Semantic Transfer and Its Implications for Vocabulary Teaching in a Second Language NAN JIANG Department of Applied Linguistics Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30302 Email: njiang@gsu.edu This study investigated semantic transfer in second language (L2) learning and provided a replication of the author’s study (Jiang, 2002) in a different English as a Second Language (ESL) population. Korean ESL speakers were asked to perform a semantic judgment task in which they decided whether or not 2 English words were related in meaning. Two types of re- lated word pairs served as critical stimuli: word pairs whose 2 members shared or did not share the same Korean translation. The Korean ESL speakers responded to the same-transla- tion pairs significantly faster than to the different-translation pairs whereas no such same- translation effect was found among native speakers of English. The same-translation effect found in L2 speakers was taken as evidence for the presence of first language semantic struc- tures in L2 lexical representations and their continued involvement in L2 processing. Peda- gogical implications for L2 vocabulary teaching are discussed. A LARGE BODY OF LITERATURE ON VOCAB- ulary acquisition in a second language (L2) has accumulated since Meara’s (1980) call for more research on this then “neglected aspect of lan- guage learning” (p. 221). This research no doubt has helped advance our understanding of L2 vo- cabulary acquisition in many ways. Furthermore, there is a general consensus today that vocabulary acquisition is at least as important as syntax acqui- sition in studying L2 acquisition. However, this line of research is not without problems. First, much of the research to date has focused on broad, often pedagogy-related issues, such as the examination of vocabulary acquisition under dif- ferent learning conditions (e.g., Chun & Plass, 1996; Fischer, 1994; Grace, 1998; Prince, 1996), the study of different vocabulary learning strate- gies and their effects on retention (e.g., Brown & Perry, 1991; Fraser, 1999; Hogben & Lawson, 1994; Moore & Surber, 1992; Sanaoui, 1995), and incidental vocabulary acquisition in reading (e.g., Rott, 1999; Watanabe, 1997; Wode, 1999). Vocabulary acquisition is often defined in terms of word retention in many of these studies. Other aspects of the acquisition process have rarely be- come the focus of empirical research. More basic and specific issues related to the acquisition pro- cess, such as how lexical knowledge is repre- sented in the learner’s mind, what is involved in the form-meaning mapping process, and what stages a word goes through before it becomes an integrated part of the learner’s lexicon, have re- ceived little attention. Furthermore, as pointed out by Meara (1997), this line of research has been largely descriptive and model-free rather than explanatory and model-driven. As a result, one is able to make very few specific claims about the psychological processes and mechanisms in- volved in L2 vocabulary acquisition today. One has yet to find a theory of L2 vocabulary acquisi- tion that can help generate new research ques- tions and offer a conceptual framework for inte- grating numerous existing research findings in a coherent way (Meara, 1996; 1997; Nation, as cited in Schmitt, 1995). A MODEL OF ADULT L2 VOCABULARY ACQUISITION An effort to overcome these problems can be seen in a recent proposal of a psycholinguistic The Modern Language Journal, 88, iii, (2004) 0026-7902/04/416–432 $1.50/0 ©2004 The Modern Language Journal