The function of negotiation in Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary acquisition

Abstract

Negotiation is believed to play a key role in language learning in general and vocabulary learning in particular. The present study aimed at investigating the effect of types of instructions (negotiation, non-negotiation, or in isolation) on learning and recalling of new words by Iranian learners. Using a quasi-experimental research design, 39 EFL students of a secondary school were sampled and assigned into three experimental groups: the input plus negotiated group (IPN), the input without negotiated group (IWN), and the elaborative, un-instructed input group (EUI). The first group had the chance for negotiated interaction; the second one received the input without any negotiation with their instructor and the last group received elaborative input without any interaction with their teachers. The groups were rated on their degree of comprehension and the acquisition of vocabulary items. The results revealed that negotiation had a non-significant effect over non-negotiation tasks. However, the results indicated that negotiation was significantly effective against uninstruction task. Thus, in acquisition and retention of new vocabulary, IPN group was not significantly different than IWN group, but they outperformed those learners who used their own strategy to learn new words (EUI).