Effects Of Task-induced Involvement Load On Incidental Vocabulary Learning By Chinese High School Learners Of English

The main purpose of this study is to test Involvement Load Hypothesis (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001) which claims that retention of words is conditional upon the amount of involvement load while processing these words and that the higher the involvement load is, the better the retention will be. If it is fully tested, the Hypothesis would have immense significance for building an incidental vocabulary learning model. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to test it and the results haven't fully supported it. As well, more research is called for to test and modify the definitions and operationalizations of the involvement components.Three language learning tasks (reading task, fill-in task, and sentence writing task), which were different in the amount of the involvement load, were designed to test the Hypothesis. 104 Chinese high school learners of English from a high school in Chongqing, who were in three intact classes with equivalent English proficiency, were assigned to perform these tasks. The experiment was conducted over a period of three weeks and it consisted of three tests (a pretest arranged one week prior to the treatment, an immediate posttest after the treatment, and a delayed posttest arranged one week after the treatment). The results were analyzed quantitatively.The results of this study partially support the Hypothesis: in general, the Hypothesis could predict the effects of tasks on L2 vocabulary retention, but it did not prove that the higher involvement load necessarily led to the better vocabulary retention; the definitions and operationalization of the three components of involvement load were challenged by the results of the study; output tasks resulted in better retention than input tasks. More precise criteria should be adopted to be able to better define and operationalize the involvement components.The results also offer some pedagogical implications for vocabulary learning and teaching in high schools. Tasks varying in involvement load for different words, depending on the type of reinforcement, can be designed to promote vocabulary learning. Students can be encouraged to use output tasks to learn vocabulary, especially sentence writing task.