Lexical synonymy and its impact on second language acquisition

Aim: The purpose of the paper is to explore the importance of synonymy in the acquisition of second languages and the influence of literary texts (the language of literature) in enriching vocabularies, new meanings of words and their synonymous forms, within the same type, the type of artistic literature. In general, we have analyzed the influence of synonymous forms in the second language acquisition as well as native language acquisition. Methods: The research employs a mixed-methods approach, integrating both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Data was collected through a Google Forms questionnaire completed by 71 students from two universities in Albania, assessing their linguistic formation and comprehension of synonymy. Additionally, 15 literary texts from English language textbooks were analyzed at the word level, free phrase level, and within phraseological expressions. The collected data was processed using statistical analysis to interpret the research questions. Results: The analysis of literary texts indicates that exposure to figurative language enhances students' imaginative perception. However, questionnaire results suggest that many students struggle with abstraction and tend to replace figurative expressions with more concrete and general terms. A significant portion of participants demonstrated a limited ability to incorporate figurative language into their writing. Conclusions: Cognitive interconnections between languages play a crucial role in developing fundamental linguistic competencies. The findings highlight that a lack of embedded English writing conventions hinders spelling acquisition. Additionally, the study underscores the importance of synonymous variations in SLA, reinforcing the hypothesis that students who engage more with artistic literature develop stronger expressive skills in both their native and second languages. These results suggest the need for greater emphasis on literary exposure in pre-university and university curricula to enhance linguistic competence.