The Role of Lexical Gaps and Neologisms in Language Learning: A Consciousness-raising Perspective

Abstract

Linguistic gaps and neologisms were investigated for their possible role in language learning. More specifically, a group of around 50 EFL majors, of Majmaah University, College of Education, KSA, have been subjected to instruction on "lexical gaps and neologisms as part of a regular course of their syllabus on morphologysyntax .Instruction took place during five academic terms and for a set of five subgroups atches of EFL majors. Instruction strategies were varied to cater for multiple intelligences and different learning styles. Afterwards, students were asked to write their own gaps and neologisms (in both L1 and L2). A further method of getting students to provide new meanings/senses of their own for already existing words was used. Then, a set of qualitative (phenomenologicalintrospective etrospective) methods were employed to check the possible effect that the knowledge and discussion of these gaps and neologisms have on raising the students consciousness about the depth/complexity of both the language system and language learning. Additionally, retrospective methods were also employed to probe the impact of gaps and neologisms on students creative and critical thinking. Results strongly suggest that students knowledge and intensified awareness of the linguistic gaps and neologisms have enriched and deepened their both language and language learning experience. This is especially the case among those who were able to provide gaps/neologisms of their own, whether by writing lexical/sentence gaps or by giving existing words of their choice new senses of their own (more than 90% of the subjects successfully did).