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Effects of Task Involvement Load on L2 Vocabulary Acquisition and Their Association with Language Aptitude

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Abstract

Vocabulary acquisition is a central component of second language learning. While there have been advancements in our understanding of the factors contributing to vocabulary acquisition in L2 students, it is still unclear how language aptitude is associated with the effects of task involvement load in this process. This study investigates the effects of task involvement load on incidental vocabulary learning and their association with language aptitude. One hundred and forty-four participants were assigned to five groups. All groups finished reading a passage and completed tasks that had different involvement loads. A pretest and two posttests adapted from Paribakht and Wesche’s (TESOL Can J 11:9–29, 1993) Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) were employed to assess learners’ development of the target vocabulary items. The LLAMA test (Meara, in: In_lognostics, Retrieved from February 14, 2017, from https://www.lognostics.co.uk/tools/llama, 2005) was administered to measure participants’ language aptitude. We found that, in the immediate posttest, the Gap-fill (with search) group showed superiority over the Reading (no need) and Reading (with need) groups, while the Sentence-writing group significantly outperformed the other four groups. In the delayed posttest, both the Gap-fill (with search) group and the Sentence-writing group significantly outperformed the other three groups. Our study also reveals a moderate correlation between language aptitude and vocabulary learning.

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Notes

  1. It can be referred to at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesh-Kincaid_readability_tests.

  2. These words were examined via https://www4.caes.hku.hk/vocabulary/profile.htm.

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Acknowledgements

This study is funded by the Ministry of Education in China (MOE) Project of Humanities and Social Sciences Research [grant No. 20YJA740052]. The authors would like to thank Dr. Alex Sheftel for proofreading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of International Studies, University of International Business and Economics, Room 1327, Chengxin Building, No. 10, Huixin Dongjie, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029, China

    Yingli Yang

  2. The Department of Basic Education, Wuxi Vocational Institute of Commerce, Room 408, No. 1 Teaching Building, No. 809, Qianhu Rd., Wuxi, 214153, Jiangsu, China

    Xiaofang Cao

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  1. Yingli Yang
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Correspondence to Yingli Yang.

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Yang, Y., Cao, X. Effects of Task Involvement Load on L2 Vocabulary Acquisition and Their Association with Language Aptitude. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 30, 421–430 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-020-00528-8

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