The Effects Of Example Sentence Types On L2 Vocabulary Retention

According to Sousa (2006), learners'ability to retain information is dependent on the type of teaching method to a great degree. Some methods result in more retention of learning than others. Therefore, the way of vocabulary teaching can have a great effect on learners'vocabulary retention. Recently, there have been a great number of studies investigating how to efficiently improve L2 (second language) vocabulary retention, such as the using of visual aids, keyword technique and example sentences, etc. It has turned out that the use of example sentences is an effective way to retain L2 vocabulary and it can be widely used in L2 vocabulary teaching. However, few studies have explored the effects of the example sentence types on L2 vocabulary retention, and whether the effects will vary with different vocabulary presentation methods. In light of this, the present study is in an attempt to examine the effects of two example sentence types (teacher-written example sentences and dictionary-based example sentences) on L2 vocabulary retention, as well as whether the effects will differ between using two types of vocabulary presentation methods (meaning-inferred method and meaning-given method).The instruments mainly used in this empirical study are as follows: questionnaire, tests and face-to-face interviews. The participants involved in this study were 60 non-English majors of Grade Two from a college in Suzhou. The following research questions are addressed in this study:1. To what extent do the effects on L2 vocabulary retention differ between using dictionary-based example sentences and using teacher-written example sentences with meaning-inferred method?2. To what extent do the effects on L2 vocabulary retention differ between using dictionary-based example sentences and using teacher-written example sentences with meaning-given method?The major findings of this study can be summarized as follows:Firstly, when meaning-inferred method is used, the teacher-written example sentences have a non-significantly positive impact on L2 vocabulary retention in the immediate post test, while they have a significantly positive effect on L2 vocabulary retention in the delayed post test.Secondly, when meaning-given method is used, the teacher-written example sentences have a significantly positive effect on L2 vocabulary retention in both the immediate and delayed post tests.The findings of the present study shed some light on L2 vocabulary teaching and EFL (English as a foreign language) research as well.