论文总字数：42047字

摘 要

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Need for the study 1

1.2 Research purpose 1

2. Literature review 3

2.1 Intentional and incidental vocabulary learning 3

2.2 Research on the effects of different annotation types on L2 vocabulary acquisition 4

2.3 Limitations in the previous studies 7

3. Methodology 8

3.1 Research questions 8

3.2 Experimental design 8

3.3 Subjects 8

3.4 Mode of annotations as the independent variable 9

3.5 Reading materials and target words 9

3.6 General procedures 9

3.7 Scoring methods 10

3.8 Data analysis 11

4. Results and discussion 12

4.1 Results 12

4.1.1 Independent samples t-test for L2 receptive vocabulary knowledge 12

4.1.2 Independent samples t-test for L2 productive vocabulary knowledge 13

4.2 Discussion 14

5．Conclusion 17

5.1 Major findings of the study 17

5.2 Implications 17

5.2.1 Theoretical implications 18

5.2.2 Pedagogical implications 18

5.3 Limitations and suggestions for future research 18

References 21

Acknowledgements

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to those who have helped me a lot with my BA thesis writing. Without their help, completion of this thesis would have been impossible.

My deepest gratitude goes to my supervisor, Mr. Bao Gui, for his painstaking effort in guiding me through the various stages of writing this paper. During my working on the paper, he helped me with choosing the topic, collecting the samples, and accessing the software for treating the data. His profound insights broadened my horizon in linguistic studies. The work would not have been possible without his patient guidance, continuous encouragement and generous support.

I would like to thank all the other teachers for their enlightenment, knowledge, encouragement and help throughout my undergraduate study at Nanjing Tech University.

Special thanks go to my dear friends and fellow students, who have accompanied me throughout the four years at the university.

Last but not least, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my parents and for their love and support all these years.

Shan Ting

Abstract

This study investigates how different modes of annotation affect EFL learners’ vocabulary acquisition. To be specific, this study will address the following two questions:

1. How do different modes of annotation affect EFL learners’ receptive vocabulary knowledge of the target words?

2. How do different modes of annotation affect EFL learners’ productive vocabulary knowledge of the target words?

51 juniors of English major from Nanjing Tech University were randomly assigned to one of the two groups. They were asked to read the same passage involving the target words and answer reading comprehension questions within 20 minutes. Then, they finished a new words test within 10 minutes. Group one consisted of 26 students who received English annotations of the target new words. Group two consisted of 25 students who received Chinese annotations of the target new words. All of 51 subjects took the vocabulary level test.

From the analyses of the data, the following conclusions have been reached. There is a significant effect of mode of annotations on both L2 receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge (receptive: t = -2.14, p = .04 lt; .05; productive: t = -2.20, p = .03 lt; .05).

The current study has significant implications. The results of this study also provide a good way for L2 teachers to find a more effective manner of vocabulary teaching. Mode of annotations is found quite useful in this study, especially the English-Chinese dictionary that makes full use of L2 learners` L1 to strengthen the connection of form-meaning. As a result, during the process of incidental vocabulary learning, L2 learners need to be given enough time and encouragement to consult their dictionaries at their disposal whenever needed.

Key words: mode of annotations; L2 vocabulary acquisition; reading

中文摘要

本文旨在研究不同的生词释义方式对外语学习者词汇习得的影响。本研究具体解决一下两个问题：

1. 不同生词释义方式如何影响二语学习者目标词的接受性词汇知识？

2. 不同生词释义方式如何影响二语学习者目标词的产出性词汇知识？

本研究所研究的对象是南京工业大学英语专业的51名大三学生。他们被随机分为两组，20分钟内阅读完同一篇含有目标词的文章并阅读理解题。然后，在10分钟内完成生词测试。第一组26个学生阅读的文章中目标词使用英英词典注解，第二组25个学生阅读的文章中目标词使用英汉词典注解。

从数据分析可以得出结论。释义方式对二语词汇接受性和产出性知识的习得均有显著主效应（接受性：t = -2.14, p = .04 lt; .05; 产出性: t = -2.20, p = .03 lt; .05）

根据以上结论，此研究有如下启示。本研究结果给二语教师寻找有效的二语词汇教学方式提供很好的参考意见。在本研究中释义方式的发现是相当有用的，尤其是英汉词典充分利用二语学习者的母语来加强形式意义的联系。因此，在二语学习者词汇附带学习过程中，英语学习者需要被给与足够的时间和鼓励去翻阅他们手头的字典在他们需要的任何时间。

关键词： 释义方式 二语词汇习得 阅读

1. Introduction

Vocabulary is the elementary component of any language. It is principal to language and very importance to language learners. It is important to language learning and to language learners. In the whole English learning process, vocabulary learning plays a vital role. So far, much research has been done on L2 vocabulary acquisition (Webb, S. 2005; Bao Gui. 2013). This study is aimed to investigate how different modes of annotation affect EFL learners’ vocabulary acquisition.

1.1 Need for the study

With the increasing importance of vocabulary knowledge in L2 communication, it is necessary to find out effective vocabulary learning methods. The motivation of this study is which mode of annotation, for example, the use of an English-English dictionary to consult a new word or the use of an English-Chinese dictionary to consult a new word, is more conducive to L2 vocabulary acquisition. Instructors and learners have attempted to find out ways in which instructional programs might furthest promote the vocabulary acquisition. It would have practical consequences to research which modes of annotation have a high effect on EFL learners` vocabulary acquisition.

In recent years, the study of second language vocabulary acquisition has become an increasingly topic of discussion for researchers, theorists, teachers, curriculum designers, and others involved in foreign language learning (Coady, 1997; Laufer, 2002). However little has been done on the effect of mode of annotation on EFL learners` vocabulary acquisition. Therefore, this study is conducted to make a comparision of English annotations and Chinese annotations, in order to see what kind of annotations were more effective to EFL learners’ vocabulary acquisition.

1.2 Research purpose

In order to provide a more overall and comprehensive view of the construct--vocabulary acquisition, this study focuses on both L2 receptive and productive vocabulary acquisition. The purpose of the study is to investigate what kind of annotations, including Chinese annotations and English annotations, are more beneficial to L2 learners` vocabulary acquisition. Thus the problem which type of annotation is the best one for students` vocabulary learning is expected to be solved.

2. Literature review

2.1 Intentional and incidental vocabulary learning

Vocabulary can be learned in two ways: intentional learning and incidental learning. Since the early 20^th century, the terms of incidental and intentional learning have been widely used in the psychological literature and applied linguistics. Incidental vocabulary learning first appeared in the research review of psychology in the early 20^th century. Later, based on research into how children learn vocabulary in their native language, incidental vocabulary learning was put forward by Nagy and Herman (1985). They proposed that the most of vocabulary words were learned gradually through repeated exposures in different contexts. Consequently, Nagy and Herman (1987) argued that teachers should facilitate a broad reading because it could lead to greater vocabulary increase than any program of explicit instruction alone ever could.

As mentioned previous, intentional vocabulary learning is a process in which students acquires vocabulary by some intentional ways, such as remembering word list, doing vocabulary exercises. In contrast, incidental vocabulary learning is not merely focus on remembering list of words, it is the process of reading or listening for comprehensive (Hulstijn, Hollander amp; Greidanus, 1996). Many researchers as Hatch amp; Brown (1995), Nation (2001), Laufer (2003), and Mondria (2003) all consented this definition, that was, intentional vocabulary learning was intended learning of vocabulary, incidental vocabulary learning is , learned as a by-product of another activity, without the learner`s conscious decision, or intention, to study the words.

It is obviously differences between in incidental and intentional learning in operational terms, “incidental and intentional learning can be distinguished in the terms of the use of pre-learning instructions that do, or do not, forewarn subjects about the existence of a subsequent retention test” (Eysenck, 1982, p198). According to Laufer and Hulstijn (2001, p10), the studies on first and second/foreign experimental literature,

two basic experimental methods were used to do the research on incidental learning and intentional learning.

2.2 Research on the effects of different annotation types on L2 vocabulary acquisition

Vocabulary annotation is a type of input modification. It is used to improve text comprehension and vocabulary learning. It is known that reading passages in many second texts have vocabulary annotations. Nation (1983) defined a vocabulary annotation as a short definition of the word.

There have been few researches investigating whether vocabulary annotation aided vocabulary learning. Jacobs, Dufon and Hong (1994) carried out a study on eighty-five native speakers of English studying Spanish at the university level. Students were required to read a Spanish 613-word text contained 32 target words under one of three conditions: no annotations, English annotations, or Spanish annotations, and research showed that Spanish annotations condition performed obviously better than those under no annotations condition in the vocabulary immediate posttests, but not in a vocabulary deferred posttests.

Hulstijn, Hollander, and Greidanus (1996) searched incidental vocabulary learning in some Dutch advanced students of French. Those students read an adapted French text contained 1306 words in which 16 target words were under one of three conditions: marginal annotations, dictionary use, or control, the control group was not given marginal annotations, nor did they have a dictionary. The results showed that marginal annotations had the highest scores, and the control group had a higher score than the dictionary group.

Chun and Plass (1996) used computer-aided instruction to do an experiment on 103 students in their second year of German at an American university. They provided 762 words text annotations for 82 words and retrievable by clicking on the word on the computer. These words were annotated in English and a sentence containing the word, some also had a still picture, and some had a video. 36 target words were separated into three groups under one of three conditions: text, text plus picture, text plus video. They found that text-plus-picture performed significantly better than the other two conditions. Similar results were found in Kang`s study (1995)

Kost, Foss amp; Lenzini (1999) studied the effect of three annotations conditions on the second language vocabulary growth of English speaking students enrolled in second semester German course at Purdue University. It supported the use of visuals and textual annotation for effective incidental vocabulary learning of readers. Three annotations conditions were studied. Condition 1 was English translations in the marginal annotation. Condition 2 was pictures in the marginal annotation, and Condition 3 was English translations and pictures in the marginal annotation. Twenty words were annotated, of which fourteen were the targeted words. The material was a passage form a German language text modified to 272 words and to be manageable for second semester learners. The words were chosen for annotation based on their contribution to the lexical development of everyday German Language. The results of the study supported the hypothesis, readers exposed to text plus picture marginal annotation would perform better on short-term vocabulary memory than readers exposed to only one of the other two conditions. This study supported the effectiveness of marginal annotation using both text and pictures on reader`s vocabulary growth. The reason was that lexical items are more concrete at the beginning levels of secondary language acquisition, perhaps pictorial annotation might be most appropriate for beginning readers. The use of this technique for more proficient readers was recommended as well. Recognizing the pictures would be more complicated and perhaps more ambiguous given the increasingly abstract nature of lower frequency English words. Kost et al. (1999) recommend that future research should investigate using this study with larger pools of subjects to improve generality. Various second proficiency levels should be examined, and the effects of more or less ambiguous pictures on vocabulary growth and retention could be investigated.

Hulstijn (1992) examined the relative effectiveness of a multiple-choice approach (providing a correct synonym and three distracts for each target word in Dutch) and a single-synonym approach (providing a correct synonym only) in a within-subject design. The experiment showed a higher retention effect for the multiple-choice procedure than for the single-synonym procedure on the post-test, which contradicted the results of Watababe`s study (1997). However, Hulstijn warned a high probability of inferring an wrong alternative in the multiple-choice approach (i.e, 30% of the responses were) incorrect in the multiple-choice group. He advised that for reading second language texts at home (unguided second learning), the classical “closed”(annotating) procedures, such as providing a synonym or translation, seemed to compose safer cue procedures than “open”(inferring) procedures, such as multiple-choice questions. Because the former avoided the possibility of mistaken inferences that went uncorrected.

Studies have also indicated that the effectiveness of marginal paper annotation was vastly reinforced with the ease and efficiency of meaning searching and the computerized could offer greater diversity of annotation types (Chun amp; Plass, 1996; Davis, 1989; Hulstijn, et al., 1996). The innovative potential of incorporating multimedia effects such as sounds, led researchers into the annotation, and found that pictures, animated pictures, or videos into direction of investigating specific mode of annotations, especially, that study had received ample positive results from empirical studies (Chun amp; Plass, 1996; Kost et al. 1999; Yoshii amp; Flaitz, 2002). Chun and Plass (1996) and examined a kinds of annotations for individual words in the type of text, graphic, video, and sound with 103 university students learning German. The results demonstrated approximately a quarter of the new words learned by the subjects, with the participants in the text-plus-picture condition had a significantly higher score than those in other conditions.

From the studies above, the significant effect of dictionary use on L2 vocabulary acquisition was efficiently confirmed and the advantage of bilingual dictionary information over the L2 definition only was indirectly implied. But few researches attempted to investigate different effects of different mode of annotations on facilitating L2 vocabulary acquisition, indeed leaving the related research on the combine effect of mode of annotation and involvement load in darkness.

2.3 Limitations in the previous studies

Reviewing the above-mentioned studies on the effect of mode of annotations on vocabulary acquisition, we can find some limitations of the previous studies.

Firstly, some results were contradictory. Some of the studies (e.g., Jacob, Dufon amp; Hong, 1994) indicated that vocabulary annotation resulted in significant vocabulary gains on vocabulary immediate posttests than no annotations on vocabulary delayed posttests. However, some studies (e.g., Watanabe, 1992; Duan Shiping, Yan Chensong, 2004) showed that multiple-choice annotation group performed significantly better than single annotation group, and single annotation group performed significantly better than no annotation group on both vocabulary immediate and delayed posttests; on the other hand, other studies (e.g., Nagata, 1999) indicated that multiple-choice annotation group, but there was no significant difference between the two groups in vocabulary delayed posttests. And Lv and Yao` study (Lv Hongmei, Yao Meilin, 2005) showed that Chinese annotations and English annotations had different influences on the acquisition of vocabulary in terms of varying learning levels and processes; different influences were also found under the conditions of different orders of annotation presentation. The above different results could not give us an imply, which way of annotation is effective for the learners to consult when using annotation as a way of promoting vocabulary learning.

Secondly, the target languages in the majority of the studies investigated are Dutch (Hulstijn, 1992), French (Hulstijn, Hollander amp; Greidanus, 1996), German (Chun amp; Plass, 1996), Japanese (Nagata, 1999), or Spanish (Jacobs, Dufon amp; Hong, 1994) rather than English. Just few studies had been done on English learners (Duan Shiping amp; Yan Chensong, 2004; Wantanabe, 1997; Lv and Yao, 2005). The findings of incidental vocabulary learning through reading in these languages perhaps not is the same for English learning, which constitutes indisputably the primary part of the goal of second education.

3. Methodology

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