The Effects of Two Types of Cues that Promotes Guessing and Learning of English Polysemous Words

Abstract

In order to acquire better communicative competence in English, one of the proposals commonly made is to build a larger vocabulary. However, through our teaching experiences, we know that one of the problems that may impede vocabulary learning is the existence of polysemous words. The present study aims to examine how providing learners with two types of cues facilitates guessing and learning abstract, figurative senses of polysemous words. The cue types compared are (1) core sense vs. non-core sense (When guessing and learning abstract senses, provided cues are either located on the core meaning side with a more concrete meaning, or non-core meaning side, with a more abstract, figurative sense, leading to different effects.), and (2) closer sense vs. further sense (When guessing and learning abstract senses, the compared cues are located closer or further to the abstract sense, leading to different effect.). The results show that (1) guessing and learning of abstract senses were enhanced when learners were initially given core sense cues rather than non-core sense cues; (2) being given closer sense cues or further sense cues did not affect the score of a guessing test, a short term retention test, or a long-term retention test. Further explanation will be given in the discussion section.