Bilingualism and Third-language Vocabulary Learning

This study investigated whether bilingualism is linked to differences in English vocabulary learning as a third language. Participants were ۵۰ female EFL learners in Isfahan, Iran, including ۲۵ Afghan Dari–Iranian Farsi bilingual learners and ۲۵ Iranian Farsi monolingual learners. The study used a comparative pretest–posttest design. A ۲۰-item questionnaire, a proficiency test with ۹۰ items and two ۴۰-item vocabulary tests were used. The bilingual group had a higher posttest mean than the monolingual group, but the difference was not significant. The findings provide no significant evidence of a bilingual advantage in English vocabulary performance. This result should be viewed in relation to language background, English proficiency, teaching context, and the linguistic links between the languages involved. Further research with larger and more diverse samples is needed to clarify this issue. Future studies should also examine longer teaching periods, different language pairs, and other factors that may affect learning.

کلیدواژه ها:

Bilingualism ، L۳ ، learning