Combined and Differential Effects of Top-down and Bottom-up Reading Processes on Target Vocabulary Learning and Retention by EFL Learners

Kakvand, Rokhsareh; Aliasin, Seyed Hesamuddin; Mohammadi, Elham

doi:10.1080/02702711.2022.2115730

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…In summary, when learners need to comprehend word meanings by viewing provided contextual clues, they focus on the learning content in videos and exhibit higher sensory engagement in lexical knowledge. The greater focus on external input information likely results from the receptive task of viewing presented contexts, promoting learners to attach great importance to all lexical knowledge from videos through a bottom-up mechanism (Kakvand et al, 2022). Intriguingly, in the present study, learners with higher attentional engagement to instructional videos yielded worse vocabulary acquisition compared to those whose attention to videos seems lower.…”

Section: 3mentioning

confidence: 41%

The impact of internal-generated contextual clues on EFL vocabulary learning: insights from EEG

Zhou,

2024

Front. Psychol.

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With the popularity of learning vocabulary online among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners today, educators and researchers have been considering ways to enhance the effectiveness of this approach. Prior research has underscored the significance of contextual clues in vocabulary acquisition. However, few studies have compared the context provided by instructional materials and that generated by learners themselves. Hence, this present study sought to explore the impact of internal-generated contextual clues in comparison to those provided by instructional materials on EFL learners’ online vocabulary acquisition. A total of 26 university students were enrolled and underwent electroencephalography (EEG). Based on a within-subjects design, all participants learned two groups of vocabulary words through a series of video clips under two conditions: one where the contexts were externally provided and the other where participants themselves generated the contexts. In this regard, participants were tasked with either viewing contextual clues presented on the screen or creating their own contextual clues for word comprehension. EEG signals were recorded during the learning process to explore neural activities, and post-tests were conducted to assess learning performance after each vocabulary learning session. Our behavioral results indicated that comprehending words with internal-generated contextual clues resulted in superior learning performance compared to using context provided by instructional materials. Furthermore, EEG data revealed that learners expended greater cognitive resources and mental effort in semantically integrating the meaning of words when they self-created contextual clues, as evidenced by stronger alpha and beta-band oscillations. Moreover, the stronger alpha-band oscillations and lower inter-subject correlation (ISC) among learners suggested that the generative task of creating context enhanced their top-down attentional control mechanisms and selective visual processing when learning vocabulary from videos. These findings underscored the positive effects of internal-generated contextual clues, indicating that instructors should encourage learners to construct their own contexts in online EFL vocabulary instruction rather than providing pre-defined contexts. Future research should aim to explore the limits and conditions of employing these two types of contextual clues in online EFL vocabulary learning. This could be achieved by manipulating the quality and understandability of contexts and considering learners’ language proficiency levels.

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Section: 3mentioning

confidence: 41%

The impact of internal-generated contextual clues on EFL vocabulary learning: insights from EEG

Zhou,

2024

Front. Psychol.

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“…The famous ones, which have recently been presented and investigated by EFL practitioners with aiming to varied research objectives, belong to bottom-up and topdown models (e.g. Kakvand, Aliasin, & Mohammadi, 2022;Soomro, Khan, & Younus, 2019;Suraprajit, 2019;Yang, Tsai, & Hikaru, 2019), extensive reading (e.g. Park, 2015;Suk, 2016;Wanzek, et al;2013;Yamashita, 2013), a concept referred to as pleasure reading (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elements of critical reading in EFL teachers’ instructions

Ilyas

2023

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Reading instructions should go a bit beyond ‘explicit question’ to facilitate students’ critical thinking. What it means by ‘explicit question’ is question whose answer can be found in the text explicitly. This research, therefore, aimed to investigate EFL teachers’ reading instructions to find out to what extend the instructions contained the elements of critical reading. Twenty-seven EFL teachers participated by listing all the activities they had given to students throughout their teaching career. All the activities were collected, and similar activities were combined. There were a total of ninety-nine instructions. The activities were then compared to critical reading framework to find out which elements they belonged to. Findings showed that teachers’ reading instructions only belonged to such categories as identifying, analyzing, summarizing, and guessing. Aside from that, the instructions for the four categories were the same. It appeared that EFL teachers lacked creativity and innovative ideas. There were still elements or categories of critical reading that had not yet been utilized or explored. These findings prompted the inclusion of critical reading instruction design skills in teacher education. After all, critical thinking has long been emphasized in national education as a means of developing responsible citizens and avoiding becoming a victim of false information.

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Combined and Differential Effects of Top-down and Bottom-up Reading Processes on Target Vocabulary Learning and Retention by EFL Learners

Cited by 2 publications

References 35 publications

The impact of internal-generated contextual clues on EFL vocabulary learning: insights from EEG

The impact of internal-generated contextual clues on EFL vocabulary learning: insights from EEG

Elements of critical reading in EFL teachers’ instructions

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