本研究旨在調查臺灣英語學習者之英文語彙組織，及其語彙知識與母語語意的關聯性。共計有一百零五位來自北區大專院校的大學生，及三十五位以英語為母語的外籍人士參與本研究。研究者先測試Read之字詞關聯測驗的信、效度，而後以該測驗的分數與托福閱讀摹擬測驗的成績，將學生分為高、中、低，三個能力分組。以自由字詞聯想測驗、填空測驗與語意相似度測驗收集所需相關資料並利用SPSS統計軟體分析資料。
結果顯示如同多數文獻所載，臺灣英語學習者的字詞聯想亦有從語法類型轉變成語意類型的趨勢，而且此一趨勢會隨著學生英語能力的提高，更加明顯。另外在名詞、動詞與形容詞三個詞類當中，名詞較容易引發語意類型的關聯字詞。整體來說，相對於外籍人士的語意類型，臺灣英語學習者的字詞聯想大多屬於語法類型。而英語學習者在本研究的標靶測驗字上的認識與使用，反應在相同的語意空間上，顯示出母語語意的影響。另外，研究者發現翻譯是相當普遍的字詞學習策略，而且學生對字詞的學習與該字意的出現或使用頻率有關。  
根據以上結果，本研究發現臺灣英語學習者與以英語為母語的外籍人士，在語彙組織上有所不同，名詞在語言學習上有其獨特的位階，臺灣英語學習者的英文字詞知識與其母語有顯著關聯，而學生對字義的學習，更與該字義的使用頻率有關。綜上所述，研究者認為，語意闡述之各種學習活動，除有助於提昇英文同義或類義詞的學習，更能同時提高英文字彙量。此外，因翻譯為學生常用的學習策略，在課程上翻譯應占一席之地，期能有效提升學習效率。最後，研究者建議，在調查字詞學習之時，未來在受試者的語言及教育背景上可增加變數，或定期以字詞聯想測驗追蹤學習者在字義認識上的進程或發展。

The purpose of this study was to investigate the organization of Taiwanese EFL learners’ mental lexicon, and their English word knowledge in reference to semantic features of L1 Lexicon.  Participants were one hundred and five students from a university and an institute of technology in northern Taiwan, and 35 native speakers of English.  By means of a TOEFL reading test, and a controlled word association test, the students were assigned to three groups at high-, intermediate- and low proficiency levels.  A booklet containing a free word association test, a blank filling test, and a semantic similarity rating test was given to the students and the native speakers to collect the data which were then analyzed by SPSS 13.  
The results indicated that Taiwanese EFL learners’ responses in word association tests shifted from syntagmatic to paradigmatic types.  In addition, compared with the verb and the adjectival classes, the noun stimuli appeared to elicit more paradigmatic responses.  On the whole, the more prominent response type in EFL learners was syntagmatic in contrast to the preference for paradigmatic responses of native speakers.  Moreover, EFL learners’ use of the target words, words that express catching sight of something, was guided by the semantic features of L1 lexicon as indicated by the invariant pattern of semantic space across proficiency levels.  Furthermore, translation seemed to be a common strategy for L2 word learning, and the learning of the target words appeared to be positively related to the frequency load of the senses.  
Hence, on the basis of aforementioned findings, the study concluded that a) the mental lexicon of native speakers and that of EFL learners in this study were organized differently, b) nouns seemed to occupy a pivotal status across languages, c) Taiwanese EFL learners’ word knowledge was guided by the semantic features specific to their mother tongue, and d) the frequency load of word meanings appeared to have an impact on the acquisition of word knowledge.
The study, therefore, suggested that semantic elaboration activities will be conducive to the learning of the synonyms or near-synonyms as they will enhance the depth of word knowledge and at the same time enlarge the vocabulary size of learners.  In addition, since learners might use translation as a strategy to shortcut the learning process, it would be legitimate to include translation into the curriculum.  Finally, to probe the development of vocabulary learning and the structure of mental lexicon in EFL learners, it is recommended that future studies include participants of different language and educational backgrounds, and use word association tests for fixed intervals of time.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements…i
Chinese Abstract…iv
English Abstract…v
Table of Contents…vii
List of Tables…xi
List of Figures…xiv
List of Appendices…xv
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION…1       
1.1 Statement of the Problem…1
1.2 Purpose of the Study…6
1.3 Significance of the Study…7
1.4 Definitions of Terms…9
1.5 Organization of the Dissertation…11
Chapter 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE…14       
2.1 Definition of “Word” in English…14
2.2 Theories of Meaning Representations…18
2.2.1 Core Meanings and Prototypes…19 
2.2.2 Types of Relations in Semantics…20 
2.3 The Processes in Word Learning and Facets of Word Knowledge…24
2.3.1 Research on Vocabulary Size in L2…28
2.3.2 Research on the Depth of Word Knowledge in L2…32
2.4 The Organization of Learners’ Mental Lexicon…36
2.4.1 Findings from Episodic-memory Tasks…38 
2.4.2 Mixed Findings from Semantic-memory Tasks…42
2.5 The Influence of L1 Word Knowledge on L2 Lexical Learning…53
2.6 A Brief Account of General Linguistic Features and Verb Structure in Mandarin Chinese…57
2.7 The Conceptual Framework of the Present Study…62
Research Questions…65
Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY…67
3.1 Participants…67
3.2 Procedures…68
3.3 Data Collection and Instrumentation…69
3.4 Scoring and Data Analysis…73
Chapter 4 RESULTS…79
4.1 The Depth of Word Knowledge…79
4.2 The Organization of the Mental Lexicon…81
4.2.1 The Proportions of Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Responses by Language Groups…82
4.2.2 The Proportions of Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Responses in Each Form Class…86
The noun class…87
The verb class…90
The adjectival class…93
4.2.3 A Summary of the Results Pertaining to the Organization of the Mental Lexicon…96
4.3 The Semantic Space Ascribed to the Target Words…98
4.3.1 The Semantic Similarity Scale…99
4.3.2 Erroneous Usage Pertaining to the Target Words in EFL Learners…104
Chapter 5 DISCUSSION…110
5.1 The Depth of Word Knowledge…110
5.2 The Organization of EFL Learners’ Mental Lexicon…111
5.2.1 The Proportions of Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Responses by Language Groups…112
Mental lexicon of native speakers…112
Mental lexicon of EFL learners…114
5.2.2 The Proportion of Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Responses in Each Form Class…115
The noun class…115
The verb class…118
The adjectival class…119
5.3 Revisiting the Syntagmatic-paradigmatic Shift…120
5.4 The Semantic Space Ascribed to the Target Words…123
5.5 Learner Errors of the Target Words in the Blank Filling Test…126
Chapter 6 CONCLUSIONS…130
6.1 General Conclusions…130
6.2 Limitations and Recommendations for Further Research…134
6.3 Pedagogical Implications…136
REFERENCES…142 
APPENDICES…159

List of Tables

4.01 Table 4.1 Pearson correlation of the scores on the controlled word association test (WAT) and TOEFL reading test………………………………….79
4.01 Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics of mean scores on the controlled word 
association test……………………………..…………………………80
4.01 Table 4.3 One-way ANOVA of mean scores on the controlled word 
Association…………………………………………………………...80
4.02 Table 4.4 Post hoc Analysis of Mean Scores on the Controlled Word Association Test by Proficiency Level…………………………………………….81
4.02 Table 4.5 Descriptive statistics of the continuous word association test by response type and form class…………………………………………83
4.02 Table 4.6 Mean scores of paradigmatic and syntagmatic responses……………84
4.02 Table 4.7 One-way ANOVA of paradigmatic and syntagmatic responses……..84
4.02 Table 4.8 Post hoc Analysis by Response Type and Proficiency Level………..85
4.02 Table 4.9 Descriptive statistics of paradigmatic and syntagmatic responses for the noun class………………………………………………………...87
4.02 Table 4.10 One-way ANOVA of paradigmatic and syntagmatic responses for 
the noun class………………………………………………………...88
4.02 Table 4.11 Post hoc Analysis of Responses to the Noun Class by Proficiency Level…………………………………………………………………88
4.02 Table 4.12 Descriptive statistics of paradigmatic and syntagmatic responses for the verb class…………………………………………………………90
4.02 Table 4.13 One-way ANOVA of paradigmatic and syntagmatic responses for 
the verb class…………………………………………………………91
4.02 Table 4.14 Post hoc Analysis of Responses to the Verb Class by Proficiency Level………………………………………………………………….92
4.02 Table 4.15 Descriptive statistics of paradigmatic and syntagmatic responses for the adjectival class……………………………………………………94
4.02 Table 4.16 One-way ANOVA of paradigmatic and syntagmatic responses for 
the adjectival class……………………………………………………95
4.02 Table 4.17 Post hoc Analysis of Responses to the Adjectival Class by Proficiency Level ……………………………………………………95
4.03 Table 4.18 Pearson correlation of the scores on the blank filling test and the 
controlled word association test……………………………..……..105
4.03 Table 4.19 Descriptive analysis of mean scores on the blank filling test……………………………………………………....…….……105
4.03 Table 4.20 One-way ANOVA of mean scores on the blank filling test……………………………………………….……….…………105
4.03 Table 4.21 Frequency indices regarding the meanings of each word and the percentages of correct and erroneous usage in the blank filling  test…………………………………………………………….…....106
4.03 Table 4.22 Distributions of erroneous usages in terms of frequency by 
lexical item and proficiency level……………………………….…108













List of Figures

2.01 Figure 1. A Simplified version of Ogden & Richards’ (1936) ‘basic triangle’....16
2.04 Figure 2. A revised model of hierarchical model of lexical and conceptual representation in bilingual memory in Kroll & Stewart (1994)…...…40
4.03 Figure 3. Semantic space ascribed by native speakers of English…………………………………….……...…………………100
4.03 Figure 4. Semantic space ascribed by level I EFL learners………………………………………..………….…………101
4.03 Figure 5. Semantic space ascribed by level II EFL learners…………………………………………………..……….…102
4.03 Figure 6. Semantic space ascribed by level III EFL learners………………………………………………….…..………103

List of Appendices

Appendix A  Consent Form………………………………….……………….……159
Appendix B  The Controlled Word Association Test………….……………….….161
Appendix C  The Continuous Word Association Test………….……….…………170
Appendix D  The Semantic Similarity Rating Test…………….………………….171
Appendix E  The Blank Filling Test………………………………………...……..173
Appendix F  The Total Number of Clang and No Response in Each Group…..….176
Appendix G  The Target Words and Their Possible Translation Equivalents 
in the Blank Filling Test………………………...…………………..177
Appendix H  Definitions of Terms Mentioned in the Review of the Literature…...178

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