| It is common knowledge that vocabulary constitutes the basis of learning a language.Quite a few scholars abroad and at home have applied themselves to the researches as to the effective avenues of the enlargement of learners' vocabulary for almost two decades.With researches developing in depth,it is found that the provision of vocabulary glossing in reading exerts positive impacts on incidental vocabulary acquisition.However,a consensus view regarding the effect of different gloss types on incidental vocabulary acquisition in L2 reading has not been reached by scholars,for there exist differences among research methods,research subjects and research materials.In addition,most scholars take second language learners who are college students as their research subjects,while very few select second language learners from senior high schools as their research subjects.This also provides opportunities for new researches.In this paper,taking the Noticing Theory,the Involvement Load Hypothesis,the Depth of Processing Theory and the Revised Model as the theoretical bases,the author carries out an experiment mainly to ascertain the effects of five different glossing types(single Chinese gloss,single English gloss,multiple-choice Chinese gloss,multiple-choice English gloss and no gloss)on incidental vocabulary acquisition in senior high school students' L2 reading.Besides,the effect of IVA is also investigated.A total of 200 senior one students from Nanchang Foreign Language School were assigned to one of the five glossing conditions arbitrarily during the research:single gloss in L1,single gloss in L2,multiple-choice glosses in L1,multiple-choice glosses in L2 and no gloss.First,they were asked to read the same English article with different glossing types,then handed in the reading materials after reading and summarized the content of the article in English as much as possible on another paper.Afterwards,a vocabulary test was presented to them without informing them beforehand.A delayed vocabulary test was also handed out to the participants without notification in advance in 7 days later.With the exception of different sequence of the appearance of target words,no difference in the contents could be found between the two vocabulary tests.After one week,ten volunteer interviewees selected from the five groups accepted the interview.The results showed that,first of all,senior high school students with 2000 words were capable of achieving IVA in L2 reading,and the effect of incidental vocabulary acquisition was proportional to vocabulary size.Secondly,in the immediate test,Chinese gloss groups scored highest while no gloss group scored lowest.And it was found that single Chinese gloss was most effective for learners' short term vocabulary memorization.Finally,in the delayed test,the score of Chinese gloss groups was still the highest,while the score of no gloss group was the lowest.However,multiple-choice gloss in Chinese was most favorable to learners' long-term retention of new words.Given the experimental findings mentioned above,English teachers,learners as well as extra-curriculum book editors can obtain some enlightenment from the research.First of all,glossing is more conducive to English learners' understanding of new words and helping them improve their reading skills,thus reducing their dependence on teachers.Secondly,teachers are supposed to give encouragement to students to read more extra-curriculum books with more glossing types,such as magazines and newspapers as well as assist students to choose reading materials with glosses suitable for their English proficiency level.Besides,teachers need make innovations in ways of vocabulary teaching.Finally,the compilers of English extra-curriculum books should provide diverse types of glossing in view of different English proficiency levels of readers. |
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