Ana Pellicer-Sánchez University of Nottingham

1. Usingpsycholinguisticmeasurestoresearchvocabulary: Evidencefromreaction time (RT) and eye-tracking Ana Pellicer-Sánchez University of Nottingham Theory and Practice in VocabularyLearning and Teaching University of Reading 20th January 2012

2. Key issues • Importance of vocabulary knowledge • Need to master high number of words • What do we need to know about words? Multiple Aspects of Vocabulary Knowledge

3. (Nation, 2001) Aspects of Lexical Knowledge written spoken FORM word parts form & meaning concept & referents MEANING associations grammatical functions collocations USE register/frequency Fluency & Automaticity

4. Aspects of Lexical Knowledge Continuum of mastery No knowledge Complete Mastery Automaticity Very slow Very fast

5. Study 1 and Study 2 “Acquisition of automaticity and speed of lexical access in thelanguageclassroom”

6. Studies 1 & 2- Aims • Can automaticity and speed of lexical accessbenefitfromclassroominstruction? and if so, • Whichteachingapproachis more beneficial?

7. Studies 1 & 3- Methodology • Two main teaching and learning approaches: • Implicit/Incidental learning: “Incidental learning can occur when one is using language for communicative purposes” (Schmitt, 2000:120). • Explicit/Intentional learning: “Explicit learning focuses attention directly on the information to be learned” (Schmitt, 2000:120).

8. Studies 1 & 2- Methodology • Participants: 20/21 students of Spanish as a FL • Structure: Test 1 Test 2 Treatment Week 1 1 month later Weeks 2 & 3

9. Tests: E-Prime software Yes-no decision Meaning-form link RTs recorded Instructions + Practice session + Test Target and control words Studies 1 & 2- Methodology

10. Studies 1 & 2- Methodology • STUDY 1: - Two sessions - Incidental approach - Exposure through reading for comprehension • STUDY 2: - Two sessions - Explicit/Engaged approach - Exposure through vocabulary activities

11. Pre-test Post-test Studies 1 & 2- RTs jefe jefe RT1 = 850 ms RT2 = 780 ms Two measures: 1) Raw RT 2) Coefficient of Variation (CV)= M/SD (Segalowitz & Segalowitz, 1993)

12. Studies 1 & 2: Main findings • Acquisition of declarative knowledge from both approaches. • Advantage of the explicit approach. • Automaticity of vocabulary knowledge can be acquired in the language classroom. • It might need more explicit, focused exposure. • No significant effect of the number of repetitions in the acquisition of automaticity and speed of lexical access.

13. Study 3 “Acquiring automaticity and speed of lexical processing in reading”

14. Study 3- Aims 1) What happens when L2 learners encounter new words while reading? How are new words read? 2) How many times do L2 learners need to read a new word before showing a more fluent and automatic reading?

15. Study 3- Methodology • Participants: • 15 non-natives speakers of English • 7 males, 8 females • Ages: from 21 to 32 years old (M= 25.5) • Variety of L1s: Portuguese, Spanish, Greek, Chinese, Hindi, Lithuania, Polish, Romanian. • PG students • Self-rated reading abilities ≥ 8 (10-point scale)

16. Study 3- Methodology • Structure: Reading Activity + post-reading assessment • Materials: • Reading text: • Short story • 2,298 words • High-frequency vocabulary (3k from the BNC)

17. Study 3- Methodology • Target vocabulary:

18. Study 3- Apparatus and Procedure • Instruments: • Eye tracker: Eyelink I • Calibration (at the beginning and half way through the experiment) • Practice session • Experimental session (25 screens) • Comprehension Questions • Post-tests • Less than 1 hour

20. Study 3-Instruments Example: Part 1-Form recognition test: a) ackol b) acklon c) hacklon d) hackol1 2 3 4 • a) hotler b) holter c) houter d) houler1 2 3 4 2. a) twoser b) twonse c) twiser d) twines 1 2 3 4 …

21. Study 3-Instruments Part 2-Meaning Recall test: Interviews Part 3-Meaning Recognition test: 1) holter a) basement b) workhouse 1 2 3 4 c) prison d) food hall e) I don’t know.  2) cambul a) picture b) plate 1 2 3 4 c) window d) ring e) I don’t know    Part 4-Reading strategies Interviews

22. Study 3-Eye-tracking measures • First fixation duration = 3 • First pass reading time = 3 + 4 • Fixation count= 3 fixations • Total reading time = 3+4+6 4 3 1 2 7 8 9 10 11 6 5

23. Study 3- Declarative knowledge (Preliminary results) ** ** ** p< .001

24. Study 3- Eye-movements (Preliminary results) **

25. Study 3- Results (Preliminary results) ** **p ≤ .001

26. Study 3- Conclusion • Effectiveness of reading for incidental acquisition of multiple components of vocabulary knowledge. • Acquisition of fluency of reading: • Significant effect of the N of repetitions for unknown words (not for controls) 3-5 repetitions. • Similarity to known words by 8 repetitions.

27. General conclusion • Studies 1 & 2: - Automaticity and speed of lexical access can benefitfromclassroominstruction. - Itmighttake more explicitexposure - No effect of frequency of exposure. • Study 3: - Automaticity, fluency, and speed of learners’ reading of new vocabulary can beacquired incidentallyfromrepeatedexposure. - Significanteffectafter 3-5 repetitions. • Measures of RT and eye-tracking are effectivemeans of measuringvocabularyacquisition.

28. References • Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: University Press. • Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge: University Press. • Segalowitz, N., & Segalowitz, S. (1993). Skilled performance, practice, and the differentiation of speed-up from automatization effects: Evidence from second language word recognition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 14 (3), 369-385. • Pellicer-Sánchez, A. & Schmitt, N. (2010). Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition from an Authentic Novel: Do things fall apart? Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(1), 31-55. • Webb, S. (2007). The effects of repetition on vocabulary knowledge. Applied Linguistics, 28,46–65.