Abstract

Despite the growing body of technology-assisted vocabulary intervention studies, few have addressed learning outcomes beyond target vocabulary and the interaction between the interventions and English language learners’ (ELLs) initially different levels of vocabulary knowledge. The study examined the differential effects of a texting-based intervention on ELLs’ learning of target (direct effect) and general vocabulary knowledge (transfer effect) as a function of learners’ initial vocabulary levels. Canadian undergraduate ELLs (N = 115) participated in a 9-week intervention study. The findings showed that texting-based instruction effectively supported university ELLs’ acquisition of academic vocabulary; varied direct and indirect learning outcomes were found given learners’ different initial vocabulary levels. These results provide insights into the design of future vocabulary interventions by considering the complex interactions between learners’ initial vocabulary knowledge and the technology scaffoldings used for interventions.

摘要

尽管技术辅助的词汇干预研究越来越多，但很少有人解决目标词汇之外的学习结果以及干预与英语学习者 (ELL) 最初不同水平的词汇知识之间的相互作用。该研究检查了基于短信的干预对 ELL 目标学习（直接影响）和一般词汇知识（迁移影响）的不同影响，作为学习者初始词汇水平的函数。加拿大本科 ELLs ( N = 115) 参加了为期 9 周的干预研究。研究结果表明，基于短信的教学有效地支持了大学 ELL 对学术词汇的习得；在给定学习者不同的初始词汇水平的情况下，发现了不同的直接和间接学习结果。这些结果通过考虑学习者的初始词汇知识与用于干预的技术支架之间的复杂相互作用，为未来词汇干预的设计提供了见解。