Differential Effects Of Attention On L2 Vocabulary Acquisition

That L2 learners'attention plays an important role for L2 acquisition to take place seems to be generally agreed upon by many researchers in the field of SLA. However, what precise role that attention plays and through what ways the role of attention can be best exerted remain controversial. Many researchers have been concentrating on exploring the role that attention plays through input and interaction. While in recent years, there are some researchers who started to do studies on how great that output can exert the role of attention. Though different language areas have been used in various studies, e.g., vocabulary, syntax, etc., there are still few studies that focus on comparing the different extents to which the role that attention plays in L2 vocabulary acquisition can be exerted through input, interaction and output respectively. Therefore, this thesis intends to do a preliminary study on the differential effects of attention on L2 vocabulary acquisition through three task types, namely, reading as input, oral interaction and writing as output. This study is conducted through a series of experiments, using English as a foreign language, on three groups of participants, all of whom are first-year non-English majors in China. The major findings of the study are demonstrated as follows: Working memory plays an important role in learners'immediate retention of vocabulary items, so differential effects of attention drawing caused by input, interaction and output are not reflected. While for long-term retention of words, input yields the worst result on attention drawing. Both interaction and output trigger attention to a greater extent on vocabulary items, and prompt higher quality attention which yields better long-term retention of L2 words. Besides, attention is not the only factor to determine the transformation of input into intake. Further deep processing caused by high quality attention is essential for L2 vocabulary acquisition to take place. Though vocabulary may be less abstract and complex than morphosyntax and syntax, its acquisition also needs externally focused attention (e.g. structured tasks) for its long-term retention.Finally the implication of the study is discussed. In short, this study casts light on the role of attention as a prerequisite in L2 vocabulary acquisition, and reveals that input facilitates this role and further interaction or output enhance its quality, so they together benefit vocabulary acquisition to a great extent.