The Effects of Hypertext Gloss on Comprehension and Vocabulary Retention under Incidental and Intentional Learning Conditions

Zeinab Zandieh,Manoochehr Jafarigohar

doi:10.5539/elt.v5n6p60

Abstract

The present study investigated comprehension, immediate and delayed vocabulary retention under incidental and intentional learning conditions via computer mediated hypertext gloss. One hundred and eighty four (N= 184) intermediate students of English as a foreign language at an English school participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to either the incidental or the intentional conditions, and received differential treatments. The participants read the same enhanced electronic text with permanently highlighted target vocabularies in the intentional condition, and temporarily highlighted target ones in the incidental condition. The target items were hyperlinked to the same textual enhancements. The results presented the strong and the weak points of the two learning conditions with regards to immediate and delayed retention; as the intentional modality enhanced immediate gain and the incidental one facilitated retention. Consequently, it is recommended that both methods of vocabulary learning can be implemented jointly in a virtual Learning environment in order to improve comprehension and vocabulary retention.

Highlights

It appears to be difficult for FL learners to acquire the meaning of vocabularies and multiword units such as idiom and the relative meanings that they can obtain in given contexts of use
The intentional group performed better than the incidental group on the immediate retention test, a difference that is statistically significant between the two results on the immediate vocabulary retention test
The intentional group that scored higher points on the immediate retention test lost more of its gain than did the incidental group

Summary

Introduction

It appears to be difficult for FL learners to acquire the meaning of vocabularies and multiword units such as idiom and the relative meanings that they can obtain in given contexts of use. Compensation for this lack is difficult for FL learners, as they generally do not have the possibility of performing recurring interaction in the target language that can facilitate retention, the necessity for finding an alternative that will increase this possibility. This study has compared incidental and intentional vocabulary acquisition with a hypertext reading task, to investigate comprehension and retention with Intermediate learners of English as a foreign language. The study aims at uncovering how the acquisition of English new vocabularies may be affected, comparing when participants intentionally learn and memorize the highlighted vocabulary items to when they incidentally acquire new items when reading an academic text for comprehension

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Discussion

Conclusion