Implicit and Explicit Cognitive Processes in Incidental

Vocabulary Acquisition
Research evidence available from various L2 contexts demonstrates
that vocabulary can be learned from reading as well as from other
types of language input. It is thus often assumed that at least some, if
not a large part, of ones second language vocabulary is acquired
incidentallythat is, as a by-product of other cognitive exercises
involving comprehension (Gass 1999: 319).
A very general definition of incidental vocabulary acquisition
characterizes it as the unintentional picking up of information in
situations where learners are not forewarned of an upcoming retention
test for a particular type of information (Hulstijn 2005: 1312; see also
Hulstijn 2013).
Therefore, it is worth looking in more detail at the processes involved
in dealing with vocabulary that is eventually learned as the by-product
of another activitysuch as the reading-for-comprehension activity
employed in the study to be presented here.
The intersection of the dichotomies implicitexplicit and incidental
intentional
That is, the learner focuses on understanding the passage as a whole,
and memory for the new word comes as a natural result of this
process, a conscious effort to learn being unnecessary (Ellis 1994:
219). The unintentional retention of information must not, however, be
equated with implicit learning. Implicit learning is input processing
without such an intention, taking place unconsciously
(Hulstijn 2005: 131).
Implicit learning must be defined as learning without awareness by
the learner
(Rieder 2003: 26). Implicit vocabulary acquisition would therefore be
the totally unconscious and unintentional learning of new words as a
result of exposure to them in a meaningful context .
Intentionalincidental and implicitexplicit, operate on different
levels (Figure 1): the former concentrates on the learners aim in
accomplishing a language activity, whereas the latter focuses on the

processes involved in the task. Thus, the dichotomy incidental

intentional lies beside but also somehow across the pair implicit
explicit. If language material is processed with the conscious intention
to discover formmeaning combinationsin other words, explicitly
this can still happen without the intention to retain the findings in the
long term. Incidental learning, can result from both implicit and explicit
processes.
Learners can infer a meaning
(i)
from the context and on the basis of their knowledge of the
world (extralingual and contextual cues), or
(ii)
from associations based on knowledge of the target language
(intralingual cues), or
(iii) from associations with existing knowledge of the learners L1
or of a foreign language other than the one under study
(interlingual cues).
The inter- and intralingual associations are simultaneously bottom-up
processing strategies, since learners start from the features of the
word and detect an association with given linguistic knowledge.

Ronan Brown: Incidental vocabulary acquisition from reading,

reading-while-listening, and listening to stories
In terms of language acquisition, incidental learning is said to be an
effective way of learning vocabulary from context.
Learning vocabulary is understood to be a gradual process (Deighton,
1959). Nagy et al. (1985) declared that when this gradual learning
process is encouraged by the help of contact with a sufficient amount
of written language exposure, incidental vocabulary learning in the first
language can be substantial.
The benefits cited have included increases in overall language
proficiency, particularly listening comprehension, as well as the ability
to acquire a greater sense of the rhythm of the language, which in turn
can help learners to read and listen in meaningful sense groups rather
than adopt a word-for-word strategy (Day & Bamford, 1998).

Informal language learning setting: technology or social

interaction?
Rogers (2004) suggests that informal language learning is
unstructured, unpurposeful but is the most extensive and most
important part of all the learning that all of us do every day of our
lives.
language learners need to have exposure and access to a sort of
language input. The source of language input for acquiring the
language particularly in informal setting in both EFL and ESL contexts
should not be neglected.
Later Coombs and Ahmed (1974) defined informal learning as the
lifelong process by which every individual acquires and gathers
knowledge, skills, attitudes and insights from exposure to the
environment at home or at work through reading newspapers and
books or by listening to the radio or viewing films or television.
The distinction between formal and informal learning settings is
significant also in debates about second language development.
Lightbown and Spada (2001) describe informal setting as the contexts
in which the adult learner is exposed to the target language at home or
at work or in social interaction, and formal settings as the contexts
where the target language is being taught to a group of second or
foreign language learners.
In informal language learning setting the focus is on meaning (not the
language itself).
In informal language learning setting language learners interact with
native speakers in the target language country, use different
technologies at home or at work, watch a movie, or listen to music or
song just as an entertainment which can lead to language learning
Lightbown and Spada (2001). In other words, by viewing a movie or
listening to a song in informal settings, language learners indirectly get
involved in the language learning process when they try to understand
the movie or the song by using a dictionary or subtitle (Pemberton,
Fallahkhair & Mosthoff, 2004).
The behaviorists consider learning the language through stimulus and
response with the help of technology and the interactionists consider
interaction with the native speakers in the target language country or
ESL context to enhance language learning.

Rogers (2004) emphasizes that if different technological tools are to be

used in informal setting for language learning, it should be
unstructured, unconscious or unpurposeful.
Rogers (2004) notes that the behaviorists have worked well in explicit
teaching and computer-assisted instruction (e.g. learning through
repetitions, drills and practice) but they would not be suitable for
learning informally from exposure to audio/visual mass media. In other
words, based on the behaviorist approach, language learners are
required to do some exercises and drills and follow some pre-designed
activities even in informal settings.
Technology is the only means to update oneself compared to
traditional ways such as books. For the ESL context, the environment
around is the source of language input. Learners get to communicate
in the target outside of the classroom.
Results
Regardless of the bigger amount of exposure, group one participants
failed to improve their speaking proficiency through exposure to social
interaction.
Towards a Theoretical Framework for Informal Language
Learning via Interactive Television
The integration of "non-desktop" technologies is attracting increasing
interest amongst researchers in informal, adult and lifelong learning.
To distinguish between formal, informal and incidental learning simply
by looking at the circumstances in which they occur.
Informal learning, however, take place in day-to-day life activities,
related to work, family or leisure and may be intentional but in most
cases it is non-intentional or incidental and random (Eraut, 2000, as
quoted in Colley, Hodkinson & Malcolm, 2002)
informal learning being all that incidental learning, unstructured,
unpurposeful but the most extensive and most important part of all the
learning that all of us do everyday of our lives (Rogers, 2004, p.8).
Researchers in self-directed learning concentrate on the one hand on
the choice of self- as opposed to other-direction by the learner, and on
the other hand on the learning that may take place when a learner
chooses this mode, which may involve the use of media (print,

television, radio, computers), seeking out a tutor or mentor,

attendance at conferences, travel or consulting and just-in-time
courses, with or without the assistance of technology.
THEORIES OF LANGUAGE LEARNING: necessary?
. The constructionist approach to language learning can be
supported by providing comprehensible input by scaffolding language
items, similar to subtitles, to suit learners motivations and knowledge
levels.

Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

Vocabulary Retention
Research into the integration of newly learned word forms with existing
ones in the mental lexicon has shown that a period of memory
consolidation is involved in the establishment of the new lexical entry
(Clay, Bowers, Davis, & Hanley, 2007; Dumay & Gaskell 2005, 2007;
Gaskell & Dumay, 2003). It seems plausible that initial memory for
novel vocabulary items is based on an episodic memory trace, and that
a further abstraction or consolidation process is required to generate a
new lexical entry (Gaskell & Dumay, 2003, p. 106).
More precisely, it compares the effects of elaboration, frequency,
predictability from word forms and parts, and type of word on
incidental vocabulary gain through listening and reading.