Type of task, time-on-task and electronic dictionaries in incidental vocabulary acquisition

A computer-based study compared the effect of three task types on incidental L2 vocabulary learning, on task-induced amount of dictionary activity and time-on-task. Ninety-six Chinese ESL students read a text containing twelve unfamiliar target items and performed one of the three tasks: a form-oriented production task, a form-oriented comprehension task or a meaning-oriented task. The text was presented on computer and the words could be looked up in electronic glosses. The results of immediate and delayed vocabulary tests showed that the two form-oriented tasks yielded better results than the meaning-oriented task. There was no significant difference in time-on-task, but there was a significant difference in the amount of dictionary activity the tasks generated. We concluded, therefore, that an important factor determining task effectiveness for vocabulary learning is the amount of word-related activity that the task induces.