Abstract:
The combination of implicit meaning-focused input and explicit instruction has been suggested by recent research as very effective for learning L2 vocabulary; however, the time sequence for such juxtaposition has not been adequately examined through empirical studies. Therefore, this study sought to find the optimal time for combining explicit and implicit L2 vocabulary instruction using an explanatory mixed-method design. A convenience sample of 62 upper-intermediate EFL learners from three intact classes participated in this study. The Test of Academic Word List (Version A) that assesses Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List (AWL) was administered as a pertest. The reading book, Focus on Vocabulary 2, that has been developed based on the AWL was used for giving meaning-forced input. The target words were explicitly pre-taught in Class A (n=22), taught concurrent with encountering them in the reading text in Class B (n=20), and post-taught in Class C (n=22). Version B of the AWL Test was used as the posttest and after a 14-day retention interval (RI) as the delayed posttest. Then, 25% of the learners were orally interviewed about their attitudes toward the treatment they received. Quantitative data analysis using one-way ANCOVA revealed that explicit teaching during the reading was the optimal time and could help learners significantly do better on the immediate and delayed post-tests followed by pre-teaching. Qualitative analysis also verified the obtained quantitative results. The findings of this study imply that explicit vocabulary teaching during the reading should be practiced by EFL teachers/learners for fostering vocabulary development.
Machine summary:
The implicit learning was purposefully used instead of the term ‘incidental’ because according to vocabulary specialists the latter means learning lexical knowledge without a conscious intention to learn (Hulstijn, 2001), in the absence of any formal or informal assessment (Nation, 2001), and through extensive self-reading, listening, or watching (Stæhr, 2008) when the purpose of receiving input is not the language itself (View the image of this page) but the content (Schmitt, 2010).
Accordingly, the present study seeks to examine the (View the image of this page) optimal time for explicit instruction of vocabulary before, during, or after the meaning-focused experience (intensive reading) for acquiring and retaining academic core words among Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners in a principled way.
The results of this study revealed positive significant effects for pre- meaning-focused experience activities on both learning and recalling the target words through visual explicit instruction.
Delayed posttest mean scores by three study groups (View the image of this page) Another one-way ANCOVA (Table 10) was applied to examine the effect of time of explicit vocabulary teaching on EFL learners’ vocabulary retention, revealing that there were statistically significant differences among the three groups’ performances on the delayed posttest (F (2, 58) = 29.
The results of this study showed that implicit instruction through a combination of listening and reading (View the image of this page) accompanied by explicit teaching of L2 vocabulary could significantly help learners acquire and retain the target words better than only implicit instruction.