Impact of Highlighting Techniques on the Retention of Unfamiliar Words in L2 Classrooms

Abstract

Since L2 learners cannot learn the mass of words potentially available to them, it would be more useful to teach them specific strategies for dealing with unfamiliar words. One possible solution these days is to provide learners with useful guidance by which they can tackle the problem efficiently. However, the question is how much noticing in the input may result in acquisition and retrieval of information concerning unfamiliar words. Accordingly, the present essay sought to investigate the extent to different types of highlighting techniques can improve the retention of unfamiliar words by L2 learners. To this end, from the population of first graders studying at a boys and a girls high school a sample of 240 pre-intermediate students (120 girls and 120 boys) were randomly selected based on their scores on an OPT test. The intended words for the experiment were selected through a pre-test containing vocabulary items which were unknown to the participants. Using these words, a reading text with three passages each containing 30 words unknown to the participants was given to the targeted participants. The new, unfamiliar words were highlighted for the experimental groups (by color for the first group, underlined for the second group and written in italics for the third group). Apparently, no highlighting techniques were used for the control groups. The Persian translations of the new words were also provided given at the end of the passage. To measure the acquisition of unfamiliar target words three types of tests; namely, recall, recognition, and comprehension tests were administered twice - one immediately after reading passages and the other two weeks later. The findings revealed that the retention of the words was significantly higher in experimental groups than that of the control groups. More specifically, the retention of the words was not only significantly higher in underlining group compared to other types of highlighting techniques but it also was meaningfully higher in both immediate and delayed tests for the experimental groups compared to those in the control groups. Notably, the participants performed better in recognition than the recall test and the results did not show any interaction between retention of unfamiliar words and gender.