم

Department

شمس

Sun

تقرير

Report

إستقرار

Act of settling

إستمتاع

Enjoyment

تقدير

Estimation

مدرسة

School

قرأ

Read

قراءة

Reading

جزيرة

Island

قرب

Near

تحت

Under

يقول

Say

مقالة

(Newspaper) article

بطاقة

Card

يقوم

Get up

يطلب

Request

كتاب

Book

مكتب

Office

مسرح

Theater

كباب

Kebob

مسرح

Theater

كلام

Speech

كلمة

Word

ليلة

Night

سلام

Peace, hello

ليلة

Night

لبس

Clothing, wearing

ملابس

Clothes

أخلاق

Manners, ethics

لبن

Milk

طقس

Weather

مطر

Rain

ممطر

Rainy

عجيب

Amazing

مصر

Egypt

طفل

Child

ملوك

Kings

مملكة

Kingdom

ثقافة

Culture

سلوك

Behavior

غرفة

Room

نزل

Descended

نزول

Descent

خريف

Fall, autumn

نقل

Moved

غاب

Was absent

نصف

Half

منتصف

Middle, midst

تاريخ

History

نصح

Advised

أكل

Ate/food

يجب

Must

واجب

Duty, homework

شارع

Street

يجد

Find

صحا

Woke up

صفة

Adjective

وصف

Described

رسم

Drew

صلة

Link

أمس

Yesterday

جلوس

Sitting

يجلس

Sit

يصلح

Mend, repair, reform

فلوس

Money

نهار

Daytime

سمح

Allowed, permitted

سماح

Allowing, permitting

مركز

Center

سمك

Fish

موت

Death

غرب

West

غريب

Stranger

كبير

Big

غضب

Anger

فطر

Ate breakfast

خجل

Shyness

خجول

Shy

رخيص

Cheap

رجل

Man

لغة

Language

سبعة

Seven

أسبوع

Week

كنيسة

Church

ساعة

Hour, watch, clock

لسان

Tongue

نوم

Sleep

ينام

Sleep

يترك

Leave

صوم

Fasting

رفض

Refused

حار

Hot

حران

Feeling hot

جميل

Beautiful

جار

Neighbor

لحم

Meat

شراء

Purchase, buying

يشتري

Buy

ينتهي

Finish

شتاء

Winter

يسار

Left

ثلث

One-third

ثلاثة

Three

زوجات

Wives

ثلج

Ice

شخص

Person

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Foote, R., Qasem, M. & Trentman, E. Morphological Decomposition in L2 Arabic: A Masked Priming Study. J Psycholinguist Res 49, 291–317 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-020-09688-6

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