Acquiring L2 Vocabulary Incidentally Through Reading

Incidental vocabulary learning is generally defined "as the by-product of reading and listening activities not explicitly geared to vocabulary learning" (Hulstijn, 2003: 360). Vocabulary learning, as a by-product during the performance of reading or listening activities, does not automatically mean that no conscious process is involved in such a process.Implicit learning is "acquisition of knowledge about the underlying structure of a complex stimulus environment by a process which takes place naturally, simply and without conscious operations", as opposed to explicit learning "a more conscious operation where the individual makes and tests hypotheses" (Ellis, 1994:1). The most characteristic feature, distinguishing implicit from explicit learning is the absence or presence of "conscious operations" or "awareness at the point of learning".The thesis empirically explores the role of implicit and explicit learning in the construction of lexical knowledge in the course of reading. In addition, it examines the differences in incidental vocabulary acquisition between learners of different vocabulary levels. The thesis aims to gain further insight into the process of incidental vocabulary acquisition and make an empirical contribution to a comprehensive understanding on the nature of learning vocabulary incidentally through reading. Furthermore, it hopes to provide some hints for learners on what to do or should do to aid the process of acquiring second language vocabulary through reading.