Is L2 vocabulary learned better via context or via translation?

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-60
Author(s):  
Michael John Alroe ◽  
Heyo Reinders ◽  
Punchalee Wasanasomsithi

Various studies have shown intentional learning of L2 vocabulary to be more efficient than incidental learning from exposure to comprehensible input. Some have argued that such learning may be further enhanced by recourse to L1 translation, particularly for weaker learners. The present study aims to determine if intentional learning of new vocabulary through L1 does indeed confer an advantage over intentional learning from an L2 context. To this end, 403 Thai freshmen students were pre-tested on thirty vocabulary items set for study on their English course. They were then randomly allocated to either a translation or context group to learn those items. Time on task was controlled. A delayed post-test showed that while the translation group was better at matching the thirty English words with Thai translations, albeit marginally so, there was no benefit conferred on the translation group when it came to using the words in a contextual gap-filling exercise. This finding held for both advanced and weaker learners.

2012 ◽  
Vol 164 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehsan Rassaei

Abstract Recent research has shown that semantically oriented tasks may have unfavorable effects on the acquisition of L2 vocabulary. It is argued that paying attention to semantic properties of target words exhaust memory capacity to process both form and meaning. Hoping to throw further light on this issue, the current study, investigated and compared the effects of semantic elaboration via synonym generation and meaningful output production via elicited oral imitation task on the learning of L2 words in both incidental and intentional contexts by Persian EFL learners. One hundred and twenty two L2 learners of English who were homogenous in terms of the target words were randomly assigned to four experimental groups: (a) semantically elaborated intentional learning, (b) semantically elaborated incidental learning, (c) output intentional learning, and (d) output incidental learning. The results of analyses of variance revealed that 1.Subject benfited more fromoral output than from semantic elaboration in the acqusition of target words, 2. Semantically oriented tasks have some negative effects on the acquisition of target words, and 3. Intentional settings are more effective than incidental settings for L2 word learning.


Author(s):  
Peter P. J. L. Verkoeijen ◽  
Remy M. J. P. Rikers ◽  
Henk G. Schmidt

Abstract. The spacing effect refers to the finding that memory for repeated items improves when the interrepetition interval increases. To explain the spacing effect in free-recall tasks, a two-factor model has been put forward that combines mechanisms of contextual variability and study-phase retrieval (e.g., Raaijmakers, 2003 ; Verkoeijen, Rikers, & Schmidt, 2004 ). An important, yet untested, implication of this model is that free recall of repetitions should follow an inverted u-shaped relationship with interrepetition spacing. To demonstrate the suggested relationship an experiment was conducted. Participants studied a word list, consisting of items repeated at different interrepetition intervals, either under incidental or under intentional learning instructions. Subsequently, participants received a free-recall test. The results revealed an inverted u-shaped relationship between free recall and interrepetition spacing in both the incidental-learning condition and the intentional-learning condition. Moreover, for intentionally learned repetitions, the maximum free-recall performance was located at a longer interrepetition interval than for incidentally learned repetitions. These findings are interpreted in terms of the two-factor model of spacing effects in free-recall tasks.


2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110366
Author(s):  
Àngels Llanes ◽  
Elsa Tragant

The present study presents an instructional procedure developed in an attempt to enhance incidental learning through graded readers in class, the Multiple Incidental Exposures (MIE) procedure, and compares it to a more common procedure involving reading and doing the exercises, which is referred to as Traditional Explicit Practice (TEP). Participants were 44 Catalan/Spanish students (aged 10–11 years) taking the fifth course of primary education in a school in Catalonia. Participants belonged to two intact classes that were randomly assigned a condition: MIE group ( n = 23, n = 15 males, n = 8 females) and the TEP group ( n = 21, n = 12 males, n = 9 females). The MIE group was first told the story by their teacher, then read and listened to the graded readers twice (first collectively and later on individually), to be followed by a True/False activity and a jigsaw reading task. The TEP group read and listened to the story collectively once and then performed a series of traditional explicit exercises very similar in format to those included at the end of the graded reader. Participants were administered a vocabulary test, a grammar test and a perception of pronunciation test following a pre- post-test design. A questionnaire on the participants’ attitudes was also administered on the post-test. The results show that while the TEP procedure is more effective for grammar learning, the MIE and TEP procedures are equally effective in terms of vocabulary and pronunciation. In terms of enjoyment and perception of learning, both groups showed comparable results.


1976 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 555-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Wyrick ◽  
Vincent J. Tempone ◽  
Jack Capehart

The relationship between attention and incidental learning during discrimination training was studied in 30 children, aged 10 to 11. A polymetric eye-movement recorder measured direct visual attention. Consistent with previous findings, recall of incidental stimuli was greatest during the initial and terminal stages of intentional learning. Contrary to previous explanations, however, visual attention to incidental stimuli was not related to training. While individual differences in attention to incidental stimuli were predictive of recall, attention to incidental stimuli was not related to level of training. Results suggested that changes in higher order information processing rather than direct visual attention were responsible for the curvilinear learning of incidental stimuli during intentional training.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Shiping Duan

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehsan Namaziandost ◽  
Fariba Rahimi Esfahani ◽  
Mehdi Nasri

Considering the vital role of comprehensible input, this study attempted to compare the effects of input with various difficulty levels on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension and reading motivation. To fulfil this objective, 54 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners were selected from two intact classes (n = 27 each). The selected participants were randomly assigned to two equal groups, namely “i+1” (n=27) and “i-1” group (n=27). Then, the groups were pretested by a researcher-made reading comprehension test. After carrying out the pre-test, the treatment (i.e., extensive reading at different levels of difficulty) was practiced on the both groups. The participants in “i+1” group received reading passages beyond the current level, on the other hand, the “i-1” group received those reading passages which were below their current level. After the instruction ended, a modified version of pre-test was conducted as posttest to determine the impacts of the treatment on the students’ reading comprehension. The obtained results indicated that there was a significant difference between the post-tests of “i+1” and “i-1” groups. The findings showed that the “i+1” group significantly outperformed the “i-1” group (p < .05) on the post-test. Moreover, the findings indicated that “i+1” group’s motivation increased after the treatment. The implications of the study suggest that interactive type of input is beneficial to develop students’ language skills. Keywords: Comprehensible Input; Extensive reading; Foreign language reading motivation; Input; Reading comprehension; Text difficulty level


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
Faisal Al-Homoud

The research at hand compared two conditions of L2 vocabulary exposures, i.e. incidental exposure and a mixture of incidental and explicit exposures to words. Forty-five female participants, majoring in English at Al-Imam Mohammad Ibn-Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia participated in this research. They were divided into two groups: Reading Only (RO) and Reading Extra (RE). In the RO group, the target words were exposed only through a reading passage that they read twice, while the same target words for the RE group were inserted in the same reading passage, then explained directly by the teacher. Three levels of vocabulary knowledge (form recall, meaning recall, and meaning recognition) were assessed. The results showed that both conditions cater for vocabulary learning, however the RE group had significantly outperformed their RO counterparts. Moreover, the results showed that vocabulary learning in this study followed the general tendency starting from a receptive level to a productive level.


1976 ◽  
Vol 39 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1315-1320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul N. Dixon ◽  
Audrey E. Cameron

Locus of control, other-direction, and academic achievement motivation were investigated as a function of acceptance of motivational cues in intentional-incidental learning. Correlations among the three personality constructs were also calculated. The subjects were 134 college students studied under high and low learning motivation for each personality construct. It was hypothesized that high academic achievement motivation would be associated with increased intentional learning and that internal subjects would have consistent intentional and incidental learning under both levels of motivation. The externals, accepting experimenter's instructions, would show a funneling effect toward greater intentional learning under high motivation with corresponding decreases in incidental learning. No significant differences on the learning task by locus of control or other-direction were found. Subjects high in achievement motivation performed significantly better on the intentional task than those low in achievement motivation. The highly motivated group performed significantly better than those who were low on the incidental task, suggesting that the motivation may focus the subject's attention toward embedded incidental cues. Significant intercorrelations were obtained among the three personality constructs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-257
Author(s):  
Shinpei OSAKI ◽  
Kozo UETA ◽  
Shinya CHIYOHARA ◽  
Kazunari SANO ◽  
Makoto HIYAMIZU ◽  
...  

1997 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Karolien Kamma

The research reported on in this paper concerns the role of television in the lexical acquisition of a foreign language. Twenty higher educated adult learners of Dutch as a foreign language watched a 15-minute compilation of the educative television programs Klokhuis and Lucht. By means of a pre-post-test-design, it was examined whether the subjects learned words by watching and listening to the television programs. The results indicated a significant learning effect, which persisted after a one-week time interval. There was also a tendency for the learning effect in the ten students who watched with explicit word-learning instruction (intentional learning) to be stronger than the learning effect in the students who watched without instruction (incidental learning). The learnability of a word was neither positively influenced by the visual support as extra contextual cue, as offered by television, nor by the number of times a word was offered in the television fragments. It was concluded that television could play an important role in the lexical acquisition of Dutch as a foreign language.


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