The Cognitive Processes of Chinese EFL Learners in Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition While Reading|RISS 상세보기

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study investigated the relevance of different lexical processing strategies for vocabulary acquisition during a reading-for-comprehension task involving fifty-six English learners in a local Chinese university. Both cognitive processes and incidental vocabulary acquisition have been extensively studied. However, few studies have directly explored the underlying cognitive mechanisms of incidental vocabulary acquisition. The present research attempted to experimentally test the influence of different lexical processing strategies on incidental vocabulary acquisition while reading. The strategies which learners adopted to deal with unknown lexical items were analyzed with regard to the cognitive processes involved, namely the explicit/implicit cognitive process and the top-down/bottom-up cognitive process.
A mixed research method was adopted to achieve the research purpose. The principal research instruments for data collection were an unknown vocabulary extraction task, a reading-for-comprehension task, a think-aloud protocol, and a vocabulary retention test. Based on introspective data gathered through the think-aloud task and the results of vocabulary retention test, the researcher discussed the characteristics of different cognitive processes involved in incidental vocabulary acquisition.
The research found that there were mainly four types of lexical processing strategies and two sub-strategies of the inference strategy. The implicit processing strategy could lead to incidental vocabulary acquisition, though its acquisition effect was not as good as that of the explicit ones. The explicit cognitive process could induce more involvement load and deeper cognitive processing, thus helping learners to construct form-meaning combinations. The acquisition effect of the bottom-up lexical processing strategies was much better than that of the top-down ones. The meaning of a word obtained through a top-down cognitive approach is embedded in the contextual environment and can easily be lost without the related context. Finally, a multilayered cognitive model has been developed, which offers both theoretical and practical implications for teachers and students in Chinese colleges and universities.

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목차 (Table of Contents)

Acknowledgments = i
Table of Contents = iv
List of Tables = x
List of Figures = xi
ABSTRACT = xii

Acknowledgments = i
Table of Contents = iv
List of Tables = x
List of Figures = xi
ABSTRACT = xii
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION = 1
1.1 Overview = 1
1.2 Problem Statement = 6
1.3 Research Purpose, Significance, and Limitations = 9
1.3.1 Purpose = 9
1.3.2 Significance = 10
1.3.3 Limitations = 11
1.4 Definition of Key Concepts = 11
1.5 Structure of the Dissertation = 14
Chapter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW = 16
2.1 Vocabulary Acquisition = 16
2.2 Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition = 20
2.3 Lexical Processing Strategies = 25
2.4 Cognitive Processes and Cognitive Factors = 30
2.4.1 Explicit and Implicit Cognitive Processes = 30
2.4.2 Bottom-up and Top-down Cognitive Processes = 30
2.4.3 Cognitive Factors Influencing Lexical Processing = 32
2.5 Theoretical Framework of the Current Research = 34
2.6 Chapter Summary = 37
Chapter 3. METHODOLOGY = 40
3.1 Research Questions = 40
3.2 Participants = 42
3.2.1 Background Information = 42
3.2.2 Sampling and Ethical Considerations = 45
3.3 Materials and Instruments = 46
3.3.1 Reading Texts = 46
3.3.2 Online Corpus = 48
3.3.3 Unknown Vocabulary Extraction = 52
3.3.4 Reading for Comprehension = 53
3.3.5 Think-aloud Protocol = 54
3.3.6 Vocabulary Retention Test = 56
3.4 Research Method = 57
3.5 Data Collection and Analysis = 60
3.5.1 Unknown Vocabulary Extraction = 61
3.5.2 Reading for Comprehension = 63
3.5.3 Think-aloud Protocol = 64
3.5.4 Vocabulary Retention Test = 66
3.6 Chapter Summary = 71
Chapter 4. RESULTS = 70
4.1 Types and Frequencies of Lexical Processing Strategies = 70
4.1.1 Frequencies of Implicit and Explicit Lexical Processing Strategies = 75
4.1.2 Frequencies of Top-down and Bottom-up Lexical Processing Strategies = 76
4.2 Vocabulary Retention Effects of Lexical Processing Strategies = 80
4.2.1 Effects of Implicit and Explicit Lexical Processing Strategies = 85
4.2.2 Effects of Top-down and Bottom-up Lexical Processing Strategies = 86
4.3 Modeling the Effects of Different Types of Lexical Processing Strategies = 87
4.4 Chapter Summary = 92
Chapter 5. DISCUSSION = 93
5.1 Analysis of Lexical Processing Strategies = 93
5.1.1 Four Strategies of Lexical Processing = 93
5.1.1.1 Inferring the Meaning of a New Word = 95
5.1.1.2 Ignoring the Meaning of a New Word = 96
5.1.1.3 Consulting a Dictionary or Asking Others for the Meaning of a New Word = 100
5.1.1.4 Inferring the Meaning and Then Consulting a Dictionary = 101
5.1.2 Two Sub-strategies of the Inference Strategy = 102
5.1.2.1 Inferring Based on Non-linguistic Factors = 103
5.1.2.2 Inferring Based on Linguistic Factors = 105
5.2 Implicit and Explicit Cognitive Processes = 107
5.3 Top-down and Bottom-up Cognitive Processes = 109
5.4 A Multilayered Cognitive Model of Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition = 112
5.5 Chapter Summary = 116
Chapter 6. CONCLUSION = 118
6.1 Findings = 118
6.1.1 Research Question One = 119
6.1.2 Research Question Two = 121
6.1.3 Research Question Three = 122
6.1.4 Research Question Four = 123
6.2 Implications = 124
6.2.1 Theoretical Implications = 124
6.2.2 Practical Implications = 125
6.3 Contributions, Limitations, and Future Research Directions = 127
6.3.1 Contributions = 127
6.3.2 Limitations = .128
6.3.3 Directions for Future Research = 130
REFERENCES = 131
APPENDICES = 147
Appendix A: Letter of Informed Consent = 147
Appendix B: Unknown Words Extraction Task = 148
Appendix C: Reading-for-comprehension Task = 152
Appendix D: Symbols Used for Transcription = 159
Appendix E: Frequencies of Lexical Processing Strategies Used by the Participants = 160
Appendix F: Summary of the Generalized Linear Mixed-effects Models = 165
Appendix G: Numbers of the Unknown Words Identified by the Participants = 166
Appendix H: Scores of Reading-for-comprehension Questions = 168
Appendix I: Unknown Words and Their Frequencies of Occurrence = 170

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