The Effects Of Communicative Reading Activity On L2 Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

Vocabulary is one of the most important elements of language and the acquisition of vocabulary plays a central role in learning a foreign language, thus the study of L2 vocabulary acquisition is an important topic in the fields of language teaching and applied linguistics. In the early studies of vocabulary acquisition, the emphasis was placed on direct or intentional learning of vocabulary. Since Nagy and Herman proposed their incidental vocabulary learning hypothesis in 1985, research on incidental vocabulary acquisition (IVA) has been intensive abroad and it has also attracted the attention of many researchers in China in recent years. Previous studies indicated that reading accounts for most incidental vocabulary acquisition; and in those studies subjects were mostly required to read independently. While some studies abroad provided evidence that learning words indirectly is enhanced in communicative reading activities (communicative reading activity refers to the activity which is designed for learners to be engaged in meaningful interaction by way of communication or discussion with their partners while reading). Due to the fact that few similar studies have been conducted in China, the effectiveness of the communicative reading activities on IVA has not been verified in the EFL context in China. Furthermore, the few studies of IVA conducted by Chinese scholars have focused only on English major students; the larger body of English learners -non-English major students have been ignored to some degree. Given such a situation, the present study, with non-English major students as participants, is an attempt to explore the effects of communicative reading activities on their incidental vocabulary acquisition.To achieve the research objective, an experiment was conducted by dividing participants into two groups: a communicative reading group (CR) and a dictionary-using reading group (DU). Participants in the CR group were required to read the text in pairs. The two participants in one pair had two different versions of the same text in which 10 words of the text were replaced by blanks, and the placing of the blanks were different in the two versions. Participants in the CR group were required firstly to fill in blanks in the text independently; and then to read aloud the text to their partners to obtain correct answers during which they could communicate with each other, and finally to answer reading comprehension questions independently. In the whole process the participants were not permitted to use dictionaries. Participants in the DU group were required to read the text and answer reading comprehension questions independently and were permitted to use dictionaries. Three vocabulary tests (one was given before the reading activity and the other two were given after it) were given to the participants without prior warning. The retention of the newly acquired vocabulary was measured by the change of the mean score of the vocabulary test from the second to the third time. The IVA gain was assessed by the change of the mean score of the vocabulary test from the first to the third time. The present vocabulary size of the participants was determined by A Vocabulary Levels Test designed by Nation. An interview was designed to collect qualitative data. Raw data were collected and analyzed by SPSS 13.0.The results of the experiment were discussed and interpreted within the framework of the Involvement Load Hypothesis proposed by Laufer and Hulstijn in 2001. The findings of the present study are summarized as follows: (1) Chinese non-English major students could acquire some L2 words incidentally in reading provided that the density of unfamiliar words is low, e.g. less than 5%. (2) Learners with larger vocabulary size performed better than those with smaller vocabulary size in IVA. But in the communicative reading activity, participants had the opportunity to learn from each other and to discuss the meanings of the words; hence the gap between the learners with larger vocabulary and smaller vocabulary size was decreased in the course of incidental vocabulary learning. In the CR group, the difference in IVA between the larger-vocabulary-size learners and the smaller-vocabulary-size learners was not statistically significant. (3) Communicative reading activity, compared with dictionary-using reading activity, induces more involvement load. Accordingly, it is more effective for students to enlarge their vocabulary incidentally.Based on the findings, some pedagogical implications were given. Firstly, teachers should design appropriate reading activities to assure that learners do what is essential in order to develop their vocabulary knowledge. Secondly, teachers should train students in skills (e.g. inference, using word formation knowledge) useful in learning vocabulary incidentally so as to help them learn how to continue the acquisition of vocabulary on their own. Furthermore, teachers should be aware that while incidental learning should not be replaced by intentional learning, it should be consequentially followed by intentional learning.Despite its limitations, the present study of the effects of communicative reading activity on L2 incidental vocabulary acquisition does provide English teachers with useful information in the teaching of English vocabulary and reading.