the effects of computerized immediate and delayed l1 glosses on vocabulary learningand reading comprehension performance of esp learners

Glossing as a means of introducing unfamiliar words to the reader of an l2 text has been of interest to researchers in second/foreign language teaching/learning. most studies have focused on conventional methods of glossing and learning target vocabulary. the novelty of the present study lies in the fact that the researchers have probed the computer-mediated mode of l1glossing across two modes: immediate and delayed. furthermore, the focus on an esp context is another novel aspect of the study. thus, the study investigated how two different computerized gloss types impacted vocabulary learning and reading comprehension of an esp text. a total of 60 esp students (male and female) across the intermediate proficiency level were asked to read two esp passages about electrical engineering. as for the treatment, the first experimental group (n = 20) was asked to read the computerized glossed version of the esp passage with the target words glossed in l1 (persian) presented immediately (immediate glossing) by clicking on the target words. the second experimental group (n = 20) was exposed to the same passage with the target words glossed in l1 (persian) presented within a time interval of fifteen seconds (delayed glossing) by clicking on the words, and the control group (n = 20) read the computerized passage with no glossing. the results of manova analysis indicated that the reading comprehension and target vocabulary learning of esp learners were enhanced due to the effects of both immediate and delayed computerized glosses. moreover, delayed glossing proved to be more effective than immediate glossing in both reading comprehension of the esp text and target vocabulary learning. the findings may help both teachers and learners to learn how to help improve reading comprehension and vocabulary learning by utilizing diverse gloss types via computer-assisted language learning.

The Effects of Computerized Immediate and Delayed L1 Glosses on Vocabulary Learningand Reading Comprehension Performance of ESP Learners

Glossing as a means of introducing unfamiliar words to the reader of an L2 text has been of interest to researchers in second/foreign language teaching/learning. Most studies have focused on conventional methods of glossing and learning target vocabulary. The novelty of the present study lies in the fact that the researchers have probed the computer-mediated mode of L1glossing across two modes: immediate and delayed. Furthermore, the focus on an ESP context is another novel aspect of the study. Thus, the study investigated how two different computerized gloss types impacted vocabulary learning and reading comprehension of an ESP text. A total of 60 ESP students (male and female) across the intermediate proficiency level were asked to read two ESP passages about electrical engineering. As for the treatment, the first experimental group (n = 20) was asked to read the computerized glossed version of the ESP passage with the target words glossed in L1 (Persian) presented immediately (immediate glossing) by clicking on the target words. The second experimental group (n = 20) was exposed to the same passage with the target words glossed in L1 (Persian) presented within a time interval of fifteen seconds (delayed glossing) by clicking on the words, and the control group (n = 20) read the computerized passage with no glossing. The results of MANOVA analysis indicated that the reading comprehension and target vocabulary learning of ESP learners were enhanced due to the effects of both immediate and delayed computerized glosses. Moreover, delayed glossing proved to be more effective than immediate glossing in both reading comprehension of the ESP text and target vocabulary learning. The findings may help both teachers and learners to learn how to help improve reading comprehension and vocabulary learning by utilizing diverse gloss types via computer-assisted language learning.