A study of the influence of familiarity with English words upon the learning of their foreign language equivalents

This study was undertaken to discover whether a foreign language vocabulary (Hindustani) is learned more readily when the English equivalents are known or when they are unknown. College students learned Hindustani equivalents for 24 common English nouns and for 24 English words of which less than 2% could be defined by the group used in the study. The paired-associate method was used, with the English words as the stimulus terms. The recall of the Hindustani equivalents was determined after each of 3 learning trials and again after 14 days. "Associations between English words and foreign language words are more readily formed when the English word is familiar to the learner. Not only does learning take place more quickly when the English equivalent is familiar, but the association is more permanent."