What lexical information do L2 learners select in a CALL dictionary and how does it affect word retention?

Abstract

The study investigates a relationship between what is looked up about new words when different kinds of information are available and how well these words are remembered.The dictionary information has been incorporated into a CALL programme which was comprised of a text, highlighted low-frequency words, and access to different lexical information about these words (explanation in English, translation into L1, sound, root, and "extra" information).The subjects were English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university learners in Hong Kong and Israel.The target words examined for incidental learning were 12 low frequency words.Pre-tests showed that they were unfamiliar to most subjects.The subjects were asked to read the text on the screen and understand it so that they could take a comprehension test after reading it.Unknown words could be looked up in the CALL dictionary built into the programme.During the task, log files registered every selection of dictionary information.After task completion, subjects were unexpectedly tested on meaning recall of the target words.Recall data were analysed (ANOVAs, repeated measures, and correlations) to establish possible connections between retention and lookup behaviour (type of information selected, and number of lookups for each word).Results suggest that different people have different lookup preferences and that the use of multiple dictionary information seems to reinforce retention.The teaching implication is, therefore, to provide a variety of lookup options catering to different lookup preferences in paper or CALL dictionaries when assigning tasks that involve reading comprehension and understanding of unfamiliar words. BACKGROUNDAttention to the form of input has occupied much of recent SLA research (e.g., Fotos, 1993;Robinson, 1995;Schmidt, 1990Schmidt, , 1993) ) .There is growing research evidence that L2 learning, particularly adult L2 learning, is impossible without attention to input in the sense of "noticing" it.Though attended learning is discussed in literature in relation to syntax, incidental vocabulary learning is no exception to the attention requirement.This may sound paradoxical at first, since incidental learning is sometimes mistakenly assumed to be unattended learning.This is not the position taken in this paper.Incidental vocabulary is learnt as a by-product of another activity, such as reading or communication, without the learner's conscious decision, or intention, to learn the words.For example, during a reading activity, words are looked up in a dictionary in order to understand the text and to perform a comprehension task.Subsequently, some of these words are remembered even though the main task was not a vocabulary task, nor was it the reader's intention to learn the words in the text.Learning was thus incidental, that is, unintentional and as a by-product of another activity.However, it was not unattended.It is indeed highly debatable whether words which are not noticed in the input can be learnt.