The Effects Of L1Gloss Of Individual Words And Collocations On Reading Comprehension And Incidental Vocabulary Learning

The relationship between reading and vocabulary learning has been a topic of discussionamong researchers. Glossing is frequently used in reading materials to facilitate both readingcomprehension and lexical learning. Nevertheless, few researchers have ever tried toincorporate collocation into gloss.This study aims to investigate whether L1gloss of individual words and L1gloss ofcollocations can lead to positive effects on high school students’ reading comprehension andvocabulary learning. Besides, it also explores whether L1gloss of collocations generatesbetter reading comprehension and greater vocabulary learning than L1gloss of individualwords does or vice versa.146first year senior high school students participated in the experiment. According todifferent vocabulary aids provided in the reading materials, the subjects were randomlyassigned to one of the three conditions: L1gloss of individual words (GI), L1gloss ofcollocations (GC), and no gloss (NG). They were not informed that there would bevocabulary tests after the reading process. The GI group read two passages with L1in-textgloss of target new words. The GC group read the same passages with L1in-text gloss oflexical collocations containing the target new words and their collocates. The NG group (orcontrol group) read the passages that had not been glossed. Afterwards, participants weretested on both reading comprehension and their learning of new words immediately afterreading the texts and one week later.Results from the immediate posttest demonstrated that both GI and GC were beneficialfor reading comprehension of high school students, but no significant difference was foundbetween the two experimental groups. As for vocabulary learning, both two glossingconditions were superior to no gloss, but the superiority of GI over no gloss diminished oneweek after the treatment. GC led to greater vocabulary gains and better retention than GI did.These results are discussed in light of Noticing Hypothesis, Input Enhancement andComprehensible Input.This study provides practical guidance for vocabulary teaching as well as the design ofhigh school reading materials. It suggests that, when adapting an authentic passage by glossing, L1gloss of collocations can be a worthy option if the new words are contained incollocations.