Making sense out of sound: Fostering L2 word recall through sound-symbolic associations

A number of recent studies suggest that sound symbolism, i.e. the perceived existence of a non-arbitrary relationship between a word's sound and meaning, can foster the encoding and learning of L2 lexis (e.g. Kantartzis, Kita and Imai 2011; Nygaard, Cook and Namy 2009; Parault and Schwanenflugel 2006). Crucially, however, word learning in these studies is typically equated with meaning learning, whereas studies in L2 word learning have shown that establishing the initial memory trace of new word forms should be prioritized (Barcroft 2002; Schmitt 2010). This paper reports on a study designed to investigate whether L2 learners can be encouraged to formulate explicit sound-symbolic associations (SSA) with novel word forms, and to gauge whether these SSAs then foster both form and meaning recall. To operationalize this, we designed a think-aloud protocol where upper-intermediate Dutch-speaking learners of English (N=30) were invited to evaluate the potentially motivated nature of the connection between word form (new) and word meaning (known) of 14 novel words, and to explain each evaluation, if possible.
Transcripts reveal that, in order to explain their evaluations, learners drew on cross-lexical associations (CLA) most frequently (50%), referring to soundalike or lookalike words in the target or other known language(s). However, this tally was closely followed by sound-symbolic associations (38%), identified as instances where a referential value was assigned to a target word form in its entirety, to individual sounds within the word, or to the shape of its letter(s). Together, our transcripts and post-tests reveal that SSAs provide a pathway for channelling attention to a new word's form-meaning link, thereby enriching its memory trace and facilitating its retrieval both receptively and productively. Nevertheless, our results are qualified in terms of individual word and learner characteristics.

Summary:
This study was designed to investigate whether L2 learners can be encouraged to formulate explicit sound-symbolic associations (SSA) with novel word forms, and then to gauge whether these SSAs fostered word recall. Results suggest that learner-generated SSAs enrich and strengthen the memory trace of new words, facilitating their productive and receptive recall afterwards.