45 research outputs found
The Role of Repeated Exposure to Multimodal Input in Incidental Acquisition of Foreign Language Vocabulary
Prior research has reported incidental vocabulary acquisition with complete beginners in a foreign language (FL), within 8 exposures to auditory and written FL word forms presented with a picture depicting their meaning. However, important questions remain about whether acquisition occurs with fewer exposures to FL words in a multimodal situation and whether there is a repeated exposure effect. Here we report a study where the number of exposures to FL words in an incidental learning phase varied between 2, 4, 6, and 8 exposures. Following the incidental learning phase, participants completed an explicit learning task where they learned to recognize written translation equivalents of auditory FL word forms, half of which had occurred in the incidental learning phase. The results showed that participants performed better on the words they had previously been exposed to, and that this incidental learning effect occurred from as little as 2 exposures to the multimodal stimuli. In addition, repeated exposure to the stimuli was found to have a larger impact on learning during the first few exposures and decrease thereafter, suggesting that the effects of repeated exposure on vocabulary acquisition are not necessarily constant
Learning L2 collocations incidentally from reading
Previous studies have shown that intentional learning through explicit instruction is effective for the acquisition of collocations in a second language (L2) (e.g. Peters, 2014, 2015), but relatively little is known about the effectiveness of incidental approaches for the acquisition of L2 collocations. The present study examined the incidental acquisition of collocational knowledge when learners encounter adjective-pseudoword collocations while reading. Forty-one L2 learners read a story containing six target collocations in a classroom setting. One week after the reading they were interviewed about their knowledge of the form, meaning and collocation of the target items (at recall and recognition levels). Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups, i.e. the 4-repetition group and the 8-repetition group. Results showed that collocational knowledge can be learnt incidentally from reading; that it is learnt at a similar rate to other lexical components such as form and meaning of individual words; and that the frequency manipulation in this study did not seem to have a significant effect on the acquisition of any of the aspects examined
The Effect of Content Retelling on Vocabulary Uptake from a TED Talk
This study investigates the potential benefits for incidental vocabulary acquisition of implementing a particular sequence of input-output-input activities. More specifically, EFL learners (n = 32) were asked to watch a TED Talks video, orally sum up its content in English, and then watch the video once more. A comparison group (n = 32) also watched the TED Talks video twice but were not required to sum it up in between. Immediate and delayed post-tests showed significantly better word-meaning recall in the former condition. An analysis of the oral summaries showed that it was especially words which learners attempted to use that stood a good chance of being recalled later. These findings are interpreted with reference to Swain’s (e.g., 1995) Output Hypothesis, Laufer and Hulstijn’s (2001) Involvement Load Hypothesis, and Nation and Webb’s (2011) Technique Feature Analysis. What makes the text-based output task in this experiment fundamentally different from many previous studies which have investigated the merits of text-based output activities is that it was at no point stipulated for the participants that they should use particular words from the input text. The study also illustrates the potential of TED Talks as a source of authentic audio-visual input in EFL classrooms
Task type and incidental L2 vocabulary learning: Repetition versus task involvement load
Developing automaticity and speed of lexical access: the effects of incidental and explicit teaching approaches
The effects of word frequency and typographical enhancement on incidental vocabulary learning in reading
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The effects of word exposure frequency and elaboration of word processing on incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition through reading
Research on incidental second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition through reading has claimed
that repeated encounters with unfamiliar words and the relative elaboration of processing these
words facilitate word learning. However, so far both variables have been investigated in isolation.
To help close this research gap, the current study investigates the differential effects of the variables
‘word exposure frequency’ and ‘elaboration of word processing’ on the initial word learning and
subsequent word retention of advanced learners of L2 English. Whereas results showed equal
effects for both variables on initial word learning, subsequent word retention was more contingent
on elaborate processing of form–meaning relationships than on word frequency. These results,
together with those of the studies reviewed, suggest that processing words again after reading
(input–output cycles) is superior to reading-only tasks. The findings have significant implications for
adaptation and development of teaching materials that enhance L2 vocabulary learning