Lexical Attrition in the Egyptian EFL University Setting

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Dept of English, Faculty of Education, Alexandria University, Egypt

Abstract

The present study attempts to explore how lexical attrition happens in the case of Egyptian EFL learners at the university level. The study sample consisted of 88 Egyptian female students from the Faculty of Education, Alexandria University, Egypt. The method adopted is a longitudinal one, where pre- and post-test results for orthography, pronunciation and meaning are compared. The findings of the study revealed that there were statistically significant differences in the spelling and meaning retention scores in both pre and post test results for the same group. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the pronunciation retention scores in both pre and post test results for the same group. It was also concluded that orthography is no more resilient than meaning, and easy sound-meaning correspondences saved in declarative memory are prone to interference from lexical analogues within the dominant language. Furthermore, the lexicon contains phonics, not only in the shape of inherent and selectional capabilities, but also because of its popularity as a reservoir of constructional sounds and fixed phonological processes.

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References

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