An Empirical Study Of The Influence Of Annotation Ways On Incidental Vocabulary Learning Through Reading

Vocabulary learning is seen as an integral area of language teaching by linguistic researchers. "Words are the basic building blocks of language, the units of meaning from which larger structures such as sentences, paragraphs and whole texts are formed" (Read, 2000:1). How to improve vocabulary ability and remember words is significant for Chinese college students to learn English. However, most of students feel learning vocabulary is not an easy task. Traditional ways of remembering words' lists seem to be hard and boring. Linguistic theories such as that proposed by Krashen's (1989) Input Hypothesis assume that learners acquire language by understanding messages. Incidental vocabulary learning through reading is the process of acquiring vocabulary while reading for comprehension and acquiring new words rather than focusing solely on memorizing lists of words. Previous researches claim that it is helpful and acceptable, but few studies explore the influence of annotation ways on the incidental vocabulary learning. This paper focuses on the influence of annotations on the incidental vocabulary learning of the first-year non-English major college students in Chongqing University. The texts without annotations, with Chinese annotations, English annotations and bilingual annotations are tested to investigate which one is the most effective. This paper takes mental model, noticing and attention, depth of processing hypothesis as the theoretical explanations. The results from data analysis show the subjects can get better incidental vocabulary learning effect while reading the texts with annotations, especially with Chinese or bilingual annotations. The paper proves the subjects' vocabulary levels can influence the effect of incidental vocabulary learning through reading. For the learners at lower English vocabulary level, the texts with bilingual annotations are best for their incidental vocabulary learning and extensive reading. For the learners at higher vocabulary level, they are less influenced by annotation ways. So the Chinese annotated texts, the English annotated texts and the bilingual annotated texts are all helpful. This study proves incidental vocabulary learning theory again and provides guidance for students, Chinese English teachers and book editors. As English learners, they should choose extensive reading materials according to their situation and vocabulary levels. Teachers should pay attention to the importance of annotations. Book editors should understand the different influence of annotations for various English readers in incidental vocabulary learning process,...