Abstract
The effects of EFL learners’ English proficiency and involvement load induced by tasks on incidental vocabulary acquisition are observed in this study. 163 students of non-English majors in a local university of China were divided into two groups of different English proficiency according to their scores of College English Test Band 4 (CET-4). The students in each group were randomly assigned one of three tasks (reading-for-comprehension, blank-filling, and writing) involving 10 target words. Fifteen minutes after they finished the task, they were required to take an immediate vocabulary test about the target words. Two weeks later, they were asked to take the same kind of vocabulary test to examine their delayed memory of the target words. All of the students did not know about the vocabulary tests beforehand. The results show that: in the process of immediate incidental vocabulary acquisition, both learners’ English proficiency and involvement load have a main effect on immediate memory, but the interactive effect of these two factors on incidental vocabulary acquisition is not significant; in the vocabulary retention test, learners’ English proficiency does not have a significant main effect on delayed memory, but the main effect of involvement load is still significant; at the same time, the interactive effect of these two factors is still not significant.
Highlights
Many linguists have pointed out that grammar, vocabulary, and speech sounds are three essential elements that constitute the complicated process of second language acquisition (Ellis, 1999)
The results showed that the greater amount of involvement load, the better the effect of incidental vocabulary acquisition on delayed memory; the comparison between groups with the same amount of involvement load showed that in the blank-filling task, the mean score of group A (M = 1.72) was lower than that of group B (M = 1.96), while the mean score of the reading-for-comprehension task and the writing task showed that the delayed memory of target words was better in the higher L2 proficiency group
According to the results of the immediate test, under the condition of the same involvement load, language proficiency has a significant effect on incidental vocabulary acquisition, that is, the higher the language level, the better the effect of incidental vocabulary acquisition on immediate memory; in the case of the same language level, the amount of involvement load in different tasks has a significant effect on incidental vocabulary acquisition, that is, the greater the amount of involvement load, the better the effect of incidental vocabulary acquisition on immediate memory
Summary
Many linguists have pointed out that grammar, vocabulary, and speech sounds are three essential elements that constitute the complicated process of second language acquisition (Ellis, 1999). As to their importance, one may find that vocabulary holds a pivotal status in second language teaching and learning since it is a precondition and basis of acquiring a second language. Could master the whole vocabulary of a language, as vocabulary learning is a lifelong cognitive process that should be repeated throughout the whole process of second language acquisition (Nation, 1993). Many researchers have been attempting to find out how vocabulary could be acquired effectively
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