In this chapter, we describe and compare the success of the English-, Persianand French-speaking participants in inferring contextually accurate meanings for unknown words in written texts in their respective first languages (L1s), and of the latter two groups in their second language (L2), English. We first consider overall L1 and L2 lexical inferencing success, seeking cross-linguistic similarities and L1 versus L2 differences. We then focus on L2 lexical inferencing and its outcomes in terms of both successful inferences and post-inferencing retention of new word knowledge in English by Persian and French L2 readers, for whom differential outcomes may potentially reflect L1 influence.

In addition to overall tendencies, the effects of L2 target word lexicalization status on inferencing procedures and outcomes are studied through separate analyses of successful lexical inferencing and meaning retention of target words that have Persian or French L1 lexical equivalents and those that do not. This analysis provides information on the importance of L2 readers' previous knowledge of approximately equivalent lemmas in the L1.

The role of Persian and French speakers' receptive English vocabulary knowledge in lexical inferencing outcomes is then examined through correlation analyses of a measure of their receptive English vocabulary knowledge with L2 lexical inferencing success and new knowledge of word meanings. These analyses add to our understanding of how L2 lexical knowledge may develop through reading and lexical inferencing. Linguistic features of Persian and French as these reflect their typological relationships with English, as well as participants' different English learning contexts, are then considered as possible explanations of both the differential L2 lexical knowledge and the L2 lexical inferencing outcomes of the two groups.

Issues

Several background issues are of particular relevance to this chapter. These include the role of readers' previous vocabulary knowledge in their successful inferring of word meanings for text comprehension, as well as in the relationship between lexical inferencing success and the subsequent retention of new word knowledge.