The Effect of Pre‐reading Instruction on Vocabulary Learning: An Investigation of L1 and L2 Readers’ Eye Movements

Pellicer Sanchez, Ana; Conklin, Kathy; Vilkait?-Lozdien?, Laura

Abstract

This study examines the effect of pre-reading vocabulary instruction on learners’ attention and vocabulary gains. Participants (L1 = 92; L2 = 88) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: pre-reading instruction, involving explicit instruction of six novel items and reading a text with them repeated eight times; reading-only, which only involved reading the text with the novel items; reading-baseline, in which participants read a text with the repeated items replaced by known (control) words; and instruction-only, which involved explicit instruction of the novel items and the reading of an unrelated text. Eye-tracking was used to measure amount of attention to the vocabulary during reading. Knowledge of the target vocabulary was assessed in three immediate post-tests (form recognition, meaning recall, and meaning recognition). Results showed that pre-reading instruction led to both higher vocabulary gains and a processing advantage. Cumulative reading times were a significant predictor of meaning recognition scores.

Citation

Pellicer Sanchez, A., Conklin, K., & Vilkaitė-Lozdienė, L. (2021). The Effect of Pre‐reading Instruction on Vocabulary Learning: An Investigation of L1 and L2 Readers’ Eye Movements. Language Learning, 71(1), 162-203. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12430

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 1, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Sep 13, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Deposit Date: Jul 2, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 14, 2021
• Journal: Language Learning
• Print ISSN: 0023-8333
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 71
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 162-203
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12430
• Keywords: vocabulary learning, reading, pre‐reading instruction, eye‐tracking
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4745317
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/lang.12430