Modified Oral Input and the Acquisition of Word Meanings

This paper reports an exploratory study of the relationship between modified oral input-both premodified and interactionally modified–and the acquisition of word meanings by a group of Japanese High School students The main results were (1) a strong relationship between comprehension and word meaning acquisition was only evident in a test that replicated the format of the learning experience, (2) although more word meanings were learnt from the interactionally modified input than from the premodified input, the rate of acquisition (in words per minute) was faster with the premodified input, (3) range (i e the number of texts in which each word occurred) emerged as the most important factor related to word meaning acquisition, and (4) over-elaborated modified input was negatively related to word meaning acquisition This study also exemplifies a methodology for examining how vocabulary acquisition takes place from oral input, a neglected area of study.