The short readings project: A CALL reading activity utilizing vocabulary recycling

Abstract

In 2003 multimedia-based English Trailers (www.english-trailers.com) joined the vast array of web sites dedicated to language learning enabling students, either autonomously or in a CALL classroom, to study English via movie commercials. To assist students in comprehending 10 trailers found on the site, the authors created the Short Readings Project: a CALL activity that utilizes recycling to pre-teach 112 vocabulary items found in the trailers via a series of 15 short readings. After completing the readings and accompanying vocabulary comprehension checks, and viewing the 10 trailers, students are exposed to all target vocabulary a minimum of 6 times. This paper discusses the pedagogical foundations of this project by examining the existing literature on L2 learning strategies pertaining to reading and vocabulary comprehension, and the effects of repeated exposure of vocabulary in a reading context. Then, the methodology and use of the Short Readings Project is delineated, along with the results of a recent testing phase that demonstrated a significant increase in score for the 119 participants in the study.