Effects of Glossing Preceded by Inference or Followed by Retrieval on Vocabulary Learning

• Main Authors: Huang, Lo-li, 黃樓莉
• Other Authors: Lin, Chih-cheng
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/75726765949015679635

博士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 英語學系 === 100 === Glossing facilitates correct form-meaning connection but may deter students from inferring or retrieving word meaning. To enhance learning from context, combining glossing with inferencing or retrieval may be a good solution. Therefore, the study investigates effects of such combinations on EFL students’ vocabulary learning. One hundred and thirty students from a university in Taiwan participated in the study and all of them did not know the target words. They read a text with eight target words occurring three times in one of the treatment conditions. In the inference-gloss-gloss condition, 44 learners inferred the word meaning in the first word encounter and were provided with glosses for the subsequent two word encounters. In the gloss-retrieval-gloss condition, 43 learners were provided with glosses for the first and the last word encounters but they had to retrieve the word meaning in the second word encounter. In the full glossing condition, 43 learners were provided with glosses for all the word encounters. Four learners in each condition were asked to think aloud during reading and their data were managed separately for qualitative analyses. Immediately after the treatment, all of them took a comprehension test and three vocabulary posttests, including a form recall test, a meaning recall test and a meaning recognition test, and filled out a gloss use survey. Two weeks later, they took the same vocabulary posttests in a different item order and filled out another questionnaire on preference and perceived usefulness of the interventions. The analyses of their vocabulary performances showed that the gloss-retrieval-gloss condition was the most effective condition, that the forgetting rates were the highest in the inference-gloss-gloss condition, and that correctness of responses during inferencing or retrieval was a significant factor in word gain. The analyses of their gloss use showed that the learners’ reliance on the glosses decreased as the gloss encounter frequency increased. The analyses of their reading performances showed that there was neither any significant treatment difference in reading comprehension nor any significant correlation between word gain and comprehension and that the global strategies tended to be used in the glossed segments. The analyses of the preference and usefulness survey showed that glossing preceded by inferencing was the most preferred intervention and perceived to be the most useful intervention in vocabulary learning and reading comprehension. The study concludes that in addition to word inferencing, students can be cultivated to apply the word learning pattern of initial form-meaning connection, subsequent retrieval and final confirmation to their learning from context.