Processing Unfamiliar Words - Strategies, Knowledge Sources, and the Relationship to Text and Word Comprehension

Oct 15, 2026

This study investigates inferencing and ignoring strategies, alongside knowledge sources such as semantics and morphology, used by second-language English learners to process unfamiliar words in listening comprehension. It also examines whether strategy or knowledge-source use is associated with successful text comprehension and word comprehension. Data were gathered via immediate retrospection without recall support and stimulated recall from twenty Chinese first-language participants. Qualitative and quantitative analyses show inferencing as the primary strategy linked to successful text comprehension.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Strategies and knowledge sources for unfamiliar-word processing

Strategies for processing unfamiliar words in reading comprehension

Lexical inferencing and lexical ignoring

Text factors such as vocabulary coverage

Processing Unfamiliar Words: Strategies, Knowledge Sources, and the Relationship to Text and Word Comprehension Wei Cai University of Calgary Benny P.H. Lee Nanyang Technological University Abstract This study examines strategies (inferencing and ignoring) and knowledge sources (semantics, morphology, paralinguistics, etc.) that second language learners of English use to process unfamiliar words in listening comprehension and whether the use of strategies or knowledge sources relates to successful text comprehension or word comprehension. Data were collected using the procedures of immediate retrospection without recall support and of stimulated recall. Twenty participants with Chinese as their first language participated in the procedures. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were made. The results indicate that inferencing is the primary strategy that learners use to process unfamiliar words in listening and that it relates to successful text comprehension. Among the different knowledge sources that learners use, the most frequently used knowledge sources are semantic knowledge of words in the local co-text combined with background knowledge and semantic knowledge of the overall co-text. The finding that the use of most knowledge sources does not relate to the comprehension of the word suggests that no particular knowledge source is universally effective or ineffective and that what is crucial is to use the various knowledge sources flexibly. Résumé Cette étude examine les stratégies (la déduction et l'omission de mots) et les sources de connaissances (sémantique, morphologie, connaissance antérieure, etc.) utilisées par les étudiants d‟anglais langue seconde (ALS) pour comprendre les mots inconnus à l'oral, ets'interroge sur les liens entre l‟emploi des stratégies ou sources de connaissances et la bonne compréhension des textes et des mots. Les données ont été recueillies immédiatement après observation, sans rappel ni simulation ultérieure. Vingt locuteurs de langue maternelle chinoise ont participé à l‟étude. Des approches qualitative et quantitative ont été utilisées. Les résultats indiquent que la déduction est la stratégie de toute premiѐre importance utilisée par les sujets pour comprendre les mots inconnus à l'oral, et ceci est lié à une bonne compréhension du texte. Parmi les sources de connaissances, celles qui sont les plus souvent utilisées par les étudiants sont la connaissance sémantique des mots du contexte immédiat alliée avec la connaissance de fond et la connaissance sémantique du texte global. Les résultatsindiquent que l'emploi de la plupart des sources de connaissances n‟a aucun rapport avec la compréhension des mots, suggérant ainsi qu' aucune source de connaissance en particulier n'est universellement efficace ou inefficace . Ce qui est crucial est l‟emploi flexible de diverses sources de connaissances. Processing Unfamiliar Words: Strategies, Knowledge Sources, and the Relationship to Text and Word Comprehension Introduction There has been a plethora of studies investigating vocabulary acquisition in second language (L2) reading comprehension (e.g., Haastrup, 1991; Haynes, 1993; Horst, 2005; Laufer, 2003) . Evidence suggests that L2 learners are able to acquire vocabulary incidentally in reading and retain some of the vocabulary acquired in this way (Fraser, 1999; Laufer & Rozovski-Roitblat, 2011; Paribakht & Wesche, 1997) . However, studies on how learners acquire vocabulary from listening are rare. The limited literature in this area does not provide much evidence of learners‟ ability to acquire meaning of new words in L2 listening, but when it does, it still does not inform our understanding of the mental processes learners use to acquire new vocabulary. The paucity of research on this topic may relate to the assumption that the employment of complicated strategies, such as inferencing, overwhelms the limited resources available for comprehension, as Ridgway (2000,

FAQs

What is the study’s main purpose in examining unfamiliar words?

To investigate strategies and knowledge sources that second-language learners use to process unfamiliar words in listening, and whether these relate to success in text and word comprehension.

What strategy do learners use most when processing unfamiliar words in listening?

Inferencing is the primary strategy used by learners to process unfamiliar words in listening.

Do different knowledge sources consistently improve word comprehension?

No. The study finds that using most knowledge sources does not relate to word comprehension, suggesting no single source is universally effective and that flexible use matters most.

Oct 15, 2026

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