The Effects of Receptive/Productive Tasks and Sentence Contexts on English Vocabulary Retention and Knowledge of Korean Middle School Students

Abstract

The present thesis attempts to investigate the effects of task type (productive versus receptive) and sentence contexts (same versus diverse) on the vocabulary learning of Korean middle school English students in two areas: overall vocabulary learning, and the gain and retention of specific vocabulary knowledge. First, this study will look at the impact that the two variables have on overall vocabulary learning

measured using the sum score of five different tests (recognition, passive word learning, active word learning, and two productive vocabulary use tests: gap-filling and word reordering). Second, the gain and retention of specific vocabulary knowledge measured by the five tests will be compared to verify the impact of the two variables. The receptive and productive aspects of vocabulary have been derived from the two fundamental communication processes, so both aspects are worth studying. Although many studies agree on the superiority of productive tasks over receptive tasks in vocabulary instruction, the results between these studies have been inconsistent

therefore, more research is needed on the impact of these two tasks. Moreover, vocabulary tasks in Korea largely depend on receptive vocabulary instruction rather than productive instruction, which goes against the majority of findings from previous research that suggest productive vocabulary instruction is more effective. Context, the other important factor for vocabulary learning, has been a controversial issue in the vocabulary instruction research. Many studies were conducted to determine whether context should be provided for vocabulary learning but few studies were conducted on how to effectively provide context for vocabulary instruction. In other words, these two factors are significant factors influencing vocabulary learning, but few studies have been conducted to investigate the relationship between these two variables. Therefore, this study attempts to integrate sentence contexts into the types of tasks so that the interactive effect of both variables on vocabulary knowledge development can be examined. Besides, this study attempts to scrutinize the multifaceted features of lexical knowledge, so five different sorts of assessment have been implemented. In this study, 117 3rd grade middle school students in Korea completed one of four different treatment combinations, each having a different combination of the two task types and two sentence contexts (receptive task and same context - RS, receptive task and diverse context - RD, productive task and same context - PS, productive task and diverse context – PD), and took immediate and one-week delayed post-tests. Each of the two tests was composed of five different tests. Regarding overall vocabulary learning, the results of this study revealed that task type was a factor that significantly affected vocabulary learning in both immediate word gain and its retention but sentence contexts were not. However, the interaction effect between the two variables was shown in word retention. The same context had a positive effect on the productive task but not on the receptive task. The findings from the individual analysis of the five vocabulary tests showed similar results regarding word retention with the exception of the two productive use tests. The task effect was substantial, while that of context was not. Above all, the productive task was statistically shown to have considerable power to help students retain several stages of vocabulary knowledge with the exception of the productive use tests. When combined with the task, sentence contexts had a strong effect on vocabulary learning in passive and active word learning tests. On the other hand, the retention of word knowledge, measured by the productive use of vocabulary tests, was influenced fundamentally by sentence contexts rather than task type. Results and the implications regarding task types and sentence contexts are discussed.