Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-skm99 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T17:16:50.664Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Lexical inferencing and the mutual intelligibility of Estonian and Finnish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2017

Pirkko Muikku-Werner
Pirkko Muikku-Werner*
Affiliation:
School of Humanities, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu Campus, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland. pirkko.muikku-werner@uef.fi
Get access

Abstract

Several factors affect the comprehension of a text written in a language related to the reader's first language (L1): (i) orthographic similarity with the reader's L1, (ii) contextual clues, (iii) semantic relationships between components of phraseological units, and (iv) L1 reading comprehension strategies. This article compares the results of a cloze test (CT), in which a group of Finns read a text in their L1 (Finnish) and filled the gaps, and a translation test (TT), in which another group of Finns translated the Estonian version of the same text into Finnish. This text included five pairs of primes and targets, parts of the same phraseological unit, representing different semantic relations; in the CT the target was replaced by a gap and in the TT the respondents had to translate the target. The results indicated that the respondents used similar inferencing strategies in both tests, and thus provide evidence for the assumption that orthographic similarity is not the sole factor contributing to understanding a foreign text, but that L1 reading comprehension strategies are also employed.

Keywords

EstonianFinnishphraseological unitreceptive multilingualismsemantic priming
Type
Research Article
Information
Nordic Journal of Linguistics , Volume 40 , Special Issue 2: Receptive Multilingualism , October 2017 , pp. 201 - 223
Copyright
Copyright © Nordic Association of Linguistics 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alderson, Charles J. 1984. Reading in a foreign language: A reading problem or a language problem. In Alderson, Charles J. & Urquhart, Alexander H. (eds.), Reading in Foreign Language, 1‒24. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Bernardini, Silvia. 2001. Think-aloud protocols in translation research: Achievements, limits, future prospects. Target: International Journal of Translation Studies 13 (2), 241−263.Google Scholar
Bernhardt, Elizabeth B. 1991. Reading Development in a Second Language: Theoretical, Empirical & Classroom Perspectives. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Bonk, William. 2000. Testing ESL Learners’ Knowledge of Collocations. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED442309.Google Scholar
Brown, Gillian & Yule, George. 1983. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Carrell, Patricia L. & Eisterhold, Joan C.. 1983. Schema theory and ESL reading pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly 17 (4), 553−573.Google Scholar
Coady, James. 1979. A psycholinguistic model of the ESL reader. In Mackay, Ronald, Barkman, Bruce & Jordan, R. R. (eds.), Reading in a Second Language, 5−23. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Dufva, Hannele. 1999. Kieli, mieli ja konteksti: psykolingvistisestä kielentutkimuksesta dialogiseen kielen psykologiaan [Language, mind and context: From psycholinguistics to a dialogical psychology of language]. In Sajavaara & Piirainen-Marsh (eds.), 11‒44.Google Scholar
Enkvist, Nils Erik. 1975. Tekstilingvistiikan peruskäsitteitä [Basic concepts of text linguistics]. Helsinki: Gaudeamus.Google Scholar
Forrester, Michael A. 1996. Psychology of Language: A Critical Introduction. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Gass, Susan M. & Selinker, Larry. 1994. Second Language Acquisition. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Gooskens, Charlotte. 2006. Linguistic and extra-linguistic predictors of inter-Scandinavian intelligibility. In van de Weijer, Jeroen & Bettelou, Los (eds.), Linguistics in the Netherlands 2006, 101−113. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Gooskens, Charlotte. 2007. The contribution of linguistic factors to the intelligibility of closely related languages. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 28 (6), 445−467.Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. & Hasan, Ruqaiya. 1976. Cohesion in English. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Hoey, Michael. 1991. Patterns of Lexis in Text. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hoey, Michael. 2005. Lexical Priming: A New Theory of Words and Language. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hoey, Michael. 2007. Lexical priming and literary creativity. In Hoey, Michael, Mahlberg, Michaela, Stubbs, Michael & Teubert, Wolfgang (eds.), Text, Discourse and Corpora: Theory and Analysis, 7−29. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Holopainen, Esko. 2003. Kuullun ja luetun tekstin ymmärtämisstrategiat ja -vaikeudet peruskoulun kolmannella ja yhdeksännellä luokalla [Strategies for listening and reading comprehension and problematic listening and reading comprehension of the text during the Third and Ninth Grades of primary school] (Jyväskylä Studies in Education, Psychology and Social Research 218). Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä.Google Scholar
Hufeisen, Britta & Marx, Nicole. 2007. How can DaFnE and EuroComGerm contribute to the concept of receptive multilingualism. In ten Thije & Zeevaert (eds.), 307–321.Google Scholar
Jantunen, Jarmo. 2009. ‘Minulla on aivan paljon rahaa’ – Fraseologiset yksiköt suomen kielen opetuksessa [‘I have really lots of money’: Phraseological units in the teaching of Finnish]. Virittäjä 113, 356–381.Google Scholar
Jarvis, Scott. 2011. Conceptual transfer: Crosslinguistic effects in categorization and construal. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 14 (1), 1‒8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaivapalu, Annekatrin. 2005. Lähdekieli kielenoppimisen apuna [Contribution L1 to foreign language acquisition] (Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities 44). Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä.Google Scholar
Kaivapalu, Annekatrin. 2009. Vironkielisen suomenoppijan äidinkieli – ongelma, haaste vai voimavara? [Estonian as the first language of a learner of Finnish: Problem, challenge or resource?]. Virittäjä 3, 382−402.Google Scholar
Kaivapalu, Annekatrin & Muikku-Werner, Pirkko. 2010. Reseptiivinen monikielisyys: miten suomenkielinen oppija ymmärtää viroa äidinkielensä pohjalta [Receptive multilingualism: How Finnish as a first language helps learners to understand Estonian]. Lähivõrdlusi – Lähivertailuja 20, 68−97.Google Scholar
Koda, Keiko.1994. Second language reading research: Problems and possibilities. Applied Psycholinguistics 15, 1‒28.Google Scholar
Kristiansen, Irene. 1998. Tehokkaita oppimisstrategioita [Effective learning strategies]. Helsinki: WSOY.Google Scholar
Larjavaara, Matti. 2007. Pragmasemantiikka [Pragma-semantics]. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.Google Scholar
Lewis, Michael. 2000. Learning in the lexical approach. In Lewis, Michael (ed.), Teaching Collocation: Further Developments in the Lexical Approach, 155‒185. Hove: Language Teaching Publications.Google Scholar
Lutjeharms, Madeline. 2007. Processing levels in foreign-language reading. In ten Thije & Zeevaert (eds.), 265‒284.Google Scholar
McNamara, Timothy P. 2005. Semantic Priming: Perspectives from Memory and Word Recognition. New York: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Muikku-Werner, Pirkko. 2013. Vironkielisen tekstin ymmärtäminen suomen kielen pohjalta [Understanding Estonian texts on a Finnish language base]. Lähivõrdlusi – Lähivertailuja 23, 210–237.Google Scholar
Muikku-Werner, Pirkko. 2014. Co-text and receptive multilingualism: Finnish students comprehending Estonian. Estonian Journal of Estonian and Finno-Ugric Linguistics 5 (3), 99−113.Google Scholar
Muikku-Werner, Pirkko. 2015. Tekstin semanttiset sidokset ja lähisukukielten ymmärrettävyys [Semantic cohesion and the intelligibility of closely related languages]. Lähivõrdlusi – Lähivertailuja 25, 191–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muikku-Werner, Pirkko. 2016. Monitasoinen samankaltaisuus ja sukukielisen tekstin ymmärtäminen [Multidimensional similarity and comprehension of closely related language]. Lähivõrdlusi – Lähivertailuja 26, 311−338.Google Scholar
Muikku-Werner, Pirkko & Heinonen, Maria. 2012. Lumesadu – ‘tarina’ vai ‘lumikasa’ vai ei kumpikaan? Suomalaiset lukiolaiset viron sanoja tunnistamassa [Lumesadu – ‘tarina’ or ‘lumikasa’ or something completely different? How Finnish senior high school students try to recognise Estonian words]. Lähivõrdlusi – Lähivertailuja 22, 157–187.Google Scholar
Odlin, Terrence. 1989. Language Transfer: Cross-linguistic Influence in Language Learning (The Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
O'Malley, J. Michael & Chamot, Anna U.. 1990. Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Oxford, Rebecca L. 1990. Language Learning Strategies. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.Google Scholar
Paajanen, Ilona & Muikku-Werner, Pirkko 2012. Tee on kitsas – onko ‘tee kitkerää’ vai oletteko ‘te saita’? Suomalaiset opiskelijat viroa ymmärtämässä [Tee on kitsas: Is ‘tea bitter’ or are you ‘penny-pinching’? Finnish students comprehending Estonian]. Lähivõrdlusi – Lähivertailuja 22, 219–258.Google Scholar
Pace-Sigge, Michael. 2013a. The concept of Lexical Priming in the context of language use. ICAME Journal 37, 149−173.Google Scholar
Pace-Sigge, Michael. 2013b. Lexical Priming in Spoken English Usage. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Pitkänen-Huhta, Anne. 1999. Vieraalla kielellä lukemisen tutkimus [Second language reading research]. In Sajavaara & Piirainen-Marsh (eds.), 259–288.Google Scholar
Ringbom, Håkan. 1987. The Role of First Language in Foreign Language Acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Ringbom, Håkan. 2007. Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Rumelhart, David E. 1980. Schemata: The building blocks of cognition. In Spiro, Rand J., Bruce, Bertram C. & Brewer, William F. (eds.), Theoretical Issues in Reading Comprehension, 33–58. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Rumelhart, David E. 1985. Toward an interactive model of reading. In Singer, Harry & Ruddell, Robert B. (eds.), Theoretical Model and Processes of Reading, 711‒750. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.Google Scholar
Sajavaara, Kari & Piirainen-Marsh, Arja (eds.). 1999. Kielenoppimisen kysymyksiä. Soveltavan kielentutkimuksen teoriaa ja käytäntöä [Question of language learning: The theory and practice of applied linguistics research]. Jyväskylä: Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Jyväskylä.Google Scholar
Sinclair, John. 1991. Corpus, Concordance, Collocation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Singer, Murray. 2007. Inference processing in discourse comprehension. In Gaskell, M. Gareth (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Psycholinguistics, 343–359. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
ten Thije, Jan D. & Zeevaert, Ludger (eds.). 2007. Receptive Multilingualism: Linguistic Analyses, Language Policies and Didactic Concepts. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Underwood, Geoffrey & Batt, Vivienne. 1996. Reading and Understanding. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
van Dijk, Teun A. 1977. Sentence topic and discourse topic. Papers in Slavic Philology 1, 49−61.Google Scholar
Vaurio, Leena. 1998. Lexical Inferencing in Reading in English on the Secondary Level (Jyväskylä Studies in Education, Psychology and Social Research 145). Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä.Google Scholar