Effects of Contextualized Reading Tasks on Incidental Vocabulary Learning: Iranian EFL Learners in Focus

This study aims to examine the relationship among the incidental vocabulary learning, time devoted on tasks, and vocabulary retention by Iranian EFL learners. Therefore, using a quasi-experimental design, sixty EFL learners in six intact classes in Zabansara language institute in Isfahan, Iran were selected. They were at an intermediate level of proficiency based on the institute’s continuous assessment criteria. All groups were using the same textbook (i.e., Passages books) in that institute, and all followed the same instructional procedure. Three classes were respectively exposed to dictionary-based, fill-in-the-blank, and sentence-making tasks with time restrictions, and the other three classes were respectively exposed to dictionary-based, fill-in-the-blank, and sentence-making tasks without time restrictions. Having experienced their relevant treatments, the participants were asked to take an immediate vocabulary test. Since timing was an independent variable and vocabulary learning/recall was the dependent variable of the study, two-way ANOVA was used to compare the learners’ vocabulary scores on the immediate vocabulary test. The results revealed that time restriction exerted a significant effect on the performance of the learners in all the three groups on the immediate tests. In addition, learners in the groups without time restriction significantly outperformed those in the groups with time restriction. The findings of this study have theoretical as well as pedagogical implications in the field of foreign language teaching and learning.