The Comparative Effects of Noticing Types (Hole and Gap) on EFL Learners Vocabulary Development in L2 Speaking

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether subjective experience of a need for some vocabularies (noticing the holes) can increase the chance of noticing the solutions (gaps) and their retention and learning through speaking or not. A quasi-experimental study was designed in which pretests, intervention, and posttests using a three stage speaking task were used. Sixty undergraduate EFL students (n=60) studying at a branch of Applied Science University in Esfahan were randomly selected out of a random pool (N=100) as the participants of this study. They received a standard English Language Proficiency test (NELSON 050D), a validated multiple- choice vocabulary recognition pretest, a similar vocabulary posttest, a speaking pretest, a speaking mid-test, and a speaking posttest. The homogeneous participants were randomly distributed into the two groups of Noticing the Hole + Gap (NHG) and Noticing the Gap (NG). Picture prompts and three reformulation tasks (pretest, mid test, and posttest) were used in order to control the students speaking and instances of their gaps and holes. Independent t-tests and Chi-square were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that NHG group performed better than the NG group. The findings of the study also proved that noticing the hole could increase the reported instances of noticed gaps during the comparison phase. The findings could be used to enrich interactions in the L2 classroom and would help subsequent L2 development of the learners.

Keywords:

L2 Speaking , Noticing the Gap , Noticing the Hole , Vocabulary Development