Incidental Second Language Vocabulary Learning from Out-of-class Exposure: the English Vocabulary Size of Children Prior to Formal Instruction

It has been argued that foreign language vocabulary is often acquired incidentally, i.e. as a by-product of activities not explicitly focusing on vocabulary learning (Hulstijn, 2003; Nation & Meara, 2002). Recently there has been an increasing interest in the role of out-of-class exposure in second language (L2) vocabulary learning. Studies have shown that exposure to English language media (TV, digital gaming, etc.) has the potential to boost learners’ knowledge of English vocabulary (Peters, 2016; Sundqvist & Wilkström, 2015; Sylvén & Sundqvist, 2012). However, little is known about the effects of out-of-class exposure on English vocabulary prior to English instruction. This talk will focus on the input-acquisition relationship by investigating the mechanisms underlying incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition by young Flemish learners who are exposed to large amounts of English language input before receiving English instruction. Specifically, the study aims to find out how many words young learners can learn incidentally from exposure only, and which factors affect the input-acquisition relationship. Data were collected from 33 Flemish children between 11 and 12 years old using a questionnaire about their out-of-class activities in English and the Picture Vocabulary Size test (PVST) (Nation & Anthony, 2016). The PVST is a 96-item multiple-choice test measuring meaning recognition of English words. For each test item, the spoken and written form is given and the test-taker chooses the corresponding meaning from four pictures. A logistic regression was performed to determine the effect of word-related factors (cognateness, PoS, concreteness, SUBTLEX-US frequency) on the vocabulary size test results. The findings indicate that the high scores on the PVST resulted from extensive out-of-class exposure and that factors affecting the learnability of vocabulary items played an important role in the learning process.status: publishe