| Vocabulary form the basis of a language and thus learning new words is the first step ofgrasping a foreign language. As English become an international language, it has become anindispensable part of the curriculum in China. When it comes to vocabulary learning there aretwo popular modes that are often discussed among researchers, the incidental vocabularyacquisition (IVA) and intentional vocabulary learning. The latter is favored by both teachersand students in traditional, exam-oriented class while the former is widely researched bymany scholars because it is a natural way of grasping word.Studies of incidental vocabulary acquisition are mainly focused on its effect in reading inthe previous voluminous studies. However, little attention has been paid to the effect oflistening on incidental vocabulary acquisition.In this thesis, an empirical research was conducted to compare the result of incidentalvocabulary acquisition in reading only and simultaneous reading and listening on the basis ofthe abundance previous related researches.The experiment reveals that simultaneous reading and listening does not alwayscontribute to incidental vocabulary acquisition, which is contrary to what we assumed beforethe experiment. Students’ listening comprehension ability should also be taken intoconsideration. In addition, looking up new words in the dictionary help students to get adeeper understanding of new words and thus the chance of them retrieving the new words inthe delayed test was increased. According to the questionnaire incidental vocabularyacquisition does not often occur in students’ daily study and words through IVL occupy themajority of all the leant words. Most of the students are bored with the rote learning methodand hope to find an easier and more interesting way of learning new words. |
