1 Vocabulary acquisition from extensive reading: A case study Maria Pigada and Norbert Schmitt ( 2006)

2 A number of studies have shown: L2 learners acquire a small amount of vocabulary through reading, by measuring only the acquisition of meaning and not learning of words. This case study explores: extensive reading can enhance lexical knowledge Extensive reading enhances knowledge of the target words’ spelling, meaning and grammatical characteristics How vocabulary acquisition varies according to how often words are encountered in the text

3 Results: you will know them later… Introduction: The process of incidental vocabulary acquisition is not yet understood. According to findings Learners can acquire vocabulary through reading Incidental vocabulary acquisition is a time- consuming and unpredictable process

4 So: this study came to…. Investigate the relationship between incidental vocabulary acquisition and extensive reading with a particular focus on the number of times a word occurs in the text. Examine the effects of text frequency on the acquisition of word meaning, spelling, and grammatical behavior

5 Benefits and limitation of extensive reading for vocabulary learning : Benefits: 1) Pedagogically efficient 2) Two activities: Vocabulary Acquisition + reading 3) Pleasant and motivating 4) Increases Sight vocabulary 5) Theoretically result in substantial vocabulary learning 6) Opportunity to meet words in their context of use.

6 Limitations!!!!!!! 1) A little evidence of the substantial incidental L2 learning 2) Reading for meaning doesn’t lead to the acquisition of vocabulary 3) A distinction between guessing meaning from context and retaining that meaning 4)Richness of information can result while ignoring the target words 5) Is vocabulary learning from reading really incidental

7 Studies on vocabulary growth… Horst (2005): Incidental vocabulary acquisition research: Verified : exposure to reading texts can contribute to L2+L1 vocabulary growth. ( but in a small amount ). Saragi et al (1978) found: “ repetition affects learning but it is related to some other factors”. Limitations: 1) measuring instruments not sensitive. 2) the test was taken right after the reading. 3) the text might not have been interesting or motivating. 4) they did not adequately control text difficulty.

8 Extensive reading research: Investigated : contribution of graded readers to vocabulary learning by examining word frequency. Finding: 1) Graded readers can be an important source of vocabulary learning for second language learners if used appropriately.” 2) gains in vocabulary using either direct or indirect measures of vocabulary. 3) each learner seems to encounter some sets of words that just will not be remembered.

9 Rational for the research design: This study will involve a one- month period of extensive reading in a language other than English. It will cover a high number of target words (133). It will include measurement procedures that are sensitive to knowledge of words. It focuses on three word knowledge : form ( spelling), meaning ( form- meaning relationship) and use ( grammatical functions). It will employ multiple tests of word knowledge to determine the vocabulary benefits which a learner of French derives from a period of extensive reading.

10 The focused questions: 1) Does extensive reading lead to increased word knowledge, in terms of spelling, meaning and grammatical behavior of words? 2) Are these three aspects equally affected to extensive reading? 3) Are words that occur more frequently in the texts more affected in these three aspects of word knowledge?

11 Methodology: * Simplified materials were preferred instead of authentic ones. Graded readers were used, Level 1 is the first out of 4 Levels and the level of the readers was selected considering the participant’s level in French. *Participant: “ G” was a 27 year old learner of French. His mother tongue is Greek, He speaks fluent English as a second lg.

12 *Words: The target words consisted of 70 nouns and 63 verbs (133 words in total). Both word groups were tested on meaning, spelling and grammatical behavior. For nouns, the grammatical behavior was defined as the articles that are used with specific nouns. For verbs, grammatical behavior involved the prepositions that follow the verb. The target words organized into 6 sub groups according to the number of encounters that the participant had with each word.

13 Tests: 2 tests were taken in 2 different days. *The spellings test: the words were read loudly by the researcher and he had to write them down. *The meaning and grammar tests: were conducted simultaneously, first he was given a list of all verbs and he was asked to report on any kind of knowledge he had about “meaning” and at the same time he was asked to report any of the prepositions that could follow specific words. Marking: 2 points for full correct answer- 0 for incorrect one.

14 Results: The results show that substantial learning of the target words occurred during the extensive reading treatment, although this was not uniform across the 3 types of word knowledge. For spelling there was relatively strong enhancement, with improvement in all noun frequency groups. For meaning, there was also improvement similarly, there was improvement in all frequency groups in the grammatical mastery of nouns.

15 Results: They looked at the 133 target words individually and found that: (49.6%) were enhanced in one type of word knowledge (9.8%) in 2 types (6.9%) in all 3 types of words knowledge. This indicates that there is more lexical learning occurring during reading.

16 Discussion Previous studies into incidental vocabulary acquisition from reading have shown relatively small amounts of learning (one word in twelve ) or ( one in five). While: This study found that about two thirds of the target words tested were enhanced in at least one third word knowledge aspects. It is important to say that the target words were not necessarily fully mastered. But, if we say that vocabulary acquisition is incremental and any movement towards mastery is beneficial, then we can answer the first research question that extensive reading can lead to the enhancement of knowledge about the spelling, meaning and grammatical behavior of words in the text.

17 The second research question asked: whether the three word knowledge aspects were equally affected by extensive reading. Results : * Extensive reading can be very beneficial for spelling competence of learners. The researchers say that this happened as a result of presenting the words to the participant in a decotextualized manner. Therefore G showed an enhancement in spelling, knowledge of prepositions accompany particular nouns.

18 The third research question which asked about: The relation between frequency and the enhancement of spelling meaning and grammatical behavior. We’ve mentioned before that meaning was less affected by frequency than spelling.For example single encounters produced hardly any learning of meaning, while in the case of grammar there was steady increase of learning along the frequency scale. * Two explanations for why higher frequency words did not have greater chances of being learned : 1) G had partial knowledge of some of these words and as a result there was less room for improvement. 2) Some of the low frequency words were easier for G for a number of reasons such as morphology,context in which the word was encountered.

19 In a closer look the researchers mentioned that in the post test interview G did not use a dictionary, he also did not report about a specific strategy in order to learn them, this proves the idea that guessing a word meaning does not lead to word retention. Pigada and Schmitt showed that one of the limitations of their study was that G is considered to be highly motivated learner SO, what about less capable readers ? They also add that this study can be compared with other studies which focus on spelling. However its results cannot be directly comparable to most previous studies which focused on meaning.

20 To conclude: Incidental vocabulary acquisition occurs through extensive reading and it should be followed up with intentional learning as many researchers recommend. This study seems to show that a capable learner can substantially increase his or her vocabulary knowledge through extensive reading.

21 Reflection: As teachers we always try to implement the extensive reading program with our students to enhance something from it’s benefits. Such benefits can be checked in a regular lesson by exposing the learners to a new text or when they are asked to express something in written presentations. This study suggests that students do not necessarily acquire all the aspects of the new vocabulary in other words we can find that the words they know are not fully mastered by our students.

22 We also recommend to start the extensive reading program in early ages. Even if we as teachers face many difficulties in this specific program it is still very beneficial for student who learn English as a foreign language, this article comes to reinforce the importance of the goals of extensive reading program. In somehow, the extensive reading program could be considered as a useful tool for acquiring knowledge, especially with professional learners. So It’s not a bad idea to apply it in the field. Thank you…….