The Ear or the Eye? Decoding the Better Route to Incidental Vocabulary Growth

Abstract

Incidental vocabulary acquisition is crucial for improving learners' lexical competence. To facilitate learners' vocabulary acquisition incidentally, it is essential to understand which mode of input is more effective. This research aims to comparatively study the effectiveness of reading and listening input on incidental vocabulary acquisition and determine which modality best supports vocabulary acquisition and retention. This study employed a between-subjects design in which two groups of Grade 9 ESL learners of an international school were exposed to either reading or listening input. The input material consisted of 15 target words, which the learners were allowed to acquire incidentally. A pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest design were employed to collect data. The areas of vocabulary knowledge tested were form and meaning recognition. When analyzing the data, statistical comparisons were made using independent samples t-tests. The results revealed no statistically significant difference between the groups for the acquisition scores. Similarly, the comparison of the retention scores revealed no statistically significant difference. Therefore, this study implies that both input modes produced similar acquisition and retention levels in the respective groups, concluding that both reading and listening are equally effective. The significance of this study lies in its contribution to understanding the effects of input modality in a real-world ESL context. Future research should explore the impact of combining input modalities, examine other aspects of vocabulary knowledge, such as production, and include learners of varying proficiency levels and age groups to allow for broader generalization of the findings.