Extensive viewing as additional input for foreign language vocabulary learning: A longitudinal study in secondary school

Abstract

This study presents a teaching intervention to maximize the learning of a set of target words (TW) in learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in a secondary school by means of intentional vocabulary learning activities and additional captioned television (TV) viewing. In the course of one academic year, two groups of grade 10 EFL learners (N = 64) were introduced to new TWs each week through language-focused exercises. The experimental group (n = 33) was additionally exposed to a captioned TV series where these TWs appeared. To measure lexical growth, all students took pre- and post-tests evaluating both TW form and meaning recall. Vocabulary retention was measured with an eight-month delayed post-test. Results revealed that vocabulary was mainly learned intentionally, but that additional viewing of the captioned TV series significantly contributed to greater lexical gains at different testing times. Similar vocabulary retention rates were observed for both groups. Conclusions and implications for teaching are drawn on the role of extensive video viewing for vocabulary learning in instructional settings.