The role of explicit instruction in cross-script cognate recognition: The case of Ukrainian-speaking EAP learners

• Cross-script cognates are not automatically activated in the L2-to-L1 direction.
• Explicit instruction and elaborative processing facilitate cognate use in sentences.
• Focus on isolated L2 cross-script cognates without instruction helps recognition only.

This study aims to determine to what extent the following 90-minute classroom interventions facilitate the acquisition of Ukrainian-English cognates: (i) explicit instruction (EI) and elaborative processing (Craik, 2002; Hulstijn, 2003) and (ii) reading texts containing a sizeable number of cognates (RC). Two intact classes of an English-for-Academic-Purposes (EAP) course at a Ukrainian university underwent EI and RC treatments respectively, while a third served as a Control group. A comparison of pre-test and two post-tests ratings of the EI group, evaluated via an adapted version of the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (Paribakht & Wesche, 1997), a discontinuous scale charting shifts in knowledge quality, revealed significant gains in the meanings of cognates and their use in sentences. The RC group did not outperform the Control group; instead, both the RC and Control groups displayed gains in cognate meaning but without concomitant improvement in using cognates in sentences. These findings are interpreted in light of: (i) phonological and script differences (Cyrillic versus Latin) that potentially camouflage inter-lexical connections; (ii) views positing the automaticity of cognate recognition; (iii) the value of repeated encounters with orthographic forms of cognates in the L2 script, even if decontextualized; (iv) favourable test effects in lexical acquisition; and (v) pedagogical practices in Ukrainian universities.