Effects Of Different Listening And Reading Input Methods And Working Memory Capacity On Senior High School Students’ Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

Incidental vocabulary acquisition has become the focus in the research field of foreign language teaching.Most studies focus on the effects of listening or reading on incidental vocabulary acquisition,while few studies combine the two to study the effects of their presentation order on incidental vocabulary acquisition.As an internal factor in second language acquisition,the influence of working memory capacity on vocabulary acquisition cannot be ignored.In addition,most research on vocabulary acquisition focuses on college students and advanced English learners,while there is little research on senior high school students.Based on input hypothesis and cognitive load theory,this study aims to study the effects of different listening and reading input methods and working memory capacity on senior high school students’ incidental English vocabulary acquisition.This study includes three research questions:（1）What are the effects of different input methods on incidental vocabulary acquisition among senior high school students in the immediate test and in the delayed test?（2）What are the effects of working memory capacity on incidental vocabulary acquisition among senior high school students in the immediate test and in the delayed test?（3）What are the interactive effects of input methods and working memory capacity on incidental vocabulary acquisition among senior high school students in the immediate test and in the delayed test?In this study,60 senior high school sophomores were divided into high working memory capacity group and low working memory capacity group through working memory capacity test.Then,an equal number of participants were randomly selected from the two groups to form three experimental groups.Each experimental group included 10 participants with high working memory capacity and 10 participants with low working memory capacity.The three experimental groups were used different input methods:listening before reading input（LBR）,listening and reading input at the same time（L+R）,reading before listening input（RBL）.This study conducted an immediate vocabulary acquisition test and a delayed vocabulary acquisition test.The immediate test was conducted immediately after the end of the experiment,and the delayed test was conducted one week later.The content of the two test papers was the same,but the order was different.Through the data collection and analysis,the study found that:Firstly,the performance of L+R group was best,followed by RBL group and LBR group.There were significant differences between L+R group and the other two groups.RBL group was slightly better than LBR group,but no significant differences were found between these two groups.Due to the unbalanced development of students’ listening and reading ability,students could focus on what they were good at according to their English level when listening and reading input methods were presented together.Secondly,working memory capacity had significant effects on senior high school students’ incidental vocabulary acquisition.The high working memory capacity group was significantly better than the low working memory capacity group.Due to the larger working memory capacity,students with high working memory capacity could acquire more words than students with low working memory capacity.Finally,there were interactive effects between working memory capacity and input methods in the immediate test,while there were no interactive effects in the delayed test.For students with high working memory,the method of L+R was best,the next was RBL,and the worst was LBR in the immediate and delayed test.However,for students with low working memory capacity,they performed under the method of L+R as well as RBL,and they performed worst under the method of LBR in the immediate test.In the delayed test,the method of L+R was the best,the next was RBL and the worst was LBR.In view of the findings,some pedagogical implications are put forward.Firstly,teachers can promote students’ incidental vocabulary acquisition through the combination of listening and reading.Secondly,teachers should consider the differences of students with different working memory capacity in the teaching process.Thirdly,according to the students with different working memory capacity,teachers should design different input methods to promote vocabulary learning.