An investigation of the effect of L2 proficiency and topic familiarity on L2 Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition： An empirical study based on theory of interactive reading

Based on the interactive theory of reading, this study mainly explored the etlects ot topic familiarity and second language proficiency on IVA （Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition） of second language through reading. By using two different measures （translation production and selection）, this study found： （1） Vocabulary can be acquired incidentally in reading passages; （2） There are no significant interactive effects of topic familiarity and second language proficiency on vocabulary acquisition, but the two independent variables of topic familiarity and second language proficiency exerted their positively significant effect on incidental vocabulary acquisition, and （3） As for the two vocabulary measures, learners can acquire more words in translation selection than in translation production.

The Effect of Topic Familiarity and Linguistic Difficulty on EFL Listening Comprehension

As a highly integrative and demanding receptive skill,listening comprehension presents a challenge to both learners and researchers.The study reported in this paper is listening comprehension objective-factor research.Manipulating topic factors,the study investigated the effect of topic familiarity and linguistic difficulty on EFL(English as a foreign language)listening comprehension of learners at different proficiency levels.

Multiple Choice Reading Comprehension Tests and English as a Foreign Language （EFL） Learners Answering Strategies

As far as we are concemed, one of the elements of assessing EFL/ESL （English as a Foreign Language/English as a Second Language） learners＇ language proficiency in institutions and universities in our country ＂lran＂ are multiple-choice reading comprehension tests. We also know that, it comprises one major section of the standard and TOEFL （Test of English as a Foreign Language） tests. Taking into account its importance and the problems which EFL learners have answered them, I get motivated to uncover some of the test-taking strategies which they employ to answer multiple-choice reading comprehension questions when dealing with familiar versus unfamiliar topics. To get a better conclusion, I choose 20 advanced male and female candidates whose English proficiency is at an acceptable level and at least at the same age level, and they major in English language from different colleges and universities. They are given two reading comprehension passages （familiar and unfamiliar）, each one with five final questions and allotted time to answer the questions. Two main instruments in this study are a retrospective think-aloud protocol and a semi-structured interview. The results of the reading comprehension tests and interview part revealed that advanced learners＇ high scores in the familiar topic were not because of their strategy use but because of their high linguistic and background knowledge on the topic. I also concluded that the number, kind, and sequence of strategies employed, were greatly dependent on the degree of testees＇ familiarity on the topic. In other words, test-takers used more strategies to compensate for their lack of linguistic knowledge.

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE ROLE OF METADISCOURSE IN LISTENING COMPREHENSION

本研究以142名英语专业学生为对象,探讨了元语篇对听力理解的作用。全体学生分为两组,分别听同一个TEM8(Test for English Majors-Grade 8)微型学术讲座的不同版本(含元语篇和不含元语篇)并完成相同的任务和问卷调查。研究结果表明:1)两组学生听力理解率差异达显著水平;2)元语篇能辅助话题熟悉程度提高听力理解率;3)元语篇对不同语言水平学生提高听力理解率的贡献有差异;4)学生能无意识感知讲座中元语篇的有无并据此判断讲座质量的优劣。以上结果对外语教学的启示意义在于:语篇理解过程中,篇章组织的相关知识与背景知识同样重要;由于语篇理解受多个变量的影响,仅元语篇的出现并不一定总能保证好的理解效果。因此,教学中在重视对学生进行语言形式和语言意义训练的同时,更应注重对其逻辑思维以及综合素质的训练。