The Effect Of Reading Tasks On The Acquisition Of English Vocabulary In Middle School

The purpose of this experimental study is to examine the effect of reading tasks with different involvement load on the learning of English vocabulary in Chinese middle school. Based on the Involvement Load Hypothesis for L2 vocabulary learning proposed by Laufer & Hulstijn (2001), in my study, four reading task conditions (Reading comprehension & Multiple-choice; Reading comprehension & Filling-in; Reading comprehension & Writing original sentences; Reading comprehension & Reading comprehension) will be compared as to the effectiveness on the vocabulary acquisition. The first research question is whether the subjects performing tasks with greater involvement load (Writing Task & Filling-in Task) will have better vocabulary retention than those performing tasks with less involvement load (Multiple-choice Task & Reading only Task). Another question to be investigated is whether greater involvement load can compensate for lower frequency of exposure to vocabulary in vocabulary acquisition.?A total of 206 students from Xiamen Overseas Chinese Middle School participated in the study. They were divided into four experimental groups and required to read Reading Passages I which included 10 target words. Each group was subsequently assigned to one of the four tasks: a Multiple-choice task, a Filling-in task, a Writing Original Sentences task and a Reading comprehension (Passage â…¡) task. Retention of 10 target words was assessed by means of an immediate posttest and a delayed posttest.The experiment results from both immediate posttest and delayed posttest reveal that tasks with greater involvement load (Writing Task & Filling-in Task) are better able to help students learn new vocabulary than tasks with less involvement load(Multiple-choice Task & Reading only Task), which support the Involvement Load Hypothesis (i.e., the greater the involvement load, the better the retention). And these methods suggest promising educational value. The second finding is that greater involvement load can compensate for lower frequency of exposure to vocabulary in vocabulary acquisition to a certain degree.