| The prominent role of vocabulary in foreign language learning has been widely recognized by learners. Furthermore, the issue of vocabulary acquisition is currently receiving more attention in second language pedagogy and research. But it is still far from clear how learners acquire vocabulary or how it can be best taught.There is general consensus among L2 vocabulary experts that extensive reading for meaning leads to vocabulary acquisition over time because direct vocabulary instruction cannot account for a significant proportion of the words learners acquire. While recognizing the importance of incidental vocabulary development, some L2 vocabulary research also pointed out its shortcomings. So some researchers have indicated ways in which reading-based vocabulary development can be enhanced through manipulation of various word, text and task factors to provide optimal support for successful inferencing by learners. And research has also indicated that L2 reading plus related vocabulary activities might be one appropriate way to direct and enhance the effects of incidental learning from reading. Thus, there has been considerable empirical research on tasks and incidental vocabulary acquisition. In explaining the superiority of one task over another, most researchers suggested that the more effective task required a deeper level of processing of the new words than the other task. To translate and operationalize the general cognitive notions, depth of processing and elaboration, in terms of L2 vocabulary learning tasks, Hulstijn and Laufer (2001) proposed the Involvement Load Hypothesis for L2 vocabulary learning. Hulstijn and Laufer conducted two parallel experiments to investigate the validity of the hypothesis. The results of Hulstijn and Laufer (2001)'s first experiment fully supported the hypothesis while those of the second experiment partially supported it, which points to the compelling need for further research. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of the involvement load on the effectiveness of different L2 vocabulary learning tasks, and thus provide further empirical evidence to the Involvement Load Hypothesis. It is often argued that time on task should be kept identical on task effectiveness. Nevertheless, according to the hypothesis developed by Hulsijn and Laufer (2001), time on task wasconsidered as an inherent property of a task, not as a separate variable. So the second aim of this study was to examine whether the better retention of the target words, which was concluded as the result of higher involvement load induced by the task, was also the result of longer time of exposure to the target words.To summarize, the following research questions were explored in the study: (1) Will words processed with higher involvement load be retained better than words that are processed with lower involvement load? (2) Is the time on task an important factor that affects the retention of vocabulary?In this study, six classes of Wuhan university freshmen participated in two experiments and were randomly assigned to the three different learning tasks during normal class time. The three learning tasks are different in involvement loads with Taskl (reading and multiple-choice questions) inducing involvement load 1, Task 2 (reading and fill-in exercises) inducing involvement load 2 and Task 3 (a composition-writing exercise) inducing involvement load 3. After the completion of the task, the work sheets were collected, and the students were unexpectedly given an immediate post-test in which they were required to provide Chinese translation or English explanations for a list of ten target words. One week later, they received the same test again. In the first experiment, the time on task was not controlled. In the second experiment, the time on task was kept identical.The data in the first experiment showed that words that were processed with higher involvement load were retained better than words that were processed with lower involvement load. To be more specific, in the first experiment, in which time on task was considered as an inherent property of task and no control for time on task was made, the results fully supported the Involvement Load Hypothesis. The results of the second experiment indicated that when time-on-task was considered as a separate variable, the efficacy of tasks on vocabulary retention was not only subject to the involvement load factor as claimed by the Involvement Load Hypothesis but also sensitive to the factor of time-on-task.
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