Effects Of Vocabulary Learning Modes On L2 Vocabulary Acquisition

It is widely admitted that the importance of vocabulary goes uncontested in second language acquisition. While the debate concerning the incidental vocabulary acquisition (IVA) vs. the intentional vocabulary learning (IVL) has yet to be solved, a proposition of combining the two modes emerges through studies of few researchers. However, the research probing this combined learning approach is still at the initial stage and fewer empirical studies were made to prove the effect of this new mode. Thus, "How to integrate the advantages of IVA and IVL to achieve L2 vocabulary acquisition" becomes a valuable research issue in the current field of SLA.The present empirical research took English Majors of Grade 3 from NJUST as the subjects, who received the input trainings of IVA, IVL and CVL (comprehensive vocabulary learning) respectively in three groups. Two vocabulary tests were conducted immediately and two weeks later, the results of which were scaled by the VKS testing tool and analyzed with the help of SPSS 13.0. The research has found that: 1) The CVL mode outperforms the IVA mode and the IVL mode in promoting L2 vocabulary learning in not only a deeper L2 vocabulary knowledge but also a higher retention; 2) The IVL mode can be an effective way to help learners quickly learn words in both a great width and a great depth, but be weak to induce high retention; 3) The effect of the IVA mode on L2 vocabulary acquisition isn't that ideal, intentional learning is required to consolidate the vocabulary knowledge acquired through IVA.The present study has its significance in both theoretical and pedagogical values. Contributions of this study to the field of L2 vocabulary mainly lie in: 1) This study proposes its own opinion on the controversial issue of "which one is better, the IVA mode or the IVL mode" on the basis of statistical proofs; 2) The specific design of a newly arising L2 vocabulary learning mode, the CVL mode, is presented and the feasibility of this approach is proved by scientific results, which enriches the findings in this field; 3) The characteristics of different learning modes are listed and compared, with which appropriate teaching modes can be chosen or contrived flexibly in L2 vocabulary teaching processes; 4) Teachers can take the design of the CVL mode in this research as the basis to dexterously design the best mode of L2 vocabulary teaching.