Learning and Retaining Specialized Vocabulary From Textbook Reading: Comparison of Learning Outcomes Through L1 and L2

Abstract

This study investigated the acquisition of specialized vocabulary from L1 and L2 textbook reading by 64 Slovak high school students who were intermediate or advanced users of English. The students were divided into two groups: One group read the academic texts in their L1, the other group in their L2. In a posttest and a delayed posttest, they were asked to orally recall the meanings of 12 technical words that appeared in the texts. The word meanings recalled by the students immediately after reading and 1 week later were examined in terms of their breadth and depth. Results showed that although the L2-instructed students acquired the meanings of the specialized vocabulary items to a considerable degree, they still differed significantly from their L1-instructed counterparts in several respects: They could recall fewer word meanings after the reading; they acquired the words to a lesser depth; and after a week, their knowledge of the words faded more rapidly than that of the L1-instructed participants. The significance of the findings for L2 vocabulary acquisition and bilingual education is discussed.

Learning technical words through L1 and L2: Completeness and accuracy of word meanings

“…The English and Slovak recordings of the texts were made by a female native speaker of English and a female native speaker of Slovak. The full texts can be seen in Gablasova (2012Gablasova ( , 2014.…”

“…the participant could not recall any information about the TW or gave an incorrect answer) (altogether 222 definitions). Only those answers that showed some evidence of lexical learning were examined further (for the discussion of the number of form-meaning connections formed by each group, see Gablasova, 2012Gablasova, , 2014. The quality of the word meanings provided by the participants was determined with respect to the inclusion of correct and incorrect core and minor meaning components.…”

“…This is due to practical difficulties of directly comparing vocabulary acquisition through L1 and L2 (Gablasova, 2014) mainly caused by two factors: First, most words learned by L2 users are already known to L1 speakers of the same age, making it difficult to compare acquisition of the same set of words. Second, learning through L2 usually involves the mapping of a new L2 word form onto an already existing L1 concept or word (Jiang, 2000) rather than acquiring both a new concept and a new form simultaneously, as is common in L1 learning.…”

Reading and Writing Skills of Scientific Articles for Undergraduate Students: Benefits and Challenges

“…It also has a great position for vocabulary acquisition which means its effectiveness can lead the readers to acquire new vocabulary from context [11], [18], [19]. In another side, its correlation with the topicfamiliarity-based is that the content can be influenced by topic-familiarity and interest because the readers usually gather the content knowledge based on their point of view and attraction [20].…”

“…Using visualizing strategies can develop students' representation of their passage understanding and summarizing strategies can be used to synthesize key ideas of the passage content [8], [9]. Demonstration and opportunities for students to use the strategies with teacher supervision are essential [10], [11].…”