Previous studies report that exposure to the Māori language on a regular basis allows New Zealand adults who cannot speak Māori to build a proto‐lexicon of Māori—an implicit memory of word forms without detailed knowledge of meaning. How might this knowledge feed into explicit language learning? Is it possible to “awaken” the proto‐lexicon in the context of overt language learning? We investigate whether implicit linguistic knowledge represented in a proto‐lexicon gives any advantages for intentional language learning in a tertiary educational environment. We conducted a three‐task experiment which: (a) assessed participants’ Māori proto‐lexicon, (b) assessed their phonotactic knowledge, and (c) tested them on Māori vocabulary that they had been exposed to during the course at two time points. The results show that students with larger Māori proto‐lexicons learn more words in a classroom setting. This study shows that proto‐lexicon acquired from ambient exposure can lead to significant benefits in language learning.

中文翻译：

---

唤醒原始词典：原始词典为有意学习语言提供学习优势

先前的研究报告称，定期接触毛利语可以让不会说毛利语的新西兰成年人建立毛利语原始词典，即在不详细了解含义的情况下对单词形式的内隐记忆。这些知识如何融入显性语言学习？在公开语言学习的背景下是否有可能“唤醒”原始词典？我们研究了原始词典中所表示的隐性语言知识是否为高等教育环境中的有意语言学习带来了任何优势。我们进行了一项三任务实验：(a) 评估参与者的毛利语原始词汇，(b) 评估他们的音位知识，以及 (c) 测试他们在课程中两个时间点接触到的毛利语词汇。结果表明，拥有较大毛利语原始词典的学生在课堂环境中学习更多单词。这项研究表明，从环境暴露中获得的原始词典可以给语言学习带来显着的好处。