English L2 thematic vocabulary acquisition through graded readers

Abstract

This paper investigates multiple aspects of incidental vocabulary acquisition through a series of thematically connected graded texts (crime stories) designed for English L2 learners. In line with some of the main trends in L2 extensive reading research, the study focuses on the effects of extensive reading on vocabulary growth, contextual and syntactic use of target items, and the enhancement of L2 associative networks. The pre-test/post-test research design employed multiple measurement instruments, including a lexical familiarity assessment scale and a sentence production task. Results indicate improvement on all the three measured aspects of vocabulary acquisition, with vocabulary growth and associative recall being the most salient benefits of the reading process.