Measuring Vocabulary Knowledge of Chinese-Speaking JSL Students

The Focus on Polysemous Verbs Used in Textbooks for Elementary and Junior High School

Abstract

This study examined the development of productive and receptive vocabulary knowledge among JSL (Japanese as a Second Language) children (n=8), focusing on the meaning and usage of polysemous verbs used in textbooks for elementary and junior high school. Their knowledge was measured of 10 basic Japanese verbs with 80 meanings. The analyses revealed that JSL children struggle more in acquiring peripheral meanings than core meanings, receptively as well as productively. Since some peripheral meanings turned out to be difficult to produce for both groups (monolingual and JSL), this indicates that JSL children are in the process of acquiring various meanings used in textbooks in tandem with their monolingual counterparts. However, for the receptive knowledge of those items, JSL children lagged behind monolingual children.