Effects Of Gloss Modes And Reading Tasks On English Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

In recent years, a number of researchers both at home and abroad have addressed the issue of vocabulary acquisition. Many linguists have found that incidental vocabulary learning is a new trend in the research of applied linguistics and that a large portion of vocabulary is acquired incidentally, and. Extensive research has been conducted to examine the factors that would influence incidental acquisition in the process of L2 reading. Though many researchers have explored the ways on how to help students acquire vocabulary incidentally, most of the researches done are confined to single factors such as gloss modes or task types.Based on involvement load hypothesis and depth of processing hypothesis(Craik and Lockhart, 1972), the researcher has designed four different reading tasks(single gloss group, multiple-choice gloss group, gap-filling group, sentence-making group)in order to investigate the effects of gloss modes and task types on the retention of ten English target words. Four parallel classes of English sophomores in a Jiangxi university participated in the experiment and they were assigned to four different reading tasks at random. After completing corresponding reading tasks, the immediate vocabulary test of ten target words was distributed to the students. One week later, the students received delayed vocabulary test with the same target words in a different order. All the students were not informed of vocabulary tests in advance. Three questions were investigated in the research:(1). Does the reading task with different gloss modes lead to different effects on incidental vocabulary acquisition?(2). Do the reading tasks with different involvement loads show positive relationship with incidental vocabulary acquisition?(3).What is the students' opinions about the incidental vocabulary acquisition by completing different reading tasks?After the data collection and analysis, the study revealed a number of findings related to the effects of gloss modes and task types on the retention of ten English target words.(1).Multiple-choice glossing turns out to be more effective than single glossing in improving students' incidental vocabulary acquisition.(2). Reading tasks with different involvement loads have different effects on incidental vocabulary acquisition. The higher involvement load do not necessarily lead to better vocabulary acquisition and the same involvement load does not necessarily lead to the same vocabulary retention either.(3). The subjects in this study generally showed positiveattitudes toward the method of incidental vocabulary acquisition, indicating that this type of vocabulary teaching and learning tasks are effective for English teaching.Based on the findings from the research, the study offers certain pedagogical implications for vocabulary learning and teaching. First, English teachers should use various teaching methods in classroom teaching and tasks with different involvement load should be designed or selected by teachers according to different teaching objectives. Secondly, in order to improve students' efficiency in incidental vocabulary acquisition(IVA), teachers should help students increase their ability in guessing the meaning of an unknown word from the context. Besides, to help students gain an overall mastery of word knowledge and a better long-term retention, teachers should expose their students to various contexts and encourage them to be engaged in intentional memorization of new words.