Maha Ounis,
Department of English, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, University of Sfax, Tunisia
This study focuses on lexical ambiguity as polysemous words were proved to hinder meaning understanding. In an attempt to operationalize polysemous words from a cognitive perspective, the researcher deduces that metaphorical polysemy engenders words with basic and peripheral (or metaphorical) senses. Participants were asked to answer Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale II (MSTAT II). Then, they answered Wallach and Kogan Creativity Test, which revealed a slight positive relationship with MSTAT II. Furthermore, the results show two things. First, there is a positive relationship between creativity and semi-technical vocabulary tests scores. Second, there is a link between creativity level and understanding the prototypical meanings of words. Contrarily, MSTAT II and prototypical meanings tests scores correlation is very weak.
Keywords: Adult Language Learners, Multilingualism, Language Testing, Language Learning, Foreign Languages
The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The Sixth International Conference on Languages, Linguistics, Translation and Literature (WWW.LLLD.IR), 9-10 October 2021, Ahwaz.