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1、The Effect of Task-based Reading on English Vocabulary Acquisition by Middle School StudentsChapter 1 Introduction1.1 Necessity of the ResearchJust as Wilkins (1972) states that “while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. McCarthy (1990) asserts t
2、hat “no matter how well the students learns grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wider range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way”. Although vocabulary is unarguably central to language acquisition and u
3、se, vocabulary instruction has not been a priority in SLA research. Vocabulary plays an important role in English study for middle school students, but theres no conclusive way to the effective learning and teaching of L2 vocabulary. Some experts point out that there still remains an enormous amount
4、 of research to be down in the area. It is undeniable that students can acquire lots of mother tongue vocabulary during reading in L1 environment. But English is a foreign language for Chinese middle school students; they have little chance to use English vocabulary in their daily life. So the mecha
5、nical memorization of the words becomes a typical way of second language acquisition. Under the influence of the theory that most vocabulary should be acquired in the context, many researches have been made in different levels, among which the effect of task-based language teaching on English vocabu
6、lary acquisition arouses widely concern.1.2 Feasibility of the ResearchThe relative neglect of studies on vocabulary acquisition in SLA has often been commented on within the fields of language teaching. Richards was one of the first scholars to alert us to the fact that vocabulary is typically negl
7、ected in second language instruction. Fortunately, since the mid-1980s, more researches are focused on vocabulary in second language learning. However some related researches have also showed the limitation of vocabulary acquisition through natural reading. For instances, the results of a study made
8、 by Hermanetal shows that the rate that learners can acquire vocabulary through context is as low as 5%. Swanbone and Glopper considered that the chance for getting vocabulary in natural reading is only 6%. In order to make up for all these limitations, lots of researches explore the effective way t
9、o improve vocabulary acquisition during reading. Inspired by the information-processing model for investing SLA, the researcher believes that instructional intervention in the form of input enhancement and output tasks in reading activities may facilitate the learning of vocabulary. And it is found
10、that students can acquire much more vocabulary while they are doing some tasks while reading. Since task-based reading has become a popular way for English vocabulary acquisition among middle school students. The present paper attempts to explore the experimental research in school.1.3 Purpose of th
11、e ResearchThe purpose of this experimental study is to examine the effect of task-based reading on vocabulary acquisition by middle school students. According to the Senior English Curriculum Standard, students may need to learn 3300 words as well as 360 useful expressions during six years study in
12、middle school. And how to enlarge middle school students vocabulary is becoming more and more urgent. Although reading can serve as comprehensible input for acquiring new words, studies have shown that reading alone does not adequately facilitate the vocabulary acquisition. Reading with related task
13、s proved more efficient for retention of vocabulary word than reading only. Considering the great pedagogical significance of the Involvement Load Hypothesis and the lack of experimental study on this issue, my study is based on the Involvement Load Hypothesis for L2 vocabulary learning proposed by
14、Laufer & Hulstijn(2001), who argue that the greater the involvement load, the better the retention. Since task-based language teaching has already widely adopted in middle school classroom, it is necessary to find out whether it can help students acquire more vocabulary. In order to find out more in
15、formation about how to improve students vocabulary through reading, and how can task-based reading have a greater influence on vocabulary acquisition. Since most learners pay attention to understanding the articles in reading, they often neglect the unfamiliar words occurring in the articles. In ord
16、er to focus the learners attention on these unknown words and to process these words from different levels, it is necessary to assign or select the task mentioning the unknown words. This research focuses on middle school students L2 vocabulary acquisition which may offer some advice in their daily
17、learning.Chapter 2 Literature Review2.1 English Vocabulary AcquisitionBased on Nations view, direct vocabulary acquisition means learners do exercises and activities that focus their attention on vocabulary; indirect vocabulary acquisition means learners attention is focused on some other features,
18、usually the message that is conveyed by a speaker or writer. With regard to vocabulary acquisition, intentional acquisition refers to any activity aimed at deliberately committing lexical information to memory and keeping that information readily accessible. Incidental acquisition, in contrast, is g
19、enerally defined as the learning of vocabulary as by-product of reading and listening activities not explicitly geared to vocabulary learning (Hulstijn 258). Traditional teaching methods lay an emphasis on direct, intentional acquisition, while modern communicative teaching methods put emphasis on i
20、ndirect, incidental acquisition. However it is agreed there are more chances for indirect, incidental acquisition to occur than direct, intentional vocabulary acquisition and most words are acquired by L2 learners indirectly and incidentally. In the process of English leaning, vocabulary acquisition
21、 can be both incidental and intentional. Vocabulary acquisition can also be implicit as well as explicit. Ellis claims that the perceptual aspects of new words, i.e. their phonetic and phonological features, are learned implicitly as a result of frequent exposure. However, the meaning of words is le
22、arned explicitly, requiring the conscious processing at semantic and conceptual levels and the attention to the form-meaning connections. But implicit acquisition can be incidental only (i.e. without learners awareness of an upcoming test, or without learners deliberate decision to commit informatio
23、n to memory). And explicit acquisition can occur both intentionally and incidentally. Thus we have three kinds of combinations concerning these two pairs of constructs: implicit incidental vocabulary, explicit incidental vocabulary acquisition and explicit intentional vocabulary acquisition. Involve
24、ment Load Hypothesis to be tested and discussed in the present thesis belongs to the category of explicit incidental vocabulary acquisition and learners attention to the unfamiliar words is absolutely necessary. 2.2 Task-based ReadingA reading task is a piece of work based on reading materials and r
25、eading comprehension. Students do different kinds of activities by using what they are learning. By doing so, students understand the text, learn and use the new expressions and try to improve their comprehensive ability to use English in real life. For a task, meaning is primary and in most cases t
26、here is a communicative problem to be solved. And the tasks are often related to the real life. Nunan suggests that tasks will have six components. They are goals, input, activities, teacher role, student role and settings. In contrast to natural reading, task-based reading is a type of reading whic
27、h requires readers to achieve some language targets while reading. It is a kind of reading through which some tasks are designed in advance. The American linguist David Nunan is the represent of task-based language teaching. In his masterpiece “Designing Tasks for Communicative Classroom” Nunan gave
28、 a definition about task that is all kinds of learning activities used by students to understand dispose output and communicate in the target language. Nunan also classify tasks into two types: real-world tasks and pedagogic tasks. According to Krashens Input Hypothesis, human beings acquire languag
29、es in only one way-by understanding messages, or by receiving “comprehensible input”. And reading can provide comprehensible input. Krashen & Terrell point out that comprehensible input achieved through reading provides language learners with repeated exposure to words. Krashen also states that mass
30、ive reading alone can serve as sufficient comprehensible input for acquiring new words. Based on his input hypothesis, he claims that vocabulary can be learned as a by-product of reading. Therefore, it is recommended that second language learners should be exposed to meaningful and interesting readi
31、ng materials. In middle school English class, task-based reading is becoming a major teaching method used by teachers. Varies kinds of tasks are designed to improve students reading ability as well as second language learning.Reading with related tasks proved more efficient for vocabulary acquisitio
32、n than reading only. Since vocabulary and reading comprehension interact with each other. Vocabulary is regarded as the most influential factors in reading comprehension; meanwhile students vocabulary will increase during reading process. Reading is the most common approach in learning vocabulary. M
33、any researchers have studied the relationship between task-based reading and L2 vocabulary acquisition. For example, N.Ellis (238) discussed the way in which learners process material influences incidental learning. They suggested that incidental acquisition can result from task demands which cause
34、learners focus attention on specific features of input which are crucial for learning. Joe examined the effects of text-based tasks and background knowledge on incidental vocabulary acquisition. She found that the task demands led to a significantly higher level of incidental vocabulary learning. Si
35、nce task-based reading requires readers to finish some tasks after reading, they must pay more attention to the reading material and focus on the certain information. It differs from the natural reading when they only need to know the main idea of the passage.2.3 Involvement Load HypothesisThe Invol
36、vement Load Hypothesis proposed by Laufer & Hulstijn (2001) has provided an integrated framework for investing the effects of task features on incidental vocabulary learning. It focuses on two models: depth of processing hypothesis and motivation. According to the studies of Laufer & Hulstijn the gr
37、eater the involvement load, the better the retention, they hold the view that we could compare vocabulary retention along two dimensions: varying task involvement loads and the number of exposures to the investigated words. In ILH, there are three basic components: need, search and evaluation, Need
38、is the motivational dimension of involvement components. Search is the cognitive dimension of involvement components; it refers to the attempt to find the meaning of an unfamiliar L2 word. Evaluation is also the cognitive dimension of involvement components; it refers to comparing a specific meaning
39、 of some word with its other meaning. According to Laufer & Hulstijn (2001), these three components may be present or absent in some task. The combination of the presence or absence of the involvement components is defined as involvement load.Krashens Input Hypothesis explains how people acquire a s
40、econd language. He holds that “Humans acquire language in only one way: by understanding messages or by receiving comprehensible input” (Krashen, 1985). Swains Output Hypothesis holds that through producing language, either spoken or written, language acquisition or learning may occur. This study wi
41、ll focus on the following two questions: The effect of task-based reading with different reading requirements on middle school students vocabulary acquisition. The effect of simplified input, enhanced input, and modified output on middle school students vocabulary acquisition while reading.Chapter 3
42、 Research Design3.1 Hypothesis of the ResearchThe research questions of the study are as follows:1. Comparison of the Effects on Simplified Input and Enhanced Input.2. Comparison of the Effects of Enhanced Input and Modified Output.The two research hypotheses are derived from the two research questi
43、ons.Hypothesis 1 Other factors being equal, subjects in the higher involvement load groups (enhanced input) will perform significantly better in the immediate and delayed vocabulary tests than those in the lower involvement load group ( simplified input)Hypothesis 2 Other factors being equal, subjec
44、ts in group with enhanced output task will perform better in delayed vocabulary test than those in group with enhanced input.3.2 ParticipantsThe participants of this study are 60 middle school students. The students are from Hanshan NO.1 middle school, Anhui province of China. The students are from
45、the same class. The same teacher taught all students during the school year in which the study was conducted. It is to make sure that there are no significant differences in English proficiency and previous knowledge about the target knowledge between the subjects. These students are divided into th
46、ree groups randomly. Each group has 20 members. Group 1 will do task 1 while reading, group will do task 2 while reading and group 3 will do task 3 while reading.3.3InstrumentsThe instruments in my study consist of a reading material, a set of comprehensive questions for task1, another format of the
47、 same reading material with 10 blanks for close task and a paper with ten target words for sentence writing. The materials and two tests used to examine the situation of acquiring vocabulary. Since the selection of the treatment passage and target words is crucial and topic familiarity has proved to
48、 be an important factor affecting L2 reading comprehension, I carefully choose a passage from senior middle school textbook. The topic is “A matter of taste”. Since the purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of task-based reading on vocabulary acquisition, the target words must be unknow
49、n or least knows to the subjects. These 10 words were finally chosen as target words, they were: shade, artist, painter, painting, exhibition, gallery, detail, emphasis, elegant, expensive.3.4 Procedure3.4.1 Administration of the TestsThere are three tasks designed in the current study. They are simplified input task, modified input task and modified output task, which inducing
