Aptitude Treatment Interaction in Intentional Vocabulary Learning : Different Effects of Context on EFL Learners at Three Stages of Lexical Development

Abstract

This study examined an Aptitude Treatment Interaction (ATI) between three methods of intentional vocabulary learning and learners' lexical proficiency. Specifically, it was hypothesized that contextualized learning is more suitable for intermediate learners than for other learner groups. On the basis of past studies, including three prior studies of the present author's (Hasegawa, 2012a, 2013a, 2013b), a new experiment was conducted to compare the following three conditions for translation-assisted vocabulary learning: (a) without context (Decontextualized), (b) with glossed sentences conveying a more concrete and comprehensive situation (Contextualized+IMG), and (c) with glossed sentences conveying very abstract information (Contextualized-IMG). A total of 84 undergraduates in Japan were divided into three proficiency groups and asked to learn a list of low-frequency words in one of the learning conditions (randomly allotted). Test results showed an interactoin between learning condition and proficiency group, suggesting that high-intermediate learners in particular are best served by learning vocabulary in an appropriate context (Contextualized+IMG). It should be useful for teachers and researchers to know that learners at different proficiency levels have different extents of sensitivity to context.