The exploration of cognitive processes in academic vocabulary acquisition by Iranian students

Cognitive Linguistics is about language, communication, and cognition which are mutually inextricable. Task-based instruction is frequently promoted as an effective teaching approach, superior to ‘traditional’ methods, and soundly based in theory and research. A cognitive approach to task-based L2 learning was undertaken. This study investigated the effects of three vocabulary lessons (one traditional and two task-based) on acquisition of basic meanings, forms and morphological aspects of academic words in English. Quantitative results revealed that the type of pedagogical approach had no impact on immediate retrieval (after treatment) of targeted word forms, but it had an impact on long-term retrieval (one week) of targeted forms. Task-based lessons were more effective than the Presentation, Practice and Production (PPP) lesson. The analysis also proved that a task-based lesson with an explicit focus-on-forms component was more effective than a task-based lesson that did not incorporate this component in promoting acquisition of word morphological aspects. The results also suggested that the explicit focus on forms component may be more effective when placed at the end of the lesson, when meaning has been acquired. Qualitative differences in amounts of focus on form and meaning, type of form-focused instruction provided, and opportunities for on-line targeted output retrieval are considered as qualitative outcomes. The findings of this\ study validated the proactive form-focused approach to Task-Based L2 vocabulary learning, especially structure-based production tasks. This study suggests an important role of pedagogical tasks in teaching L2 vocabulary.