Impact of Text Elaboration and Reading and Reading‐While‐Listening Input Modalities on Incidental Collocation Learning: Insights From ESL Students

This study investigated the impact of text elaboration and input modalities (reading and reading‐while‐listening) on the learning of infrequent adjective‐noun collocations. Ninety‐two advanced English proficiency Chinese students were assigned two academic texts under one of four input conditions: Reading, Reading with Text Elaboration, Reading‐while‐listening, and Reading‐while‐listening with Text Elaboration. The texts contained 12 target collocations, each occurring only once. Collocation knowledge was assessed through form‐recall, form‐recognition, and meaning‐recall posttests. Learners’ perspectives on collocation learning were examined through semi‐structured interviews. Using mixed effects models for data analysis, results showed that participants in the Reading with Text Elaboration group outperformed those in the Reading group in form and meaning recall in immediate posttests. They retained superior performance only in meaning recall in delayed posttests. Data from interviews revealed that participants in the reading with elaboration condition reported more perceived benefits and fewer disadvantages for collocation learning. In contrast, those in the reading‐while‐listening groups with or without text elaboration did not find these conditions favorable for learning. The implications of the study findings are discussed in the context of L2 vocabulary learning and teaching.