The Effects Of Different Input And Output Modes On Incidental Acquisition Of Lexical Chunks

Incidental vocabulary acquisition has become a hot topic recently,and a large number of experimental researches have confirmed the feasibility and effectiveness of incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading,listening and writing.However,few researchers have studied the incidental acquisition of lexical chunks.And even less research has been made on incidental lexical chunks acquisition through the comparison of different input and output modes.Based on the previous research,the present study is to explore the effects of different input and output modes on high school students' incidental acquisition of English lexical chunks.To be more specific,the following research questions are addressed.(1)What are the effects of different input modes on immediate acquisition of lexical chunks?(2)What are the effects of different output modes on immediate acquisition of lexical chunks?(3)What are the effects of different input modes on delayed retention of lexical chunks?(4)What are the effects of different output modes on delayed retention of lexical chunks?120 high school students were invited as subjects in the experiment and divided into four parallel classes.Then four various tasks,according to different input and output modes,were designed:(1)reading the materials and then retelling(2)reading the materials and then rewriting(3)listening to the materials and then retelling(4)listening to the materials and then rewriting.These four classes were arranged to finish each task respectively,and then they received the immediate and delayed posttests of the lexical chunks.In addition,the interview was conducted to know the learners' attitudes towards different input and output modes.The results show that(1)In the immediate posttest,when the output mode is the same,there are significant differences between the effects of different input modes on lexical chunks acquisition,and the reading input mode is more effective;(2)In the immediate posttest,when the input mode is the same,there are significant differences between the effects of different output modes on lexical chunks acquisition,and the retelling output mode is more effective.(3)In the delayed posttest,when the output mode is the same,there are no significant differences between the effects of different input modes on lexical chunks retention;(4)In the delayed posttest,when the input mode is the same,there are significant differences between the effects of different output modes on lexical chunks retention,and the retelling output mode is more effective.The results prove the possibility of incidental acquisition of lexical chunks and bring some enlightenments to teaching.First of all,more proper materials should be presented to students for incidental lexical chunks acquisition.Secondly,listening input mode should not be ignored while valuing reading input mode.In addiction,teachers should pay more attention to the communication and interaction in class.