Novel Word Learning Ability in Adults

Abstract

New word learning refers to the learning of novel words which are not in the vocabulary of the person. It is generally believed that there is no age limit for learning; the same sentence holds good for learning new words also, however the pace of acquisition may differ. Most of the studies carried out in the past have been carried out in children, this necessitates the present study. The present study was carried out with an intention of investigating new word learning in bilingual adult speakers. A total of 33 young adult speakers in the age range of 18–21 years were enrolled for the study. These participants were divided into two subgroups based on the exposure to L3 duration. The first group had limited exposure to Kannada, the language in which the testing was carried out while the second group had relatively more exposure. Ten unfamiliar nouns and verbs were chosen as stimulus. None of the participants knew the words. The participants were trained on these words on two consecutive days and were asked to name the stimulus in Kannada after training on these days. Testing was also carried out after a gap of three days after training. Participants could name an average of 7–8 items. Statistically significant difference was not seen for the two groups considered; for the two classes of words and for the scores derived on 1st, 2nd and 5th day.