Word DefInition and Language Proficiency

This study investigates, on the basis of a taxonomy of definitions subjects
produced, the relationship between target language proficiency level and both
the syntactic form and the content of these definitions. A questionnaire consisting
of 11 concrete English nouns was administered to four groups of 10 subjects
each: three groups of Japanese university students at low, intermediate and
advanced levels of English, and a group of adult native speakers of English. The
subjects defined the words in English. Examination of syntactic forms revealed
that the frequency of the forms used varied according to proficiency level.
However, the content of the definitions did not show significant difference at
any level. The results suggest that these learners of English have the lexical
knowledge to give information on the definiendum (i.e., the term to be defined),
but lack sufficient linguistic knowledge about forms for effective expression,
although advanced learners showed greater control. Implications of the results
for English language learning are drawn.