Novel word learning and consolidation was studied in inexperienced language learners, to conceptually replicate and extend a similar study in experienced learners by Bakker, Takashima, Van Hell, Janzen, and McQueen (2015). Participants learned definitions for novel words on Day 1 and for another set of novel words on Day 2. Brain potentials collected in a semantic relatedness task revealed that learned words elicited a late positive component (LPC) priming effect after 24 hours but not on the day of learning. On Day 8, all previously learned words elicited LPC priming effects, but failed to modulate the N400. While LPC modulation emerged immediately after learning in the previous study of experienced learners, novel word meanings were found lexicalized only on Day 2 for inexperienced learners. Together, the findings suggest that novel word meaning lexicalization is gradual, and that prior language learning experience speeds up the process.

in Poland. His main research interests concern the behavioural and neurocognitive correlates of emotion anticipation, perception, and production in the first (L1) and second (L2) language(s). His recent research interests include the investigation of brain dynamics during creative ideation and the extent to which creative ideation may be modulated by prior knowledge and training.

We examined the impact of images on novel word learning and consolidation, in a conceptual replication of Liu and Van Hell (2020). After participants had learned one set of novel words with definitions and images on Day 1 (remote words) and a different set on Day 2 (recent words), they judged the semantic relatedness of word pairs on Days 2 and 8 while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Day 2 ERPs showed that remote, but not recent, novel words elicited a late positive component. By Day 8, both remote and recent novel words elicited a late positive component. We observed no N400 on either day. Comparing these learners (definition-image group) with learners trained with definitions only (using data from Liu & Van Hell, 2020) revealed that the groups' ERP patterns did not differ, but definition recall and relatedness judgment performances were higher for the definition-image group than for the definition-only group. Learning novel word meanings through definitions and images strengthened behavioral outcomes but did not affect ERP signatures of learning and consolidation.