Effects of glosses and reviewing of glossed words on L2 vocabulary learning through reading

Abstract

This study is an attempt to integrate incidental and intentional vocabulary learning in a reading activity without sacrificing the enjoyment of reading. The paper reports on a study which examined the effectiveness of a reading program on the web. The program contained glosses in a text and a reviewing component at the end of reading. The learners read the text for comprehension purposes on computers and were able to look up certain words by clicking on them. At the end of the reading the learners were also able to review the words they had looked up during the reading. This study examines how well learners can pick up words through this reading program. This study also examines the effectiveness of a reviewing activity by comparing the words reviewed and the words not reviewed. The study investigates if there are any differences in immediate and medium-term effects for vocabulary learning. Data from a pretest one week prior to the experiment, an immediate test right after the reading, and a delayed test were used for the analysis. Lookup behaviors of glosses and reviewing behaviors were also taken into account for analyzing the data.