Conference Presentations by Mark Feng Teng
Forty-six students majoring in business English volunteered to take part in an extensive readi... more Forty-six students majoring in business English volunteered to take part in an extensive reading program. The learners were divided into two groups: EG, the experimental group, received instruction in methods of extensive reading plus explicit output-pushed activities, and CG, the control group, received instruction in methods of extensive reading alone. This study measured the effects of extensive reading on EFL vocabulary learning, as well as the effect of the two different instruction methods on learning receptive and productive vocabulary for the 46 learners of different vocabulary size. The research found that (a) both the two instructional methods resulted in significant gains in learners’ receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge, but the combination of the incidental and intentional learning instruction yields greater vocabulary gains; (b) only 91.8 % of receptive vocabulary is understood productively; and (c) students’ vocabulary size plays a decisive role in acquiring the receptive and productive aspect of vocabulary knowledge
This study invited 80 tertiary level EFL learners with low proficiency to take part in a reading ... more This study invited 80 tertiary level EFL learners with low proficiency to take part in a reading program, and tested incidental vocabulary learning by measuring the frequency of word occurrence in two graded readers, Love or Money and Mary Queen of Scots and by administering two tests that probed into the depth of vocabulary knowledge with 36 test items within six bands of frequency (more than 20 times to only once). Half of the chosen words occurred again in the second book. The findings proved that learners with consecutive reading outperformed learners without consecutive reading in learning vocabulary. It was also testified that the higher the frequency level is, the better performance learners achieve, and that the number of times that Chinese EFL learners need to meet a word for them to acquire the depth of vocabulary knowledge is more than 14 times after reading for the first time, and 8 times after reading for the second time. For words, which occurred in a second book, the number of times was decreased to half of the number of previous times that learners need. Incidental vocabulary learning is very limited for low proficiency learners and this learning is largely based on a high frequency of word occurrence. This study also suggests that teaching vocabulary or editing reading books should focus more on building knowledge of known words instead of inputting more new words.
Abstract
Twenty tertiary level EFL learners volunteered to take part in a reading program explor... more Abstract
Twenty tertiary level EFL learners volunteered to take part in a reading program exploring incidental vocabulary learning measured by 30 substituted nonwords within five groups of frequency level in a graded reader, Love or Money. Two nouns, verbs, and adjectives were included in each group of frequency level. A three-aspect measurement and a semi-structured face-to-face interview were used in this study. The findings showed that, overall, the acquisition order of the three aspects was first word form, then word meaning, finally word usage. Incidental vocabulary learning was affected by the frequency of word occurrence, and the learners showed a better proficiency in the words with a higher frequency level. It appeared that, to have a 50% chance of recognizing the word form, exposure to target words more than eight times was necessary. However, exposure to the word more than 14 times was needed for a 50% chance of recalling the word meaning and usage. For the new words that occurred only 1 time or up to 4-6 times, it would be very difficult for the learners to master the word knowledge. In addition, based on the learning outcome of word meaning and usage, the learning difficulties of nouns, verbs, and adjectives were found to vary. It appeared that learning the meaning and usage of verbs were easier than nouns, and nouns were easier to be learned than adjectives.
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Conference Presentations by Mark Feng Teng
Twenty tertiary level EFL learners volunteered to take part in a reading program exploring incidental vocabulary learning measured by 30 substituted nonwords within five groups of frequency level in a graded reader, Love or Money. Two nouns, verbs, and adjectives were included in each group of frequency level. A three-aspect measurement and a semi-structured face-to-face interview were used in this study. The findings showed that, overall, the acquisition order of the three aspects was first word form, then word meaning, finally word usage. Incidental vocabulary learning was affected by the frequency of word occurrence, and the learners showed a better proficiency in the words with a higher frequency level. It appeared that, to have a 50% chance of recognizing the word form, exposure to target words more than eight times was necessary. However, exposure to the word more than 14 times was needed for a 50% chance of recalling the word meaning and usage. For the new words that occurred only 1 time or up to 4-6 times, it would be very difficult for the learners to master the word knowledge. In addition, based on the learning outcome of word meaning and usage, the learning difficulties of nouns, verbs, and adjectives were found to vary. It appeared that learning the meaning and usage of verbs were easier than nouns, and nouns were easier to be learned than adjectives.