Using orthographic support to reduce the impact of noise on oral vocabulary learning in adults

Background Although most prevalent in childhood, the acquisition of new words in oral vocabulary takes place right across the lifespan. Of the many factors that influence oral vocabulary learning, one extrinsic factor is the listening environment. The current study aimed to examine whether the presence of noise impacts oral vocabulary learning in adult native speakers of English and, if so, whether this can be alleviated by the incidental presence of orthography when introducing new words. Methods Sixty 18–35‐year‐old native speakers of English were divided into two groups: orthography present and orthography absent and were taught novel picture–word pairs either in quiet or in noise. Word learning was assessed using picture naming and picture–word‐matching tasks. Results The results revealed that the presence of orthography during training reduced the negative impact of noise and supported word learning and retention in adults. Conclusion These results are promising for vocabulary instruction practices in less‐than‐ideal listening environments where structural modifications are not a feasible option.