The Effects Of Different Types Of Vocabulary Tasks On L2 Vocabulary Learning Of English-majors

The thesis attempts to find the most efficient written task type for the new words the learners have encountered in English reading courses. The findings of the study may shed some light on vocabulary learning and teaching for L2 learners, teachers and textbook and curriculum designers.The thesis reviews the discussions on vocabulary knowledge, vocabulary learning and vocabulary learning tasks. Researches show that vocabulary learning is an incremental process, and vocabulary tasks facilitate vocabulary learning. And the factors affecting the effect of vocabulary tasks include the involvement load and the number of repetition of the tasks.The research was conducted in an English-major class. The students in the class were divided into three groups with similar English proficiency. After taking a pre-test on the targets words they had just encountered in the English reading course, the three groups of students completed three types of written tasks respectively, namely, fill-in-the-blank, original-sentence-writing, and post-reading writing within the same time. Then an immediate post-test and a delayed post-test (7 days later) were administered on their vocabulary knowledge of the target words. The data of the tests were collected and analyzed by t-test and ANOVA in SPSS to compare the effectiveness of different types of vocabulary learning tasks. Questionnaires were also used to find the subjects' feelings about the three types of written tasks.According to data analysis, all the three types of tasks have effect on vocabulary learning; and fill-in-the-blank and original-sentence-writing for new words are more effective in vocabulary learning than post-reading writing does when time on task is controlled. The learners are most positive on the effectiveness of the task of original-sentence-writing on vocabulary learning.