The Study Of Vocabulary Acquisition Through Note-Taking In Listening Class

This study is conducted to examine the incidental vocabulary acquisition in the listening process and the effects of note-taking on incidental vocabulary acquisition. It is an empirical study which employs key theories in the fields of psycholinguistics and second language acquisition as theoretical foundations. The psycholinguistic nature of the speech production and speech perception is reviewed. Theoretical and empirical studies on the phonological loop which is part of working memory are also introduced. Moreover, in the literature review section, the research on the functions of note-taking and on the incidental vocabulary acquisition is reviewed. By adopting these theories as the conceptual framework of the present study, an experiment which explored the acquisition of 28 target words was performed on 62 intermediate or advanced EFL learners. Statistical method and the SPSS tools were utilized for qualitative analysis in the experiment. The experiment consisted of one pre-test, two immediate vocabulary tests and three delayed vocabulary tests. The pre-test was used for assessing the appropriateness of the target words and the listening material. The immediate tests were held to measure the vocabulary gained in the listening process and the three delayed tests were intended to explore the retention of the vocabulary acquired. To explore the effect of incidental vocabulary acquisition through listening further, the subjects'English proficiency as indicated by their CET-4 scores was considered as an independent. Furthermore, a survey was conducted in addition to the vocabulary tests, to investigate the subjects'attitude towards taking notes in the listening process.The major findings of the study include: (1) vocabulary acquisition is possible through listening. If the listeners have high listening proficiency or if the listening activity is a mode usually employed by them, the acquisition rate will not be much lower than that through extensive reading. (2) Note-taking indeed plays a positive role on the vocabulary acquisition rate and vocabulary retention via quantitative analyses. While the note-taking was assumed as an independent variable, the vocabulary acquisition rate as a dependent variable, and the subjects'English proficiency as a constant, significant difference of the acquisition rate was found between the note-taking group and the non-note-taking group. That was, the performance of the note-takers exceeded those not. Moreover, the subjects in the note-taking group memorized more word knowledge after one week and after as long as two weeks. (3) The survey revealed that more than half of the subjects agreed that note-taking exerted several functions in the listening process: it can help them to be more focused, comprehend and memorize more important details. However, about 40 percent claimed that they never took notes in the listening classes. One discovery worth noting was that no significant interaction between the English proficiency and the acquisition rate was found. By setting the note-taking behavior as constant, and then analyzing the associated data with the assistance of SPSS, no significant difference of the acquisition rate was discovered concerning the four levels of English proficiency. The possible reasons are also discussed in the paper.The significance of the present study lies in the discovery of incidental vocabulary acquisition in the listening process and the facilitating function of note-taking on the acquisition rate. The findings of this study are informative for the EFL learners who have much opportunity in the listening activity. The findings of the present study are also enlightening for both L1 and L2 educators and learners as to the benefits of taking notes. Furthermore, they may as well shed some light upon research on listening skills teaching in English classes.