A Study on Vocabulary Learning through Gap-filling Tasks by Low-Proficiency Learners

This study attempts to identify the effects of different types of gap-filling tasks on low-proficiency learners’ incidental vocabulary learning. The current study also endeavors to verify the previous research findings that gap-filling (a task inducing lower involvement load) may be better than writing (a task inducing higher involvement load) in facilitating low-proficiency learners’ word retention. This is contrary to the Involvement Load Hypothesis (Laufer & Hustijn, 2001) which claims that learners who engage in a task of higher involvement load perform better in retaining new words than those who engage in a task of lower involvement load. To achieve the two research goals, a total of 134 college students of low-proficiency performed one of four different tasks: 1) gap-filling; 2) reading and gap-filling; 3) reading comprehension and gap-filling; and 4) unscrambling words (the alternative of writing task). Two post-tests were conducted to measure the learners’ initial learning and later retention of the target words. The results reveal that the gap-filling task has a significant effect on the learners’ later retention and that the writing task was not superior to the gap-filling task in the low-proficiency learners’ word retention. The research findings are interpreted analytically, with pedagogical implications suggested.