A Study On The Effects Of Gloss Types On English Incidental Vocabulary Learning For College Non-english Majors

Incidental Vocabulary Learning(IVL)through reading is a major means for L2 vocabulary learning.Glossing,as an aid for L2 reading,has been proved to be one of the most effective means to facilitate IVL.In recent years,many researchers have explored different types of gloss from the perspectives of gloss language and gloss format to examine the effects of different gloss types on IVL.However,no consistent conclusions have been reached,which leaves room for further study.Based on previous research,the present study adopted the between-subjects and within-subjects design,aiming at exploring the effects of different gloss types(no gloss,L1 single gloss,L1 multiple-choice gloss,L2 multiple-choice gloss)on college nonEnglish majors’ short-term and long-term English vocabulary retention,as well as testing the interaction effects between gloss type and test time.In the present study,120 secondyear non-English majors in four parallel classes were chosen as subjects.They were divided into four gloss groups based on their classes,and asked to read the same texts which were only different in gloss types.After that,an immediate vocabulary post-test and a questionnaire were conducted,and then a delayed post-test was carried out one-week later.The data of experiment were analyzed by the statistical software SPSS 17.The results of experiment showed that in two vocabulary tests,there was significant difference between no gloss condition and gloss condition,and the difference between SG and MCG was also significant.In immediate post-test,L1 MCG could best facilitate IVL.While in delayed post-test,there was no significant difference between L1 MCG and L2 MCG.The interaction effects between gloss type and test time were significant.In four gloss groups,the effect of short-term retention was always better than that of long-term retention.The results of questionnaire demonstrated that subjects showed preference for L1 MCG,which supported the results of vocabulary test to some degree.Based on the results of present study,some implications were provided for English teachers,learners and editors.Firstly,English teachers should encourage learners to read books with L1 MCG so as to enhance English incidental vocabulary learning.Secondly,English learners should review the learned words according to the Ebbinghaus’ s Forgetting Curve.Lastly,editors should provide reading texts with different types of gloss for English learners at different proficiency levels.