Contextual Learning and Retention of Phrasal Verbs: Two Approaches to Encouraging Contextual Engagement

Multi-word expressions (MWEs) can be acquired through language input, such as reading and listening. However, this type of learning is slow, especially when access to the target language is limited. Identifying approaches that optimize learning from input, therefore, is an important language learning endeavor. One such approach is having access to definitions of novel vocabulary items to facilitate contextual word learning from reading (AbuSeileek, 2011, Bolger et al., 2008); but whether it is more beneficial to access definitions before or after reading has only recently started to be addressed (Elgort et al. 2020). In addition, it is not clear how definition placement may interact with other interventions that affect attention and memory during contextual word learning such as typographic enhancement, contextual support, and the lag of retrieval practice. In order to address these gaps, three classroom-based experimental studies were conducted to investigate how contextual learning and retention of L2 phrasal verbs (PVs) from context could be made more efficient using these instructional interventions.

Study 1 tested the effects of provision and placement of PV definitions and typographic enhancement on the learning and retention of L2 figurative PVs from reading. One-hundred and ten English as a foreign language (EFL) learners read short texts with 42 PVs (e.g., back up) presented three times. In a counterbalanced experimental design, access to definitions of the target items (before/after the texts or no definition) and typographic enhancement (with/without bolding) were manipulated. Participants’ immediate and delayed knowledge of the PVs was measured using a gap-fill (form recall) and a meaning generation (meaning recall) post-test. The results showed that providing definitions of the target PVs significantly improved learning and retention of these items. It was further found that providing definitions after reading resulted in greater learning outcomes than presenting definitions before reading, in both enhanced and unenhanced conditions, and employing typographic enhancement further increased this advantage.

Study 2 investigated the effects of definition placement (before and after the text) and contextual support (supportive and non-supportive texts) on the contextual learning and retention of L2 figurative PVs from reading. Eighty-five EFL learners read 28 supportive and non-supportive short texts in which definition of the target items were provided either before or after reading. The results of the immediate and delayed form recall and meaning recall post-tests showed that providing definitions after reading resulted in greater learning outcomes than presenting definitions before reading under both supportive and non-supportive conditions and involving students in reading supportive texts further increased this advantage.

Study 3 tested the effects of definition placement (before and after the text) and the lag of retrieval practice (shorter and longer lag) on the contextual learning and retention of L2 figurative PVs from reading. Eighty EFL learners read 28 short texts in which definition of the target PVs were provided either before or after reading. The participants retrieved the target PVs under either short or long lags. The results of the immediate and delayed form recall and meaning recall post-tests showed that providing definitions after reading resulted in greater learning outcomes than presenting definitions before reading under both short and long lag conditions and retrieving the PVs under the long lag increased this advantage. In all three studies, a consistent pattern emerges – providing definitions after the texts significantly enhanced learning and retention of the PVs compared with providing definitions before the texts. It was further found that employing typographic enhancement, contextual support, and long (rather than short) lag of retrieval practice increased the advantage of presenting definitions after reading.