International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature

Hassan Soleimani ¹, Mahboubeh Rahmanian ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Applied Linguistics, Payame Noor University, PO box 19395-3697 Tehran, IR
2 Payame Noor University, PO box 19395-3697 Tehran, IN

Abstract

This study builds on the innovative construct of task-induced involvement. It investigates different first and second language glossing in "involvement load hypothesis". In order to do our study, 66 learners from two different English institutes were classified into two major high and low proficient groups based on Nelson Proficiency Test. Among them 22 low proficient students were randomly assigned to two different subgroups in order to complete two different types of tasks with different language glossing. The behaviors of the two groups in the immediate and delayed posttests did not confirm the predictions of involvement load hypothesis. Although the second task had a higher involvement index, no sign of superiority was observed in its performance. The study suggests that the predictions of involvement load hypothesis need to be more finely grained especially when the tasks have different language glossing.

Keywords

Involvement Load Hypothesis, Task-Induced Involvement, Involvement Index, L2 Glossing, L1 Glossing, Retention, Evaluation.

Full Text

   

Hassan Soleimani ¹, Mahboubeh Rahmanian ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Applied Linguistics, Payame Noor University, Tehran, IR
2 Payame Noor University, Tehran, IR

Abstract

Involvement load hypothesis as a cognitive construct states that tasks with higher involvements yield better results in vocabulary retention. This comparison group designed study examined the immediate and delayed effects of tasks with different involvements in involvement load hypothesis (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001). Applying a version of Nelson Proficiency Test as a homogenizing exclusion criterion, 33 low proficiency Iranian EFL learners were randomly assigned to three experimental groups: blank-filling, sentence making, and reading comprehension. The results of ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests supported task-induced involvement in immediate posttest since the sentence making task (M=5.72) yielded better results in comparison with the other two blank-filling (M=5.45) and reading comprehension (M=3.18) tasks. Nevertheless, sentence making and blank-filling tasks of which the involvements were somehow similar did not yield significant superiority to each other. It is inferred that tasks with nearer involvements yield somehow similar results in vocabulary acquisition.

Keywords

Task-induced Involvement, Immediate Effect, Delayed Effect, Vocabulary Retention, Evaluation.

Full Text