Functional fixedness is related to excessive focusing on a specific functional property of an object. We assumed that the naming of other objects which possess the same functional property to a lesser extent than a given object can reduce the excessive focusing on this functional property for this object. It can help to loosen functional fixedness…

This article discusses the findings of a case study that explored the use of explanatory talk in mathematics teacher education lessons on how to teach the concept of place value. The Mathematics Discourse in Instruction framework guided the study, in particular the element of naming in explanatory talk. Three teacher educators' lessons on the…

Language can alter our mental conceptions of space, time, and categories. While there is compelling evidence that thought can be shaped by syntactic, morphological, and lexical features of a language, less is known about the impact of phonology on thought. This dissertation uses novel objects (alien cartoon figures) and pseudoword names in three…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine how 2 methods known to improve naming impairment in aphasia (i.e., retrieval practice and errorless learning) affect lexical access. We hypothesized that instances of naming during retrieval practice use and strengthen item-specific connections in each of 2 stages of lexical access: Stage 1,…

This study aims to: (i) describe the different meanings and contexts in which Arabic "dar" and "bayt" and English "house" and "home" expressions are used; (ii) compare "dar," "bayt," "house" and "home" expressions and give examples of expressions that are identical in…

This article reports a study examining whether foreign language (FL) word learning can be improved with reduction in cognitive load. Cognitive load theory has received substantial supports in various fields of learning but never in FL word learning. Due to the defined poverty in exposure to the FL, hence deprived cognitive pre-requisites for…

A sample of political expressions that have been common in Arab media since the Arab Spring in 2011 was collected from TV newscasts, online news websites and social media pages. Analysis of their structure, denotative and connotative meanings revealed the following features: (i) Use of lexical hybrids ([foreign characters omitted]; (ii) revival of…

Conference interpreters form a special case of language users because the simultaneous interpretation practice requires very specific lexical processing. Word comprehension and production in respective languages is performed under strict time constraints and requires constant activation of the involved languages. The present experiment aimed at…