The Effects of Reading and Listening on L2 Incidental Learning and Retention of Different Dimensions of Word Knowledge

Document Type : Research article

Authors
1 Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, University of Qom, Qom, Iran
3 PhD Candidate in TEFL, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The present study compares the effects of the second language (L2) reading and listening on incidental vocabulary learning and retention of three dimensions of word knowledge (i.e., part of speech, syntagmatic association, and form-meaning connection) among EFL learners. The relationship between word exposure frequency and vocabulary learning is also examined in reading versus listening. Sixty-three pre-intermediate EFL learners in four intact classes were randomly assigned to four experimental groups based on the number of target word (TW) exposures (i.e., 1, 3, 5, and 7 exposures) they received in treatment texts. The experimental groups read and listened to four texts with 36 TWs. The scores on the immediate and three-week delayed posttests revealed that reading contributed to a greater amount of vocabulary learning and retention in the three dimensions of word knowledge. The results further revealed that an increase in the word exposure frequency had a significant effect on acquiring form-meaning connection through reading, and on three dimensions through listening. Moreover, frequency improved retention gains in both input sources.

Keywords

Subjects


Akbarian, I. (2010). The relationship between vocabulary size and depth for ESP/EAP learners. System, 38, 391–401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2010.06.013
Alali, F. A., & Schmitt, N. (2012). Teaching formulaic sequences: The same as or different from teaching single words? TESOL Journal, 3(2), 153–180. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tesj.13
Baddeley, A. (2007). Working memory, thought, and action. Oxford University Press.
Brown, R., Waring, R., & Donkaewbua, S. (2008). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from reading, reading-while-listening, and listening to stories. Reading in a Foreign Language, 20(2), 136–163.
Chen, C., & Truscott, J. (2010). The effects of repetition and L1 lexicalization on incidental vocabulary acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 31, 693–713.
Chen, X.N., & Teng, F. (2017). Assessing the effects of word exposure frequency on incidental vocabulary acquisition from Reading and Listening. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 40 (1), 35-52. https://doi.org/10.1515/cjal-2017-0004
Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34, 213-238. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587951
Dornyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.
Elgort, I., & Warren, P. (2014). L2 vocabulary learning from reading: explicit and tacit lexical knowledge and the role of learner and item variables. Language Learning, 64(2),365–414. https://doi.org//10.1111/lang.12052
Ellis, N. (2002). Frequency effects in language processing: A review with implications for theories of implicit and explicit language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 24(2), 143-188.
Ellis, R. (1994). Factors in the incidental acquisition of second language vocabulary from oral input: A review essay. Applied Language Learning, 5, 1–32.
Feng, Y., & Webb, S. (2020). Learning vocabulary through reading, listening, and viewing. Which mode of input is most effective? Studies in Second Language Acquisition,42(3), 499-523. https://doi.org//10.1017/S0272263119000494
Flesch, R. (1948). A new readability yardstick. Journal of Applied Psychology, 32(3), 221– 233.
Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (2003). How to design and evaluate research in education (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
González-Fernández, B., & Schmitt, N. (2020). Word knowledge: Exploring the relationships and order of acquisition of vocabulary knowledge components. Applied Linguistics,41 (4),481-505
https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amy057
Hatami, S. (2017). The differential impact of reading and listening on L2 incidental acquisition of different dimensions of word knowledge. Reading in a Foreign Language, 29(1), 61–85.
Heidari-Shahreza, M. A., & Tavakoli, M. (2016). The effects of repetition and L1 lexicalization on incidental vocabulary acquisition by Iranian EFL learners. The Language Learning Journal, 44(1), 17-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2012.708051
Henriksen, B. (1999). Three dimensions of vocabulary development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 303–317.
Horst, M. (2005). Learning L2 vocabulary through extensive reading: A measurement study. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 61(3), 355–382.https://doi.org/10.1353/cml.2005.0018
Horst, M., Cobb, T., & Meara, P. (1998). Beyond a Clockwork Orange: Acquiring second language vocabulary through reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 11(2), 207–223.
Hu, M., & Nation, I. S. P. (2000). Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 13(1), 403–430.
Huckin, T., & Coady, J. (1999). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 181–193.
Hulstijn, J. H. (2013). Incidental learning in second language acquisition. In Chapelle, C. A. (Ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics (pp. 2632–2640). Wiley-Blackwell.
Jin, Z., & Webb, S. (2020). Incidental vocabulary learning through listening to teacher talk. The Modern Language Journal, 104 (3),550-566. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12661
Laufer, B. (1989). What percentage of text-lexis is essential for comprehension? In Lauren, C. and Nordman, M. (Eds), Special Language: From Human Thinking to Thinking Machines, (pp. 316-323). Multilingual Matters.
Laufer, B., & G. C. Ravenhorst-Kalovski (2010). Lexical threshold revisited: Lexical text coverage, learners’ vocabulary size and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(1), 15–30.
Mackey, A. & Gass, S., (2016). Second Language Research: Methodology and Design (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Malone, J. (2018). Incidental vocabulary learning in SLA: Effects of frequency, aural enhancement, and working memory. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(3), 651-675. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263117000341
Marefat, F., & Hassanzadeh, M. (2014). Vodcast: A breakthrough in developing incidental vocabulary learning. Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17(2), 27-58.
McLean, S. & Kramer, B. (2015). The creation of a new vocabulary levels test. Shiken, 19(2), 1-11.
Milton, J. (2009). Measuring second language vocabulary acquisition. Multilingual Matters.
Mohsen, M. A. & Almudawis, S. (2020). Second language vocabulary gains from listening versus reading comprehension input: A comparative study. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-020-09690-y
Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. Newbury House.
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge University Press.
Nation, I. S. P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? The Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(1), 59–82.
Nation, I. S. P. (2012). The BNC/COCA word family lists. Retrieved from http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/about/staff/paul-nation.
Nation, I. S. P. (2013). Learning vocabulary in another language (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Nation, I.S.P. (2014). How much input do you need to learn the most frequent 9,000 words? Reading in a Foreign Language, 26(2), 1–16.
Nation, I. S. P., & Webb, S. (2011). Researching and analyzing vocabulary. Heinle Cengage Learning.
Pavia, N., Webb, S., & Faez, F. (2019). Incidental vocabulary learning through listening to songs. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(4), 745-768. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263119000020
Pellicer- Sánchez, A., & Schmitt, N. (2010). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from an authentic novel: Do things fall apart? Reading in a Foreign Language, 22, 31–55.
Peters, E. (2014). The effects of repetition and time of post-test administration on EFL learners’ form recall of single words and collocations. Language Teaching Research, 18(1), 75–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168813505384
Pigada, M., & Schmitt, N. (2006). Vocabulary acquisition from extensive reading: A case study. Reading in a Foreign Language, 18 (1), 1–28.
Read, J. (2000). Assessing vocabulary. Cambridge University Press.
Reynolds, B. (2020). Situated incidental vocabulary acquisition: The effects of in-class and out-of-class novel reading. Applied Linguistics Review. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2019-0059
Rott, S. (1999). The effect of exposure frequency on intermediate language learners’ incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21(1): 589–619.
Schmitt, N. (2008). Review article: Instructed second language vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 12(3), 329–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168808089921
Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary: A vocabulary research manual. Palgrave Macmillan.
Siyanova-Chanturia, A., & Webb, S. (2016). Teaching vocabulary in the EFL context. In W. A. Renandya, & H. P. Widodo (Eds.). English Language Teaching Today: Building a Closer Link between Theory and Practice (pp. 227–239). Springer.
Stæhr, L. (2009). Vocabulary knowledge and advanced listening comprehension in English as a foreign language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 31(4), 577–607. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263109990039
Teng, F. (2018). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from reading-only and reading-while-listening: a multi-dimensional approach, Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 12(3), 274-288. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2016.1203328
Teng, F. (2019). The effects of context and word exposure frequency on incidental vocabulary acquisition and retention through reading. The Language Learning Journal, 47(2), 145–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2016.1244217
Teng, F. (2020). Retention of new words learned incidentally from reading: Word exposure frequency, L1 marginal glosses, and their combination. Language Teaching Research, 24(2), 785–812
van Zeeland, H., & Schmitt, N. (2013a). Incidental vocabulary acquisition through L2 listening: A dimensions approach. System, 41(3), 609–624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.07.012
van Zeeland, H., & Schmitt, N. (2013b). Lexical coverage in L1 and L2 listening comprehension: The same or different from reading comprehension? Applied Linguistics, 34(4), 457–479. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/ams074.
Vidal, K. (2003). Academic listening: A source of vocabulary acquisition? Applied Linguistics, 24(1), 56–89.
Vidal, K. (2011). A comparison of the effects of reading and listening on incidental vocabulary acquisition. Language Learning, 61(1), 219–258.
Webb, S. (2005). Receptive and productive vocabulary learning: The effects of reading and writing on word knowledge. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27(1), 33–52. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263105050023
Webb, S. (2007). The effects of repetition on vocabulary knowledge. Applied Linguistics, 28(1), 46–65. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/aml048
Webb, S. (2020). Incidental vocabulary learning. In S. Webb (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Vocabulary Studies (pp. 225-239). Routledge.
Webb, S., Newton, J., & Chang, A. (2013). Incidental learning of collocation, Language Learning 63(1),91–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2012.00729.x
Wray, A. (2002). Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge University Press.