Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly (Formerly Journal of Teaching Language Skills)

The Integration of Explicit Instruction and Implicit Meaning-Focused Experience for L2 Vocabulary Development: The Comparative Effect of Time Sequence

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor at Imam Khomeini International University

2 MA Student of Applied Linguistics, Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU), Qazvin, Iran

Abstract

The combination of implicit meaning-focused input and explicit instruction has been suggested by recent research as very effective for learning L2 vocabulary; however, the time sequence for such juxtaposition has not been adequately examined through empirical studies. Therefore, this study sought to find the optimal time for combining explicit and implicit L2 vocabulary instruction using an explanatory mixed-method design. A convenience sample of 62 upper-intermediate EFL learners from three intact classes participated in this study. The Test of Academic Word List (Version A) that assesses Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List (AWL) was administered as a pertest. The reading book, Focus on Vocabulary 2, that has been developed based on the AWL was used for giving meaning-forced input. The target words were explicitly pre-taught in Class A (n=22), taught concurrent with encountering them in the reading text in Class B (n=20), and post-taught in Class C (n=22). Version B of the AWL Test was used as the posttest and after a 14-day retention interval (RI) as the delayed posttest. Then, 25% of the learners were orally interviewed about their attitudes toward the treatment they received. Quantitative data analysis using one-way ANCOVA revealed that explicit teaching during the reading was the optimal time and could help learners significantly do better on the immediate and delayed post-tests followed by pre-teaching. Qualitative analysis also verified the obtained quantitative results. The findings of this study imply that explicit vocabulary teaching during the reading should be practiced by EFL teachers/learners for fostering vocabulary development.

Keywords

References
Alamri, K., & Rogers, V. (2018). The effectiveness of different explicit vocabulary-teaching strategies on learners’ retention of technical and academic words. The Language Learning Journal, 46(5), 622–633,
Alcón, E. (2007). Incidental focus on form, noticing and vocabulary learning in the EFL classroom. International Journal of English Studies, 7(2), 41–60.
Alderson, J. C. (2005). Diagnosing foreign language proficiency. London: Continuum.
Arndt, H. L., & Woore. R. (2018). Vocabulary learning from watching YouTube videos and reading blog posts. Language Learning & Technology, 22(1), 124–142.
Bernard, H. R. (2013). Social research methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Bolger, D. J., Balass, M., Landen, E., & Perfetti, C. A. (2008). Contextual variation and definitions in learning the meaning of words. Discourse Processes, 45(2), 122–59.
Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213–238.
Coxhead, A., & Nation, I. S. P.  (2017). Reading for the academic world. Sachse, TA: Seed Learning.
Coxhead, A., Nation, I. S. P., & Sim, D. (2015). Vocabulary size and native speaker secondary school students. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 50(1), 121–135.
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Elgort, I., Candry, S., Boutorwick, T. J., Eyckmans, J., & Brysbaert, M. (2016). Contextual word learning with form-focused and meaning-focused elaboration. Applied Linguistics, 39(5), 646–667.
Ellis, R. (2009). Implicit and explicit learning, knowledge and instruction. In R. Ellis (Ed.), Knowledge in second language learning, testing and teaching (pp. 3–26). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Ellis, R. (2015). Understanding second language acquisition (2nd Ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
González Fernández, B., & Schmitt, N. (2017). Vocabulary acquisition. In S. Loewen, & M. Sato (Eds.), Routledge handbook of instructed SLA (pp. 280–298). New York: Routledge.
Gwet, K. L. (2014). Handbook of inter-rater reliability (4th Ed.). Gaithersburg, MD.: Advanced Analytics, LLC.
Hennebry, M., Rogers, V., Macaro, E., & Murphy, V. (2017). Direct teaching of vocabulary after listening: Is it worth the effort and what method is best? The Language Learning Journal, 45(3), 282–300.
Hill, M., & Laufer, B. (2003). Type of task, time-on-task and electronic dictionaries in incidental vocabulary acquisition. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching (IRAL), 41(2), 87–106.
Hulstijn, J. H. (2001). Intentional and incidental second-language vocabulary learning: A reappraisal of elaboration, rehearsal, and automaticity. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 258–286). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ko, M. H. (1995). Glossing in incidental and intentional learning of foreign language vocabulary and reading. University of Hawaii Working Papers in ESL, 13(1),49–94. ­­­
Laufer, B. (2005). Focus on form in second language vocabulary learning. In S. Foster-Cohen, M. P. García Mayo, & J. Cenoz (Eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook 5 (pp. 223–250). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Laufer, B. (2006). Comparing focus on form and focus on forms in second-language vocabulary learning. Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(1), 149–66.
Laufer, B. (2017). From word parts to full texts: Searching for effective methods of vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 21(1), 5–11.
Laufer, B., & Hulstijn, J.H. (2001). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: The construct of task-induced involvement. Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 1–26. 
Lombard, M., Snyder-Duch, J., & Bracken, C. C. (2002). Content analysis in mass communication: Assessment and reporting of intercoder reliability. Human Communication Research, 28(4), 587–604.
Marulis, L. M., & Neuman, S. B. (2010). The effects of vocabulary intervention on young children's word learning: A meta-analysis. Review Of Educational Research, 80(3), 300–335.
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2016). Academic vocabulary in use: Vocabulary reference and practice, self-study and classroom use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mitchell, R., & Myles, F. (2004). Second language learning theories (2nd Ed.). London: Hodder Arnold.
Mondria, J. (2003). The effects of inferring, verifying, and memorizing on the retention of L2 word meanings: An experimental comparison of the meaning-inferred method and the meaning-given method. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 25(4), 473–99.
Morgan, D. (1998). The focus group guidebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Nation, I. S. P. (2008). Teaching vocabulary: Strategies and techniques. Boston: Heinle.
Nation, I. S. P. (2010). Researching vocabulary: A vocabulary research manual. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Nation, I. S. P. (2012). The BNC/COCA word family lists. Retrieved from http://www.victoria.ac. nz/lals/about/staff/paul-nation
Nation, I. S. P. (2013). Learning vocabulary in another language (2nd Ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Nation, I. S. P. (2015). Principles guiding vocabulary learning through extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 27(1), 136–145.
Nation, I. S. P. (2016). Making and using word lists for language learning and testing. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Paribakht, T. S., & Wesche, M. (1997). Vocabulary enhancement activities and reading for meaning in second language vocabulary development. In J. Coady, & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition (pp. 174–199). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Plano Clark, V. L. (2010). The adoption and practice of mixed methods: U.S. trends in federally funded health-related research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(4), 428–440.
Pellicer-Sanchez, A., & Schmitt, N. (2010). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from an authentic novel: Do things fall apart? Language Learning & Technology, 17(2), 75–99.
Perfetti, C. A. (2007). Reading ability: Lexical quality to comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11(4), 357–83.
Perfetti, C. A., & L. Hart. (2002). The lexical quality hypothesis. In L. Vehoeven, C. Elbro, & P. Reitsma (Eds.), Precursors of functional literacy (pp. 189–213). New York: Benjamins. 
Reichle, E. D., & Perfetti, C. A. (2003). Morphology in word identification: A word experience model that accounts for morpheme frequency effects. Scientific Studies of Reading, 7(3), 219–37.
Rohrer, D., & Pashler, H. (2007). Increasing retention without increasing study time. Psychological Science, 16(4), 183–186.
Schmitt, D., Schmitt, N., & Mann, D. (2011). Focus on vocabulary (Book 2): Bridging vocabulary. New York: Longman.
Schmitt, N. (2008). Instructed second language vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 12(3), 329–363.
Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary: A vocabulary research manual. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Schmitt, N., & McCarthy, M. (1997). Introduction. In N. Schmitt, & M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition, and pedagogy (pp. 1–5). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schmitt, N. (2014). Size and depth of vocabulary knowledge: What the Research Shows. Language Learning, 64(4), 913–951.
Schmitt, N. (2019). Understanding vocabulary acquisition, instruction, and assessment: A research agenda. Language Teaching, 52(2), 261–274.
Serrano, R. (2011). The time factor in EFL practice. Language Learning, 61(1), 117–145.
Serrano, R., & Huang, H. U. (2018). Learning vocabulary through assisted repeated reading: How much time should there be between repetitions of the same text? TESOL Quarterly, 52(4), 971–994.
Sharwood Smith, M., & Truscott, J. (2014). Explaining input enhancement: A MOGUL perspective. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 52(3), 253–81.
Shintani, N. (2013). The effect of focus on form and focus on forms instruction on the acquisition of productive knowledge of L2 vocabulary by young beginning-level learners. TESOL Quarterly, 47(1), 36–62.
Smithson, J. (2000). Using and analyzing focus groups: Limitations and possibilities. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 3(2), 103–19.
Sonbul, S., & Schmitt, N. (2009). Direct teaching of vocabulary after reading: Is it worth the effort? ELT Journal, 64(3), 253–60.
Stæhr, L. S. (2008). Vocabulary size and the skills of listening, reading, and writing. The Language Learning Journal, 36(2), 139–152.
Suzuki, Y. (2017). The optimal distribution of practice for the acquisition of L2 morphology: A conceptual replication and extension. Language Learning, 67(4), 512–545.
Tabachnick, B.G., & Fidell, L.S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Inc.
Takač, V. P. (2008). Vocabulary learning strategies and foreign language acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Thornbury, S. (2015). How to teach vocabulary. Harlow: Pearson Educated Limited.
Toppino, T. C., & Gerbier, E. (2014). About practice: Repetition, spacing, and abstraction. Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 60(1), 113–189.
Vidal, K. (2011). A comparison of the effects of reading and listening on incidental vocabulary acquisition. Language Learning, 61(1), 219–258.
van Zeeland, H., & Schmitt, N. (2013). Lexical coverage in L1 and L2 listening comprehension: The same or different from reading comprehension? Applied Linguistics, 34(4), 457–479.
Webb, S. (2008). The effects of context on incidental vocabulary learning. Reading in a Foreign Language, 20(2), 232–245.
Zimmerman, C. B. (1997). Do reading and interactive vocabulary instruction make a difference? An empirical study. TESOL Quarterly, 31(1), 121–40.
Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly (Formerly Journal of Teaching Language Skills)
Volume 37, Issue 4
March 2019
Pages 71-108
Files
History
  • Receive Date: 21 August 2019
  • Revise Date: 21 October 2019
  • Accept Date: 26 October 2019
Share
How to cite
Statistics