INCIDENTAL LEARNING OF COLLOCATIONS FROM MEANINGFUL INPUT

Author(s):  
Duy Van Vu ◽  
Elke Peters

Abstract This longitudinal study investigates the effect of mode of reading on the incidental learning of collocations and factors that affect learning. One hundred Vietnamese pre-intermediate learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) were assigned to either an experimental group or a control group (no treatment). In 9 weeks, the experimental group read three graded readers containing 32 target collocations in three counterbalanced reading modes: reading-only, reading-while-listening, and reading with textual input enhancement (i.e., underlining). Learning gains were measured by a form recall pretest and delayed posttest. The results showed that reading mode had a significant effect on incidental collocation learning. Reading with textual input enhancement resulted in significantly higher learning gains than the other reading modes. Reading-while-listening was also more beneficial for collocation learning than reading-only. Learners’ prior vocabulary knowledge and congruency of collocations were significant predictors of the learning gains.

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 923-926 ◽  
Author(s):  
David F. Pick ◽  
John Sweeney ◽  
Jennifer A. Clay

22 men and 38 women in an undergraduate psychology class ( M age 19.25 yr.) served in an experiment designed to assess whether a von Restorff effect for advertising slogans could be obtained in an incidental learning situation. The control group rated lists of nine ordinary slogans. The experimental groups rated equal-length lists with a distinctive slogan in the middle of the list. One experimental group rated a slogan considered distinctive because it was of high quality, the other experimental group rated a distinctive slogan considered to be clearly substandard. No mention was made of a test of memory until the rating task and a subsequent distractor task were completed. A significant von Restorff effect was obtained with the high-quality slogan but not with the substandard slogan. A significant relationship between subjects' ratings of slogan distinctiveness and recall was observed.


RELC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 003368822091148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duy Van Vu ◽  
Elke Peters

This article reports the results of two experiments which compared the effects of reading-only, reading-while-listening, and reading with textual input enhancement (i.e. underlining) on Vietnamese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ learning of three aspects of vocabulary knowledge: form recognition, form recall, and meaning recall. Sixty Vietnamese EFL learners (32 beginner and 28 intermediate learners) were assigned to one of three experimental conditions: reading-only, reading-while-listening, or reading with textual input enhancement. During four weeks, all learners read four graded readers in their condition groups. Tests of target words were administered three times: one week before the reading (pretests), immediately after the reading (immediate posttests), and one week after the reading (delayed posttests). To gain more insights into the learners’ perspectives, follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted. The results showed that the three reading modes resulted in word learning gains for the three word knowledge aspects tested. However, reading with textual input enhancement resulted in significantly more vocabulary learning than reading-only, while the reading-while-listening and reading-only groups did not differ significantly. In addition, form recognition had the largest gains while form recall the smallest.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janeth Robinson ◽  
Freddy Nicholas ◽  
Tony Seimon

AbstractThe study investigates the contribution of authentic material on developing speaking skills in EFL classrooms. Three groups of students were formed. All studied English at the High School. Participants were assigned to groups at random. No significant differences in speaking skills could be established between the groups prior to the experiment. The control group listened to authentic audio tracks in English and discussed their contents, watched authentic English movies and did exercises based on these tasks for developing speaking skills. The first experimental group spent part of the time on theoretical explanation of, and practical exercises with, English prosody by an instructor. The second experimental group instead spent part of the time on English prosody instruction. The total instruction time was the same for all three groups, i.e. 20 hours. Students then took a posttest in speaking skills. The results showed that the second experimental group performed better than the other groups in developing speaking skills. These results have pedagogical implications for curriculum designers and all who are involved in EFL classrooms.Key words: English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Authentic Material, Speaking Skill


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 470
Author(s):  
Maria Alexandrovna Odinokaya ◽  
Elena Alexandrovna Krylova ◽  
Anna Vladimirovna Rubtsova ◽  
Nadezhda Ivanovna Almazova

Vocabulary knowledge is a prerequisite for mastering any foreign language. It takes a lot of time and effort to develop English as a foreign language (EFL) vocabulary skills. Efficient ways to facilitate this process should be studied and analyzed. The present study aimed to investigate the role of the Discord application in teaching and learning EFL vocabulary. Discord is a free messenger with support for IP telephony and video conferencing, as well as the possibility to create public and private chats for exchanging text and voice messages. The study relied on pre-test and post-test design to get the necessary data of one experimental and one control group, 80 university students altogether. The results of the pre-test showed no significant difference between the two groups. The experimental group was taught with the help of the Discord application, while the control group was dealing with the traditional educational process, that is, 180 min every week in a classroom with a textbook and no electronic educational resources. Results of the t-test indicated that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on a researcher-made vocabulary post-test. A post-treatment speaking test was administered—the participants took part in speaking interviews where they were asked to give a short speech on one of the topics studied during the experimental training. The representatives of the experimental group managed to use more vocabulary items per person correctly (pronunciation, lexical combinability, etc.). The findings revealed that the suggested way of using the Discord application may positively influence the acquisition of EFL vocabulary and its further application in speaking. Hence, it is recommended that the Discord application be used as a tool in the EFL vocabulary teaching and learning process to reinforce in-class tasks and activities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-95
Author(s):  
Daniele Artoni ◽  
Valentina Benigni ◽  
Elena Nuzzo

Over the last three decades, a growing number of studies have investigated the effects of instruction on the acquisition of pragmatic features in L2. The bulk of this research has focused mainly on the teaching of English as a second/foreign language. However, instructional pragmatic studies in L2-Russian are lacking. The main purpose of our study is to contribute towards filling this gap by analysing the effects of pragmatic instruction on the acquisition of two speech acts by Italian learners of Russian. Furthermore, we aim to explore whether the Multimodal Russian Corpus (MURCO), a multimedia subcorpus of the Russian National Corpus, can be an effective tool for teaching speech acts in L2-Russian. Our research was composed of one experimental group (n = 18) and one control group (n = 11); each was composed of two intact classes of Italian university students at an intermediate level of L2-Russian, who were pre- and post-tested using a written discourse completion task. The experimental group was subjected to a programme of pragmatic instruction – eight thirty-minute MURCO-based lessons devoted to requests and advice, while the control group was taught according to the standard syllabus, that is, with no pragmatic instruction. The results revealed that the use of the target pragmatic features varied significantly in the experimental group, but not in the control group, thus showing a general positive effect of the instructional treatment based on the MURCO corpus. However, some limitations were identified with regard to the usability of this tool by teachers and learners.


2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Fernández ◽  
W. Herrera ◽  
T. Harmony ◽  
L Díaz-Comas ◽  
E. Santiago ◽  
...  

Neurofeedback (NFB) is an operant conditioning procedure, by which the subject learns to control his/her EEG activity. On one hand, Learning Disabled (LD) children have higher values of theta EEG absolute and relative power than normal children, and on the other hand, it has been shown that minimum alpha absolute power is necessary for adequate performance. Ten LD children were selected with higher than normal ratios of theta to alpha absolute power (theta/alpha). The Test Of Variables of Attention (TOVA) was applied. Children were divided into two groups in order to maintain similar IQ values, TOVA values, socioeconomical status, and gender for each group. In the experimental group, NFB was applied in the region with highest ratio, triggering a sound each time the ratio fell below a threshold value. Noncontingent reinforcement was given to the other group. Twenty half-hour sessions were applied, at a rate of 2 per week. At the end of the 20 sessions, TOVA, WISC and EEG were obtained. There was significant improvement in WISC performance in the experimental group that was not observed in the control group. EEG absolute power decreased in delta, theta, alpha and beta bands in the experimental group. Control children only showed a decrease in relative power in the delta band. All changes observed in the experimental group and not observed in the control group indicate better cognitive performance and the presence of greater EEG maturation in the experimental group, which suggests that changes were due not only to development but also to NFB treatment.


ReCALL ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
NINETTE CARTES-ENRIQUEZ ◽  
M. I. SOLAR RODRIGUEZ ◽  
R. QUINTANA LETELIER

This is an experimental study in the area of Didactics applied to the learning of English as a foreign language and complemented by CALL. The main objective of this work is to know the degree of incidence existing between two groups of students: one, based on conference-style classes where students, guided by the teacher, have to search for information about a topic in the computer lab and present it in front of the class and, in the other, where students are taught by the teacher according to a printed text. The experimental design consisted of a pre-test/post-test plus the application of different techniques to develop the different linguistic and cognitive strategies, between these tests. The methodology used by the Experimental Group forced learners to generate their own knowledge, so they had to apply the information and work by themselves in Workshops; and the Control Group participated in the classroom according to the communicative approach, guided by the teacher in the traditional class. Statistics were applied to the scores obtained between both tests, and the scores obtained weekly in the different competences contributed to knowing whether there were significant differences between both groups.


Author(s):  
Amit Kauts ◽  
Monika

The present study intends to examine the effect of dramatization on speaking skills and academic achievement in English among primary students. The sample consisted of 240 fifth class students from four co-educational private schools of district Fazilka. The sample was divided into two groups randomly. One of the two groups was designated as Experimental Group and the other as Control Group. Experimental group was taught through Dramatization and the control group was taught through traditional method. The obtained data was analysed using two way Analysis of Variance. The results revealed that (i) Teaching through dramatization was found effective than traditional method with respect to achievement of students in English and gain scores in speaking skills (ii) Boys outperformed girls in case of achievement gain scores (iii) Girls outperformed boys in case of gain scores of speaking skills.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Maryam AminAfshar ◽  
Ahmad Mojavezi

EFL learners at all ages and proficiency levels are usually confronted with various problems in vocabulary learning and retention. This study sought to introduce strategies for improvement of vocabulary learning and retention. Therefore, the effects of using aural/visual storytelling on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary learning and retention were investigated. To do so, 50 intermediate female EFL learners were randomly assigned to two groups. After the administration of teacher made English Vocabulary Test as the pre-test, aural storytelling method was used for the control group, and visual storytelling method was used for the experimental group. After three months of instruction, the aforementioned teacher made English Vocabulary Test, as the post-test, was given to the students of both groups to assess their improvements. Two weeks after post-test, they were given a delayed post-test to measure their retention of English vocabulary knowledge. The reliability of the English Vocabulary Test using Cronbach's Alpha was estimated equal to 0.80. Finally, Using ANCOVA, the results revealed that, the experimental group’s participants outperformed those of control group in both learning and retention of English vocabulary. So, it can be noted that the training program according to visual could have impressive impact on the learning and retention of vocabulary knowledge.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hung-Chang Liao ◽  
Ya-Huei Wang

We examined whether or not instructing Taiwanese students in the use of comprehension strategies when they are reading English as a foreign language, reduces their English reading anxiety and increases their English reading self-efficacy and proficiency. We used a quasiexperimental design and conducted a 15-week course. The experimental group (n = 31) received instruction in reading comprehension strategies and the control group (n = 31) received instruction by traditional teaching methods. The results show that the experimental group had less anxiety when reading English and higher proficiency than the control group. In regard to self-efficacy when reading English, the experimental group also performed better than the control group in terms of self-affirmation, perseverance, verbal persuasion, and performance overall. However, there was no statistically significant difference for learning attitude between the groups.


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