TITLE:
A Quasi-Experimental Study of English Vocabulary Teaching Based on Incidental Acquisition
AUTHORS:
Shiyi Yan, Yang Shen, Yan Ma
KEYWORDS:
Incidental Acquisition, English Vocabulary Teaching, Quasi-Experiment, Middle School
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.13 No.2,
February
27,
2023
ABSTRACT: Recent years have witnessed a phenomenon that major
English teachers in China have adopted the traditional teaching pattern,
mechanically linking English pronunciations directly with the meaning of
Chinese, which gradually dampens learners’ enthusiasm. The chief purpose of
this paper was to design one English vocabulary teaching lesson based on
incidental acquisition. More specifically, the questions raised are, on the one
hand, whether incidental vocabulary teaching imprints differences on the
learning outcomes for middle school students, and, on the other hand, whether
incidental acquisition results in positive feedback between teachers and
students. The technique we applied was referred to as questionnaires and
interviews addressed to a sample of 68 students. Focusing on the effect of
incidental vocabulary acquisition, the analysis demonstrated that it could
enhance students’ vocabulary capacity. In addition, it was interesting to note
that excellent students and average students tended to embrace the new teaching
style while underachievers were on the opposite side. On this basis, it is
recommended for English teachers to design English vocabulary lessons, adopting visual, auditory, oral,
reading or writing training. More precisely, they should use phonics rules and
patterns, holistic learning, classified vocabulary teaching, visual
illustration or multimedia teaching to give lessons effectively and expand learners’
vocabulary.