Manipulation of the Involvement Load of L2 Reading Tasks: A Useful Heuristic for Enhanced L2 Vocabulary Development

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402110517
Author(s):  
Ehsan Namaziandost ◽  
Murad Hassan Mohammed Sawalmeh ◽  
Shouket Ahmad Tilwani ◽  
Meisam Ziafar ◽  
Arin Arianti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
High Involvement ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Involvement Load ◽  
Knowledge Scale ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

Ensuring second language (L2) learners have an adequate breadth and depth of L2 vocabulary knowledge is a key pedagogical objective in L2 learning contexts. For this reason, establishing guiding principles that successfully enhance the efficacy of L2 vocabulary knowledge development is of strong importance. The current study investigated the value of applying principles from the Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH) as part of a reading comprehension task among 40 intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) students. Half of the group undertook a high involvement reading task, whereas the other half undertook a low involvement reading task. After the reading task, an unannounced Vocabulary Knowledge Scale test was administered to measure incidental vocabulary gains. Results showed the high involvement group remarkably outflanked the low involvement groups in terms of the target words learned from the reading task. A delayed post-test indicated that the retention of target word knowledge was more robust among the high involvement group, but that this difference did not maintain a level of statistical significance after 2 weeks. We conclude with suggestions about how EFL/ESL instructors can apply the principles of the ILH in efforts to systematically enhance learners’ L2 vocabulary knowledge.

Mobile-assisted vocabulary learning: Investigating receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge of Chinese EFL learners

ReCALL ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Yan Li ◽  
Christoph A. Hafner
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Mobile Platforms ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Learning Group ◽  
Chinese University ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

Abstract Considerable research has been conducted on the advancement of mobile technologies to facilitate vocabulary learning and acquisition in a second language (L2). However, whether mobile platforms lead to a comprehensive mastery of both receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge has seldom been addressed in previous literature. This study investigated English vocabulary learning from engagement with mobile-based word cards and paper word cards in the context of the Chinese university classroom. A total of 85 undergraduate students were recruited to take part in the study. The students were divided into two groups, a mobile learning group and a paper-based learning group, and tested on two word knowledge components: receptive knowledge of the form–meaning connection and productive knowledge of collocations. Both the digital and non-digital word cards enhanced L2 vocabulary learning, and the results showed that the mobile application (app) promoted greater gains than physical word cards.

scholarly journals Effects of Enhancement Techniques on L2 Incidental Vocabulary Learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Shiping Duan
Keyword(s):  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Multiple Choice ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
New Words ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Knowledge Scale

Enhancement Techniques are conducive to incidental vocabulary learning. This study investigated the effects of two types of enhancement techniques-multiple-choice glosses (MC) and L1 single-gloss (SG) on L2 incidental learning of new words and retention of them. A total of 89 university learners of English as a Freign Language (EFL) were asked to read the same reading texts with the two types of glossing and no glossing. Vocabulary acquisition was measured with the vocabulary knowledge scale (VKS). The results indicated that there were obvious vocabulary gains for both MC and SG groups. MC glossing is more conducive to incidental vocabulary learning than SG glossing in both immediate and delayed vocabulary post test. What’s more, learners with larger vocabulary size demonstrated much more significant gains than those with small ones.

scholarly journals Learning and Retaining Technical Vocabulary with Enhancement Activities in an ESP Course

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Liju Xu
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Technical Vocabulary ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Group A ◽  
Group B ◽  
Knowledge Scale ◽  
Technical Terms

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of vocabulary enhancement activities on vocabulary learning in an ESP course. In designing the activities, technical terms on journal entries were chosen for the acquisition of language necessary for the successful implementation of accounting major’s professional tasks. The desirable difficulty approach and the four strands principle，focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focused learning and fluency development, were guidelines in combining subject matter and English language learning. To test the result of the activities, the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale was employed to measure students’ knowledge of 50 vocabulary items. Subjects of the ESP course in discussion comprised 200 accounting juniors in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China. Half of them in Group A read the texts and did matching exercises and translation exercises. The other half in Group B read the texts and practiced journal entry activity, targeting at accounting concepts and terminologies. The results revealed that Group B gained better results than Group A at a post-test. After the test a reflection on the vocabulary activities was gathered among the participants of Group B. The feedback further proved that the students did benefit from the enhancement activities on selected technical terms.

scholarly journals Mental Lexicon, Working Memory and L2 (English) Vocabulary in Polish Students with and without Dyslexia

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-89
Author(s):  
Marta Łockiewicz ◽  
Martyna Jaskulska
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Educational Programme ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

The aim of our study was to examine the relationship between access to the mental lexicon, working memory and knowledge of English (L2) vocabulary. Analyses were undertaken amongst monolingual speakers of Polish (26 with dyslexia, 24 without) who studied English as a second language as part of their compulsory educational programme at school.We assumed that students with dyslexia would manifest deficits in access to the mental lexicon and verbal working memory, and would have a limited L2 vocabulary. We also assumed that better access to the mental lexicon facilitates knowledge of English (L2) vocabulary, and that this relationship is present in both the criterion and the control group. All of the students participated in both parts of the assessment, the group part (i.e., questionnaire, IQ test, two vocabulary tasks) and the individual part (i.e., psychological measures: verbal working memory, RAN, verbal fluency, and single word reading in L1 task). We found that students with dyslexia exhibited deficits in the speed of access to data from the mental lexicon. The predictive function of memory for vocabulary was more conspicuous in the control group; in the criterion group, the result might constitute a risk factor for L2 vocabulary acquisition in dyslexia, which may manifest with increased proficiency in word knowledge. Poor vocabulary knowledge renders the L2 learning experience difficult, as it impairs students’ reading comprehension, writing and conversational skills.

The relationship between three measures of L2 vocabulary knowledge and L2 listening and reading

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junyu Cheng ◽  
Joshua Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Reading Scores ◽  
Knowledge Test ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
L2 Vocabulary ◽  
The Relationship

This study explores the constructs that underpin three different measures of vocabulary knowledge and investigates the degree to which these three measures correlate with, and are able to predict, measures of second language (L2) listening and reading. Word frequency structured vocabulary tests tapping receptive/orthographic (RecOrth) vocabulary knowledge, productive/orthographic (ProOrth) vocabulary knowledge and productive/phonological (ProPhon) vocabulary knowledge and tests measuring L2 listening and L2 reading were administered to 250 tertiary-level Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Results showed that ProPhon vocabulary knowledge correlated most strongly with L2 listening ( r = .71) and ProOrth vocabulary knowledge correlated most strongly with L2 reading ( r = .57). Factor analysis indicated that all subcomponents of the ProPhon vocabulary knowledge test loaded onto one factor and those of the RecOrth and ProOrth vocabulary knowledge tests loaded onto another. Regression modelling showed that ProPhon vocabulary knowledge explained 51% of the variance in L2 listening scores and that ProOrth vocabulary knowledge explained 33% of the variance in the L2 reading scores. Discussion addresses the varying importance of different dimensions of vocabulary knowledge in L2 listening and reading.

scholarly journals Task-induced Involvement Load, Vocabulary learning and Reading Comprehension Among Iranian Intermediate English as a Foreign Language Learners

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 210-218
Author(s):  
Seyedeh Mitra Khodaparast ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Keshmirshekan
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
High Involvement ◽  
Involvement Load ◽  
Experimental Group

The importance of vocabulary in a second language is so self-axiomatic that it renders learning and teaching a must. The present study aimed to explore whether the manipulation of the task components, as proposed by Laufer and Hulstijn, affected the acquisition of English vocabularies by EFL learners. The present study followed an experimental design in that it used pre-test and post-test to collect data from the participants. The current research included 50 EFL students from two private English language institutions in Yazd, Iran. The study included two distinct reading tasks that placed varying loads on participants. The two reading texts were controlled for their difficulty level: one with the high level of involvement load and the other with lack of involvement load, thus two experimental groups. There was a reading comprehension exam for those who participated in the first experimental group (with a high involvement load). Reading comprehension was assessed using the first Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS1), which measures vocabulary knowledge. The second reading comprehension assignment was simultaneously presented to the second experimental group (the one with a low involvement load). After two weeks, they were administered VKS2, and their results were recorded. Analyzing the data was done by using independent t-tests. Exposure to high levels of involvement load has been shown to impact vocabulary development in English learners. This is despite respondents being able to recall more words from high-involvement vocabulary acquisitions than from low-involvement vocabulary acquisitions. Findings from this study may be used to construct practical tasks of reading with suitable degrees of difficulty for English language learners (EFL/ESL) teachers and vocabulary instructors.

scholarly journals The Effect of Group Work on English Vocabulary Learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su-Fei Lin
Keyword(s):  
Group Work ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Classroom Intervention ◽  
Repeated Measures Design ◽  
English Major ◽  
Knowledge Scale ◽  
Reading Activities

This study investigated the effectiveness of group work (GW) in EFL vocabulary learning by second year, non-English major, university students in Taiwan, in comparison with working individually (IW). The students (N=44) worked in mixed ability groups of 3-4 or in IW to complete vocabulary exercises following reading activities. The classroom intervention followed a repeated measures design with alternating sessions (one week IW, one week GW) for 12 weeks. In order to measure students’ word knowledge gains, the modified vocabulary knowledge scale was used in pre-, post- and delayed-post tests, and the scores from the tests were analyzed with paired t tests. Qualitative information about vocabulary discovery and retention was further obtained from interviews with 24 students conducted after the classroom intervention. Results showed that students’ overall improvement in vocabulary knowledge with group work was significantly higher than that with individual work on immediate post-tests, though both treatments had a beneficial effect. Later retention of word knowledge after GW was only 2% higher than that with IW. Interpretations and implications of these findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Second Language Vocabulary Learning from Viewing Video in an EFL Classroom

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Rattana Yawiloeng
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Multimedia Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Post Test ◽  
L2 Vocabulary ◽  
L1 And L2

This study examines the effects of an English vocabulary video on second language vocabulary learning by English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. The conceptual framework is underpinned by Mayer’s (2005) Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. The participants were 25 undergraduate students studying at a Thai university. To collect data, five types of research instruments were utilized including a survey of English vocabulary knowledge, pre-test, post-test, the English vocabulary video, and a questionnaire. The findings of this study revealed an increase in the post-test scores after the Thai EFL learners engaged in learning second language (L2) vocabulary using an English vocabulary video. Moreover, the findings also uncovered that the EFL learners gained L2 vocabulary knowledge after viewing the video containing first language (L1) and L2 captions, images, and L2 audios which are relevant to the target words. Furthermore, the results revealed that the EFL students preferred learning L2 vocabulary via video containing both L1 and L2 captions, interesting and related images, and the proper volume of audios. Therefore, the significant findings of this study lead to theoretical and pedagogical implications regarding the significant role of multimedia learning in terms of the links between visual and auditory information.

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