1. Reasoning in lexical tasks during reading: Effects on recognition memory and L2 development Ana Martínez-Fernández Department of Spanish and Portuguese Georgetown University TBLT 2009

2. Introduction SLA research on incidental vocabulary learning SLA research on task-based learning Cognitive psychology research on recognition memory L2 development Deep / cognitive processing Task demands Long-term recognition memory?

3. Literature review I The Involvement Load Hypothesis (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001) Tasks inducing higher involvement lead to higher vocabulary retention Need (N) Search(S) Evaluation(E) Conflicting results Hulstijn & Laufer (2001) Martínez-Fernández (2008) Glosses [+N, -S, -E] Fill-in-the-blanks [+N, -S, +E]

4. Literature Review II No control for the distance between the targeted words to fill in the blanks and distracters Hulstijn & Laufer (2001) No process measures to ensure that tasks led to the involvement predicted Martínez-Fernández (2008) Think-aloud protocols No control for reactivity

5. Literature review III The Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2001, 2005, 2007) Task complexity is determined by cognitive factors This prediction has not been tested in the area of incidental vocabulary learning and text comprehension Complex tasks with features that direct the cognitive effort to linguistic forms Noticing and long-term retention [+/- Reasoning]

6. Literature review IV No studies investigating the effects of reasoning on memory Tulving (1983) distinguished two subsystems of recognition memory Studies show that deep processing enhances episodic memory, which may have a positive effect on learning (Gardiner, 2008) Long-term declarative memory Episodic memory Semantic memory Experience of remembering Experience of knowing

7. Research questions Does the extent of reasoning involved in a reading comprehension task plus fill-in task have a differential effect on recognition memory? Does the extent of reasoning involved in a reading comprehension task plus fill-in task have a differential effect on vocabulary development? Does the extent of reasoning involved in a reading comprehension task plus fill-in task have a differential effect on text comprehension?

8. Research Design Independent variables Between-subjects: Extent of reasoning [+R] [-R] Control Within-subject: Time: Immediate posttest, 1-week delayed posttest Type of word: Targeted words, alternate words Dependent variables Recognition memory Vocabulary development: production & recognition Text comprehension: local ideas & global ideas [+R, +TA], [+R, -TA] [-R, +TA], [-R, -TA]

9. Participants 71 English-speaking adults enrolled in college-level second-year Spanish language courses Original pool: N = 147; participants were excluded from the final sample for any of the following reasons: They failed to attend all sessions They did not follow the instructions They had prior knowledge of one or more targeted words They had had outside exposure to the targeted words either between the pretest and the treatment or between the treatment and the delayed posttest

10. Experimental Texts and Items Experimental text Fairy tale in Spanish (El verdadero valor del anillo in Déjame que te cuente, by Jorge Bucay) 646 words Targeted items 12 unfamiliar nouns (after excluding 4) 6 targeted words (3 concrete and 3 abstract) 6 alternate words (3 concrete and 3 abstract)

11. Experimental Task I [+ Reasoning] Participants read a text containing 8 blanks. To fill in each blank they had to choose one of two glossed words. Only one was correct based on specific contextual clues. The man looked into the distance and pointed at (1) ______________ with his hand. You will find him there, he said. When Fernando got there, he saw the wise man standing outside, wearing ripped pants and an old shirt. He looked quite poor. (1) - un cortijo: an estate - una chabola: a shack

12. Experimental Task II [- Reasoning] Participants read the same text and filled in the blanks. One of the two options was clearly incorrect because it had the opposite lexical feature [+/- concrete] to that selected by the previous word. Both tasks were pilot-tested with two native speakers and three students of Spanish The man looked into the distance and pointed at (1) ______________ with his hand. You will find him there, he said. When Fernando got there, he saw the wise man standing outside, wearing ripped pants and an old shirt. He looked quite poor. (1) - la desidia: the apathy - una chabola: a shack

13. Treatment Random assignment to groups [+R, +TA] N = 15 [+R, -TA] N = 16 [-R, +TA] N = 13 [-R, -TA] N = 14 [Control, +TA] N = 13 Oral instructions to think aloud Information about subsequent comprehension questions Time on task was measured but not controlled

14. Assessment Tasks and Procedure I Week 2: Treatment + Immediate Posttest Week 3:Delayed Posttest Multiple-choice meaning recognition test (32 items) Text comprehension test (12 open questions: 6 global and 6 local) Oral + written instructions for the memory judgment task followed by the task Memory judgment task Post-debriefing questionnaire Week 1: Pretest Vocabulary tests (32 items) -Meaning production -Meaning recognition Vocabulary tests - Production - Recognition

15. Assessment Tasks and Procedure II Instructions for the memory judgment task: Definitions and examples 4 participants were asked to think aloud Items: 6 targeted words, 6 alternate words, 6 distractors All tasks were timed Items were presented one by one with a Power Point presentation Participants provided their answers in an answer sheet YES / NO IF YES: R / K / G

16. Analysis and Results One-way ANOVA on time on task: F(4, 71) = 8.698, p =.00 [+TA] groups spent significantly more time on task than [-TA] groups One-way ANOVA on performance on the fill-in task: F(3, 58) = 10.854, p =.00 [-R] groups significantly outperformed [+R] groups Index of performance quality on the remember-know task Hits minus false alarms Reliability of tasks: Cronbachs alpha Text comprehension =.71 Meaning production =.57 Meaning recognition =.39

17. Results: Recognition Memory Data were submitted to 5 x 2 x 3 Repeated measures ANOVA Items Effects Targeted words Alternate words Time.00*.01* Response.00*.20 Group.44.03* Time x Group.66.94 Response by Time.30.14 Response x Group.24.60 Time x Response x Group.02*.73

18. Results: Recognition Memory (Targeted Words) Response by Time for Targeted Words (TW)

19. Results: Recognition Memory (Targeted Words) Response by Group for TW on the immediate posttest Response by Group for TW on the delayed posttest

20. Results: Recognition Memory (Alternate Words) Response by Group for AW on the immediate posttest Response by Group for AW on the delayed posttest

21. Results: Vocabulary Development Tests Effects Meaning production Meaning recognition Time.00* Word type.00*.07 Group.00* Time x Group.00* Time x Word type.01*.20 Word type x Group.04*.14 Time x Word type x Group.00*.31 o Data on vocabulary were submitted to 5 x 2 x 3 Repeated Measures ANOVA

22. Results: Meaning Production (TW)

23. Results: Meaning Production (AW) +R, +TA +R, -TA

24. Results: Meaning Recognition (TW)

25. Results: Meaning Recognition (AW) +R, +TA +R, -TA

26. Results: Text Comprehension I Data on text comprehension were submitted to 5 x 2 Repeated measures ANOVA Tests Effects Text comprehension Idea Type.00* Group.00* Idea Type x Group.00*

27. Results: Text Comprehension II

28. Results: Qualitative Data I [+R] conditions Considered both options given to fill in the blanks Continued reading to find clues in the context, and test their hypotheses I think its un cortijo…[7 lines below] You know what? This man is very poor, he would never have an estate, he has a shack… chabola clumsiness or weakness, both could work [continues reading] Oh, he breaks everything. Hes clumsy, not weak

29. Results: Qualitative Data II [-R] conditions Do not verbalize the alternate words Reasoning refers to common knowledge of the world Control condition Skipped targeted unfamiliar words Commented lack of knowledge Contextual guessing he is pointing at a shack, chabola weakness doesnt make sense, so its gonna be horse, because hes gonna take something and the weakness is not something you can take

30. Results: Qualitative Data III R: I remember because I remember reading it on a side, and also because I wasnt sure if it was pronounced real or rial so I remember thinking about that K: I think it was… I dont remember where but Im pretty sure that it was in there; Yes, I dont remember where I saw it, but I know it was in there G: Its a pure guess, I dont remember that word, period; Yes, I am guessing, maybe when Fernando was in the market

31. Results: Qualitative Data IV Some Know experiences may be interpreted as guessing: I feel like that was in there, I almost think that it was one of the words in the margin but I am not very sure; Yes, but Im guessing Some Remember experiences may be interpreted as knowing: Yes, it was in the text, I remember reading it, I remember being unsure of what it meant, but I cant remember where in the text it was. So I guess I know it was in the text, but I dont remember where

32. Discussion I RQ 1: Effect of [+/-R] on recognition memory Overall, the [+R] groups remembered more TW than the other groups Thinking aloud while performing a complex task may help maintain episodic memories over a period of a week There was a significant decrease of R responses in the [-TA] group on the delayed posttest, and a significant increase of K responses Remember-to-know shift (Knowlton & Squire, 1995; Conway et al., 1997) The [+R] groups remembered significantly more AW than the other groups, and this effect was mantained over a period of a week No reactivity for thinking aloud on immediate or delayed posttests

33. Discussion II RQ 2: Effect of [+/-R] on vocabulary development Only the [+R] groups significantly outperformed the control group, due to their higher performance on AW Even though performance on the fill-in task was significantly lower in the [+R] conditions Cognitive complexity did not affect time on task Thinking aloud and time on task did not affect performance on the posttests Support for previous SLA studies on reactivity (Leow & Morgan- Short, 2004; Bowles & Leow, 2005; Bowles, 2008; Medina, 2008; Yoshida, 2008)

34. Discussion III The [+R] effect was not retained after one week, in contrast to what the Cognition Hypothesis predicts Consistent with incidental vocabulary learning studies (Watanabe, 1997; Bowles, 2004) Studies where multiple encounters with the targeted words are provided show significant differences between task conditions on delayed posttests (Rott, 2005; Martínez-Fernández, 2008) The superiority of [+R] group cannot be explained by the Involvement Load Hypothesis, since both tasks have the same involvement load: [+N, -S, +E]

35. Discussion IV The [+R] groups: Remembered significantly more words, especially alternate words, than the [-R] groups and the control group Produced and recognized the meaning of significantly more words, especially alternate words, than the control group It may be hypothesized that the meaning of those words that received remember responses were produced and recognized to a greater extent than those that received know or guess responses

36. Discussion V RQ 3: Effect of [+/-R] on text comprehension All groups reached high comprehension of global ideas All experimental groups reached significantly higher comprehension of local ideas than the control group Learners can perform this type of dual task (i.e., a lexical task embedded in a reading comprehension task) with different degrees of cognitive complexity, without negatively affecting text comprehension

37. Limitations and future research Increase the validity of the remember-know task Refine vocabulary learning measures Low reliability Refine the design of fill-in tasks Think-aloud protocols showed that not all blanks in the fill-in task led to reasoning and evaluating to the same degree in the complex condition Future studies should Investigate the interaction between cognitive complexity and amount of exposure Compare the effect of fill-in tasks and glosses in reading comprehension tasks, controlling for the effect of cognitive complexity Investigate the role of recognition memory in L2 development Examine the effects of thinking aloud on recognition memory and L2 learning

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40. Thank you!