engleski

How Language Specific Features Can Influence Vocabulary Acquisition: an Example of Croatian

Vocabulary acquisition has been in the focus of second language acquisition research for the last two decades. Although there is not a proper and complete model of second language vocabulary acquisition, some of the vocabulary acquisition processes are known. It seems that some of the basic features of second language vocabulary acquisition are language independent, e.g. the structure of the mental lexicon, while the others are language dependent, eg. intralexical influences on the vocabulary acquisition. This paper deals with intralexical factors that influence vocabulary acquisition in Croatian as second language. The data is collected by using the vocabulary translation test. The same types of incorrect answers made by the speakers of two different L1 (English and Italian) confirm the intralexical nature of errors. It will be shown how important features of the Croatian language, i.e. morphological complexity and high degree of transparency between pronunciation and orthography, effect vocabulary acquisition in Croatian as second language.

vocabulary acquisition; intralexical factors; Croatian as foreign language

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