The Effects Of Different Types Of Glosses On English Majors' Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition Through Reading

Among the researches on incidental vocabulary acquisition(IVA),the effect of different types of glosses on IVA have been a hot issue.Numerous studies at home and abroad indicate that multiple-choice glosses have substantial superiority than single glosses in IVA,but the comparisons between the effects of different types of glossing language were still inconclusive.Additionally,the relevant studies focusing on English majors failed to pay enough attention to the freshmen who are experiencing the critical period from foundational English learning to advanced English learning.Based on the above,the present study was designed to further explore the effects of three different glossing types(multiple-choice English glosses,multiplechoice Chinese glosses,English plus Chinese glosses)on facilitating English majors' incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading.In the present study,80 English-major freshmen in Shandong province were chosen as participants.They came from three parallel classes and were assigned with the same reading passage treated with three different glossing types: multiple-choice English glosses(Group 1),multiple-choice Chinese glosses(Group 2)and English plus Chinese glosses(Group 3).After finishing reading comprehension within specific time,all participants were tested the mastery of 15 target words by using modified Vocabulary Knowledge Scale in both immediate test and delayed test two weeks later.By the software SPSS 25.0,the data from two posttests were analyzed by employing one-way ANOVA,Tukey HSD post hoc multiple comparisons and paired samples test.Afterwards,a semi-structured interview was conducted and the recordings of 12 interviewees were transcribed and analyzed.The major findings were: 1)students who received multiple-choice glosses outperformed those assisted with English plus Chinese glosses in immediate test.To be specific,multiplechoice Chinese glosses significantly outperformed their counterparts.The reason is that multiple-choice glosses have enhanced students' attention on target words.In comparison between the effects of Chinese and English,Chinese glosses can trigger more effective information processing of the words;2)in delayed test,two types of multiple-choice glosses still maintained the edge over English plus Chinese glosses,and multiple-choice Chinese glosses had significantly pronounced retention effect than English plus Chinese glosses,which indicate that the retention effect of English plus Chinese glosses tend to fade by time,while multiple-choice Chinese glosses can activate strong and durable memory trace.3)in perspective of acquired vocabulary knowledge(receptive and productive knowledge),multiple-choice Chinese glosses showed substantial advantage in both posttests.In immediate test,compared with multiple-choice English glosses(23%)and English plus Chinese glosses(22%),multiple-choice Chinese glosses(38%)brought higher acquisition rate;in delayed test,multiple-choice Chinese glosses(20%)remained higher retention rate than its counterparts,say multiple-choice English(11%)and English plus Chinese glosses(6%),which obviously indicate that multiplechoice Chinese glosses are more effective in facilitating the acquisition and output of vocabulary knowledge.According to the interview,the students pointed that the English plus Chinese glosses were inferior in noticing the target words,whereas multiple-choice glosses enhanced their attention to target words and boosted meaning-inferring process.However,multiple-choice English glosses exposed defects such as inefficiency and increased reading load,so it failed to show superiority in the current study.Based on the results,some pedagogical implications for vocabulary learning and teaching were drawn.To improve the efficiency of incidental vocabulary acquisition,teachers can initiatively design multiple-choice glosses in reading materials,especially the glosses in Chinese;and students are encouraged to develop a habit of inferring the meanings of unknown words while reading.Meanwhile,English compilers are expected to set different types of glosses to meet the varied needs of different-level learners.Inevitably,the study showed some limitations,such as,the limited size and scope of sample and contrived reading materials.Concerning these deficiencies,future researches should select larger size and broader scope of sample and adopt more authentic reading materials.