Multiword Expressions: Understanding the Meanings of Noun-Noun Compounds in L2

The ability to understand and use multiword expressions is essential in developing nativelike competency in English. This study focused on noun-noun compounds and examined L2 learners’ sensitivity to preferred semantic relations, a competency necessary for nativelike interpretation of ambiguous noun-noun compounds. Three groups of college-level English L2 students (intermediate, advanced, and post ESL groups) performed a compound inference task, in which they identified the meanings of ambiguous novel compounds (e.g., child art) from multiple-choice options, including the dominant meaning (e.g., Art that is made by a child), the non-dominant meaning (e.g., Art that is created for children), and two distractors. The results indicated that the advanced and post ESL groups were significantly more accurate in identifying the dominant meanings, but all groups demonstrated sensitivity to the degree of ambiguity. The findings are discussed in light of the usage-based theory in multiword processing and learning.