The effects of context, story-type, and language proficiency on EFL word learning and retention from reading

Abstract

Abstract What factors may influence word learning from reading has long been a research topic of interest without definitive results. To contribute to the understanding of this important topic, this study, with the design of the same group of participating students with different proficiency levels and treated with different conditions, investigates the effects of context (reading the same story repeatedly vs. reading several different stories), story-type (humor vs. non-humor stories), and language proficiency on Chinese EFL students’ word learning in the form of pseudowords (measured by two different types of vocabulary immediate posttests) and word retention (assessed by the same but delayed vocabulary posttests). Mixed effects model analyses show multiplex effects of the variables and their interactions across the conditions examined. First, while language proficiency had a significant modulating effect supporting previous research findings, the effects of the context and story-type variables differed across vocabulary test types and testing time. In the meaning-recall test, the reading-different-stories condition yielded significantly better learning than the reading-the-same-story-repeatedly condition. However, in the form-recognition test, the effect of context was conditioned by story-type and proficiency with lower-proficiency students gaining more in reading humor stories in the same-story-repeatedly context while higher-proficiency students performed better in the reading-different-stories context. Overall, higher-proficiency students were less sensitive to the context and story-type variables than lower-proficiency students. Pedagogical and research implications are also discussed.