Effects Of Glossing Languages And Vocabulary Levels On Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition Through Reading Among English Majors

Vocabulary is the bricks of language edifice. Vocabulary acquisition is the furnace of firing bricks. Besides intentional acquisition, vocabulary acquisition, a barrier on the way to second language acquisition, can be realized through another important approach, namely, incidental acquisition. Since introduced by Nagy, Herman and Anderson in1985, incidental vocabulary acquisition has drawn wide concern at home and abroad. Studies in incidental vocabulary acquisition deal with various fields of second language acquisition and permeate into different influential factors. However, studies focusing on Chinese English majors are rare to be found. Meanwhile, considering the characteristics and requirements of college study and English major, considerable extensive reading exercises are advocated since reading is a vital way to incidental vocabulary acquisition. Therefore, the writer carries out an empirical research on incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading among Chinese English majors. The research aims to explore the effects of glossing languages (English, Chinese and bilingual language) and vocabulary levels (large, medium and small) on incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading. Research questions are as follows:Question1:Do glossing languages affect incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading among English majors? If do, what are the immediate memory effects in the immediate test and the retention effects in the delayed test?Question2:Do English majors’vocabulary levels affect incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading? If do, what are the immediate memory effects in the immediate test? How about the retention effects in the delayed test?Question3:For such two independent variables as glossing languages and vocabulary levels, are there interactive effects between them on incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading among English majors?Considering the questions above, the writer, under the guidance of noticing hypothesis, depth of processing hypothesis, involvement load hypothesis and information processing mode, selects61juniors of English major as subjects. During grouping, the writer employs VocabProfile innovatively to analyze subjects’compositions to test their vocabulary levels. According to their vocabulary levels, all the subjects are grouped into three groups in the proportion of3:4:3from large to small. Meanwhile, three glossing language groups with the relatively same vocabulary level and number of members are formed by selecting subjects from each vocabulary level group randomly. Later, a pilot study, a reading comprehension test, an immediate vocabulary test and a delayed test of one week later are carried out. Finally, data are analyzed by SPSS16.0and discussed.The writer has come to such conclusions:To begin with, glossing languages do influence incidental vocabulary acquisition and the effects of different glossing languages are different. In the immediate test, glosses in English achieve the best immediate memory effects, followed by glosses in English&Chinese. Glosses in Chinese get the worst effects. As to the retention effects demonstrated in the delayed test, English glosses’are the best. English&Chinese glosses’rank the second best and Chinese glosses’are the worst.Secondly, vocabulary levels affect incidental vocabulary acquisition and the effects vary with English majors’levels. As to the immediate memory effects in the immediate test, the higher the English majors’vocabulary levels are, the better effects they can achieve and the more new words they can retain. So are the retention effects of vocabulary levels on incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading.Lastly, there are no interactive effects between glossing languages and vocabulary levels on incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading among English majors in neither the immediate test nor the delayed test, but the two factors respectively influence it significantly.Based on the research findings above, implications for English majors, teachers of English majors and designers of English reading materials are put forward. First of all, English majors should realize that vocabulary can be acquired incidentally through reading and reading is an effective way to enrich vocabulary; on the selection of reading materials, students may select reading materials in accord with their vocabulary levels and with English glosses. Moreover, teachers of English majors should also recognize the role of reading in incidental vocabulary acquisition, encourage students to read more, and instruct them to select appropriate reading materials. Finally, the writer also provides some guidance and help for designers of English reading materials.