Vocabulary learning has been a challenging task for Iranian EFL learners. Forgetting and inability to use the learnt words productively are their common problems. In order to assist Iranian English teachers and material developers to satisfy the learners' needs, this study put the Involvement Load Hypothesis and the Depth of Processing Hypothesis into practice. The former emphasises the impact of a task's determining factor for vocabulary learning including a combination of need, search, and evaluation of the new words, which is called task involvement load, whereas the latter focuses on the effect of the task type on vocabulary learning. To this end, 39 adult Iranian EFL university students in three groups learnt 10 unfamiliar words via three types of tasks with the same involvement load including reading plus multiple-choice glosses, sentence writing and oral sentence production. Learning and remembering the new words were measured using the immediate and delayed productive and receptive vocabulary tests. The results suggested that, being equal in terms of the involvement load, the writing task resulted in more long-term productive vocabulary learning compared with the reading and speaking tasks. The speaking task was the least effective one regarding its impact on vocabulary learning.

Considering previous studies of the impact of vocabulary preparation before listening comprehension, this research investigated the impact of oral and written pushed output as two types of vocabulary preparation on listening comprehension, active and passive vocabulary learning, and vocabulary learning strategy use. Forty-one female adult Iranian EFL students at intermediate level participated in this study. As a treatment, they received two lists of new words which were learned separately through oral and written pushed output. This was followed by tests of active and passive vocabulary and listening comprehension. They also completed a vocabulary learning questionnaire before and after the treatment to detect any changes due to the treatment. We reached three pairs of scores for each participant including two active and two passive vocabulary test scores and two listening test scores for words treated through oral and written pushed output, separately. Statistical analyses indicated that vocabulary learning through oral pushed output was more effective in promoting listening comprehension and active vocabulary learning than vocabulary learning through written pushed output. Generally, vocabulary leaning through pushed output had a positive significant effect on vocabulary leaning strategy use. However, regarding passive vocabulary learning, the two types of treatment did not make any significant difference.

The Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH) is a framework for designing vocabulary‐learning tasks which was proposed by Batia Laufer and Jan Hulstijn in 2001. It assumes that task effectiveness depends on three components induced by a task: a motivational component (need) and two cognitive components (search and evaluation). The hypothesis has been investigated in numerous studies, which have provided varying degrees of support for it. This article reviews the ILH 20 years after it was first proposed and addresses issues arising from the research. The first category of issues is related to the assumptions of the hypothesis, including uncertainty about the relative weight of the components, lack of evidence regarding the effect of the distribution of the components, and the limited range of scores available to assign to tasks. The second category involves variables affecting the predictive ability of the hypothesis, including time on task, level of proficiency, and frequency of exposure. Two studies, which investigated these issues, are discussed. One of them suggested extending evaluation, clarifying the role of search, and redefining need to solve the issues related to the assumptions. The other revealed the effects of the variables in addition to showing the usefulness of the framework for predicting task effectiveness and the relative weight of the components. Issues that remained unresolved are discussed.

The relationship between components of working memory and receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge was explored. Letter 59 Contribution/ OriginalityThis study is one of very few studies which have investigated the relationship between WM components and vocabulary knowledge by taking into account the distinction between receptive and productive aspects of vocabulary knowledge.

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