Cover not available
Part of
Linguistic Approaches to Portuguese as an Additional Language
Edited by Karina Veronica Molsing, Cristina Becker Lopes Perna and Ana Maria Tramunt Ibaños
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 24] 2020
► pp. 191–230

Leveraging Spanish knowledge and cognitive aptitude in Portuguese learning

 | George Mason University
 | University of Maryland
 | University of Maryland
 | University of Maryland
 | University of Maryland
 | University of Maryland
 | University of Maryland
 | University of Maryland
This chapter describes a study investigating the question of whether and to what extent the presence of the donor language (L2; Spanish) and the first language (L1; English) in a reading comprehension task facilitates or impedes lexical learning in a related language (L3; Portuguese). The study also addresses the role of the learner’s cognitive aptitude (as measured by the High-level Language Aptitude Battery, Hi-LAB; Doughty et al., 2010; Linck et al., 2013). We discuss the results in light of the importance of perceived similarities and differences between related languages in multilingual learning, as well as the importance of understanding the ways in which learners with different levels of cognitive aptitude may be differentially able to leverage existing linguistic knowledge.
Keywords: cross-training, third language acquisition, multilingualism, bilingual glosses, inhibitory control, cognates, cross-linguistic influence, aptitude, reading comprehension, vocabulary learning
Article outline
  • Leveraging Spanish knowledge and cognitive aptitude in Portuguese learning
  • Background
    • Glosses as an instructional technique
    • Aptitude and multilingualism
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Design and procedures
    • Materials
      • Texts
      • Target words
    • Activities
    • Measures
      • Spanish cloze proficiency test
      • Reading comprehension
      • Vocabulary learning
      • Cognitive aptitude
      • Paired Associates (PA)
      • Letter Sets (LS)
      • Serial Reaction Time (SRT)
      • Running Memory Span (RMS)
      • Antisaccade (AS)
    • Questionnaires
      • Language History Questionnaire
      • End-of-Session questionnaire
  • Results
    • Reading comprehension
      • Rote Memory (PA)
      • Explicit Induction (LS)
      • Implicit Induction (SRT)
      • Processing Speed (SRT)
      • Updating (RMS)
      • Inhibitory Control (AS)
    • Vocabulary learning
      • Condition
      • Proficiency
      • Test Time
      • Cognate status
      • Rote Memory (PA)
      • Explicit Induction (LS)
      • Implicit Induction (SRT)
      • Processing Speed (SRT)
      • Updating (RMS)
      • Inhibitory Control (AS)
  • Discussion
    • Glosses vs. Control
    • L2 proficiency
    • Vocabulary retention
    • Cognate status
    • Aptitude
  • Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 26 March 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.24.08bon
References (74)
References
Arnedt, C. S., & Gentile, J. R. (1986). A test of dual coding theory for bilingual memory. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 290. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Arntz, R. (1999). Training translators in a ‘third language’ – A new approach. In G. Anderman & M. Rogers (Eds.), Word, text, translation: Liber Amicorum for Peter Newmark (pp. 66–75). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Azari, F., Abdullah, F. S., Heng, C. S., & Hoon, T. B. (2012). Effects of glosses on vocabulary gain and retention among tertiary level EFL learners. Online submission. <[URL]>
Baayen, R. H., Davidson, D. J., & Bates, D. M. (2008). Mixed-effects modeling with crossed random effects for subjects and items. Journal of Memory and Language, 59, 390–412. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2014). lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using Eign and S4. R package version, 1(7).Google Scholar
Bell, F. L., & LeBlanc, L. B. (2000). The language of glosses in L2 reading on computer: Learners’ preferences. Hispania, 83, 274–285. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., & Craik, F. (2010). Cognitive and linguistic processing in the bilingual mind. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 19–23. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., & Martin, M. M. (2004). Attention and inhibition in bilingual children: Evidence from the dimensional change card sort task. Developmental Science, 7, 325–339. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biedroń, A., & Szczepaniak, A. (2012). Working memory and short-term memory abilities in accomplished multilinguals. Modern Language Journal, 96, 290–306. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bjork, R., & Kroll, J. (2015). Desirable difficulties in vocabulary learning. The American Journal of Psychology, 128(2), 241–252. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, R., Waring, R., & Donkaewbua, S. (2008). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from reading, reading-while-listening, and listening to stories. Reading in a Foreign Language, 20, 136–63.Google Scholar
Bruton, A. S. (2009). The Vocabulary Knowledge Scale: A critical analysis. Language Assessment Quarterly, 6, 288–297. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bunting, M., Cowan, N., & Saults, J. (2006). How does running memory span work? The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59, 1691–1700. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carroll, J., & Sapon, S. (1959). Modern language aptitude test. New York, NY: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Carvalho, A., Freire, J., & da Silva, A. (2010). Teaching Portuguese to Spanish speakers: A case for trilingualism. Hispania, 93, 70–75.Google Scholar
Cheng, Y.-H., & Good, R. L. (2009). L1 glosses: Effects on EFL learners’ reading comprehension and vocabulary retention. Reading in a Foreign Language, 21, 119–142.Google Scholar
Craik, F., & Lockhart, R. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11, 671–684. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Davies, M. (2002). Corpus del Español: 100 million words, 1200s-1900s. Available online at <[URL]>
Davies, M., & Ferreira, M. (2006). Corpus do Português: 45 million words, 1300s-1900s. Available online at <[URL]>
De Bruin, A., Roelefs, A., Dijkstra, T., & FitzPatrick, I. (2014). Domain-general inhibition areas of the brain are involved in language switching: FMRI evidence from trilingual speakers. NeuroImage, 90, 348–359. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Donato, D., & Pasquarelli-Gascon, V. (2015). The language of the other: Italian for Spanish speakers through intercomprehension. Italica, 93, 713–736.Google Scholar
Doughty, C., Campbell, S., Bunting, M., Mislevy, M., Bowles, A., & Koeth, J. (2010). Predicting near-native L2 ability. In M. T. Prior, Y. Watanabe, & S-K. Lee (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2008 Second Language Research Form (pp. 10–31). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Ekstrom, R. B., French, J. W., & Harman, H. H. (1979). Cognitive factors: Their identification and replication. Multivariate Behavioral Research Monographs, 79(2), 3–84.Google Scholar
Golonka, E., Bowles, A., Silbert, N., Kramasz, D., Blake, C., & Buckwalter, T. (2015). The role of context and cognitive effort in vocabulary learning: A study of intermediate-level learners of Arabic. The Modern Language Journal, 99, 19–39. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grace, C. A. (1998). Retention of word meanings inferred from context and sentence-level translations: Implications for the design of beginning-level CALL software. The Modern Language Journal, 82, 533–544. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Green, D. (1998). Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1, 67–81. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gribble, C. (1987). Reading Bulgarian through Russian. Columbus, OH: Slavica.Google Scholar
Guidi, C. (2009). Glossing for meaning and glossing for form: A computerized study of the effects of glossing and type of linguistic item on reading comprehension, noticing, and L2 learning (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Georgetown University, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Guo, T., Liu, F., Chen, B., & Li, S. (2013). Inhibition of non-target languages in multilingual word production: Evidence from Uighur-Chinese-English trilinguals. Acta Psychologica, 143, 277–283. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hashemian, M. & Fadaei, B. (2013). The effect of lexical glossing types on Persian L2 Learners’ reading and listening. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 70, 490–500. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hu, S. M., Vongpumivitch, V., Chang, J. S., & Liou, H. C. (2014). The effects of L1 and L2 e-glosses on incidental vocabulary learning of junior high-school English students. ReCALL, 26, 80–99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hufeisen, B., & Neuner, G. (Eds.). (2004). The plurilingualism project – Tertiary language learning – German after English. Strasbourg, France: Council of Europe.Google Scholar
Jacobs, G. M., Dufon, P., & Hong, F. C. (1994). L1 and L2 vocabulary glosses in L2 reading passages: Their effectiveness for increasing comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. Journal of Research in Reading, 17, 19–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kellerman, E. (1983). Now you see it, now you don’t. Language Transfer in Language Learning, 54, 112–134.Google Scholar
Kim, Y. (2008). The role of task-induced involvement and learner proficiency in L2 vocabulary acquisition. Language Learning, 58, 285–325. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ko, M. H. (2005). Glosses, comprehension, and strategy use. Reading in a Foreign Language, 17, 125.Google Scholar
(2012). Glossing and second language vocabulary learning. TESOL Quarterly, 46, 56–79. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kweon, S., & Kim, H. (2008). Beyond raw frequency: Incidental vocabulary acquisition in extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 20, 191–215.Google Scholar
Linck, J. A., & Cunnings, I. (2015). The utility and application of mixed-effects models in second language research. Language Learning, 65, 185–207. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Linck, J. A., Hughes, M. M., Campbell, S. G., Silbert, N. H., Tare, M., Jackson, S. R., Smith, B. K., Bunting, M. F., & Doughty, C. J. (2013). Hi-LAB: A new measure of aptitude for high-level language proficiency. Language Learning, 63, 530–566. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Linck, J. A., Michael, E., Golonka, E., Schwieter, J. W., Sunderman, G., Kuyatt, M. E., Tseng, A. M., & Perret, S. E. (2015). Relative proficiency and executive function during trilingual language switching. Poster presented at the 10th International Symposium on Bilingualism, New Brunswick, NJ.
Linck, J. A., Osthus, P., Koeth, J. T., & Bunting, M. F. (2014). Working memory and second language comprehension and production: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21, 861–883. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Linck, J., Schwieter, J., & Sunderman, G. (2012). Inhibitory control predicts language switching performance in trilingual speech production. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15, 651–662. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marian, V., Blumenfeld, H., Mizrahi, E., Kania, U., & Cordes, A. (2013). Multilingual Stroop performance: Effects of trilingualism and proficiency on inhibitory control. International Journal of Multilingualism, 10, 82–104. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McCann, W. J., Klein, H. G., & Stegmann, T. D. (2003). EuroComRom – The seven sieves: How to read all Romance languages right away. Aachen, Germany: Shaker Verlag.Google Scholar
Miyake, A., Friedman, N., Emerson, M., Witzki, A., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 49–100. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Miyasako, J. (2002). L1 and L2 glosses: Their effects of incidental vocabulary learning. Language, Learning & Technology, 5, 110–120.Google Scholar
Neuner, G. (2004). The concept of plurilingualism and tertiary language didactics. In B. Hufeisen & G. Neuner (Eds.), The Plurilingualism Project: Tertiary language learning – German after English (pp. 13–34). Bachernegg: Council of Europe Publishing.Google Scholar
Paivio, A., & Lambert, W. (1981). Dual coding and bilingual memory. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behavior, 20(5), 532-539. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Paivio, A. (1971). Imagery and verbal processes. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Google Scholar
Palmer, R. C. (2003). A comparison of the effect of glossed self-instruction reading materials and traditional teacher fronted instruction (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA.Google Scholar
Paribakht, T. S., & Wesche, M. (1997). Vocabulary enhancement activities and reading for meaning in second language vocabulary acquisition. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rationale for pedagogy (pp. 174–200). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Poarch, G. & Van Hell, J. G. (2012). Executive functions and inhibitory control in multilingual children: Evidence from second language learners, bilinguals, and trilinguals. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 113, 535–551. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pulido, D. (2004). The relationship between text comprehension and second language incidental vocabulary acquisition: A matter of topic familiarity? Language Learning, 54, 469–523. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
R Development Core Team (2012). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. <[URL]>
Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (Vol. 1). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Rott, S. (1999). The effect of exposure frequency on intermediate language learners’ incidental vocabulary acquisition and retention through reading. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 589–619. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rott, S., & Williams, J. (2003). Making form-meaning connections while reading: A qualitative analysis of word processing. Reading in a Foreign Language, 15, 45–74.Google Scholar
Rott, S., Williams, J., & Cameron, R. (2002). The effect of multiple-choice glosses and input-output cycles on lexical acquisition and retention. Language Teaching Research, 6, 183–222. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rouhi, A., & Mohebbi, H. (2012). The effect of computer assisted L1 and L2 glosses on L2 vocabulary learning. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 9(2), 1–19.Google Scholar
Salehi, V., & Nasarieh, F. (2013). The effects of verbal glosses on vocabulary learning and reading comprehension. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, 15(3), 24–64.Google Scholar
Samian, H. V., Foo, T. C. V., & Mohebbi, H. (2016). The effects of giving and receiving marginal L1 glosses on L2 vocabulary learning by upper secondary learners. English Language Teaching, 9, 66–76. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Simões, A. M. (2008). Pois não: Brazilian Portuguese course for Spanish speakers, with basic reference grammar. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Snijders, T. A., & Bosker, R. J. (2012). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling (2nd ed.). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Taura, H. (1998). Bilingual dual coding in Japanese returnee students. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 11, 47–70. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thompson, A. (2013). The interface of language aptitude and multilingualism: Reconsidering the bilingual/multilingual dichotomy. Modern Language Journal, 97, 685–670. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Townsend, C. (1995). Teaching the Czech language though Russian: Преподавание ческого языка посредством русского [Prepodavanije čeśkogo jazyka posredstvom russkogo]. Columbus, OH: Slavica.Google Scholar
Unsworth, N., Schrock, J. C., & Engle, R. W. (2004). Working memory capacity and the antisaccade task: individual differences in voluntary saccade control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 30, 1302–1321.Google Scholar
Vaid, J. (1988). Bilingual memory representation: A further test of dual coding theory. Canadian Journal of Psychology 41 (1), 84–90. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Waring, R., & Takaki, M. (2003). At what rate do learners learn and retain new vocabulary from reading a graded reader? Reading in a Foreign Language, 15(2), 130–163.Google Scholar
Watanabe, Y. (1997). Input, intake, and retention. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19, 287–307. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wesche, M., & Paribakht, T. S. (1996). Assessing second language vocabulary knowledge: Depth versus breadth. Canadian Modern Language Review, 53, 13–40. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Willingham, D., Nissen, M., & Bullemer, P. (1989). On the development of procedural knowledge. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 1047–1060.Google Scholar
Yoshii, M. (2006). L1 and L2 glosses: Their effects on incidental vocabulary learning. Language Learning & Technology, 10, 85–101.Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Linck, Jared A., Martyn Clark, Carrie L. Bonilla, Ewa Golonka, Catherine J. Doughty, TaraLee Mecham & William Burns
2020. Autonomous Portuguese L3 learning through an adaptive platform. In Linguistic approaches to portuguese as an additional language [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 24], ► pp. 231 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 6 january 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.