Strategies of Lexical Semantization by Foreign Students: Experimental Study of Metalinguistic Activity

Abstract

Foreign students demonstrate different strategies in interpreting lexical meaning as they struggle to explain new words. This article introduces predominant and secondary semantization strategies in students of Russian as a foreign language. The predominant definition strategy was represented by different models in everyday practice of lexical semantization. Interpretations developed according to two models: 1) denotation and verbally-logical differential characteristics; 2) denotation and visually-efficient differential characteristics. The research hypothesis presupposes a certain correlation between the level of Russian vocabulary acquisition and the default semantization strategy. The research objective was to describe predominant and secondary semantization strategies using general and specific scientific methods. The linguistic experiment involved specific vocabulary of the Russian language, i.e., lexemes house, book, ring, table, and lantern. The results could be used in teaching Russian as a foreign language, as well as to expand the boundaries of research in the ways of foreign vocabulary acquisition.

Keywords

• definition strategy
• lexical meaning
• descriptive strategy
• russian language lexis
• russian as a foreign language
• word semantization strategies
• word interpretation