中国英语学习者歧义词心理表征的发展模式

The representation of ambiguous words in Chinese EFL learners’ mental lexicon: A developmental model

本文使用实验方法,探讨了中国英语学习者同形歧义词、隐喻多义词和转喻多义词的心理表征方式。结果发现,中国英语学习者歧义词的心理表征是一个发展的模式:同形歧义词和转喻多义词的心理表征随学习者英语水平的提高而更具分立性;但在转喻多义这个维度上,词义之间的联系强度不是随着语言水平的提高而减弱,而是相反。本文认为,这个表征模式体现了基于用法理论的语言学习观。

This paper reports on an experiment exploring Chinese EFL learners’ mental representation of three types of ambiguous words: homonymy, metaphoric polysemy and metonymic polysemy. The results show that the representation of the three types of ambiguous words in Chinese EFL learners’ mental lexicon is a developmental model: the sense relatedness of homonymy and metaphoric polysemy becomes ever lower as the learners’ language proficiency improves. On the contrary, the sense relatedness of metonymic polysemy is ever higher when the learners achieve a higher proficiency. The model is consistent with the usage-based approach for second language learning.