摘要：The present study was an attempt to discover the effect of the activation of multiple Persian polysemous senses (L1) on the interpretation of English sentences (L2) through reading. To do so, an OPT test was given to 82 Persian learners of English to divide them into 2 groups of highly proficient and low proficient L2 learners. They were presented with 80 English sentences, each of which included an exchanged Persian polysemous noun or verb (e.g., He found it hard to get his “language” round these Polish names, and He could speak several “tongues.” The Persian polysemous word in these two sentences was زبان /zæbɑ:n/.) They were asked to determine whether the L2 word, considered as an L1 polysemous word, was an acceptable completion to a sentence. Results showed that the low proficient Persian learners outperformed the high proficient ones in interpreting the L1 polysemous words, and the highly related L1 polysemous words made more interference in interpreting the L2 words. Results would shed light on the effect of L2 words which are considered as L1 polysemous words on the students’ abilities of translation and interpretation of such words in L2 sentences.
