THE INFLUENCE OF ELECTRONIC GLOSSES ON WORD RETENTION
AND READING COMPREHENSION WITH SPANISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
By
Elyes Ben Salem
M.A. The University of Kansas, 2001
A Dissertation
Submitted to the Department of Curriculum and Teaching
and the Faculty of the Graduate School of Education of the University of Kansas
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Fall 2006
The University of Kansas
Dissertation Committee:
_____________________________
Dr. Ron Aust (chairperson)
_____________________________
Dr. Bruce Frey
_____________________________
Dr. Manuela Gonzalez-Bueno
_____________________________
Dr. Paul Markham
_____________________________
Dr. Warren Roby
_____________________________
Dr. Don Watkins
Dissertation defended: December 11, 2006
UMI Number: 3239548
UMI Microform 3239548
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THE INLFLUENCE OF ELECTRONIC GLOSSES ON WORD RETENTION
AND READING COMPREHENSION WITH SPANISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
ABSTRACT
This study investigated the impact of different types of electronic glosses on word
retention and reading comprehension among second language (L2) Spanish learners.
Ninety-three English-speaking college students enrolled in a third semester (intermediatelevel) Spanish course were directed to use a web-based reading text in Spanish with 25
annotated words. Each participant read the text under one of the following conditions: (1)
No glossing (NONE), (2) text (T) (translation of the target word in English), (3) text and
audio (TA) (pronunciation of key word in both English and Spanish), (4) text, audio and
picture (TAP), or (5) text, audio, picture and writing (TAPW) (writing down on a piece of
paper the gloss that students consulted).
Reading comprehension and vocabulary tests, computer log files, and a
background questionnaire were used to collect data. Students completed a multiplechoice comprehension test after the treatment. A multiple-choice recognition and
production vocabulary test was administered after the reading test and again two weeks
later to measure word retention. Students’ interaction with the text was tracked using a
computer program. The results show that students who used glosses had higher reading
comprehension scores (M=17.2) than non-gloss users (M=9.2), (F=82.8, p>.000) and
higher vocabulary test scores (M=13.9) than non-gloss users (M=7.2), (F=23.4, p>.000).
No statistically significant differences were found between the groups that had access to
ii
glosses in terms of their performance in reading comprehension and vocabulary tests. The
number of gloss access (M=48.8) was positively correlated to comprehension (M=17.8),
(r=.40, p>.002) and vocabulary acquisition (M=13.9), (r=.42, p>.000). The strongest
positive correlation between gloss access and vocabulary acquisition was for condition 3
(text + audio) (r=.63, p>. 02) and condition 5 (text + audio + picture + writing) (r.69,
p>.03). Reading time (M=9.2 minutes) was positively correlated to comprehension
(M=17.9), (r=.29 p>001). In condition 3, gloss access (M=54.8) correlated positively to
vocabulary acquisition (M=14.7), (r=.69, p>.002.).
It was concluded that the more frequently second-language learners consult
electronic glosses, the better they comprehend and acquire new words. Glosses with text,
audio, and pictures (TAP) are particularly beneficial in advancing the ability to produce
newly learned words.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am most grateful to my committee chair, Dr. Ron Aust, who has been a source
of inspiration and guidance throughout this journey. Thank you for your interest in my
research and your tremendous encouragement. I would like to express my deepest
appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Warren Roby, a member of my supervisory committee,
for his valuable and insightful feedback. Many thanks go out to my committee members,
Dr. Paul Markham, Dr. Bruce Frey, Dr. Manuela Gonazlez-Bueno, and Dr. Don Watkins,
who offered guidance and support.
I would also like to acknowledge the assistance I received from the faculty and
students of the Spanish and Portuguese department at the University of Kansas who so
kindly donated their valuable time to help me conduct my study.
I would especially like to extend thanks to my friend Dan Spurgin from the
eLearning Design Lab at The University of Kansas who built the tracking software for
my study.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge my family, especially my wife, Sandra
Wright Salem, who has been very supportive throughout the years it took to complete this
project. Thanks also to my brother and sister for their encouragement and to my parents
for their continuous love and emotional support over the years. They truly supported my
educational endeavors.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Content
Page
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………….…....
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………….
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………….
v
LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………..
ix
LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………
x
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………...
1
The Background of the Study….……..…………………………….............
1
Purpose of the Study……………………………………………….…….…
6
Research Questions………………………………………………………....
6
Significance of the Study…………………………………………………...
7
Operational Definitions…………………………………………………......
8
Structure of the Dissertation………………………………………………..
9
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE……………………….…..
10
Models of Second Language Reading Process …………………….............
10
Bottom-up Processing Models ……………………………………….
11
Top-down Processing Models ……………………………………….
11
The Interactive Processing Models …………………………………..
11
Vocabulary and Comprehension………………….……………...................
12
The Linguistic Threshold Hypothesis ……..…………….……………........
13
Incidental Vocabulary Learning……..…………….…………….................
14
Generative Theory of Learning ………..…………….……………..............
15
The Dual Coding Theory……………………………………………….......
16
The Generative Theory of Multimedia Learning……………………….......
18
v
The Importance of glosses ………………………........................................
19
L2 Readers and Gloss Lookup Behavior ………………………..................
23
Glossing and dictionary use in L2……………………….............................
24
Hypertext glossing in second-language environment ……………............... 27
Multimedia Glossing…………………… ……………………..................... 29
The Effect of Glosses on Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition.. 29
The Effect of Glosses on Reading Comprehension …………………
36
Research on Multiple-Choice Glossing ………………….………...............
41
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY……………………………………………
46
Review of research questions ………………………………...…………….
46
Variables.………………………………………………….………………...
47
Hypotheses .………………………………………………………………....
47
Participants ………………………………………………………………….
48
Materials …………………………………………………………………....
50
Reading Passage and Gloss Selection…………….…………………..
51
The Website…………………..............................................................
53
The Pilot Test…...……...……..………...……...……………………..
57
Data Collection ……………………………………………………………..
58
User-Behavior Tracking Program…………………………………….
58
Reading Comprehension Test ………………………………………..
58
Vocabulary Test………………………………………………………
59
Delayed Vocabulary Test……………………………………………..
60
Background Questionnaire…………………………………………...
60
Procedures…………………………………………………………….
61
Data Analysis ……………………………………………………………….
63
Computer Log of Reading Time and Gloss Access.………………….
63
Students’ Performance………………………………………………..
63
Background Questionnaire…………………………………………...
64
vi
Conclusion…………………………………………………………....
64
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS………………………………………………………..
65
Introduction…………………………………………………………………. 65
Demographic Description of Participants…………………………………... 65
Results of Hypotheses Analysis…………………………………………….. 69
Summary……………………………………………………………………. 85
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION………..………………………………………….... 87
Introduction………………………………………………………………..... 87
Findings and Discussion………………………………………………….....
88
The influence of electronic glosses on reading comprehension…..….
88
The influence of electronic glosses on Word Retention……………...
89
Implications for Teaching ………...………………………………………... 93
Recommendations for Future Research…………………………………......
93
Limitations of the Study…………………………………………………......
94
Conclusion……………………..…………………………………………....
95
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………
97
APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………….
111
Appendix A: Students’ Background Questionnaire………………………….
112
Appendix B: Informed Consent Form for Behavioral Research Study….......
114
Appendix C: Reading Comprehension Test …………………………..….....
116
Appendix D: Vocabulary Test………………………...……………………..
119
Appendix E: Reading Passage………………………..………………….…..
121
Appendix F: English Version of the Reading Passage ………………..…….
124
Appendix G: Students’ Seating Chart in the Computer Lab...………………
126
Appendix H: Students’ Seating Distribution Pattern……...…………………
127
vii
Appendix I: Sample Pictures Used in the Study……………………………
viii
129
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
Figure 2.1
Page
A Schematic of the Relationship Between the Non-Verbal and Verbal
17
Systems in Dual Coding Theory
Figure 2.2
Cognitive theory of multimedia learning
19
Figure 2.3
Roby's Taxonomy of Glosses
20
Figure 3.1 A Screen Shot of Reading Condition 1: No Gloss
53
Figure 3.2
A Screen Shot of Reading Condition 2: Text
54
Figure 3.3
A screen shot Reading Condition 3: text, and audio
55
Figure 3.4 A screen shot of Reading Condition 4: text, audio and picture
56
Figure 3.5 A screen shot of Reading Condition 4: text, audio, picture and writing
56
Figure 4.1
85
Rate of Word Retention Over Time Among All Groups
ix
LIST OF TABLES
Table
Page
Table 3.1
Distribution of Groups
50
Table 4.1
Participation of Subjects at Different Stages of the Study
66
Table 4.2
Gender Distribution of Participants in the Immediate Tests
67
Table 4.3 Gender Distribution of Participants in the Delayed Vocabulary Tests
67
Table 4.4
Number of Semesters of Spanish and Other Languages That
Participants Took
68
Table 4.5
One-Way ANOVA Analysis for Reading Comprehension Test Scores
70
Table 4.6 Reading Comprehension Test Scores: Control Group vs. Experimental
Groups Combined
70
Table 4.7 Means and Standard Deviations of Reading Comprehension Test Scores
of Experimental Groups
71
Table 4.8
One-Way ANOVA analysis for Reading Comprehension Test Scores
71
Table 4.9
Means and Standard Deviations of Total Reading Time (in minutes)
and Reading Comprehension Test Scores
73
x
Table 4.10 Correlational Analysis of Reading Times for All Experimental Groups
and Reading Comprehension Test Scores
73
Table 4.11 Correlational Analysis of Reading Times and Reading Comprehension
Test Scores Within Each Group
74
Table 4.12 Means and Standard Deviations of Frequency Access to Glosses and
Reading Comprehension Test Scores
75
Table 4.13
Correlational Analysis of Frequency Access to Glosses and Reading
Comprehension Test Scores
75
Table 4.14
Correlational Analysis of Frequency Access to Glosses and Reading
Comprehension Test Scores for Each Group
76
Table 4.15
Means and Standard Deviations of Immediate Vocabulary Test Scores
77
Table 4.16
One-Way ANOVA analysis for Immediate Vocabulary Test Scores
77
Table 4.17
Means and Standard Deviations of Frequency Access to Glosses and
Immediate Vocabulary Test Scores
79
Table 4.18 Correlational Analysis of Frequency Access to Glosses and Immediate
Vocabulary Test Scores
79
Table 4.19
Correlational Analysis of Frequency Access to Glosses and
Immediate Vocabulary Test Scores
80
Table 4.20
Means and Standard Deviations of Word Retention Rate Over Time
81
xi
Table 4.21
Means and Standard Deviations of Word Retention Rate Over Time
81
Table 4.22
Means and Standard Deviations of Frequency Access to Glosses and
Rate of Word Retention Rate Over Time
82
Table 4.23
Correlational Analysis of Frequency Access to Glosses and Rate of
Word Retention Rate Over Time
83
Table 4.24
Means and Standard Deviations of Word Retention Rate Over Time
83
Table 4.25
Means and Standard Deviations of Word Retention Rate Over Time
84
Table 4.26 Means and Percent of drop from Immediate to Delayed Vocabulary
Test Scores
xii
84
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Many researchers consider vocabulary acquisition to be the single most important
aspect of second-language learning (Knight, 1994). It is argued that, in order to develop
linguistic abilities, second-language (L2) readers need to reach a certain level of
vocabulary threshold (Brisbois, 1995; Geva & Clifton, 1994; Jimenez, Garcia, & Pearson,
1996; Kim, 1995; Lomicka, 1998). Research has shown that reading comprehension is
tightly connected to vocabulary knowledge (Laufer, 1997; Adams, 2000). Stahl (1983)
describes the relationship between reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge as
“one of the best documented relationships in reading research” (p.33). Vocabulary
knowledge is fundamental to reading comprehension; one cannot understand text without
knowing what most words mean (Nagy, 1988). Adams (2000) explored the relationship
between reading comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency and found that word
knowledge was important to comprehension, as was fluency. This correlation between
students’ vocabulary and students’ comprehension of what they read (Gersten & Geva,
2003) led many researchers to believe that “a reader’s general vocabulary knowledge is
the best predictor of how well that reader can understand text” (Anderson & Freebody,
1981, p. 3). Stahl (2003), who called the relationship between reading and vocabulary
“robust,” argues that vocabulary knowledge has been consistently been the “foremost
predictor of a text’s difficulty” (p.241). Laufer (1997) argues that students who have a
1
knowledge of 3000 word families or 5000 lexical words can achieve a reading score of
56%, those who have a knowledge of 4000 word families or 6400 lexical words can
achieve a reading score of 63%, while an increase to 6000 words families or 9600 lexical
words will result in a score of 77 %. Other studies (Groot, 1994; Hazenberg & Hulstijn,
1996; Hirsh & Nation, 1992; Laufer, 1989, as cited in Groot, 2000) found that, in order
for second-language (L2) readers to adequately understand academic texts, they must be
familiar with more than 90% of the words used. This great need for vocabulary explains
the difficulty that foreign-language learners face when reading texts in the target
language.
Laufer (1997) refers to L2 readers’ struggle with vocabulary while reading L2 as
“the lexical plight.” It is no surprise that a majority of students studying a foreign
language and their teachers cite vocabulary as their number one priority (Knight, 1994).
This significant amount of needed vocabulary is hard to teach in class as it would take
away the time required for students to learn other skills such as listening, reading,
speaking, and writing (Groot, 2000). Therefore, foreign-language learners need to
develop strategies for coping with unfamiliar words (Harley, 1996).
Traditionally, some of these strategies include the use of dictionaries and
marginal glosses embedded in certain language textbooks. These two methods are not,
however, very convenient for students who usually have to interrupt their reading process
and lose sight of the text to find the meaning of unfamiliar words. The resort to
dictionaries can make reading a text in a second language a “three to four-hour ordeal”
(Crow 1986, p. 242). Furthermore, to be able to use the dictionary efficiently, students
need special training, since the availability of several meanings of a single word can be
2
difficult (Nation, 2001) and confusing (Luppescu & Day, 1993). Stahl (2003) states that
most often there are more difficult words in the dictionary definition that makes the
definition itself hard to understand.
With the incorporation of computers and multimedia programs in language
learning and teaching, a new tool has emerged to help L2 readers achieve better reading
comprehension and a higher level of vocabulary learning while reading L2 texts. It is the
use of electronic glosses that take the form not only of text but also of pictures, sound,
and video. This new type of gloss has gained the interest of researchers who are
interested in determining whether media will facilitate L2 learners’ acquisition of new
vocabulary and alleviate the difficulty of L2 reading.
The benefit of combining different media in a gloss is supported by two major
theories: generative theory and dual-coding theory. Generative theory (Wittrock, 1974,
cited in Mayer, 1997) states that learning is better when information is presented in
multiple forms so that the learner can select relevant information to construct meaning.
Within the same vein, the dual-coding theory claims that learning becomes even better
when the information is received through two channels (verbal and visual) to construct
meaning (Paivio, 1986; Clark & Paivio, 1991; Mayer, 1997; Mayer & Sims, 1994).
Words that are associated with actual objects or images are better acquired and retained
(Clark & Paivio, 1991).
Hypertexts equipped with glosses enable readers to read the text in a non-linear
way and to have control, immediate access, and no interruptions while reading a text
(Davis & Lyman-Hager, 1997; Martinez-Lage, 1997). Some researchers argue that L2
reading comprehension can be facilitated as hypermedia texts can present information by
3
combining multiple forms of media, such as sound, pictures, and animated pictures or
video, in addition to text (Martinez-Lage 1997; Chun & Plass 1996a, 1996b; Lomicka,
1998).
A number of studies have been conducted to examine the impact on vocabulary
acquisition and retention among second-language learners of different glosses that use
different media (Al Seghayer, 2001; Chun & Plass, 1996a; Davis & Lyman-Hager, 1997;
Lyman-Hager, Davis, Burnett, & Chennault, 1993; Kost, Foss, & Lenzini, 1999).
Lomicka (1998), for instance, looked at the effectiveness of glossing for L2
reading comprehension. She investigated whether glosses facilitated or hindered reading
comprehension among second-semester students of French. There were three groups with
different conditions: full glossing (L1 translation and L2 definitions plus pronunciations,
images, references, and questions), limited glossing (L1 translation and L2 definitions), or
no glossing. The results indicated that computerized reading with full glossing promoted
text comprehension.
Chun and Plass (1996a, 1996b, 1997), who investigated the effect of text-picture
and text-video glosses on vocabulary retention among English-speaking learners enrolled
in a second-semester German course, found positive impact of glosses. The results
showed that words annotated with both text and pictures helped participants recall more
vocabulary than words annotated with only text or text and video. Kost et al. (1999)
reported a positive impact of pictorial glosses. Their research has shown that students
who used a combination of text and picture gloss while reading a text outperformed
students who used only either textual gloss or the pictorial gloss.
4
In a study similar to those of Chun and Plass (1996a, 1996b, 1997), Al-Seghayer
(2001) examined the effects of dynamic video glosses versus stil-picture glosses among
ESL students at an American university. A software program provided students with
three types of glosses. The first one had textual definition as well as an audio component
consisting of a native speaker pronouncing the target word. The second type gloss
included pictures along with the definitions, while the third gloss was in the form of
video clips along with the textual definitions. The results showed that words that were
annotated with text plus picture and those with text plus video were learned better than
words with just textual definitions. However, words with text plus video annotations were
remembered better than words with text plus picture cues. Interestingly enough, AlSeghayer’ findings were opposite to those of Chun and Plass (1996a, 1996b, 1997) whose
results showed, as mentioned earlier, that still images combined with definitions are more
effective for recalling words than videos combined with definitions.
These few studies and others are a good start, but empirical research regarding the
effects of hypermedia glossing on vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension,
especially with L2 readers, is still at the beginning stage (Kamil & Lane, 1998). In fact,
there is a need to investigate incidental vocabulary learning from reading tasks involving
multimedia (Chun & Plass 1995, 1996a, 1996b, 1997; Plass et al., 1998; Al-Seghayer,
2001).
Although researchers have investigated a few combinations of media that
involved mainly text, picture and video, it remains unclear which combination is more
effective in aiding reading comprehension. Undoubtedly, more research is needed in this
5
area to examine the effectiveness of different combinations of media on reading
comprehension and word retention.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of different gloss types on
word retention and reading comprehension among L2 Spanish learners. Additionally, it
determined if there is a significant difference between glosses that combine different
media types: text, audio, and picture.
Research questions
Q1:
Will learners who have access to glosses have significantly higher reading
comprehension scores than learners who have access to no glosses?
Q2:
Will learners who have access to more gloss features also have greater reading
comprehension scores?
Q3:
Will there be an association between the reading times and reading
comprehension test scores?
Q4:
Will more frequent access to glosses result in higher reading comprehension
scores?
Q5:
Will learners who have access to more gloss features also have higher vocabulary
test scores?
Q6:
Will more frequent access to glosses result in higher immediate vocabulary test
scores?
Q7:
Will more frequent access to glosses result in higher word retention rate over
time?
6
Q8:
Will learners who have access to more gloss features retain more words over
time?
Significance of the Study
There were only a few studies that aimed at examining the effect of multimedia
glosses on word retention and reading comprehension. Most of these studies compared
the picture and text combination versus just text alone and also the combination of text
and video versus text and picture. However, very few researchers examined the
importance of audio as a potential useful media that may enhance the impact of glosses.
In fact, the impact of audio input has been under-studied although sound proved to be an
important factor in learning. Early researches dealing with motion film variables (Hoban
& Van Ormer, 1950) supported the advantage of sound plus picture combinations, and
this was confirmed by Ketcham and Heath (1962) who demonstrated that sound plus
relevant pictures was superior to sound alone, with sound plus irrelevant pictures proving
to be least effective. When comparing the effectiveness of relevant pictures in multiplechannel communication, Severin (1967) found audio plus related pictures to be the most
successful of six combinations, including print alone and audio alone, with unrelatedpicture/audio combinations least effective. More recently, Nugent (1982) demonstrated
that when content is the same in visual, audio and print channels, younger students learn
equally well from all modes, but combining pictures with print or audio generally
maximized learning.
If the interaction between sound, the written word, and the image of objects
presented is thought to enhance memorization considerably (Dubois & Vial, 2000), then
7
it becomes important to determine if combining text, picture and audio would help
students retain words better, as that increases the number of input channels. As more and
more learners are reading electronic texts, either from software programs or over the
Internet, such as reading materials from the Cervantes Virtual Center website for learning
Spanish as a foreign language, there is a need to guide designers of annotated texts.
Designers need to know which multimedia gloss type is the most efficient--is it a gloss
that includes text and picture, or audio and picture, or a combination of text, picture, and
audio? Furthermore, the findings of this study will be useful for teachers who are looking
for ways to help students increase their vocabulary knowledge and facilitate the reading
comprehension task.
Operational Definitions
The following operational definitions are used in this study.
Gloss:
definitions, explanations or translations of a word. Glosses can take
several forms: verbal, visual (image, icon, video), and audio (Roby, 1999).
Hypermedia: refers to computer-based applications that combine multimedia
information resources such as text, graphics, sound, animation, and motion
in a nonlinear way (Kommers et. al., 1996).
Hypermedia gloss: consists of providing more than one form of gloss: English
translation and audio pronunciation of the target word, as well as a still
picture.
Hypertext:
refers to an electronic text that readers can access in a non-linear way
using hyperlinks. Ted Nelson, who coined this term, gives the following
8
definition: “a body of written or pictorial material interconnected in such a
complex way that it could not conveniently be presented or represented on
paper” (Nelson, 1965).
L1:
refers to learner’s first language or native language.
L2:
refers to learner’s second language or foreign language.
Multimedia:
"information in the form of graphics, audio, video, or movies. A
multimedia document contains a media element other than plain text"
(Greenlaw & Hepp, 1999, p.44).
Retention:
ability to provide a meaning of a word after a given period of time. In this
study, that is two weeks after instruction.
Structure of the Dissertation
This dissertation is divided into five chapters. The first chapter provides
background information, purpose, and significance of the study. Chapter 2 presents the
related literature review. Chapter 3 presents the methodology used in this study. This
includes the research design and different instruments used to collect data. Chapter 4
contains the results of the statistical analysis of the data. Chapter 5 presents a summary
and discussion of the findings. It also contains the limitations of the study and
pedagogical implications as well as suggestions for future research.
9
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This brief review of the literature covers past research relevant to this study. The
first section discusses important topics related to the second-language reading process.
This includes models of reading, the relationship between vocabulary and
comprehension, the Linguistic Threshold Hypothesis, and incidental vocabulary learning.
The second section presents the generative cognitive theory, which involves a discussion
of Paivio’s dual coding theory and Mayer’s Generative Theory of Multimedia Learning.
The third section reviews studies related to hypertext glossing in the second-language
environment. Topics included in this section cover the importance of glosses, L2 readers
and gloss lookup behavior, glossing and dictionary use in L2, and hypertext glossing in
the second-language environment. Furthermore, this chapter will discuss the impact of
glosses on second-language vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension and
present the findings of some studies about the use of multiple-choice glossing.
Models of the Second Language Reading Process
There are several models that tried to explain the L2 reading process using
metaphors. The most prevalent ones in the literature are the Top-down, Bottom-up, and
Interactive (cf. Samuels and Kamil, 1984; Silberstein, 1987; Swaffar et al., 1991). The
terms “top-down” and “bottom-up” are metaphors borrowed from computer terminology
(Smith, 1988).
10
Bottom-Up Processing Models
Bottom-up processing models place primary emphasis on textual decoding (Chun
& Plass, 1997). Readers build a mental model of a text’s meaning by sequentially
processing text. Starting with the letters and words, then phrases, clauses and sentences,
they build meaning in a linear way (Hudson, 1998). These types of models are considered
data-driven (Chun & Plass, 1997; Hudson, 1998; Rumelhart, 1980).
Top-Down Processing Models
Top-down processing models, on the other hand, emphasize reader interpretation
and prior knowledge (Chun & Plass, 1997). This type of processing is considered to be
conceptually driven (Chun & Plass, 1997; Hadley, 2001; Rumelhart, 1980). As readers
read the text, they use background knowledge and conceptualizations and build a mental
model of its meaning. The readers are also engaged in predicting the meanings in the text
using their sentential and contextual knowledge to compensate for their deficiencies in
vocabulary (Barnett, 1989).
Interactive Processing Models
The interactive processing models of reading stress the interplay between lowerlevel processing skills (identification or decoding) and higher-level comprehension and
reasoning skills (interpretation and inferencing) (Chun & Plass, 1997). Proficient readers
are able to utilize both bottom-up and top-down processing, and successful
comprehension is the result of an interaction and collaboration between both types of
processing (Eskey, 1988; Bernhardt, 1991). Schema theorists have pointed out that
bottom-up processing and top-down processing occur at the same time (Hadley, 2001).
11
Vocabulary and Comprehension
Stahl (1983) described the link between vocabulary knowledge and reading
comprehension as “one of the best documented relationships in reading research” (p. 33).
In fact, research has consistently found a “strong correlation between vocabulary
knowledge and reading comprehension” (p. 33). This is because “vocabulary knowledge
is fundamental to reading comprehension; one cannot understand text without knowing
what most of the words mean” (Nagy 1988, p. 1). Daneman (1988) suggests that since
words are the building blocks of connected text, the success of searching for individual
word meanings is key to constructing text meaning. Within the same vein, Davis (1968)
found that the factor that correlated most highly with comprehension is knowledge of
word meaning. Laflamme (1997) states that recent research has identified vocabulary
knowledge as the single most important factor in reading comprehension. Stahl (2003)
argues that the more students are exposed to words and their meanings, the easier it will
be for them to comprehend text. Stahl and Nagy (2006) argue that: “having a big
vocabulary makes you a better reader” (p. 9).
Several empirical studies were conducted to examine the importance of
vocabulary in reading comprehension. The findings show high correlations between
students' vocabulary knowledge and their general reading skills. A study conducted by
Anderson and Freebody (1981) involving 8th grade students found a “high correlation
between tests of vocabulary and comprehension” (p. 3). The researchers argued that “a
reader’s general vocabulary knowledge is the single best predictor of how well that
reader can understand text” (p. 3). In another empirical study, Qian (1999) explored the
relationships between depth (learner's level of knowledge of various aspects of a given
12
word) and breadth (vocabulary size) of vocabulary knowledge and reading
comprehension among ESL learners in two universities in Ontario. The results show that,
for ESL learners with a minimum vocabulary size of 3,000 word families, “scores on
vocabulary size, depth of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension are highly,
and positively correlated; and scores on depth of vocabulary knowledge can make a
unique contribution to the prediction of reading comprehension levels” (p. 280).
The idea that vocabulary can be predictive of reading comprehension was supported by
Stahl (2003), who called the relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension
a “robust” one and said vocabulary knowledge has consistently been the “foremost
predictor of a text’s difficulty” (p. 241). In his study of 28 average 5th grade readers,
Stahl (1983) found that students who had vocabulary instruction achieved significantly
higher scores on comprehension and vocabulary learning.
The Linguistic Threshold Hypothesis
According to the linguistic threshold hypothesis, also known as the short circuit
hypothesis, a certain level of linguistic ability in L2 must be achieved in order to be able
to read successfully in L2 (Bernhardt & Kamil, 1995). This linguistic competence is
necessary before readers can transfer their linguistic abilities in L1 to the task of L2
reading (Alderson, 1984). Laufer (1997) argued that the threshold for reading
comprehension is, to a large extent, lexical. It seems that readers will be able to transfer
their L1 reading strategies to L2 contexts only when they have at least 4,800 L2 items in
their lexicon (Laufer, 1992). Lack of L2 linguistic competence cannot be compensated
for by good reading abilities in L1. Even reading ability in L1 contributes to second
13
language reading (Alderson, 1984; Bernhardt, 2000; Bernhardt & Kamil, 1995; Chun &
Plass, 1997).
Incidental Vocabulary Learning
Researchers make a distinction between incidental and intentional vocabulary
learning. Laufer (2003) defines incidental vocabulary as the “learning of vocabulary as
the by-product of any activity not explicitly geared to vocabulary learning” (What leads
to higher vocabulary gains: Reading or word-focused activities? section, ¶ 2). They
provide the example of a reading activity during which students can use the dictionary to
get the meaning of difficult words in order to perform a comprehension task. The words
that students looked up will be remembered even though their intention was not to learn
them, as they did not perform a vocabulary task. Similarly, Hulstijn, Hollander, and
Greidanus (1996) define incidental learning as the “accidental learning of information
without the intention of remembering that information” (p. 327). Intentional vocabulary
learning, on the other hand, is defined as “any activity geared at committing lexical
information to memory” (Hulstijn, 2001, p. 271). Other researchers argue that the key
difference between incidental and intentional vocabulary learning is the learners’ type of
attention while involved in a given task. Ellis (1994) states, “whereas intentional learning
requires focal attention to be placed on linguistic form, incidental learning requires focal
attention to be placed on meaning (i.e. message content), but allows peripheral attention
to be directed at form” (p. 2).
Many studies were conducted to compare the efficiency of incidental and
intentional learning of vocabulary. In his review of some of these studies, Krashen (1989)
14
concluded that incidental vocabulary learning yields better results than intentional
vocabulary learning since “words in natural texts are encountered in a variety of contexts,
which helps readers acquire their full semantic and syntactic properties” (p. 450). Nagy
and Herman (1987), favor incidental vocabulary learning over intentional learning of
vocabulary. They maintain that “explicit vocabulary instruction, even at its best, cannot
produce substantial gains in overall vocabulary size or in reading. Major progress toward
these goals can be attained only by increasing incidental vocabulary learning” (p. 19).
It is widely believed among linguists that some, if not most, of second-language learners’
vocabulary is acquired incidentally (Gass, 1999). Most of the studies that examined the
usefulness of electronic dictionaries and glosses have explored the impact on accidental
vocabulary acquisition. The following section discusses the major theoretical background
on which this study is based.
Generative Theory of Learning
According to Wittrock (1989), the generative theory of learning tries to explain
how people process the information they receive. Wittrock identifies four elements that
are involved in the learning process: generation, motivation, attention, and memory. The
first element, generation, is the process of making connections between the incoming
information and the learner’s existing knowledge. The second element is motivation.
Learners play an important role in achieving successful learning. Wittrock maintains that
students should become mentally active in the learning process, be responsible, and hold
themselves accountable for connecting what they read with what they already know.
Instructors can enhance students’ motivation by attributing learning to student effort. If
15
students attribute learning to other people or factors external to themselves, their
motivation will decline (p. 349).
The third element of Wittrock’s (1989) generative theory is attention, which refers
to the ability to comprehend the incoming comprehension. Higher attention to
information can lead to a higher level of retention. The fourth element of the generative
theory of learning is learner’s long-term memory, which includes the learner’s existing
knowledge, everyday experience as well as learning experiences. According to Wittrock,
comprehension takes place when a relationship is generated between the incoming
information and the existing knowledge that is stored in long-term memory
Cognitive psychologists are also interested in understanding how human beings
process two different modes of information, notably visual and verbal (Paivio, 1986).
The Dual Coding Theory
Dual coding explains how visual and verbal information is processed. The Dual
Coding Theory deals with how visual and verbal information is processed. Research has
shown that words that are associated with actual objects or images are better acquired and
retained (Clark & Paivio, 1991). This theory postulates the existence of two separate but
interrelated coding systems which process and store information in the memory: a verbal
system and a nonverbal system. The verbal system stores linguistic information (i.e., text
and sound) in sequential units called "logogens." The nonverbal system, on the other
hand, processes visual information like pictures, animations, or videos and stores them in
units called "imagens". The two systems are linked to each other through “referential
connections”. According to Paivio (1991), there are three different types of processing for
16
verbal and non-verbal input: (a) representational, (b) referential, and (c) associative
processing. Representational processing refers to the activation of the verbal and visual
representation by a stimulus. For example, words activate verbal representation whereas
pictures activate visual representation. Referential processing refers to the activation of
either system by the other one. This means that images or objects activate words and
words activate images or objects. Associative processing refers to the activation of
associative connections between linguistic units (words) in the verbal system and
between images in the representational system. Paivio (1991) claims that pictures are
more likely to activate both coding systems upon processing than words. Consequently,
there is a "mnemonic superiority of the image code over the verbal code" (p.265), which
makes pictures easier to remember than words alone. The theory’s explanation of how
learning happens in the presence of visual and textual input has important implications
for second-language learning.
Figure 2.1.
A schematic of the relationship between the non-verbal and verbal systems
in dual coding theory (Paivio, 1986).
17
The Generative Theory of Multimedia Learning
The generative theory of multimedia learning (GTML) is a cognitive theory about
how people learn from multimedia presentations (Mayer, 1997, 2001). Mayer’s cognitive
theory of multimedia learning draws on Wittrock's generative theory and Paivio's dualcoding theory (Clark & Paivio, 1991; Paivio, 1986). According to this theory, learning
takes place in the following sequence. First, learners select relevant information and
transfer it to working memory for processing. Then, the information is organized into two
separate mental models. Words are stored in a verbal mental model and images are stored
in a visual mental model. The last step is to connect verbal and mental representations
and integrate them into the learner’s existing knowledge (Mayer, 2001). Mayer’s theory
of multimedia learning is based on three following assumptions. First, visual and auditory
information are processed in two separate channels. The auditory/verbal channel
processes information received through the ear. The visual/pictorial channel processes
information received through the eyes. Second, there is a limit on the amount of
information that each channel can process. The third assumption is that learners are
actively processing incoming information and connecting it with their prior knowledge
and experiences (Wittrock, 1989). These cognitive processes include paying attention,
organizing incoming information, and integrating incoming information with prior
knowledge structures (Mayer, 2001).
Mayer (1997) asserts that the generative theory of learning best accounts for the
type of learning related to multimedia use. He states:
In a generative theory of multimedia learning, the learner is viewed as a
knowledge constructor who actively selects and connects pieces of visual
and verbal knowledge. The basic theme of a generative theory of
multimedia learning is that the design of multimedia instruction affects the
18
degree to which learners engage in the cognitive processes required for
meaningful learning within the visual and verbal information processing
systems. (p. 4)
Mayer (1997) argues that learners are more apt to recall specific information
when they have verbal and visual formats available at the same time rather than one of
these formats alone. The presence of these two sources of information helps establish a
connection between visual and verbal models in working memory. Later on, learners can
better retrieve the information stored in long-term memory thanks to the presence of
visual and verbal cues.
Figure 2.2. Cognitive theory of multimedia learning (Mayer, 2001)
Source: Chun, M. (1997). Research on text comprehension in multimedia
environments. Language Learning & Technology 1 (1): 60-81.
The Importance of Glosses
Roby (1999) argues that glosses refer to various kinds of “attempts to supply what
is perceived to be deficient in a reader’s procedural or declarative knowledge” (p. 96). He
emphasizes the fact that glosses are much more than translations or explanations of hard
words. Based on the works of Blohm (1982), Hullen (1989), Stewart and Cross (1991),
and Widdowson (1978), who each coined various terms for different types of glosses,
19
Roby tried to catalog all the possible forms of glossing. According to him, glosses can be
characterized by their authorship, presentations, functions, focus, language, and form.
Below is Roby’s detailed taxonomy (p.96).
Figure 2.3.
Roby's Taxonomy of Glosses
I. Gloss authorship
IV. Gloss focus
A. Learners
A. Textual
B. Professionals
B. Extratextual
1. Instructors
2. Materials developers
II. Gloss presentation
V. Gloss language
A. Priming
A. L1
B. Prompting
B. L2
C. L3
III. Gloss functions
VI. Gloss form
A. Procedural
A. Verbal
1. Metacognitive
B. Visual
2. Highlighting
1. Image
3. Clarifying
2. Icon
3. Video
B. Declarative
a. With sound
1. Encyclopedic
b. Without sound
2. Linguistic
C. Audio (only)
a. Lexical
i. Signification
ii. Value
b. Syntactical
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Glossing is especially important in L2 reading because it is a means for learners to
understand a text. Annotations assist learners for the parts of a text that are outside their
competence (Widdowson, 1978). Gettys, Imhof, and Kautz (2001) claim that online, or
electronic, glosses help students to “enhance general comprehension, improve vocabulary
retention, and save student’s time and effort in reading L2 texts” (p. 91). Electronic
glossing, they elucidate, “provides fast and easy access to the meanings of unknown
words, makes up for insufficiently automatic bottom-up processes and deficiencies in
processing capacity, and thus allows the reader to attend to top-down processes” (p. 93).
The process of reading and comprehending in one's native language (L1) is a very
complex process; this complexity increases further when reading in a foreign language
(L2). It is suggested that hypermedia/multimedia environments have the potential to
facilitate L2 reading comprehension due to their capacity to combine multiple forms of
media such as sound, pictures, and animated pictures or video in addition to text, to
present information (Martinez-Lage, 1997; Chun & Plass, 1996a, 1996b; Lomicka, 1998).
Davis (1989) mentions that many texts foreign-language learners have to read
contain many low-frequency vocabulary items so that L2 reading becomes a stressful and
tiring task because of frequent use of a dictionary. He points out that hypermedia
annotations can be used to expand the amount of information available to the student, and
to individualize the learning experience by hiding the glossing until the student feels the
need to access it. He emphasizes that hypermedia annotations are "invisible and
unobtrusive" (p. 42), which decreases the amount of extra information and increases the
flow of reading due to immediate access to the necessary extra information for the reader.
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In his summary of the advantages of glosses, Nation (2001) argues that glosses
allow texts that are too difficult for learners to read without glosses to be used without
adaptation or simplification. Secondly, glosses provide accurate meanings for words that
might be difficult to guess correctly. Thirdly, glosses allow L2 readers to follow the text
without much interruption. Fourthly, glosses draw learners’ attention to words and thus
may encourage learning of new vocabulary.
Aust, Kelley, & Roby (1993) compared the use of hyper-dictionaries and
conventional paper dictionaries. Abramson, Bhalla, Christianson, Goodwin, Goodwin,
Sarraille, and Schmitt (1996) define hyperdictionnary as “a relational and deductive
database containing the words of a language” (p.4). It provides the reader with their
“orthography, pronunciation, signification, part of speech, and use; their history, synonyms,
homonyms, antonyms, derivation, relationships to one another, and any other aspect of the
words” (p.4).
Jacobs (1994) states that computerized glossing is an effective means that aids L2
vocabulary acquisition. Learners and researchers alike can benefit from glossing delivered
through the computer. Learners are provided with access to glosses of unknown
vocabulary items and a list of the accessed items is created automatically. Researchers can
examine the created list to obtain information about individual learners, such as reading
strategies and behaviors.
Chun and Plass (1996a, 1996b) emphasize that, when words or phrases are
presented with different types of media, retention is easier. They state that “foreign words
associated with actual objects or imagery techniques are learned more easily than words
without” (1996a, p. 183). They base this claim on the dual-coding theory, the rationale of
which is that, because words are coded dually in two modes, they are learned better than
22
those coded only in one mode. Dual coding provides more channels for learning; thus, the
learner has two types of cues in his memory to recall.
Lomicka (1998) investigated the way multimedia annotations influence the level
of comprehension. The participants were 12 college students in a second-semester French
course who read a text under one of three conditions: full glossing, limited glossing, or no
glossing. The results indicated that computerized reading with full glossing promoted a
deeper level of text comprehension. Lomicka proposed that the multimedia annotations
were the key to text comprehension. More specifically, the multimedia annotations
affected the generation of causal inferences and the construction of a situation model.
That is, the computerized glosses helped learners in the construction of a situation model
and led to the generation of causal inferences.
Glosses enable readers to approach the text more globally, rather than linearly.
They provide reader control, immediate access, no interruptions, and multiple formats to
present information, none of which can be realized through any other conventional
instructional media (Davis & Lyman-Hager, 1997; Martinez-Lage, 1997). Thus, glosses
can be used to make L2 texts interactive, easier to understand, and faster to handle for the
language learners.
L2 Readers and Gloss Lookup Behavior
Aust et al. (1993) argue that there is a tendency for L2 readers to look up glossed
words when reading, especially when they are available in an electronic format because
of their convenience. Many studies support this claim. For instance, Black, Wright,
Black, and Norman (1992) report that their subjects looked up 95% of glossed words. In
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another study conducted by Ko (1995), L2 readers with access to the L1 gloss looked up
96.6% of some or all of the glosses, while students who had access to the L2 gloss looked
up 92.5% of some or all of the glosses available. But the question is: what factors
influence L2 readers’ gloss look-up behavior?
Gloss presentation format, reading proficiency level, and gender were found to be
factors that may influence look-up behavior. DeRidder (2000, 2002) found that, when
glosses were highlighted, L2 readers consulted them more than when they were not
highlighted. Ercetin (2001) reported that students with an intermediate level of English
proficiency looked up glosses more frequently than students with an advanced level of
proficiency. In addition, gender was believed to be a factor, based on the findings of
Hegelheimer (1998), who found that female readers used glosses more often than male
readers.
Chun and Payne (2004) explored whether L2 learners’ executive function and
working memory capacity (PWMC) have any effect on the amount of glosses they look
up. Learners with low PWMC looked up, on average, three times more words than
participants with high PWMC when reading the L2 text. The researchers argue that these
findings may be explained by the fact that, in order for learners to compensate for their
memory limitations, they needed to consult more glosses offered by the CyberBuch
software.
Glossing and Dictionary Use in L2
Bilingual dictionaries are one of the strategies that many foreign-language readers
use to compensate for their lexical deficiencies. Some studies revealed a positive impact
24
of dictionary use on vocabulary learning. Luppescu and Day (1993) report on an
experiment that looked at the effect of bilingual dictionary use on vocabulary learning.
The study involved 293 Japanese university students who were studying English as a
second language in Japan. The performance of students who were allowed to use EnglishJapanese dictionaries was compared to students who did not have access to dictionaries.
The results showed that participants who used dictionaries scored significantly better on a
multiple choice vocabulary test than the participants who did not.
In another study, Knight (1994) investigated whether the use of electronic
dictionaries would help in vocabulary learning and reading comprehension for secondyear American college students studying Spanish. The researcher separated the
participants with high verbal ability and low verbal ability based on the American
College Test verbal scores. While reading a text, one group had access to a dictionary
while the other did not. Students took definition recognition and definition production
vocabulary tests. They also completed a reading recall protocol task designed to measure
their reading comprehension. The results show that students who used dictionaries outperformed students who did not on the vocabulary tests and also had better reading
comprehension scores. Knight reports that the dictionary use was very beneficial to the
low verbal ability group who achieved “similar or greater increases in vocabulary
learning and in reading comprehension” (p. 295).
Even though research has provided evidence of the usefulness of dictionaries,
students need, however, special training since the availability of several meanings of a
single word can be difficult (Nation, 2001) and confusing (Lupescu & Day, 1993).
25
Furthermore, dictionaries tend to be more useful for advanced students, who tend to
employ more successful word search strategies (Lantolf, Labarca, & den Tuinder, 1985).
Some researchers turned their attention to study glosses as they were considered a
useful tool for L2 readers. Jacobs, Dufon, and Hong’s (1994) study investigated the effect
of vocabulary glossing on recall and vocabulary learning, as well as learners' preferences
as to glossing. Eighty-five native speakers of English enrolled in a college-level fourthsemester Spanish course were involved in the study. Participants read a Spanish text
under one of three treatment conditions: no gloss, English glosses, or Spanish glosses.
Then they were asked to write what they recalled of the passage, translate a list of the
glossed vocabulary, and complete a questionnaire. The translation task was repeated four
weeks later. Results showed that glossing did not significantly affect recall for the
participants overall, but that those with higher-than-average proficiency recalled more
after they had read a glossed version of the text. In addition, students who had access
either to the English or the Spanish gloss outperformed the students who did not have
access to a gloss on the translation task administered immediately after they had read the
text. However, no significant difference was found on the delayed translation task.
Researchers did not find any significant correlation between students’ reading
comprehension scores and vocabulary scores. Finally, on the questionnaire, participants
expressed a preference for marginal glosses. Fifty-two percent favored glosses in Spanish
(L2) if they were comprehensible versus forty-seven percent who preferred English
glosses.
Hulstijn, Hollander, and Greidanus (1996) studied the influence of marginal
glosses and dictionary use on incidental vocabulary learning. The subjects were 78
26
advanced L2 students of French enrolled in Dutch universities who were instructed to
read a short story in French under three conditions: marginal glosses (English translations
of target words), dictionary access, and text only. After completing the reading task,
participants were given an unexpected vocabulary test. The results show that the
marginal-gloss group performed significantly better than the other two groups: dictionary
group and the text-only group. The students of the dictionary group did not perform
better than the text-only group because they only looked at 12% of the words. The
researchers argue that students were more interested in reading the story for global
understanding within the reading time limit.
In sum, both the use of bilingual dictionaries and textual glosses while reading
was beneficial to L2 readers. But, since computers make it possible to incorporate other
media, like audio and pictures, some researchers tried to explore the impact of
multimedia glossing on vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension.
Hypertext Glossing in Second-Language Environment
Aust et al. (1993) compared the use of hyper-reference and conventional paper
dictionaries. A hyper-reference is an online electronic aid that provides immediate access
to information to help students understand a text. Participants were 80 undergraduate
Spanish learners enrolled in fifth-semester Spanish who were assigned to four groups: (a)
hypertext + English L1/L2 (Spanish) dictionary, (b) hypertext + L2 dictionary, (c) paper
version + L1/L2 dictionary , (d) paper version + L2 dictionary. All words of the 420word text were glossed with definitions in the hypertext version using HyperCard
computer software. Researchers were interested in examining the definitions’
27
consultation frequency, study time, efficiency (number of consultations per minute) and
reading comprehension. They used tracking software to monitor students’ interaction
with the text and a recall protocol to measure reading comprehension. Results reveal that
students who used hyper-reference consulted more than twice as many definitions as the
students who used a conventional dictionary. Hyper-reference users consulted more
definitions per minute than conventional dictionary users and achieved a higher
efficiency rate. In terms of dictionary use, bilingual dictionary users consulted 25% more
definitions than did students who used a monolingual dictionary. Bilingual dictionary
users were able to complete the reading task in 20% less time than monolingual
dictionary users. Similarly, hyper-reference users spent about 20% less time on the
reading task than the conventional dictionary users. The study did not report any
significant difference between the groups’ comprehension scores. Researchers suggest
that using multiple choice and sentence-completion testing forms may have generated
different results.
Gettys, Imhof, and Kautz (2001) compared the effects of two glossing formats, a
sentence-level translation equivalent form of L2 words and a basic dictionary form, on
text comprehension and vocabulary retention. The researchers predicted that providing
students with an L1 sentence-level equivalent of unknown words would lead to better
global comprehension since fast access to meaning would lead to fast bottom-up
processing, and, hence, the more efficient global comprehension would be. They also
hypothesized that students would achieve better word retention if they had access to
dictionary forms of words since deeper processing increases retention. The subjects of the
study were 22 university students enrolled in a second-year Russian language course.
28
Students read an authentic text, an excerpt of a story by Anton Chekhov, under the
following two conditions: treatment SLE, which refers to sentence level equivalent of
unknown words, and treatment D which allowed students to have access to the meaning
of the word through the basic dictionary form. Each student received both treatments.
The text was divided into equal parts. The first group of students read the first part using
the SLE treatment and the second part using the D treatment. The second group read the
first part of the text using the D treatment and the second part using the SLE treatment.
Students’ global comprehension was assessed through recall protocols. Students had to
write at least 5 facts about the text. Students’ understanding of specific details in the text
was assessed through a multiple-choice test. In order to measure students’ rate of
vocabulary retention, the researchers administered a multiple-choice, short memory
vocabulary test. Finally, students’ attitudes towards the two glossing techniques were
collected through a questionnaire. The results of the study show that students who had
access to basic dictionary forms (treatment D) spent significantly more time reading the
text than students who had access to the sentence level equivalents (SLE). Students who
used dictionary forms showed a significantly higher rate of word retention. No significant
difference was found between the impact of either glossing technique on comprehension.
The questionnaires show a higher level of satisfaction on the part of students regarding
glossing, and most students preferred the SLE treatment over treatment D.
Multimedia Glossing
The Effect of Glosses on Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition
29
Lyman-Hager and Davis (1993) examined the impact of an interactive computerbased reading program, Une Vie de Boy, on vocabulary acquisition. The program has the
the first 1754 words of a French story by F. Oyono (1956), Une Vie de Boy, with Sixhundred and sixty annotated words. The program offers seven types of glosses: English
and French definitions, pronunciation in French, brief grammatical explanations,
relational information concerning story characters, cultural notes, and pictures.
Participants in the study were split in two groups. One group read the story via the
computer program with access to multimedia annotations; the other read the story from a
conventional printed text with the same glosses provided by the computer group. After
reading the story, participants wrote a recall protocol but they took a vocabulary test one
week later. The results demonstrated that students who used the computer program to
complete the reading task scored significantly better on the vocabulary recall test than
students who used the printed text. In other words, subjects of the computer group were
able to retain more words.
Davis and Lyman-Hager (1997) reported their findings about students’
performance in reading comprehension using the “Une vie de boy” program.
Forty-two third-semester French students were instructed to read a glossed excerpt from
Une Vie de Boy from a computer screen before taking a multiple-choice task and a
written recall protocol. Although students showed a positive attitude toward the
computerized glosses, researchers did not find a relationship between computer use and
comprehension. Students used English definitions more than any other available glosses
provided by the program.
30
Chun and Plass (1996a, 1996b) conducted three studies with 160 second-semester
German students enrolled in three California universities to measure the effect of
multimedia annotations on incidental vocabulary learning. The researchers designed a
program called CyberBuch and used it in all studies. The program provided students with
a total number of 82 glossed words upon request to help them while reading a 762-word
German language story presented on the computer screen with text-only, text plus
picture, or text plus video annotations. Participants were instructed to read the story and
use the annotations. In the first and second studies, the subjects took an unannounced
definition-supply test immediately after the reading task and again two weeks later. In the
third study, the participants were presented with a sequence of nine pictures and nine
videos followed by a sequence of 18 definitions. Their task was to pick a German word
that corresponded to the picture, the video, or the definition. The results showed words
annotated with text and picture helped students recall more vocabulary than words with
text and video or text alone. The researchers argue that the findings support the dual
coding theory (Paivio 1986) that advances the concept that information coded both
verbally and visually is more effective for learning than information coded singularly.
Kost, Foss, and Lenzini, (1999) studied the effects of textual and pictorial
marginal glosses on incidental vocabulary learning from printed text. Fifty-six students
enrolled in second-semester German were instructed to read a narrative text passage
under one of the following three conditions: textual gloss (English translation), pictorial
gloss, and a combination of text and pictures gloss. Immediately after reading the text,
students were given production and recognition tests of fourteen target words. Then, two
weeks later, they took delayed post-tests to assess their vocabulary retention. The results
31
showed that students who used a combination of text and picture gloss outperformed
students who used only either textual gloss or the pictorial gloss. The authors argue that
these results show that the “combination of translation and pictures in the gloss allows the
reader to store new information in two different manners, i.e., in verbal and non verbal
storage systems. This dual coding of input increases the reader’s number of retrieval
options” (p. 95). It is worth mentioning that the researchers did not use computers but just
printed materials for their study in order to maintain the flow of the reading process. They
believed that readers prefer glosses to be in the margins.
Yoshii and Flaitz (2002) replicated the above study in a multimedia setting
using computerized annotations. They compared the effect of text only, picture-only and
a combination of text and picture on incidental vocabulary retention. Participants were
151 adult ESL learners who represented 38 countries and 18 languages, enrolled in ESL
courses in the English language institutes at universities in Florida. They were beginning
and intermediate level students. They had to read a story online created by the researchers
with fourteen annotated words. The participants at each level were randomly assigned to
one of the following conditions: Text-only, Picture-only, and Text-and-Picture. After
finishing the reading task, students completed a brief comprehension task, followed by a
series of an unannounced vocabulary tests: definition supply test, picture recognition test
and, finally, word recognition test. The same vocabulary tests were administered two
weeks after the treatment to measure vocabulary retention. The results showed that
students who had access to both text and picture glosses (the combination group)
outperformed students who had access to only text or picture glosses. The combination
group outperformed the two other groups on the delayed vocabulary tests but the level of
32
difference is smaller on the immediate tests. In terms of rate of change between the
immediate tests scores and the delayed test scores, no significant differences were found
among the three groups. Students’ scores on the delayed tests declined equally from the
scores of the immediate tests. In other words, over time no particular type of gloss helped
students retain vocabulary better. The study supports Paivio’s (1971, 1990) Dual-coding
Theory, which states that information coded both verbally and visually is more effective
for learning than information coded singularly.
Similar to the Chun and Plass (1996) study, Al Seghayer (2001) compared the
effectiveness of dynamic video and still pictures in aiding vocabulary acquisition for
college ESL students. Thirty students used a hypermedia-learning program, designed by
the researcher, to read a narrative English text with three types of glosses: printed text
definition alone; printed text + definition + still pictures; and printed text definition +
video clips. After the reading task, two vocabulary tests, recognition and production tests,
were administered to assess the performance of the students. The results indicated that
words that were annotated with text plus picture, as well as those with text plus video,
were learned better than words that had only textual definitions. Furthermore, words that
were annotated with text plus video were remembered better than words combined with
picture. Interestingly, the results of this study are the opposite of what Chun and Plass
(1996) found: still images plus definitions were significantly more effective for recalling
words on the vocabulary test than videos plus definitions. Al Seghayer (2001) suggested
that such a finding could be explained by the fact that the participants have a different
mother tongue and the target language is different. In addition, both studies used different
visual aids and different tests.
33
In a study conducted on elementary-level Thai students learning English as a
second language, Siribodhi (1995) explored the impact of three multimedia learning
programs containing graphics, text, and sound on vocabulary learning. Participants were
divided into three groups. The first group had access to English text, Thai text, and
sound. The second group had access to English text, picture, and sound. The third group,
had access to English text, Thai text, picture, and sound. An immediate vocabulary test
was administered once after the treatment and again 72 hours later as a delayed measure
in order to determine the amount of vocabulary students could recall from the three
treatments. The students’ task in the vocabulary test was word matching and picture
matching. Results showed that there was no significant difference among the three
conditions. However, the researcher reported a significant decrease from immediate posttest to the delayed post-test on word matching. A follow-up analysis revealed significant
interactions between treatment conditions and gender. Female participants in group one
(English text, Thai text, and sound) outscored female participants in the other two groups.
Furthermore, the mean for males who had access to graphics was higher than the mean
for males who did not have access to graphics; however, there was no significant
difference between the two means.
In a more recent study, Yeh and Wang (2003) investigated the effect of three
types of vocabulary annotations on vocabulary learning among Taiwanese students
learning English as a foreign language at the college level. The first annotation included
text only (Chinese translation and English explanation of the word). The second
annotation included both text and a still image that represented the meaning of the target
word. The third annotation included a text, a still image and an audio pronunciation of the
34
word by a native speaker. The authors were also interested in examining whether
students’ learning styles had any impact on the effectiveness of a particular annotation
type. Students’ learning styles were classified into auditory, visual-verbal (with text),
visual-nonverbal (with pictures), and mixed preferences. Eighty-two freshmen students
who completed six years of English at the secondary level of education took part in the
study. They were randomly assigned to an electronic text with each of the three types of
annotations. A questionnaire on learning styles was administered before the reading task
to explore students’ learning styles. Students had to take a vocabulary pre-test, which
focused on definitions of new words that would be covered later in the courseware. Then
a post-test was administered 4 to 14 days after the pre-test. The post-test included: word
association questions, multiple-choice questions on word meanings, and a cloze test.
The researchers did not find significant differences between the text annotation
versus text + picture annotation or between text annotation versus text + picture + audio
annotation. However, the results indicated that students who had access to text + picture
annotation significantly outperformed participants who had access to text + picture +
audio annotation. The researchers concluded that text + picture annotation was the most
effective for vocabulary learning among the participants in the study. The authors did not
find any positive impact of the audio. They argue that Chinese ESL/EFL learners seemed
to have preference for the visual stimuli over auditory stimuli. The findings did not show
any clear influence of the learners’ perceptual preference on the effectiveness of
vocabulary annotation types to vocabulary learning. This is not surprising since Chinese
is written in ideograms, which are derived from pictographs. This makes the findings of
Yeh and Wang (2003) not generalizable to populations that use an alphabet in L1 and
35
who are trying to learn another language that has an alphabet. Although the results of
these studies differ as to precisely which types of multimedia annotations are best for L2
vocabulary acquisition, they all suggest a positive impact of image-based annotations,
particularly in combination with text-based annotations.
The Effect of Glosses on Reading Comprehension
According to Martínez-Lage (1997), reading in a foreign language is a difficult
task, especially for students at the elementary and intermediate levels. She argues that
heavy reliance on bilingual dictionaries slows down the reading process, distracting
readers’ attention from what they read. Based on the findings of her study that involved
Spanish students who had access to a literary work with annotations, she emphasizes that
the immediate access to textual, sound, and visual annotations is not as interruptive as
looking up words in a traditional dictionary. Another point she emphasizes is that the
visual information in the form of pictures, animations, and videos attached to a word or a
related subject, helps the learners better understand the words or subjects via different
media because they can select the best way to receive information depending on their
preferred ways of learning. In addition, they can check their comprehension across
different media. Finally, she suggests that multimedia annotations provide an opportunity
for readers to interact with the text, making them actively involved in the reading process.
Davis (1989) conducted a study to examine the effect of marginal glosses on
reading comprehension among English-speaking students studying French as a foreign
language in an American university. He used a 936-word literary text, Le retraité, a short
story by Boris Vian, with 38 definitions (which were the glosses provided by the text
36
editors). The 71 participants in the study read the text under three conditions. The first group
read the text as many times as they could for 15 minutes, wrote what they could remember of
the text in English for 10 minutes, and finally reviewed the text one more time for 5
minutes. The second group was provided with questions, comments and definitions of
selected vocabulary for 10 minutes prior to the reading task. The third group was given
the same materials provided to group 2, except in a glossed form. Participants in this
group were asked to write what they could remember from the text for 15 minutes. All
three groups were given 15 minutes to write what they could remember from the text in
English. Results showed that students who received vocabulary and guides either before
(second group) or after (third group) the reading task recalled significantly more
information from the text than students who did not receive any help (first group).
Leffa (1992) compared the impact of electronic glossing and paper dictionaries on
reading comprehension in a translation task. The participants were 20 beginning level
ESL students at college. They were divided into two groups. One group had access to
hypertext gloss and the second one had access to a bilingual traditional paper dictionary.
The researchers used five short passages taken from an English newspaper, about 100
words each, for the reading comprehension task. Each participant had to complete two
reading comprehension tasks. In one test participants had to use electronic glosses, while
in the second test students had to use a paper bilingual dictionary. The comprehension
test was to translate the original text from English into Portuguese. Each of the five
passages was divided into units. Two scorers corrected the translations along the idea
units. Findings indicate that the subjects were able to understand 86% of the passage
when using the electronic dictionary and only 62% when using the traditional dictionary.
37
The use of glosses proved to be more efficient since students who used glosses needed
50% less time to complete the translation task than students who used a dictionary. Given
the limited number of subjects, it is hard to generalize the findings of this study.
Hong (1997) examined the effectiveness of multimedia computer-assisted reading
in business Chinese using a software program, entitled A Multimedia Chinese Reader for
Advanced Students, compared to the conventional paper-pen-dictionary method. Twenty
second-year business Chinese students at an American university were randomly divided
into two groups. They were instructed to read two passages each with two versions, a
computerized version and a printed version. Each student read the two texts using either
the computerized or the conventional format of the texts. Students who read the
computerized version had access to multimedia software, which allowed them to have
access not only to an online glossary, but also the audio pronunciation of any character or
phrase to help students connect each character pronunciation to its written form. Students
were given 50 minutes to complete reading the passages and answer the questions. Then
they were asked to identify answers they guessed and those they fully comprehended.
Only the correct answers of full comprehension were calculated in the reading test score.
Guesses were not counted. The reading test with the conventional format was
administered before the computerized format. Results indicate that students who had
access to the multimedia software scored higher than students who only had access to
paper and dictionary in less than half the time. Hong (1997) attributes students’ “strong
accomplishment” to the features of the multimedia program used in the study, namely the
online glossary, which enabled students to find the meaning of a phrase in seconds,
compared with spending minutes with a dictionary. The author concluded that the
38
multimedia method is more helpful for improving reading comprehension than the
conventional paper-pen-dictionary method.
Lomicka (1998) investigated the way multimedia glossaries influence the level of
comprehension. In her study, 12 college students in a second semester French course read
an electronic text under one of three conditions: (a) access to traditional glosses
(definitions in French and translations in English); (b) access to full glossing (definitions
in French and translations in English, as well as multimedia glosses, including images,
references, questions, and pronunciation); or (c) no glossing. The text is an excerpt from
the poem Femme Noire by the Senegalese poet Leopold Senghor. To collect
comprehension data, the researcher used online think-aloud protocols. To use this
technique, students were instructed to verbalize their understanding of the poem after
each ten lines. She also used a tracking program to record the length of time students
spent on the reading task and the type, as well as the frequency, of each accessed gloss.
The results indicated that computerized reading with full glossing promoted a deeper
level of text comprehension. The researcher suggests that multimedia glossaries were the
key to text comprehension. The results show also a preference for traditional glosses
from the students who had access to full glossing. They preferred the English definitions,
even though there were many other types of glosses. Participants who had access to
traditional glosses consulted the French definitional glosses more frequently than the
English glosses. Lomicka concludes that students were primarily concerned with
definitions and translations to achieve comprehension. She compares her findings to
Lyman-Hagar and Davis (1996), who reported a tendency on the part of students to prefer
39
English definitions, as they perceived the key factor to understanding a text is to
understand the meaning of words in English.
In a recent study, Sakar and Ercetin (2005) examined whether multimedia
annotations facilitated reading comprehension in the second language. The participants
were 44 intermediate-level Turkish students studying English for Academic Purposes at a
Turkish university. The researchers used an authentic online 900-word reading text
selected from The National Geographic Journal website. The text was annotated with
different types of media created by using reading software designed by Ariew (1999)
(reference provided by the researchers). There were a total number of 104 textual
annotations. These annotations provided information about the text in the form of
definition of the target word, its pronunciation, and sometimes a picture. Participants
were instructed to read the text twice. During the first time, they had to read the text for
general comprehension using the annotations and then complete a recall protocol task,
which consisted of writing what they remembered from the text. During the second
reading, they were given an unannounced reading comprehension test. The reading
comprehension test contained 20 questions consisting of 15 multiple-choice questions
and five open-ended questions. Data were collected through a tracking tool, a reading
comprehension test, a questionnaire, and interviews. The students’ recall protocols were
not used to measure reading comprehension because the researchers thought the
participants were not familiar with this type of test. The results revealed that participants
preferred visual annotations more than textual and audio annotations. In addition,
annotations, especially, pronunciations, audio recordings, and videos, seemed to have a
negative impact on reading comprehension even though participants had positive
40
attitudes towards annotations. In discussing these findings, Sakar and Ercetin suggest that
annotations may have hindered reading comprehension. They provide an explanation
based on the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, which states that multimedia
information may have deleterious effects when a single channel is overloaded. According
to Sakar and Ercetin, the visual channel is overloaded with information both verbal (text)
and visual (videos). In addition, they think that the “redundancy effect” may have
distracted the participants, since they had to process the text while watching the videos.
The videos alone provide verbal and visual information at the same time.
Research on Multiple-Choice Glossing
Some researchers tried to determine if inferring the meaning of unknown words
can help learners achieve word retention. Multiple-choice glosses are believed to require
“mental effort,” which may increase the likelihood of retention (Rott, Williams &
Cameron, 2002). In a study involving Turkish students learning Dutch, Hulstijn (1992)
conducted a study to explore how well vocabulary is inferred and retained during reading
comprehension. Four groups of learners read a 907-word text under four conditions: (a)
text without gloss; (b) translation of the target word; (c) a sample sentence using the
target word; and (d) multiple-choice gloss that includes a synonym, a definition and
translation of the target word. Each word was glossed with multiple choices in which the
students must decide the most appropriate choice. The multiple choice glosses were
provided to reduce the amount of guessing and lead to more cognitive processing.
Students’ involvement in choosing the correct synonym of the target word was believed
to result in greater word retention. This idea was based on the “mental effort” hypothesis,
41
which postulates that words are retained longer if they are inferred by the learner. After
completing the reading task, participants took a multiple-choice comprehension test
followed by two unannounced vocabulary post-tests. In the first test, students had to
supply the meaning of twelve target words, and in the second test they had to fill in the
blanks in the original text with target words. Data analysis shows that students who had
multiple-choice glosses had a higher retention than those who had access to just
synonyms of the target words. Hulstijn reports also that students who had access to
multiple-choice glosses incorrectly inferred 30% of the target words. The researcher calls
for the investigation of other methods that can help learners infer word meanings without
generating a higher level of incorrect inferences.
Hulstijn’s (1992) findings leave the question related to the effectiveness of given
meaning or inferred meaning on L2 readers’ vocabulary learning and reading
comprehension unanswered. In an effort to address this issue, Watanabe (1997)
investigated different ways of modifying an L2 reading text to enhance L2 vocabulary
learning. The following three text modifications were tested: (a) appositives (provide a
definition of the target word), (b) marginal glosses (provide an explanation of the target
word), (c) multiple-choice marginal glosses, and (d) no gloss. The multiple-choice
glosses have two alternatives. Watanabe provides the following example: Each year in
the US. about 7,000 infants die in their cribs for no apparent reason (p.290). The word
cribs has two glosses: babies’ beds and small beds. Students needed to choose the
relevant gloss. The researcher set up two control groups: one read the original text
without any glosses and the second one read a different text with no glosses. These three
conditions were crossed with a translation versus no-translation task, which brings the
42
number of conditions to be tested to ten (5x2). The participants were 231 Japanese
university students learning English as a second language. Researchers created ten
versions of test booklets that were randomly distributed in classes. Each student received
one test booklet that had four sections: a pre-test (which asked students to provide the
meaning of 32 words in Japanese) and a questionnaire; the treatment; the proficiency test;
and a post-test, which was identical to the vocabulary pre-test. An unexpected two
delayed vocabulary post-tests on targeted vocabulary were administered one week later.
One of the tests was identical to the post-test given in the first session. Results revealed
both the marginal gloss group and multiple-choice gloss group performed significantly
better on the vocabulary tests than appositive condition and no gloss groups. The
researcher argues that the inability of appositives to enhance vocabulary learning is
caused by the fact that students were not familiar with the format and function of
appositives. In addition, there were no significant differences between the single and
multiple-choice gloss groups even though the multiple-choice gloss group achieved
higher vocabulary test scores. Finally, there were no significant differences between the
appositive group and the text only groups. One of the limitations of Watanabe’s study is
that the printed form of multiple-choice glosses cannot correct students’ mistakes. The
computer has the capability to solve this issue by providing immediate feedback when a
wrong selection is made. The following study by Nagata (1999) addressed this issue.
Using a Japanese courseware program, Banzai Readings, which provides reading
texts accompanied by glosses, Nagata (1999) conducted an experiment, which was a
computerized version of Watanabe’s (1997) study, in order to examine the effectiveness
of a single gloss and a multiple-choice gloss. The single gloss provided the reader with an
43
English translation of the target vocabulary item or grammatical structure. The multiplechoice gloss provided the learner with two possible translations in a multiple-choice
format, followed by immediate feedback in response to the learner’s choice. A 260-word
reading passage was selected with 26 glosses. Twenty glosses targeted vocabulary items
and six glosses targeted three grammatical structures. The participants were 26 American
college students enrolled in a second-semester Japanese course. After reading the text,
students had to take a translation test in order to assess their vocabulary and grammatical
acquisition. Then they had to take the same test four weeks later to assess their retention.
Results show that the multiple-choice gloss is significantly more effective than the single
gloss for recalling vocabulary and grammatical items.
Summary
This chapter presented three models, the bottom-up, the top-down, and the
interactive, which explained the L2 reading process. The relationship between vocabulary
and reading comprehension was explained. Furthermore, the chapter presented major
theories that were the theoretical background of this study: Wittrock’s (1989) generative
theory, Paivio’s (1986) dual coding theory and Mayer’s (2001) generative theory of
multimedia learning. These theories shed light on how verbal and visual information are
processed in the human mind. Studies related to glossing were reviewed. Previous
research provided evidence of the positive impact of glosses on reading comprehension
(Chun & Plass, 1996b; Davis & Lyman-Hager, 1997; Hong, 1997; Lomicka, 1998;
Lyman-Hager & Davis, 1996) and vocabulary acquisition (Al-Seghayer, 2001; Chun &
Plass, 1996a; Kost, Foss, & Lenzini, 1999; Yeh & Wang, 2003; Yoshii & Flaitz, 2002).
44
Electronic glosses that combined more than one media were more effective than marginal
glosses. The few studies reviewed above were very different in terms of type of glosses
examined, methodology used, age group of participants, etc. This may explain why it
remains unclear which combination of glosses is the most beneficial for learners. There is
a need to conduct more research in this area. It is still at the beginning stage (Kamil &
Lane, 1998).
45
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
This chapter provides an overview of the methods and procedures used in the
study. This includes: the research questions; descriptions of participants; materials used;
data collection techniques, including instrumentation and procedures, and data analysis.
Review of Research Questions
The study aimed to compare the impact of four types of glosses on reading
comprehension and word retention among L2 Spanish language learners: (a) text (T)
(translation in English), (b) text and audio (TA) (pronunciation of key word), (c) text,
audio and picture (TAP) and (d) text, audio, picture and writing (TAPW) (writing down
on a piece of paper the gloss that students clicked on). The performance of each group
was compared to students in the control group who had no access to gloss. In addition,
the effect of each gloss on students’ reading time was explored. The study posits the
following research questions:
Q1:
Will learners who have access to glosses have significantly higher reading
comprehension scores than learners who have access to no glosses?
Q2:
Will learners who have access to more gloss features also have greater reading
comprehension scores?
Q3:
Will there be an association between the reading times and reading
comprehension test scores?
Q4:
Will more frequent access to glosses result in higher reading comprehension
scores?
46
Q5:
Will learners who have access to more gloss features also have higher vocabulary
test scores?
Q6:
Will more frequent access to glosses result in higher immediate vocabulary test
scores?
Q7:
Will more frequent access to glosses result in higher word retention rate over
time?
Q8:
Will students who have access to more gloss features retain more words over
time?
Variables
The type of gloss provided in the online reading passage was identified as the
independent variable. There were four types: (a) text (T) (translation in English), (b) text
and audio (TA) (pronunciation of key word), (c) text, audio and picture (TAP), and (d)
text, audio, picture and writing (TAPW). The dependent variables in the study were:
students’ scores on the vocabulary tests (immediate and delayed), reading comprehension
scores, and reading time.
Hypotheses
H1:
Students with access to glosses will have significantly higher reading
comprehension scores than students who have access to no glosses.
H2:
Students who have access to more gloss features will have higher reading
comprehension scores than students who have access to fewer gloss features.
47
H3:
There will be a relationship between the reading times of students and their
reading comprehension test scores.
H4:
Students who access glosses more frequently will achieve higher reading
comprehension scores than students who access glosses less frequently.
H5:
Students who have access to more gloss features will achieve higher immediate
vocabulary test scores than students who have access to fewer gloss features or no
gloss.
H6:
Students who access the glosses more frequently will achieve higher immediate
vocabulary test scores than students who access the glosses less frequently.
H7:
Students who access the glosses more frequently will retain more words over
time.
H8:
Students who have access to more gloss features will retain more words over
time.
Participants
Participants in the study were intermediate level students of Spanish enrolled in a
third-semester beginning Spanish class (Spanish 212) at The University of Kansas.
Spanish 212 is a three-credit-hour course. Students met in class three times a week for 50
minutes each session. To be enrolled in this class, students must have successfully
completed SPAN 104 (Elementary Spanish I) and SPAN 111 (Intensive Elementary
Spanish). Each one of these two classes is a five-credit-hour semester course.
Alternatively, the students hey must have passed the Spanish language placement exam
administered by the Spanish and Portuguese department at The University of Kansas.
48
According to the Spanish 212 instructors, a selection of authentic texts was incorporated
into the curriculum. The curriculum covers twelve units. Students’ reading ability was
assessed once a semester. The researcher did not have access to students’ grades or
overall performance in class while the study was conducted. However, some information
about their reading abilities in Spanish and in their native language was gathered through
a background questionnaire (see Appendix A) filled out by the students.
The researcher explained the nature of study to potential participants. Students
were informed that all the information collected during the study would be kept
confidential; their scores would not be shared with their teachers and would not affect
their grades. Students who volunteered to participate in the study had to review and sign a
letter of informed consent (see Appendix B) and complete a background questionnaire.
A total number of 93 participants took part in the study: 61 females and 32 males.
They took the comprehension test (see Appendix C) and the initial vocabulary test (see
Appendix D). However, only 63 students completed the post vocabulary test (41 females
and 22 males). One of the instructors in charge of proctoring the follow-up test lost his
students’ copies after the test was administered. The lost tests could not be recovered.
Furthermore, some students were missing during the post-test day.
From the background questionnaire, the researcher learned that 92 participants
are Americans and are native speakers of English. One student was a native speaker of
Korean. None of the students had a Spanish-speaking parent. Sixty-six percent of the
students were between the ages of 18 and 20. Two students were Spanish majors and one
student was minoring in Spanish. Fifty percent of the students reported that they had
completed three semesters of Spanish at college and 59 % took four semesters or more of
49
Spanish at high school. This shows that Spanish is a popular foreign language in K-12.
The overwhelming majority of Kansas public schools offer Spanish and, in some school
districts, it is the only foreign language that students could take. In terms of their reading
ability in Spanish, 74% of the students rated their skills as very good. With regard to their
computer skills, the overwhelming majority of students thought their computer skills
were either good or very good. Only three students thought that their computer skills
were average. When asked to assess their level of foreign language anxiety, about 50% of
the students said they had an average level of anxiety. Two students said they had a very
high level of foreign language anxiety.
Table 3.1
Distribution of Groups
Group
Number of students
Percentage
NONE
18
20.4
T
19
20.4
TA
18
20.4
TAP
19
20.4
TAPW
19
20.4
Total
93
100
Materials
This section discusses the rationale and steps taken in designing the materials
used in this study. This involves text creation, glosses, and the website.
50
Reading Passage and Gloss Selection
The researcher made the decision to create an original text (see Appendix F) with
consultation from other experts in language learning and teaching at the University of
Kansas. There were several reasons for this choice. First, the purpose of the study is to
measure the effect of different types of glosses, which included pictures. The researcher
initially selected several reading passages from the Spanish textbook used by the
potential participants to use in this study. However, after a close look at each of the
passages, they did not seem to be appropriate to serve the purpose of the study. It proved
hard to come up with accurate pictures that would represent certain words that needed to
be glossed, such as abstract concepts or action verbs that may usually be found in existing
reading texts. Kost, Foss, and Lenzini, (1999) faced the same problem when they were
annotating the target words of their text. They found that their reading passage contained
words that they felt could not be glossed well with pictures. So, they deleted several
sentences from the text and replaced some words with others that were easier to gloss
with pictures.
Second, in many existing reading materials it is possible to guess the meaning of
certain words from the context and, hence, be able to understand the text without the need
to consult glosses. Thus, accurately measuring the effect of glosses becomes a difficult
task since students may consult only a small number of glosses.
Third, given the diverse linguistic background of college students taking Spanish,
it is very likely that some of the glossed words might look familiar to students, either
because they are cognates or words that they have come across through the readings they
have done during their study of Spanish.
51
To increase the probability of students using the glosses provided in the text, the
following original strategy was followed to create the text used in this study and the
selected glosses. A list of 75 pictures was taken from Szekely, et al. (2003). Then, four
instructors in the Spanish department at the University of Kansas rated those words in
terms of difficulty for the target students who were enrolled in their third semester of
Spanish. The words were rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being an easy word for the target
students, and 10 being a very difficult word. The four ratings were tallied. Words that
received an average rating of seven or higher were then selected to be a part of the
potential list of glosses. To make sure that the meaning of words could not be inferred
from the sentences in which the glosses were embedded, a cloze activity with a space
appearing in place of the 25 target words was conducted. The English version of the text
minus the glosses was given to a group of native speakers of English whose task was to
fill in the blanks with appropriate words of their own. Most participants were able to
supply eight correct words. Based on the results, the text was modified in order to reduce
the number of clues. The modifications consisted of either rewriting the sentences that
included the correctly guessed glosses or simply eliminating any words that would give
more clues to readers and replacing them with different vocabulary from the list of words
rated by instructors. The final version of the Spanish text is entitled “Un Día con La
familia López” (A day with the Lopez family) and deals with a typical day in the life of
the Lopez family who lived in Guadalajara, Mexico. The reading passage has 602 words
with 25 glosses (see Appendix E). The glosses are composed of 8 verbs and 17 nouns,
which represent about 4% of the total number of words in the text. It is close to the rate of
glossing found in the studies of Summers (1988), Davis (1989), and Roby (1991).
52
The Website
The researcher, using Macromedia Dreamweaver, created a website that hosted
the reading passage in addition to the different gloss types. The researcher was aware of
the issues that affect the readability of the hypertext, such as the choice of page
background color, layout, and font choice and size. The site was designed based on the
principles of web design as laid out by Nielsen (2000). Four versions of the reading text
were created. The first version had only the reading passage without any glosses (NONE)
(see Figure 3.1). The second version had the reading passage along with textual glosses
Figure 3.1
A Screen Shot of Reading Condition 1: No Gloss (NONE)
(T) (see Figure 3.2). The textual gloss consists of the translation of the target word in
English. There are two reasons for choosing translation in English (L1) rather than
providing a definition in Spanish. First, research showed that many foreign-language
learners prefer L1 glosses (translations) over L2 glosses (definitions in target language)
53
(Bell & LeBlanc, 2000; Chun, 2001; Chun et al., 2004; Davis & Lyman-Hager, 1997;
Laufer & Hill, 2000; Laufer & Kimmel, 1997; Lomicka, 1998) and that L1 glosses may
be more helpful. Ko (1995), who investigated the impact of glosses on reading
comprehension among Korean college students studying English as a second language
(ESL) found that there was a tendency that students who had access to glosses in Korean
(L1) did better than students who had access to glosses in English (L2) in a multiplechoice comprehension test. The difference was not, however, statistically significant.
Second, in this study, students’ vocabulary knowledge was assessed through a translation
exercise.
Figure 3.2
A Screen Shot of Reading Condition 2: Text (T)
Therefore, providing glosses in English seemed more appropriate. The third version of
the reading passage (see Figure 3.3) had textual glosses (translation in English) along
with an audio pronunciation of the target word in Spanish and the English equivalent
(TA). All audio glosses were recorded by a native speaker of Spanish. The fourth version
54
Figure 3.3
A Screen Shot of Reading Condition 3: Text and Audio (TA)
(see Figure 3.4) had textual gloss, audio pronunciation and a picture (TAP). This version
was designed for both Groups 4 and 5. Group 5 had to write down each gloss they had
consulted (TAPW) (see Figure 3.5). Many language practitioners believe that one of the
efficient ways to help students retain vocabulary is through writing the new words they
come across. It is believed that writing will positively impact the memory of learners.
One of the decisions that had to be made while creating the hypertexts was to
choose a method of making the hyperlinks visible. Instead of underlining or just inserting
a symbol next to the annotated word, all hyperlinks were highlighted. This was based on
the findings of De Ridder (2002) who argued that, even though highlighted hyperlinks
did not increase vocabulary acquisition or affect reading comprehension, they tended to
lead to more consultation by readers.
55
Figure 3.4
A Screen Shot of Reading Condition 4: Text, Audio and Picture (TAP)
Figure 3.5
A Screen Shot of Reading Condition 4: Text, Audio, Picture and Writing (TAPW)
In order to access the gloss of the target word, participants needed to click on the
highlighted word using the mouse, and a pop-up window with the gloss entry would then
56
be displayed. The pop-up window was designed to be displayed at the left corner of the
page in such a way that it would never cover any part of the reading passage. Therefore,
it was possible for students to refer to the text while viewing the gloss, since the passage
was not obstructed from view (Roby, 1999; Aust et al., 1993). Two instructional
designers were asked to navigate the site and provide their feedback in order to make any
necessary adjustments before the study was piloted. They checked the quality of the
audio recordings and pictures. The site was also viewed by several foreign language
teachers.
The Pilot Test:
The study was piloted to test the website as well as the instruments. Six students
who were enrolled in Spanish 213, which is a third-semester Spanish class reserved for
honor students, took part in this pilot. They had the same curriculum as their peers in the
Spanish 212 course. They were shown a demo explaining how to log on and log off and
gain access to either T, TA, TAP, or TAPW gloss conditions. At least one student was
assigned to each of the five. Next, they were given a reading comprehension test and a
vocabulary test. Participants were interviewed to get their opinion about the level of
difficulty of the text, the navigation of the site, and the content of both tests. They were
encouraged to share any confusion or technical difficulty they experienced during the
completion of their task. Students who had access to glosses thought that the glosses were
very critical to understanding the text. Participants who were assigned the TA and TAP
reading conditions thought that the pictures were very helpful in completing both tests.
However, they did not think that audio was quite as important for them. All participants
were asked not to share the content of the study with their peers in the Spanish 212
57
section to avoid “data contamination.” The study was also piloted at another university by
a Spanish teacher. The instructor reported that her students enjoyed the text.
Data Collection
Three instruments were used to examine the impact of different types of gloss on
reading comprehension and word retention as well as reading time: a user-behavior
tracking program, a multiple-choice comprehension test, and a multiple-choice
vocabulary test. Furthermore, a background questionnaire was used to collect additional
demographic data about the participants. This section also includes the procedure
followed to collect and analyze data.
User-Behavior Tracking Program
In order to track and record the participants’ actions while completing the reading
task, a tracking program was created by a programmer for this study. The program
generated computer log files that contain information about frequency and type of glosses
readers consulted as well as the length of time spent on gloss access. The same features
were provided by the tracking program used by Lomicka (1998). The use of software to
track a reader’s interaction with text in a computerized reading environment is common
among researchers because of its reliability and the ability to generate valuable
information without impeding the participant’s reading process (Aust et al., 1993; Bland
et al., 1990; Hulstijn, 2000).
Reading Comprehension Test
The researcher designed the comprehension test to measure the impact of glosses
on reading comprehension. This test was administered immediately after the completion
58
of the reading task. A non-writing assessment instrument, a multiple-choice test, was
chosen to provide more valid measures of receptive skill ability in the target language
because multiple-choice tests preclude the possibility that the students’ lack of writing
ability might interfere with scoring (Hughes 2003). Many studies used the recall protocol
to measure reading comprehension. However, second-language students’ ability to
comprehend target language material is generally superior to their ability to produce it.
Lee (1986) argues that assessing target language comprehension via a written protocol
measure may hinder students’ ability to demonstrate true comprehension. This was the
case for the participants in this study who did not have a high writing proficiency, given
the fact that they were just third-semester Spanish learners. The test included 25 items
with four alternatives and a coefficient alpha of .79. Each item asked the reader about one
particular idea in the text. To be able to answer each question correctly, students needed
to know the meaning of one gloss that was associated with the idea. None of the four
alternatives featured the gloss verbatim. Instead, a synonym was provided. This was
meant to avoid turning the reading comprehension test into a memorization exercise.
Vocabulary Test
The researcher designed the vocabulary test to measure the effect of each type of
gloss on word retention and find out whether students who had access to gloss
outperformed students in the control group who had only a reading passage. Students
were given the test after they had completed the reading task and logged off the
computer. To measure word retention, the vocabulary test was administered immediately
after the reading comprehension test and again two weeks later. The test included 13
recognition items and 12 production items. The coefficient alpha is .8. The recognition
59
section of the test required students to answer multiple-choice items with four
alternatives, to reduce the probability of correctly guessing the answers. The production
section required students to write the meaning of 12 glosses in English. The total number
of test items was 25. Students received one point for each correct answer and no points
for a wrong answer. There was no partial credit. The maximum score possible was 25. A
similar test format was used by Al-Seghayer (2001).
Delayed Vocabulary Test
The delayed vocabulary test was identical to the vocabulary test that was
administered immediately after the task. The delayed vocabulary test allowed the
researcher to determine the amount of vocabulary that students were able to retain two
weeks after the task. Students’ performances in the delayed vocabulary test were
compared to their scores in the immediate vocabulary test. Several researchers, e.g.,
Jones (2004), used delayed post-tests to measure word retention.
Background Questionnaire
Participants filled out a background questionnaire before the beginning of the
study. The questionnaire, which used a 6-point Likert-type scale, allowed the researcher
not only to gather biographical information related to students’ ages and nationalities but
also very useful information about their linguistic backgrounds, foreign language learning
experiences, self-assessments of foreign language ability, L1 and L2 reading skills,
computer skills, their use of the dictionary, and self-assessments of foreign language
anxiety.
60
Procedures
The study was conducted in two computer labs, with 25 computer stations each, at
the University of Kansas. Data collection took place during several sessions scheduled in
the evening so that all students could participate, since many students had to attend other
classes during the day. Each lab had 22 PCs and 3 Macintosh computers with 17- inch
flat monitors and headphones. The computers were very fast and they were in excellent
condition. Students did not experience any technical difficulties. The Internet connection
was excellent, so all data was recorded in the server without any problems. The following
steps summarize the data collection procedures. First, participants were randomly
assigned through a list of random numbers generated at http://random.org to one of the
five conditions: (a) no glossing (NONE) (control group), (b) text (T) (translation of the
target word in English), (c) text and audio (TA) (pronunciation of key word in both
English and Spanish), (d) text, audio and picture (TAP), or (e) text, audio, picture and
writing (TAPW). The computers were assigned to the five reading conditions (see
Appendix G).
Upon entering the lab each participant was assigned a computer number that
corresponded to one of the five possible conditions based on the following pattern. The
first participant was given 1 A, which corresponded to the first condition, the next student
was given 1 B for condition 2. The third student was given 1 C, which corresponded to
the third condition. The fourth student was given 1 D, which corresponded to the fourth
condition. The fifth student was given 1 E, which corresponded to the fifth condition. The
61
purpose of this pattern was to make sure that there was an even number of participants for
each condition. Once a participant was placed on 4 E the following participant was
placed on 1 A (see Appendix H).
Second, students signed the consent form and filled out the questionnaire form.
Third, the researcher explained the task of each group and demonstrated how to access
the glosses for students in the four experimental groups. Students in condition A (NONE)
had to read the text with no access to glosses. The rest of the students could look up
information about highlighted words by clicking on them with the mouse to get the
meaning of the target word in the text. Participants in condition B (T) had to read the text
with access to audio pronunciation of the target word in both Spanish and English, as
well its English translation. Those in condition C (TA) had to read the text with access to
audio pronunciation of the target word and a picture. Those in condition D (TAP) had to
read the text with access to the English translation and audio pronunciation of the target
word, as well as a picture. Those in condition E (TAPW) had to read the text with access
to English translation and audio pronunciation of the target word, as well as a picture but
they were also required to write on a piece of paper the glosses they had consulted.
Fourth, when students were ready to read the text, they were asked to log on to the
web page that corresponds to their group. They were given a time of limit of 20 minutes
to read the text and understand it for the comprehension questions that were given once
they logged off the computer. Students of the four experimental groups were reminded
that they could access the glosses as many times as they wished. Once students were done
reading, they were instructed to log off the computer and take a comprehension test,
followed by a vocabulary test. Finally, two weeks after the treatment, students were given
62
an unannounced vocabulary post-test in their individual classes to determine to what
extent they retained the target vocabulary words.
Data Analysis
The following section discusses how the data obtained from the reading
comprehension and vocabulary tests, the computer log files, and the background
questionnaire were manipulated and analyzed.
Computer Log of Reading Time and Gloss Access
The computer log files generated by the tracking program provided the researcher
with data used to explore the number of glosses each participant consulted, the amount of
time spent on every gloss and the overall reading task. The retrieved data from the log
files were analyzed using descriptive statistics, namely frequency and percentage.
Correlations between reading time, the number of glosses consulted and students’
performance on the reading comprehension and vocabulary tests were calculated.
Students’ Performance
To explore the impact of different types of glosses on L2 reading comprehension
and word retention, a 5 x 2 analysis of variance (ANOVA) with treatments (treatments
vs. control) as a between groups factor, and time (pre-test vs. post-test) as a within groups
factor, was conducted to determine the effectiveness of each one of the four treatments on
the students' vocabulary retention and word retention. Running an analysis of withingroup pre-test and post-test scores indicated if the learning took place in both approaches;
however, conducting a between-group post-test scores analysis indicated if there was a
significant difference in the scores of the four experimental groups.
63
Background Questionnaire
Descriptive statistics (means, frequencies, and standard deviations) were used to
describe the participants' demographic information: number of semesters of Spanish in
high school and college; age, nationality, native language, foreign language learning
experience, self-assessment of foreign language ability, L1 and L2 reading skills,
computer skills, their use of dictionary, and self-assessment of foreign language anxiety.
Statistical Software
The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 14
was used to conduct all statistical analyses in this study.
Conclusion
This chapter described the research design, the materials, and procedures used for
this study. The next chapter presents the findings obtained with this method. The
following chapter will include the hypotheses related to the research questions followed
by the results of the study. Finally, a discussion of the results will be conducted.
64
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
Introduction
This study’s aim was to explore the impact of different types of glosses on word
retention and reading comprehension among L2 Spanish learners. More specifically, it
tried to determine which of the following gloss types--text (T); text and audio (TA); text,
audio and picture (TAP); and text, audio, picture and writing (TAPW)--has a better
influence on reading comprehension and word retention. The study also explored the
correlation between frequency of access to glosses and performance in reading
comprehension and word retention. Finally, the correlation between reading times and
reading comprehension was also investigated. The purpose of this chapter is to report
demographic descriptions of the subjects and present each of the eight hypotheses
formulated in Chapter 1, followed by the statistical results of the analyses.
Demographic Description of Participants
Participants in the study were intermediate-level students of Spanish enrolled in
19 sections of the third-semester beginning Spanish class (Spanish 212) at The University
of Kansas. The total number of participants was 93 students, but only 63 took the delayed
vocabulary tests. This was due to the absence of some students and the loss of tests by
one exam proctor. The subjects were randomly assigned to either control group (no gloss)
(NONE) or one of the four experimental groups: (a) text (T) (translation in English), (b)
text and audio (TA) (pronunciation of key word), (c) text, audio and picture (TAP), and
(d) text, audio, picture, and writing (TAPW) (writing down on a piece of paper the gloss
65
that student clicked on). Both the control group (NONE) and the text and audio group
(TA) had a total number of 18 students each, while the other three experimental groups
(T, TAP, TAPW) had 19 students each. The participation of the subjects at different
stages of the study is reported in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1
Participation of Subjects at Different Stages of the Study
Stage / Group
NONE
T
TA
TAP
TAPW
Total
Comprehension test
18
19
18
19
19
93
Immediate voc test
18
19
18
19
19
93
Delayed voc test
11
12
13
11
16
63
In terms of gender distribution of the total number of participants, 61 (65.6%)
were females and 32 (34.4%) males. In the control group, there were 21 (67%) females
and 10 (33%) males, and in the experimental groups the percentage of females ranged
between 58% and 63%, as illustrated in Table 4.2. In the delayed vocabulary test 41
(65%) of the students were females and 22 (35 %) were males (see Table 4.3).
The majority of students (65%) who participated in the study were between the
ages of 18 and 20, while 32% were between the ages of 21 and 23. Only one student was
above the age of 26. Two students were majoring in Spanish and one student was
minoring in Spanish. None of the students had Spanish-speaking parents. Two students
declared that their mothers could speak Spanish. Students who used Spanish as a main
66
Table 4.2
Gender Distribution of Participants in the Immediate Tests
Group
Females
Males
Number/percentage
n
%
N
%
None
10
46
8
44
T
12
63
7
37
TA
14
68
4
22
TAP
14
73
5
27
TAPW
11
58
8
42
Total
61
62
32
35
Table 4.3
Gender Distribution of Participants in the Delayed Vocabulary Tests
Group
Females
Males
Number/percentage
n
%
N
%
None
7
64
4
36
T
8
67
4
33
TA
10
77
3
23
TAP
7
64
4
36
TAPW
9
57
7
43
Total
41
65
22
35
67
language of communication at home were eliminated from the study. The vast majority of
the participants were undergraduate students. Only two graduate students participated in
the study and were part of the control group. One of them did not take the delayed posttest. The participants were asked to provide data concerning the number of semesters of
Spanish and any other foreign language they had studied in college and high school
before their enrollment in Spanish 212. About 44% of the students had had at least one
semester of Spanish in high school. The distribution of the participants in the study,
according to the number of semesters in foreign languages in both high school and
college, is reported in Table 4.4.
Table 4.4
Number of Semesters of Spanish and Other Languages That Participants Took
Language/semesters
Spanish French German Italian Russian Hebrew Latin
1 college semester
12
1
2 college semesters
7
1
3 college semesters
29
4 college semesters
10
1 high school semester
2
2 high school semesters
5
1
1
2
3 high school semesters
4 high school semesters
1
1
34
2
1
1
On a six point Likert scale, with 1 being “poor” and 6 being “excellent,” 70% of
the students (n=3.94, SD 1.11) rated themselves as good or better learners (4 or higher on
68
the scale). When asked to rate their reading ability, about 63% of the students (n=3.86,
SD .95) rated their ability in Spanish as good or better. Ninety-seven percent of the
students thought that they had very good computer skills (n=4.97, SD .87). The subjects
were also asked to report their frequency of dictionary use while completing Spanish
homework or assignments. The results showed that about 42% (n=2.64, SD .86) of the
students usually or always used a dictionary to complete their Spanish homework
assignments. Finally, participants were asked whether they had foreign language anxiety.
About 44% (n=3.23, SD .1.54) agreed that they had anxiety about studying a foreign
language.
Results of Hypotheses Analysis
This section presents the results of the eight hypotheses formulated in chapter
one. They are:
H1:
Learners with access to glosses will have significantly higher reading
comprehension scores than learners who have access to no glosses.
A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to evaluate whether
access to glosses would result in significantly higher reading comprehension test scores.
The independent variable, the treatment group, included two levels: the control group (no
gloss) (NONE) and the four experimental groups (T, TA, TAP, TAPW) who had access
to glosses. Results showed that there was a significant difference between the control
group and the experimental groups F (1, 90) = 82.81, p<.01,
2
= .473, as seen in Table
4.5. The mean scores of all experimental groups (M=17.84) were higher than scores of
the control group (M=9.24) as reported in Table 4.6. The control group had an average of
69
nine correct answers out of 25 (36%), while the experimental groups who had access to
gloss had an average of 17 (68%) correct answers out of 25, indicating that access to at
least one type of gloss resulted in higher reading comprehension test scores than having
no gloss.
Table 4.5
One-Way ANOVA Analysis for Reading Comprehension Test Scores
Source
SS
Df
MS
F
Sig.
Reading Comprehension Test Scores
1026.11
1
1026.11
82.81
.000
Error
1115.13
90
12.39
Total
2141.25
91
a R Squared = .479 (Adjusted R Squared = .473)
Table 4.6
Reading Comprehension Test Scores: Control Group vs. Experimental Groups Combined
H2:
Mean
SD
Control group: no gloss
9.24
3.09
Experimental groups: glosses
17.84
3.61
Learners who have access to more gloss features will have higher reading
comprehension scores than learners who will have access to fewer gloss features.
A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to evaluate the
relationship between the access to more gloss features and the reading comprehension
70
scores. The independent variable was the four treatment groups (T, TA, TAP, TAPW).
Descriptive statistics are shown in Table 4.7. The dependant variable was the reading
comprehension scores. Results showed that there was no significant difference between
the four experimental groups F (3, 71) = 1.75, p>.05,
2
= .007 as seen in Table 4.8,
indicating that having access to more gloss features did not result in significantly higher
reading comprehension scores.
Table 4.7
Means and Standard Deviations of Reading Comprehension Test Scores of Experimental
Groups
Group
Mean
SD
T
18.89
2.51
TA
18.28
4.42
TAP
17.21
3.79
TAPW
17.00
3.43
Table 4.8
One-Way ANOVA analysis for Reading Comprehension Test Scores
Source
SS
Df
MS
F
Sig.
Reading Comprehension Test Scores
45.52
3
15.17
1.75
.325
Error
916.55
71
12.90
Total
962.08
74
a R Squared = .047 (Adjusted R Squared = .007)
71
H3:
There will be a relationship between the reading times of learners and their
reading comprehension test scores.
Correlation coefficients were computed to determine if there was a relationship
between the time students of each group spent reading the text and their reading
comprehension scores. Reading times for each student were generated by the computer
log files and the average was then calculated for each group (see Table 4.9). The analysis
presented in Table 4.10 shows that the correlation was statistically significant and that
there was a positive correlation between minutes reading time (M=9:2) of students who
had access to glosses and comprehension (M=17.9), (r=.292 p>001). Note that the control
group (NONE) was excluded from this analysis since the design was meant to measure
the amount of time spent on reading the text and consulting the glosses. Further analysis
to determine the strength of correlation between the reading times within each group and
reading comprehension test scores revealed that the association between reading times
and comprehension test scores is significant and moderately strong for only the text and
audio (TA) condition (r=.580), p = .012, and (TAP) (text, audio and picture) (r=.626)
p=.004 (see Table 4.11). Individuals within the TA and TAP groups who took more time
completing the reading task significantly outperformed individuals within the TA and
TAP groups who took less time.
72
Table 4.9
Means and Standard Deviations of Total Reading Time (in minutes) and Reading
Comprehension Test Scores
Group
Reading Time
Comprehension scores
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
NONE
7:08
3.03
9.06
3.10
T
8:29
2.18
18.89
2.51
TA
9:23
2.22
18.28
4.42
TAP
7:99
3.00
17.21
3.79
TAPW
11:41
3.09
17.00
3.43
Table 4.10
Correlational Analysis of Reading Times for All Experimental Groups (T, TA, TAP,
TAPW) and Reading Comprehension Test Scores
M
SD
R
Sig.
Reading Time
17:84
3.61
.292**
.001
Reading Comprehension scores
9.24
2.94
73
Table 4.11
Correlational Analysis of Reading Times and Reading Comprehension Test Scores
Within Each Group
Group
r
Sig.
NONE
-.121
.633
T
.328
.170
TA
.580*
.012
TAP
.626**
.004
TAPW
.053
.828
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
H4:
Learners who more frequently access glosses will achieve higher reading
comprehension scores than learners who less frequently access glosses.
Correlation coefficients were computed to determine if there was a relationship
between the frequency of access to glosses and reading comprehension scores.
Descriptive statistics are shown in Table 4.12. The analysis presented in Table 4.13
showed that the correlation was statistically significant and that there was a moderate
positive relationship between frequency of access to glosses for all conditions (T, TA,
TAP, TAPW) (M=48.8) and reading comprehension scores (M=17.8), (r=.395, p>.002).
Further analysis to determine the strength of correlation between the frequency of access
to glosses within each group and reading comprehension test scores revealed that the
association between frequency of access to glosses and reading comprehension test
scores was significant for only the TA group (text, audio) , p < .05 (see Table 4.14).
74
Table 4.12
Means and Standard Deviations of Frequency Access to Glosses and Reading
Comprehension Test Scores
Group
Frequency
Comprehension scores
M
SD
M
SD
T
53.57
11.74
18.89
2.51
TA
54.83
19.07
18.28
4.42
TAP
48.94
22.48
17.21
3.79
TAPW
38.05
11.25
17.00
3.43
Table 4.13
Correlational Analysis of Frequency Access to Glosses and Reading Comprehension Test
Scores
M
SD
r
Sig.
Frequency
48.77
17.75
.395**
.002
Reading Comprehension scores
17.84
3.61
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
75
Table 4.14
Correlational Analysis of Frequency Access to Glosses and Reading Comprehension Test
Scores for Each Group
H5:
Group
r
Sig.
T
-.158
.519
TA
.468
.050
TAP
.410
.082
TAPW
.250
.301
Learners who have access to more gloss features will achieve higher immediate
vocabulary test scores than learners who have access to fewer gloss features or no
gloss.
A one-way ANOVA analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between
access to more gloss features and immediate vocabulary test scores. The independent
variable, the treatment group, included five levels: one control group (NONE)(no gloss)
and four experimental groups (T, TA, TAP, TAPW) who had access to glosses. The
descriptive statistics are shown in Table 4.15. The dependant variable was the immediate
vocabulary test scores. Results revealed that there was a significant difference between
the control group (M=7.2) and experimental groups (M=13.9), F (4, 82) = 23.35, p<.05,
2
= .515, as seen in Table 4.16. Gloss users scored an average of about 14 out of 25 words
(56%) in the vocabulary test while the non-gloss users scored only an average of about 7
words out of 25 (28%). Post hoc analyses using the Bonferroni post hoc criterion for
significance indicated that the there was a consistent difference between the control group
76
and each of the experimental groups. However, there was no significant difference
between the different treatments within the experimental groups.
Table 4.15
Means and Standard Deviations of Immediate Vocabulary Test Scores
Group
Mean
SD
NONE
7.22
1.70
T
14.16
2.14
TA
14.72
3.59
TAP
13.47
2.87
TAPW
13.26
2.70
Table 4.16
One-Way ANOVA analysis for Immediate Vocabulary Test Scores
Source
SS
df
MS
F
Sig.
Immediate Vocabulary Test Scores
670.61
4
167.65
23.35
.000
Error
631.67
88
7.17
Total
1302.28
92
H6:
Learners who more frequently access the glosses will achieve higher immediate
vocabulary test scores than learners who less frequently access the glosses.
Correlation coefficients were computed to determine if there was a relationship
between the frequency access to glosses and immediate vocabulary test scores.
77
Descriptive statistics are shown are shown in Table 4.17. The analysis presented in Table
4.18 showed that the correlation was statistically significant and that there was a
moderate positive relationship between frequency of access to glosses (M=48.8) and
immediate vocabulary test scores (M=13.9), (r=.423 p>.000). Further analysis revealed
that there was only a significant correlation between the frequency of access (M=54.8)
and immediate vocabulary test among The TA group (text and audio), (M=14.7), (r=.69,
p>.002.) as well as the supply-translation section of the test among the TAP group (text,
audio and picture) (M=48.9), (r=.51, p>.026) (see Table 4.19). The correlation of
frequency access to glosses and scores of the multiple choice section of the vocabulary
test among the TA group is significantly very strong (r=.902) and the correlation of
frequency access to glosses and scores of supply-translation section of the vocabulary test
is significantly strong (r=.783).
78
Table 4.17
Means and Standard Deviations of Frequency Access to Glosses and Immediate
Vocabulary Test Scores
Vocabulary Test Scores
Group
Frequency
Multiple choice
Supply Translation
Overall
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
NONE
0
0
6.72
1.81
.50
.71
7.22
1.70
T
53.57
11.74
11.53
1.43
2.53
1.68
14.16
2.14
TA
54.83
19.07
11.50
1.72
3.22
2.49
14.72
3.59
TAP
48.94
22.48
11.00
2.38
2.37
1.26
13.47
2.87
TAPW
38.05
11.25
10.84
1.80
2.42
2.27
13.26
2.70
NONE
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
Table 4.18
Correlational Analysis of Frequency Access to Glosses and Immediate Vocabulary Test
Scores
M
SD
r
Sig.
Frequency access to glosses
48.78
17.76
.423**
.000
Reading Comprehension scores
13.89
2.86
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
79
Table 4.19
Correlational Anaylysis of Frequency Access to Glosses and Immediate Vocabulary Test
Scores
Vocabulary Test Scores
Group
Multiple choice
Supply Translation
Overall
R
Sig.
r
Sig.
r
Sig.
T
.425
.070
.003
.989
.283
.240
TA
.902
.000
.783
.000
.690
.002
TAP
.147
.547
.508
.026
.312
.194
TAPW
.378
.110
-.182
.457
.100
.684
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
H7:
Learners who more frequently access the glosses will retain more words over
time.
Descriptive statistics for the number of glosses consulted by experimental groups
(T, TA, TAP, TAPW) and the number of words retained over time are presented in Table
4.20. Correlation coefficients for these variables were computed and are shown in Table
4.21. The results indicate that there was a significant moderate positive relationship
between the amount glosses students consulted and the number of words they retained
over time (two weeks after the treatment) (M=11.42), (r=.478 p>.000).Further analysis
was conducted to determine the strength of correlation for each experimental group.
Results show that the correlation is significantly strong (r=.634, p>.02) for the TA group
(text, audio) and the TAPW group (text, audio, picture, and writing) (r.689, p>.03) as
presented in Table 4.22.
80
Table 4.20
Means and Standard Deviations of Word Retention Rate Over Time
Group
M
SD
T
11.75
2.49
TA
11.38
3.43
TAP
12.09
2.21
TAPW
10.75
2.82
Table 4.21
Correlational Analysis of Frequency Access to Glosses and Word Retention Rate Over
Time
M
SD
r
Sig.
Frequency
48.77
17.75
.478
.000
Word Retention Over Time
11.42
2.77
81
Table 4.22
Means and Standard Deviations of Frequency Access to Glosses and Rate of Word
Retention Rate Over Time
Word Retention Over Time
Group
Frequency
Multiple choice
Supply Translation
Overall
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
NONE
.
.
5.18
.98
.27
.65
5.45
1.29
TA
53.57
11.74
10.17
2.04
1.58
1.08
11.75
2.49
TAP
54.83
19.07
9.85
2.44
1.54
1.33
11.38
3.43
TAPW
48.94
22.48
10.55
1.81
1.55
1.21
12.09
2.21
T
38.05
11.25
9.44
2.16
1.31
1.20
10.75
2.82
H8:
Learners who have access to more gloss features will retain more words over
time.
A one-way ANOVA analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between
students’ access to more gloss features and number of words retained over time. The
independent variable was the four experimental groups (T, TA, TA, TAPW) and the
dependant variable was students’ rate of word retention. Descriptive statistics are shown
in Table 4.23.The results did not reveal a significant difference between the level of word
retention among students who had access to more gloss features and students who had
access to fewer gloss features, F (3,48) = 12.40, MSE = P > .05 , as see in Table 4.25.
The percent of drop from immediate to delayed vocabulary test scores is shown in Table
4.26.
82
Table 4.23
Correlational Analysis of Frequency Access to Glosses and Rate of Word Retention Rate
Over Time
Word Retention Over Time
Group
Multiple choice
Supply Translation
Overall
R
Sig.
r
Sig.
r
Sig.
T
.305
.335
.261
.412
.363
.246
TA
.607
.028
.519
.069
.634
.020
TAP
.040
.906
-.008
.982
.029
.933
TAPW
.621
.010
.503
.047
.689
.003
Table 4.24
Means and Standard Deviations of Word Retention Rate Over Time
Group
Mean
SD
NONE
5.45
1.29
T
11.75
2.49
TA
11.38
3.43
TAP
12.09
2.21
TAPW
10.75
2.82
83
Table 4.25
One-Way ANOVA for Word Retention Rate Over Time
Source
SS
df
MS
F
Sig.
Word Retention Rate Over Time
13.46
3
4.48
12.40
.637
Error
377.24
48
7.86
Total
390.7
52
Table 4.26
Means and Percent of drop from Immediate to Delayed Vocabulary Test Scores
Vocabulary Test Scores
Group
Multiple choice
Supply Translation
Overall
M
Percent
M
Percent
M
Percent
NONE
1.54
12
0.23
0.2
1.77
6
T
1.36
10
0.95
8
2.41
9
1.65
13
1.68
14
3.34
13
0.45
3
0.82
7
1.38
6
1.4
11
1.11
9
2.51
10
TA
TAP
TAPW
84
Figure 4.1
Rate of word retention over time among all groups.
Summary
The results of the analysis show that glosses had a positive impact on reading
comprehension and word retention, indicating that access to at least one type of gloss had
a better impact on reading comprehension test scores, as well as on immediate vocabulary
test scores, than having no gloss. However, there was no significant difference between
the impact of different gloss types on reading comprehension test scores and immediate
vocabulary test scores. Furthermore, results revealed a significant correlation between the
length of reading times and reading comprehension. Frequency of access to glosses had a
85
positive impact on both reading comprehension test scores and immediate vocabulary test
scores. In terms of word retention, the results indicate that, overall, there was a significant
moderate positive relationship between the amount glosses students consulted and the
level of word retention they achieved over time. However, there was only a significant
correlation and a moderate strong relationship among students of the TA (text and audio)
and TAP (text, audio and picture) groups and between their frequency of access to
glosses and word retention over time. Furthermore, there was no significant difference
between students’ rate of word retention and their access to more types of glosses.
Students who had access to more gloss features did not outperform students who had
access to fewer features.
86
CHAPTER 5
DISCUSSION
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to review and discuss the findings, based on the
analyses presented in Chapter 4, and relate them to previous research. This will be
followed by a discussion of pedagogical implications and recommendations for future
research. The last section will present the limitations of the study.
This study examined the impact of different types of glosses on word retention
and reading comprehension among L2 Spanish learners. Participants read the text under
one of the following conditions: (a) no glossing (NONE), (b) text (T) (translation of the
target word in English), (c) text and audio (TA) (pronunciation of key word in both
English and Spanish), (d) text, audio and picture (TAP), or (e) text, audio, picture and
writing (TAPW) (writing down on a piece of paper the gloss that students had consulted).
Reading comprehension and multiple choice vocabulary tests, computer log files
and the background questionnaires were used to collect data. Students completed a
multiple-choice comprehension test after the treatment. A multiple-choice and production
vocabulary test was administered after the reading test and again two weeks later to
measure word retention. Students’ interaction with the text was tracked using a computer
program.
87
Findings and Discussion
The Influence of Electronic Glosses on Reading Comprehension
As expected, the results show that students who had access to glosses performed
significantly better than students who only had a text without gloss on the reading
comprehension test. Participants in all electronic gloss conditions had higher reading
comprehension scores than those who did not use a gloss. The control group (NONE) (no
gloss) had an average of 9 correct answers out of 25 (36%), while the experimental
groups who had access to gloss had an average of 17 (68%) correct answers out of 25.
This suggests that glosses have a positive impact on reading comprehension. This result
supports previous research (Davis, 1989; Hong, 1997; Leffa, 1992), which reported a
positive impact of glosses on reading comprehension. However, no statistically
significant differences were found between the groups that had access to glosses even
though the TA group (text + audio) did better than the rest of the groups. It seems that
having access to multiple gloss features (TAP) (text + audio + picture) was not more
effective than having just one feature (T) (text). This means that neither the pictures nor
the audio played a role in significantly increasing students’ reading comprehension
scores. The mean accesses for all gloss conditions indicates that the participants
consulted many of the 25 glossed words more than once. Bivariate Correlation analyses
reveal that there was a moderate positive relationship between frequency of access to
glosses for all conditions and reading comprehension scores. Further analysis to
determine the strength of correlation between the frequency of access to glosses within
each group and comprehension test scores revealed that the association between
frequency of access to glosses and comprehension test scores was significant for only the
88
TA group (text + audio). This result is inconsistent with the findings of Davis and
Lyman-Hager (1997) who did not find a significant relationship between frequency of
access to annotations and students’ performance on reading comprehension tasks.
Furthermore, the study found that, overall, there was also a positive correlation
between minutes of reading time of students who had access to glosses and
comprehension. Correlation coefficients revealed that there was a significant positive
relationship between the time students of each group spent reading the text and their
reading comprehension scores. This means that learners who took more time completing
the reading task were able to achieve higher scores than their peers who spent less time
on the reading task.
The Influence of Electronic Glosses on Word Retention
The current study found that glosses helped students achieve significantly higher
scores on both immediate and delayed vocabulary tests than students who did not have
access to glosses. On the immediate vocabulary test, gloss users (students of the four
experimental groups) performed better than non-gloss users. They were able to score an
average of about 14 out of 25 words (56 %) while the non-gloss users scored only an
average of about 7 words out of 25 (28 %). Unexpectedly, results demonstrate that there
was no significant difference between the four experimental groups in terms of the rate of
word retention they were able to achieve over time, although the TAP group (text + audio
+ picture) had the highest rate of word retention. It is worth mentioning that having a low
percentage of word retention is not surprising, since students had the chance to read the
text and access the meaning of target words only once. Coady (1993) argued that there is
only a 5-15% probability that a new word could be learned after a single exposure. This
89
may explain the findings of Hulstijn (1992), who found that students who had exposure
to new vocabulary only once had a low rate of retention. Within the same vein, Nagata
(1999) argues that lower-than-expected performance on vocabulary tests can be explained
by the fact that “a one-day lesson is not sufficient to establish long-term retention”
(p.476). In previous studies, the percentage of retained words varied from low to high.
Knight (1994), for instance, reported that subjects scored between 5 and 21% on the
supply-definition tests. Chun and Plass (1996a) reported a higher rate of new words
learned. It was approximately 25% in production tests and 77% in recognition tests. The
results of the current study also show that there was a positive correlation between
students’ access frequency to glosses and their performance in immediate vocabulary
recognition and production. Bivariate Correlation analyses revealed also that, overall,
there was a significant moderate positive relationship between the amount of glosses
students consulted and the level of word retention they achieved over time. In fact, the
correlation is significantly strong for the TA group (text + audio) and the TAPW group
(text + audio + picture + writing). This suggests that the more glosses students consulted,
the higher their immediate vocabulary test scores were. These results corroborate
Knight’s (1994) findings of a high correlation between the number of words low-verbalability students looked up and their vocabulary test scores. However, such high
correlation was not found between the number of looked-up words by high-verbal-ability
students and their vocabulary test scores. The results of the current study are also
inconsistent with the findings reported by Hulstijn (1992), Chun and Plass (1996), and De
Ridder (2002). Hulstijn (1992) found no significant differences in acquired vocabulary
between subjects who looked up a lot of words and those who looked up fewer words.
90
Similarly, Chun and Plass (1996a) did not find a correlation between the number of
words students looked up and their performance on a vocabulary test. They argue that
this could be explained by the fact that students who had A large vocabulary would not
need to look up many words and could still get good scores on the vocabulary tests. De
Ridder (2002) found that students’ frequency of access to glosses did not result in an
increase in word recall. The absence of a significant difference between glosses that have
only text and those that have more media features, especially the pictures, is not
consistent with previous research which suggests that text combination of different
media, especially text and picture, had a better impact than just one media. This might be
attributed to several factors.
One important factor to consider is the diversity of learning styles and learning
preferences of the participants. Dillon and Jobst (2005) argue that individual differences,
such as prior knowledge, can significantly impact the performance of learners. This study
did not control the participants’ prior knowledge and their learning styles. Participants in
the TA group who are not necessarily auditory may not have benefited from the audio
cue as much as their auditory peers. Similarly, participants in the TAP and TAPW groups
may not have benefited from the pictorial clues if they were not visual learners.
Anecdotally, some students who read the text under the TAP and TAPW conditions said
that they did not care much about the audio, as the pictures were enough for them. In a
study by Yeh and Wang (2003), the researchers suggested that the ineffectiveness of
audio picture and text had to do with learning styles of the participants.
Some affective factors, like students’ motivation, interest, and energy level, could
have affected the scores since all the tests were administrated in the evening. This is after
91
a long day of school for some students who are mostly undergraduates with a heavy
course load.
Another factor is related to the test format used in this study. The results of this
study could have been different if another kind of test format had been used. The
multiple-choice questions, no matter how well they are designed, always give students a
possibility for guessing. This does not make multiple-choice tests a very robust measure
of reading comprehension. Bell and LeBlanc (2000) asserted that their multiple-choice
test may not have been an adequate instrument to measure the reading comprehension
level of their subjects. Using the recall protocols in this study may have yielded different
results. With regard to the vocabulary test used in this study, it has both a recognition
(multiple-choice) section and production section. Students’ scores in the multiple-choice
section were much higher than in the production section. This was expected, since
production is a much more difficult task than recognition. The vocabulary test randomly
divided the list of target words into recognition and production sections. Putting words
with a fewer number of syllables or letters in the production section of the test may have
made it easier for students to remember. The translation task required students to supply
the Spanish equivalent of the target words. Results could have been different if the
students were asked to supply a translation from Spanish to English. Looking at the word
might help retrieve the different clues they received during the reading task.
Furthermore, there may be a divergence between the way vocabulary was
presented and the testing format. Chun and Plass (1996) argue that learning success
should be assessed in a parallel manner to the way information is presented. In this study,
glosses were presented to the TAP and TAPW groups in the form of pictures, a text, and
92
an embedded audio, so if the test had pictures the performance of students who had
access to text, audio, and picture could have been higher. This researcher noticed that
many students in the production test were still able to remember the Spanish words but
they would put it in the wrong spot. If there was picture word matching, then the
students’ performance might have been better.
Implications for Teaching
This study provides positive evidence of the impact of glosses on both reading
comprehension and word retention. This indicates that electronic glosses should
be available to foreign language learners while they are engaged in reading tasks. Even
though the study did not reveal a significant difference between glosses that have one
feature and glosses that have several features, it is recommended to include a
combination of features since the combination of modes helps achieve a better learning
success (Paivio, 1986). Since vocabulary learning is incremental and is an ongoing
process (Gass, 1999; Nation, 2001), this means that the values of glosses with a
combination of media may not be detected following one exposure. Students need to use
glosses over a period time to achieve a higher level of word retention.
Recommendations for Future Research
Future studies may need to replicate this study to identify which gloss features are
most beneficial to learners with different levels of proficiency, different linguistic
abilities (lower ability and higher ability) and learning styles (verbalizers and visualizers).
A future study may also use the same method of creating a reading passage text but with
93
a more interesting story that is more appealing to readers, preferably a text that deals with
one aspect of the target language culture. Furthermore, the scope of glosses should go
beyond nouns and verbs, as is the case in this study, and should include other parts of
speech such as adjectives and adverbs. Finally, as mentioned earlier the probability of
retaining a word from one exposure is low. So, there is also a need for investigation of
the impact of long-term use of glosses among students ranging from beginners to
advanced.
Limitations of the Study
This study has several limitations. First, the sample size was relatively small. An
average number of 14 students per group was not enough to generalize the findings of
this study. Given the limited number of subjects, the researcher did not categorize
learners according to their learning styles and level of proficiency in Spanish. Since the
learning process is complex and influenced by several factors (Dillon & Jobst, 2005),
learning styles and individual differences may have shaped the outcomes of this study.
Furthermore, learners were not questioned on their perceptions or attitudes toward
learning with the glosses. Since reading a hypertext with glosses is a new experience for
at least most students, it would have been interesting to know whether they felt
comfortable during the completion of the task. Such information could have helped
further explain the learners’ performance.
Participants’ comprehension of the reading material was tested at the recognition
level with multiple-choice responses. A combination of multiple-choice and other more
open-ended questions may have yielded different results at varying levels of
94
comprehension. Interest level in the topic covered in the text may have been another
confounding variable for motivation to learn. The topic covered in the text dealt with a
typical day in the life of a small family in the country of Mexico. Although one group of
students from another university who were involved in piloting the study thought the text
was interesting, the participants in this study may not have liked the text, which could
have affected their motivation. Many studies reported that incidental vocabulary
acquisition could be facilitated (e.g., Grabe & Stoller, 1997) if the texts are perceived to
be interesting by learners.
Finally, the use of non-authentic text may have affected students’ performance.
Many teachers believe that students’ affect is more positive when the reading material
covers something “real” (Bernhardt & Berkemeyer, 1988).
Conclusion
This study explored the influence of different types of electronic glosses: text; text
+ audio; and text + audio + picture on reading comprehension and vocabulary retention
with Spanish language learners. The results on the reading comprehension test show that
students who had access to glosses performed significantly better than students who only
had access to text without glosses. Moreover, the more often learners consulted electronic
glosses, the better comprehension they achieved. This study found also that electronic
glosses allowed participants to retain more words than participants who did not use
glosses. Participants of the TAP group (text + audio + picture) had the highest rate of
word retention, but there was no significant difference between their performance and the
rest of the experimental groups. The findings revealed that there was a significant
95
relationship between the amount of glosses students consulted and the level of word
retention they achieved over time. These results corroborate Knight’s (1994) findings of a
high correlation between the number of words low-verbal-ability students looked up and
their vocabulary test scores. The outcomes of this study support the need to include
glosses in foreign language reading texts, since it has a positive influence on reading
comprehension and word retention. The researcher recommends replicating the study
with a bigger number of subjects and examining the effect of multimedia glosses over a
long period of time.
96
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APPENDICES
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APPENDIX A
Students’ Background Questionnaire
Name:……………………………………………………………………….…………......
Email:…………………………………………………………………………….…….….
Your teacher’s name: ………………………………………………………………….….
Nationality:………………………………………………………………………………..
Gender:…………………………………………………………………………………….
What is your age?
18-20
21-23
24-26
over 26
What is your native language?………………………………………………..…………...
Do you have Spanish speaking parents or relatives?.……..………………………………
If Yes, please provide more details:………………………………………………….……
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
Major ………………………………………… Minor …………………………...…....…
Foreign language studied and length of study:………………………………………...
Spanish
………………….. semesters in college, including this semester
………………….. years in high school
Other languages studied:
…………………………………..
…………………………………..
length of study……………………………
length of study …………………………..
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Please circle the number that best describes you:
poor
1
2
3
4
5
excellent
6
Reading in Spanish:
Reading in your native language
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
Computer skills
1
2
3
4
5
6
Foreign language learner:
Do you use a dictionary while completing Spanish homework/assignments?
always
usually
sometimes
rarely
never
I have anxiety about studying foreign languages. Choose an appropriate answer.
Strongly disagree moderately disagree
agree 1
2
disagree agree
3
4
moderately agree
5
(adapted from Cooledge, 2004)
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strongly
6
APPENDIX B
Informed Consent Form for Behavioral Research Study
Approved by the Human Subjects Committee University
of Kansas, Lawrence Campus (HSCL). Approval expires
one year from 4/14/2005
INFORMED CONSENT FORM FOR BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH STUDY
Title of Project: Reading a Foreign Language On-Line
Persons in Charge: Dr. Ron Aust (supervisor) [email protected], telephone: 864- 3466
Elyes Ben Salem (student researcher) [email protected], telephone (749-4170)
I. Explanation of Study: The study in which you will be participating will attempt to
examine text comprehension and computerized glossing for foreign language learners.
By conducting this study, we hope to shed new light on computer aided reading
comprehension in beginning foreign language courses.
Your role in the study: If you agree to take part in this research, you will be asked
read through a text in Spanish on the computer. (The entire class will be involved in
this project as a regular class activity). Then you will answer some comprehension
questions. Your session will be tracked on the computer. Your participation in this
research will take you about 50 minutes. A short delayed test will be administered 3 or
4 weeks later. It will last about 10-15 minutes.
Benefits to you: Your participation in this study will be educationally beneficial for
you. The activity will provide you with additional opportunities to practice and
enhance your reading comprehension skills.
II. Your rights as a research participant: The purpose of the research and your role in
it will be explained. You may ask any questions about the research procedures, and
these questions will be answered. Further questions should be directed to Dr. Ron Aust
(864-3466) or Elyes Ben Salem (749-4170).
Your participation in this research is confidential. Only the researcher in charge will
have access to your identity and to information that can be associated with your
identity. In the event of publication of this research, no personally identifying
information will be disclosed. To make sure your participation is confidential, the
researcher will identify you on the written transcript of your conversation using a coded
number. Your participation is voluntary. You are free to stop participating in the
research at any time, or to decline to answer any specific questions without penalty.
This study involves minimal risk; that is, no risks to your physical or mental health
beyond those encountered in the normal course of everyday life.
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III. This section indicates that you are giving your informed consent to participate
in this research:
PARTICIPANT:
I agree to participate in a scientific investigation of Reading a Foreign Language OnLine as an authorized part of the education program of The University of Kansas.
I understand the information given to me, and I have received answers to any
questions I may have had about the research procedure. I understand and agree to the
conditions of this study as described.
To the best of my knowledge and belief, I have no physical or mental illness or
difficulties that would increase the risk to me of participation in this study.
I understand that I will receive no compensation for participation.
I understand that my participation in this research is voluntary, and that I may withdraw
from this study at any time by notifying the person in charge.
I am 18 years of age or older.
I understand that I will receive a signed copy of this consent form.
____________________________________
Signature
Date
________________
RESEARCHER:
I certify that the informed consent procedure has been followed, and that I have
answered any questions from the participant above as fully as possible.
____________________________________
Signature
Date
115
__________________
APPENDIX C
READING COMPREHENSION TEST
1. What did Maria remind Roberto to do first in the morning?
a. Trim the shrubs
b. cut wood*
c. cut the grass
cut
2. Where did Roberto get his tools?
a. garden
b. field
c. out building*
3. What object did Robert want to clean first?
a. work bench
b. sharp tool*
c. utensil
d. cover his
d. basement
d. lawnmower
4. What tool did Roberto pick when he said he had a few more things to finish before
lunch?
a. screwdriver
b. sweeper*
c. shovel
d. mop
5. What happened to the hose in the garden?
a. Kinked
b. bent
c. collapsed
d. leaked*
6. What does the white statue depict?
a. a bird
b. a farmer
d. a dragon
c. a fish*
7. How did Maria get the hat for Roberto?
a. made it*
b. bought it
c. borrowed it
d. found it
8. What tool did Roberto use to care for the horses?
a. brush
b. wrench
c. wheelbarrow
d. pitchfork*
9. What did Maria give the horses?
a. grass
b. blankets
d. barley
c. fresh straw*
10. What object did Robert want to take when he headed back to the barn?
a. pitcher
b. hose*
c. barrel
d. watering
can
11. What was sticking out from behind the tree?
a. part of an animal* b. branch
c. bicycle
d. a stranger
12. What did Maria do when she heard a loud SNAP?
a. leaped*
b. run away
c. screamed
d. hid
13. What was climbing the tree?
a. an insect
b. a furry animal*
d. a person
c. a lizard
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14. When going to see Roberto what did Maria hear?
a. a siren
b. a horn
c. an animal noise*
d. a crash
15. How did Maria talk to Roberto by the tree?
a. quietly*
b. shouted
c. bellowed
d. screamed
16. What was making a sound from a distance?
a. a wolf
b. a bird*
c. a farm animal
d. a car
17. What did Roberto ask Maria to add to the soup?
a. a vegetable*
b. chicken
c. hot sauce
d. salt
18. How did Roberto’s new tool help him remove the rocks from the yard?
a. it helped him carry them away*
b. it helped him break the rocks in smaller pieces
c. it helped him dig from the dirt
d. it helped him find them
19. What did Maria see the man doing by the lake?
a. walking with his cane
b. watching the sun set
catching some fish*
c. eating his lunch
20. What happened to Maria as she entered the mall?
a. she fell on he floor*
b. she felt dizzy
was robbed
c. she got sick
d. She
21. What did Maria see on the table just inside the door?
a. insect*
b. spider
manequin
c. a trash can
d.
22. What did Antonio do to the butterfly near his head?
a. ignored it
b. caught it*
smashed it
c. slapped it
d.
d.
23. What helped Maria and Antonio relax as it passed by?
a. the train
b. the field*
c. the horses
sky
d. the
24. What was the boy doing to his toy when Roberto and Maria smiled ?
a. bouncing it
b. swinging it
c. pulling it*
kicking it
d.
117
25. What was the boy’s toy?
a. a race car
b. a softball
flying object*
c. a teddy bear
*Correct answer
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d.
APPENDIX D
VOCABULARY TEST
I. Multiple-Choice Vocabulary Test
1. tiburón
2. resbalar
a. seahawk*
a. jump*
b. shark
b. bounce
c. seal
c. slip
d. seagull
d. fall
3. granero
a. barn
b. hut
c. pen
d. shed*
4. arrastrar
a. arrest
b. drag*
c. chase
d. push
5. apio
a. cereal
b. celery*
c. peas
d. beans
6. escoba
a. escape
b. scoop
c. hook
d. broom*
7. horquilla
a. pitchfork*
b. hammer
c. container
d. carriage
8. trigo
a. grass
b. barley
c. wheat*
d. parcely
9. manguera
a. mango
b. hose*
c. cable
d. rope
10. cola
a. tail*
b. collar
c. hip
d. coal
11. saltar
a. jump*
b. solve
c. fall
d. salve
12. mapache
a. skunk
b. shark
c. bear
d. racoon*
13. susurrar
a. surrender
b. whisper*
c. shout
d. giggle
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II. Vocabulary Production Test
In this activity, please provide the English translation for the word given in Spanish. If
you do not know the response at all, leave it blank. You have 8 minutes to complete this
test.
1. tronco ………………………………………………………………………………..
2. saltamontes ………………………………………………………………………….
3. gotear ….......……………………………………….……………………………….
4. cometa …………………………..…...……………………………………….…...…
5. prado ……………...…………………………………………………………………
6. aplastar ………………………..…………………………………………….……….
7. caña de pescar ………………..……………………………………………………...
8. carretilla ……………………………………………………………………………..
9. hacha …………………………..…...……………………………………….……….
10. búho …………………………..…...……………………………………….………
11. tejir …………………………..…...……………………………………….………..
12. aullido …………………………..…...……………………………………….…….
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APPENDIX E
Un Día Con La Familia López
A principios de los años sesentas, la familia López se ganaba la vida como
granjeros en las afueras de la ciudad de Guadalajara. La familia López, Roberto, su
esposa María y su hijo Antonio, eran conocidos por sus vecinos como los granjeros más
simpáticos y trabajadores de la región. Una mañana temprano cuando Roberto salía para
iniciar su día, María le dijo: ‘No te olvides de cortar ese tronco enorme. Él siempre
disfrutaba el aire fresco de la mañana y caminar junto a la inusual estatua de un tiburón
blanco de camino al huerto. Roberto abrió la puerta del granero y fue primero a limpiar el
hacha.
Enseguida María siguió a Roberto. Hacía mucho frío esa mañana, así que María le
llevó a Roberto el gorro que le había tejido. A medida que María se acercaba vio que
Roberto cargaba una horquilla para encargarse de los caballos. María comenzó a ayudar
a Roberto dándole algo de trigo a los caballos. Mientras María le ayudaba, Roberto
regresó al establo y sacó la manguera. Al pasar por el huerto, la manguera goteó.
Mientras regresaba hacia donde estaban los caballos, Roberto escuchó un ruido extraño.
Miró de reojo la puerta y no vio nada al principio. De repente, Roberto notó una cola que
se asomaba por detrás de un árbol. Caminó lenta y silenciosamente hacia el árbol.
Entonces, escuchó un fuerte chasquido. Algo había pisado un palo, lo cual asustó a los
animales e hizo que María saltara. Había un mapache al pie del árbol.
121
Cuando María se dio la vuelta para ver mejor, escuchó un aullido y de repente
paró. Roberto le preguntó ¿Qué pasa? María se volvió hacia él y le susurró ¿Oíste eso?
Roberto contestó ¿Oír qué? A lo lejos ambos escucharon el sonido otra vez. Roberto se
volvió hacia María y le dijo: No te preocupes, fue solo un búho. Ambos se rieron por
preocuparse por sonidos raros. María le dijo a Roberto que el almuerzo estaría listo
pronto. Roberto cogió su escoba y dijo que tenía algunas cuantas otras cosas que quería
terminar antes del almuerzo. María le dijo: ‘Voy a entrar y comenzaré a pelar las papas y
veré qué hace Antonio’. Roberto dijo: Está bien, pero no te olvides de agregar un poco de
apio a la sopa.
Después del almuerzo, Roberto utilizó su nueva carretilla para quitar las piedras
grandes del patio y María decidió llevar a Antonio al centro comercial de la ciudad. En el
camino, María vio a un hombre sentando cerca de un lago con su caña de pescar. Ella
bajó su ventana y le deseó un buen día. Cuando María llegó al centro comercial, abrió la
puerta e inmediatamente se deslizó (fuera del auto). Al mirar a su alrededor, María vio un
saltamonte en el suelo al otro lado de la puerta. Al mismo tiempo vio cómo Antonio
aplastaba una abeja cerca de su cabeza. Luego de comprar rápidamente un regalo para
Antonio, María decidió no hacer más compras. Rumbo a la casa, María y Antonio
comenzaron a relajarse mientras veían el prado que se dibujaba a través del parabrisas. Al
llegar a casa, María abrazó a Roberto y le dijo: ¡Santo Dios, ha sido un día muy ocupado!
María y Roberto se rieron al ver la emoción en la cara de Antonio mientras arrastraba una
caja que contenía su cometa nueva. La campana de la iglesia sonó avisándoles que eran
122
las 5 en punto, casi la hora de la cena. Ellos estaban agradecidos de oír agradables
sonidos y de vivir una vida sencilla en la granja.
123
APPENDIX F
A Day With the Lopez Family
In the early 1960’s the Lopez family made their living as farmers just outside of
the city of Guadalajara. The Lopez family, Roberto, his wife Maria and son Antonio,
were known by their neighbors as some of the most likable and hardest working farmers
in the region. Early one morning as Roberto was heading out to begin his day, Maria said
“Don’t forget to cut that huge log”. He always enjoyed the fresh morning air, and
walking by the rare statue of a white shark on his way to the garden. Roberto opened the
door to the shed and went to clean his ax first.
Maria soon followed Roberto. It was extra cold that morning so she took Robert
the hat she had knitted. As Maria approached Roberto she saw that he was carrying a
pitchfork to care for the horses. Maria began to help Roberto by giving the horses some
wheat. While Maria was helping, Roberto went back to the barn and took out the hose.
As he was walking he dripped water in the garden. As he headed back to the horses,
Roberto heard a strange noise. He glanced out the door and at first he did not see
anything. Suddenly, Roberto noticed a tail sticking out behind one of the trees. He
walked very slowly and quietly to the tree. Then, he heard a loud “SNAP!” something
had stepped on a stick, which scared the animals and caused Maria to jump. There was a
raccoon at the base of the tree.
124
As Maria turned for a better look, she heard a howl and suddenly came to a stop.
Roberto asked “What’s wrong?” Maria turned to him and whispered “Did you hear
that?” Roberto said “Hear what?” From the distance they both heard the sound again.
Roberto turned to Maria and said: “Don’t be alarmed that’s just an owl.” They both
laughed at being worried about the funny sounds. Maria told Roberto that lunch would
be ready soon. Roberto picked up his broom and said he had a few more things to finish
before lunch. Maria said “I will go in and start to peel the potatoes and check on
Antonio.” Roberto said “okay, but don’t forget to add some celery to the soup.”
After lunch Roberto used his new wheelbarrow to remove the large rocks in his yard and
Maria decided to take Antonio to the mall in town. During their drive, Maria saw a man
sitting near a lake with his fishing pole. She rolled down her window and wished him a
good day. When Maria arrived at the mall she opened the door and immediately slipped.
When she looked around, Maria saw a grasshopper on the floor just inside the door. At
the same time she watched Antonio as he swatted a butterfly near his head. After quickly
buying a gift for Antonio, Maria decided that she wasn’t going to do any more shopping
that day. On the way home Maria and Antonio began to relax as they looked out of the
car window at the meadow. Once they got home, Maria hugged Roberto and said, “My
it’s been a busy day.” Maria and Roberto laughed as they watched the excitement on
Antonio’s face when he was dragging a box that had his new kite in it. The bell on the
church rang telling them it was 5 o’clock and nearly time for dinner. They were thankful
for the happy sounds and simple life on their farm.
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APPENDIX G
Students’ Seating Chart in Computer Lab
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APPENDIX H
Students’ Seating Distribution Pattern
Computer number
Computer name
Condition loaded
1
1A
no gloss (None)
2
2A
no gloss (None)
3
3A
no gloss (None)
4
4A
no gloss (None)
5
5A
no gloss (None)
6
1B
Text (T)
7
2B
Text (T)
8
3B
Text (T)
9
4B
Text (T)
10
5B
Text (T)
11
1C
Text and Audio (TA)
12
2C
Text and Audio (TA)
13
3C
Text and Audio (TA)
14
4C
Text and Audio (TA)
15
5C
Text and Audio (TA)
16
1D
Text, Audio, Picture (TAP)
17
2D
Text, Audio, Picture (TAP)
18
3D
Text, Audio, Picture (TAP)
19
4D
Text, Audio, Picture (TAP)
20
5D
Text, Audio, Picture (TAP)
127
21
1E
Text, Audio, Picture, Writing (TAPW)
22
2E
Text, Audio, Picture, Writing (TAPW)
23
3E
Text, Audio, Picture, Writing (TAPW)
24
4E
Text, Audio, Picture, Writing (TAPW)
25
5E
Text, Audio, Picture, Writing (TAPW)
128
APPENDIX I
Sample Pictures Used in the Study
Ax
Broom
Celery
129
Drag
Drip
Fishing pole
Grasshopper
130
Hose
Howl
Jump
Kite
131
Knit
Log
Owl
132
Pitchfork
Raccoon
Shark
133
Jump
Swat
Tail
134
Wheat
Wheelbarrow
Whisper
Source: (Szekely, et al., 2003).
135