Abstract:
This study builds on Laufer and Hulstijn’s (2001) motivational-cognitive construct of task-induced involvement in learning vocabulary and addresses itself to its strong claim that the depth of processing is the overriding factor in learning words. The paper first re-examines the effect of processing load and then of task type on the initial learning and retention of words. To do so، 60 EFL learners from two branches of an English institute were selected. The participants were then randomly assigned to three groups: The first group completed an input-oriented task with an involvement index of three; the second group also completed the same type of task but with an involvement index of two، and the third group completed an output-oriented task with the same involvement load as that of the first group. The comparison of the performance of the groups in the immediate and delayed posttests reveals that contrary to the prediction of the involvement load hypothesis، Task 2 with an involvement index of two was superior to Task 1، which had a higher index. Besides، the participants who had completed the output oriented task (Task 3) outperformed those that did the input-oriented task (Task 1)، despite their index equivalency. The study suggests that the operationalization of the levels of processing، especially evaluation، needs reconsideration.
Machine summary:
The Journal of Teaching Language Skills (JTLS) Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 2010, Ser. 59/4 (Previously Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities) The Involvement Load Hypothesis and Vocabulary Learning: The Effect of Task Types and Involvement Index on L2 Vocabulary Acquisition ∗ Dr. B .
R. of Iran Abstract This study builds on Laufer and Hulstijn’s (2001) motivational- cognitive construct of task-induced involvement in learning vocabulary and addresses itself to its strong claim that the depth of processing is the overriding factor in learning words.
Involvement load hypothesis (Laufer and Huljistin, 2001), although not at first formulated in the context of form-focused instruction, claims that in incidental learning situations the retention of forms (words) depends on the manipulation of the cognitive and motivational variables within tasks.
More specifically, the study considers whether task type with different distributions of involvement load indexes, in this case, output- oriented tasks versus input-oriented tasks with equal involvement load, has similar effects on word retention.
The second experiment, on the other hand, examined whether tasks with equal involvement load would lead to equivalent initial and later retention of words by 20 adult ESL learners at two different levels of proficiency.
There were four research questions in the study each with one dependent variable at two levels, the scores of the participants in the immediate and delayed posttest, and one independent variable, involvement load in the first two questions and task type in the second two.
Task effectiveness and word learning in a second language: the involvement load hypothesis on trial.