| Second language(L2)vocabulary acquisition is a process affected by many factors,among which glossing and individual learner differences(such as cognitive style)are considered as two important factors that influence upon L2 vocabulary acquisition.One area that has not yet been fully explored in second language vocabulary acquisition is incidental acquisition of formulaic sequences.Taking the noticing hypothesis and depth of processing theory as its framework,the present empirical study endeavors to investigate the effect of cognitive style and glossing on incidental acquisition of formulaic sequences and the interaction effect between cognitive style and glossing.It addresses three research questions:(1)what is the effect of cognitive style on EFL learners’ incidental acquisition of formulaic sequences?(2)what is the effect of glossing on EFL learners’ incidental acquisition of formulaic sequences?(3)is there an interaction effect between cognitive style and glossing on EFL learners’ incidental acquisition of formulaic sequences?The participants were 122 second-year non-English majors from Zhengzhou University,whose level of English proficiency was intermediate.These participants were divided into field-independent and field-dependent groups according to their performance in the Group Embedded Figures Test,and then each group was further randomly assigned to three gloss conditions: no-gloss condition and two different glossed conditions,that is,marginal gloss and glossary gloss.Participants were first asked to take a pretest and then read a passage for reading comprehension tasks one week later.After that,an immediate posttest and a delayed posttest were conducted.The two posttests both included a form test and a meaning test of target items.The findings of the present study show that:(1)cognitive style has no significant effect on incidental acquisition of formulaic sequences,but the overall performance of field-independent participants is marginally better than field-dependent participants especially in the immediate form recall test and the delayed meaning recognition test;(2)glossing has a significant effect on incidental acquisition of formulaic sequences.The glossed groups are significantly better than the no-gloss group especially for the acquisition of meaning.Whether among field-independent or field-dependent participants,the glossary gloss group has a significantly better performance than the marginal gloss group only in the immediate form recall test;(3)no interaction effect is presented between cognitive style and glossing on the effect of incidental acquisition of formulaic sequences.The main effect for cognitive style is not significant,and the main effect for glossing is significant.The present study has theoretical and pedagogical implications.Theoretically,during the process of exploring the effect of cognitive style and glossing on incidental acquisition of formulaic sequences,this study investigates the role of glossing and learners’ cognitive style,enriches the research system of second language vocabulary acquisition,and makes a contribution to the development and improvement of relevant theories in this field.Pedagogically,in the case of teaching and learning vocabulary where English as a second language,this study provides some enlightenment for the effective use of glossing to facilitate the teaching and learning of formulaic sequences. |
