Effects of Task-Induced Involvement on EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Learning

초록

This study compared three tasks with different involvement loads to further test the findings of previous studies of the Involvement Load Hypothesis proposed by Laufer and Hustijn (2001). Thirty two EFL university students participated in the present study. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups to complete an assigned task. Two reading passages with 10 nonsense words were presented. Authentic-like nonsense words were chosen to avoid the students encountering the target words outside the classroom. The allotted time for each task was 20 minutes. After the treatment, the students were asked to take immediate receptive and productive tests of their new vocabulary learning. Two weeks later, they took delayed post receptive and productive tests. The students whose task was to write sentences using the target words outperformed their peers on all the tests. We concluded that a deeper level of involvement led to greater gains in new vocabulary learning and higher retention of the vocabulary words.

키워드