Differential Effects Of Pre-task And Post-task Form-focused Instruction On Junior High School Students’ Vocabulary Learning

For learners,English vocabulary learning plays a significant role in learning English better.As for English vocabulary teaching,the method of combining a reading task with vocabulary form-focused instruction with different focusing timing has been proved by relevant studies to be effective in improving learners’ English vocabulary learning and retention.However,it is still worth further exploring and discussing which kind of timing of vocabulary form-focused instruction is more conducive to promoting learners’ English vocabulary learning and retention.This thesis was based on the Noticing Hypothesis,Information Processing Model and Involvement Load Hypothesis,a total of 90 students from two eighth-grade classes were regarded as research subjects in Lanzhou No.45 Middle School,and the research instruments of 2020 Lanzhou junior high school academic level test,immediate Vocabulary Knowledge Scale and delayed Vocabulary Knowledge Scale(VKS)were used to answer the following two research questions: 1)What differential effects do Pre-task FFI and Post-task FFI have on immediate vocabulary learning in terms of form,meaning and use for junior high school students? 2)What differential effects do Pre-task FFI and Post-task FFI have on delayed vocabulary retention in terms of form,meaning and use for junior high school students?Before the teaching experiment,participants in both classes received a pre-test to ensure that their present English proficiency was at the same level.During the teaching experiment,for the pre-task form-focused instruction group,the teaching steps were as follows: focusing on target words by form-focused instruction + refocusing on target words in an deductive way during reading + rewriting the story or text using target words;however,different steps were designed in the post-task form-focused instruction group,including focusing on target words in an inductive way during reading + rewriting the story or text using target words + refocusing on target words by form-focused instruction.After the teaching experiment,in order to gain students’ vocabulary learning and retention scores,both groups received the same immediate and delayed post-tests(VKS).Then the author used SPSS 26.0 to analyze the data collected in immediate and delayed post-tests for both experimental groups.There were two conclusions: 1)as for vocabulary learning in terms of form,meaning and use,both groups of pre-task and post-task form-focused instruction gained vocabulary knowledge and the two experimental groups performed similarly;2)as for vocabulary delayed retention in terms of form,meaning and use,students in the post-task form-focused instruction group performed better than those in the pre-task form-focused instruction group.The above findings may more or less provide some implications for teachers to apply vocabulary form-focused instruction with different focusing timing to English reading and vocabulary teaching classes.The method of combining the reading task and vocabulary form-focused instruction enables teachers to realize that the different types of vocabulary form-focused instruction can affect students’ English vocabulary learning and retention,which may help teachers conduct vocabulary form-focused instruction more efficiently.