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Effects Of Task Type And Mode Of Annotation On EFL Learners' Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

Posted on:2018-01-29Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:J Y LiFull Text:PDF
GTID:2335330518986301Subject:Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
It has been widely recognized that word-oriented tasks through reading are a powerful way for vocabulary acquisition in a second language context,which has attracted the attention of researchers at home and abroad.The majority of the previous studies on EFL incidental vocabulary acquisition were based on the involvement load hypothesis,aiming to investigate how the involvement load induced by the tasks and other factors such as EFL proficiency affected EFL incidental vocabulary acquisition.Nevertheless,very rare studies focused on task type and mode of annotation and their effects on EFL vocabulary acquisition in terms of different vocabulary knowledge dimensions.To further testify and improve upon the involvement load hypothesis,this study controls the task orientation,the amount of involvement load induced by the tasks and task time to investigate how task type and mode of annotation affect EFL incidental vocabulary acquisition from different dimensions.To be more specific,the following research questions are addressed:1.How do task type and mode of annotation affect EFL learners' vocabulary acquisition in terms of form recall?1.1 Do task type and mode of annotation each have a significant main effect on EFL learners' vocabulary acquisition in terms of form recall?1.2 Is there any significant interaction between task type and mode of annotation on EFL learners' vocabulary acquisition in terms of form recall?2.How do task type and mode of annotation affect EFL learners' vocabulary acquisition in terms of meaning recall?2.1 Do task type and mode of annotation each have a significant main effect on EFL learners' vocabulary acquisition in terms of meaning recall?2.2 Is there any significant interaction between task type and mode of annotation on EFL learners' vocabulary acquisition in terms of meaning recall?3.How do task type and mode of annotation affect EFL learners' vocabulary acquisition in terms of meaning recognition?3.1 Do task type and mode of annotation each have a significant main effect on EFL learners' vocabulary acquisition in terms of meaning recognition?3.2 Is there any significant interaction between task type and mode of annotation on EFL learners' vocabulary acquisition in terms of meaning recognition?This study adopted a 2(task type)× 2(mode of annotation)factorial design with two between-subjects factors,which were task type(sentence combining and sentence translation)and mode of annotation(English-Chinese marginal glossing and English-only marginal glossing).EFL vocabulary acquisition was the dependent variable,measured by form-recall,meaning-recall and meaning-recognition tests.115 non-English major freshmen from four intact classes in Nanjing Tech University were randomly assigned to one of four task groups.The subjects in the first group were required to finish reading two passages with English and Chinese marginal glossing followed by the sentence translation task.The subjects in the second group were required to finish reading the same passages with the English-only marginal glossing and the vocabulary task as in group one.The subjects in the third group were asked to read the same two passages with the English-Chinese marginal glossing and perform the sentence combining task,while the subjects in the fourth group were asked to finish the same passages with the English-only marginal glossing and the vocabulary task as in group three.Specifically,the participants in the the sentence translation group were required to translate the sentences from English into Chinese,the participants in the sentence combining group were asked to recombine strings of words into sentences.The sentence translation and the sentence combining tasks induced the same amount of involvement load.The time on each task was kept the same.Robust ANOVAs was employed to answer the research questions.The major findings were shown as follows:Firstly,task type had a significant main effect on EFL vocabulary acquisitions in terms of the meaning recall(Qa= 30.55,p = 0.001<0.05)and meaning recognition tests(Qa=21.20,p=0.001<0.05),but not on the form recall test(Qa=0.81,/?p=0.371>0.05).Secondly,mode of annotation had a significant main effect on from recall(Qb = 8.62,p =0.005<0.001)and meaning recognition tests(Qb?9.08,p = 0.004<0.05),but not on the meaning recall test(Qb = 2.47,p = 0.122>0.05).Thirdly,task type and mode of annotation had a significant interaction on the form recall(Qa×b= 10.77,p = 0.002<0.05),meaning recall(Qa×b= 14.19,p = 0.001<0.05)and meaning recognition tests(Qa×b,9.59,p = 0.003<0.05).Fourthly,there was no significant difference between the sentence translation task plus English-Chinese marginal glossing and the sentence translation task plus English-only marginal glossing on the form recall(ty= 0.27,p=0.787>0.05,dR=0.07),meaning recall(ty?1.65,p = 0.110>0.05,dR = 0.45)and meaning recognition tests(ty=0.07,p = 0.95>0.05,dR = 0.02).However,there was a significant difference between the sentence combining task plus English-Chinese marginal glossing and the sentence combining task plus English-only marginal glossing on the form recall(ty= 4.02,p = 0.000<0.01,dR = 1.04),meaning recall(ty=3.58,p = 0.001<0.01,dR = 0.94)and meaning recognition tests(ty=3.93,p= 0.000<0.01,dR?1.05).Lastly,there was no significant difference between the sentence translation plus English-Chinese annotation and the sentence combining plus English-Chinese annotation on EFL form recall(ty? 1.38,p=0.176>0.05,dR=0.36),meaning recall(ty= 1.08,p=0.287>0.05,dR = 0.28)and meaning recognition tests(ty = 0.96,p = 0.344>0.05,dR = 0.25).However,there was a significant difference between sentence translation plus English-only annotation and the sentence combining plus English-only annotation on EFL form recall(ty =4.10,p = 0.000<0.001,dR= 1.19),meaning recall(ty=4.10,p<0.001,dR = 2.29)and meaning recognition tests(ty= 6.24,p<0.001,dR = 1.75).The present study has both significant theoretical and pedagogical implications.Results in the present study have partially proved the Involvement Load Hypothesis,indicating that task effectiveness has been restricted by EFL vocabulary knowledge types and affected by other factors.Theoretically,more studies should be conducted to prove the involvement load hypothesis.Pedagogically,EFL teachers should adopt those word-focused output tasks to increase EFL learners' attention to new words more frequently,especially for the low and intermediate level English learners.Different dimensions of vocabulary knowledge acquisition should be emphasized in EFL teaching.It is advised that teachers give priority to English and Chinese bilingual annotations in order to decrease students' over reliance on LI.In English studies,EFL learners had better cultivate the habits of referring to English and Chinese bilingual dictionaries and pay due attention to the relationship between English and Chinese explanations.
Keywords/Search Tags:task type, mode of annotation, involvement load, EFL vocabulary acquisition
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