The effect of text-based tasks on incidental vocabulary learning

Abstract

This study examined the effects of text based tasks and background learning on incidental vocabulary acquisition. Forty eight adult learners studying English as a second language were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: a) reading and retelling a text with explicit generative training and without access to the text during recall, b) reading and retelling a text without explicit generative training but with access to the text during recall, and c) neither reading nor retelling a text. All subjects sat a pretest and posttests which were designed to be sensitive to partial vocabulary knowledge gains. Pretest interviews involved eliciting knowledge of general vocabulary, domain related words and target words. The posttests consisted of an interview and two levels of multiple choice tests. The results indicated that subjects with high background learning learned significantly more vocabulary. A significant treatment effect showed that the process of reading and retelling a text promotes incidental vocabulary learning. Other main findings taken from protocol analyses indicate that generative processing enhances vocabulary learning with greater levels of generative processing leading to greater vocabulary gains. Furthermore, retrieval of target items in recall was found to facilitate vocabulary learning.