Effects Of Contextual Richness And Input Mode On EFL Learners’ Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

The influence of input mode on L2 incidental vocabulary acquisition is a heated topic in L2 acquisition. Different input materials may exert different influences on L2 incidental vocabulary acquisition with some being more advantageous than others. Contextual richness also plays an important role in vocabulary acquisition. Some contexts facilitate vocabulary acquisition more than others. Many L2 researchers have designed different tasks to explore effective ways to improve L2 vocabulary learning. A lot of research has focused on input mode, while little research has been interested in investigating the effects of contextual richness, not to mention the interaction between input mode and contextual richness.This study addressed the following research questions:1. How do input mode and contextual richness affect EFL learners’passive vocabulary recognition of target words?1) Do input mode and contextual richness have significant main effects on EFL learners’ passive vocabulary recognition?2) Is there any significant interaction between input mode and contextual richness on EFL learners’passive vocabulary recognition?2. How do input mode and contextual richness affect EFL learners’active vocabulary recognition of target words?1) Do input mode and contextual richness have significant main effects on EFL learners’ active vocabulary recognition?2) Is there any significant interaction between input mode and contextual richness on EFL learners’active vocabulary recognition?This study adopted a 2×3 mixed design with one between-subjects factor and one within-subjects factor. Input mode was the between-subjects variable, which fell into two levels:reading and listening. Contextual richness was the within-subjects variable, which fell into three levels:high, middle and low. As the dependent variable, EFL learners’incidental vocabulary acquisition was measured in terms of their passive and active vocabulary recognition.Sixty students selected from two intact classes who passed CET-4 in Nanjing Sanjiang University took part in the main study. They were divided into two groups and each group was assigned to one of the input tasks randomly. It took 28 minutes to listen or read. Every participant was given a mini English-Chinese dictionary which contained 24 target words and 6 distractor words. Each subject could look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary during the input. During the experiment, both groups were asked to finish a reading or listening comprehension test, which focused on the content of learning materials. After handing over all the sheets, the participants were asked to finish both active vocabulary recognition and passive vocabulary recognition tests in 30 minutes.A mixed ANOVA was employed and the major findings were shown:Input mode has a significant effect on EFL learners’passive vocabulary recognition (p-.000<.05), and the effect size is large(η2=.274); contextual richness also has a significant effect on the passive vocabulary recognition (p=.000<.05), with a large effect size (η2 =.221). There is no significant interaction between input mode and contextual richness on the passive vocabulary recognition in general (p=.433>.05).There is a significant effect of input mode on EFL learners’active vocabulary recognition (p=.014<.05), with a medium effect size (η2=.101); contextual richness also has a significant effect on it (p=.000<.05), with a similar effect size (η2=.131). The interactive effect between input mode and contextual richness does not reach a statistically significant level(p=.319>.05).The study has significant theoretical and pedagogical implications. In the theoretical aspect, the findings support Krashen’s input hypothesis, indicating comprehensible input is crucial to L2 Learners and reading is a more efficient input mode for EFL learners than listening. The findings also support the schema theory and contextual richness theory. The difference of learners’acquisition between listening task and reading task is against the involvement load hypothesis. In the pedagogical aspect, the current study could offer pedagogical insights to make improvements on EFL learners’ vocabulary acquisition. For learners, they need a more efficient input mode to acquire vocabulary. For EFL teachers, it is necessary to train the listening ability of EFL learners with extensive exposure to audio materials or listening materials in daily practice. The link between word form and meaning should be treated seriously in listening. In vocabulary learning, teachers should pay attention to the link between form and meaning and they might design phonetic tasks in their vocabulary courses.