INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY ACQUISITION FROM ORAL AND WRITTEN DIALOGUE JOURNALS

Abstract

This paper is in answer to Ellis's (1994) call for more research about vocabulary acquisition from oral input in four areas. It is a hypothesis-generating study of nine advanced university EFL learners' incidental vocabulary acquisition from oral and written dialogue journals over a semester's time. All teacher and student entries in the two types of journals were transcribed and analyzed using WordCruncher (1993). The analyses compare the characteristics of the input to the learners in the two modes as well as quantitative and qualitative evidence of vocabulary acquisition by the learners from the two modes. Findings of this study indicate several specific places (14 statements) where further research could be undertaken. These fit in three of the areas Ellis named for exploration: (a) “the nature of the input,” (b) “the role of interaction,” and (c) “individual learner factors” (p. 1). The findings suggest measures that can be used for quantitative and qualitative evidence of vocabulary acquisition from natural sources