LEXICAL INFERENCING IN L3 FRENCH AND SPANISH ACQUISITION

• Main Author: Castro Verdelho, Telmo
• Publication Date: 2024
• Format: Article
• Language: por
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: https://doi.org/10.34630/polissema.v24i2.5754
• topic: inferência lexical; léxico; L3; significado; aquisição de vocabulário; lexical inference; lexicon; L3; meaning; vocabulary acquisition

Lexical inference is a strategy that aims to help the learner in his process of understanding unfamiliar words. During this procedure, the individual puts into practice a set of actions that can be used in various ways and alternately. These actions mainly involve the deduction of the meaning of the word, through the association with a lexicon already known, the identification of words based on their formal similarity with other nearby languages or the contextual and morphological analysis of the words. The process of lexical inference in the acquisition of L3 vocabulary takes on different contours from those identified in the similar process related to L2, distinguishing itself by the possibility of using two languages, L1 and L2, as potential transfer sources. To identify these differences, data were collected in Spanish and French L3learning groups, through the application of questionnaires that led the learners to activate lexical inference. The resultsshow that there is a use of L1 and L2 to reach the comprehension of the word in L3, namely about French, which ends upconfirming the differentiated character of this strategy in the acquisition of vocabulary in L3. Keywords: inference; lexicon; L3; meaning; vocabulary acquisition.