Which Strategy Promotes Retention? Intentional Vocabulary Learning, Incidental Vocabulary Learning, or a Mixture of Both? - Article

Oct 15, 2026

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether intentional vocabulary learning, incidental vocabulary learning, or a combination of both best prepares students for learning and retaining vocabulary in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms. Three experimental and three control groups completed pre-tests and immediate post-tests, with delayed post-tests administered to experimental groups. Experimental groups received intentional, incidental, or mixed interventions, while controls received no instruction. Results indicate the mixed instructed group outperformed others and retained vocabulary longer; incidental ranked second and intentional third.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Vocabulary learning importance in language acquisition

Effects of intentional vs. incidental strategies

Rationale for combining strategies

Method and results (as described in abstract)

Group design and testing timeline

Intervention types: intentional, incidental, mixed

Outcomes and retention rankings

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 44 Issue 9 | Article 2 | | --- | --- | | 1-21-2019
Which Strategy Promotes Retention? Intentional Vocabulary Learning, Incidental Vocabulary Learning, or a Mixture of Both?
Amirreza Karami
University of Arkansas, [akarami@email.uark.edu](akarami@email.uark.edu)
[Freddie A. Bowles](Freddie A. Bowles)
University of Arkansas, [fbowles@uark.edu](fbowles@uark.edu)
Follow this and additional works at: [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte)
Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Educational Methods Commons, and the Language and Literacy Education Commons | | Recommended Citation Karami, A., & Bowles, F. A. (2019) . Which Strategy Promotes Retention? Intentional Vocabulary Learning, Incidental Vocabulary Learning, or a Mixture of Both?. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 44(9) . Retrieved from [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol44/iss9/2](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol44/iss9/2) This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol44/iss9/2](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol44/iss9/2) Which Strategy Promotes Retention? Intentional Vocabulary Learning, Incidental Vocabulary Learning, Or A Mixture Of Both? Amirreza Karami Freddie A. Bowles University of Arkansas, USA Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether intentional vocabulary learning, incidental vocabulary learning, or a combination of the two best prepares students for learning and retaining vocabulary in English as foreign language learning (EFL) classrooms. Three experimental groups and three control groups were selected. All groups were given a pre-test and an immediate post-test after the instruction. A delayed post-test was administered to the experimental groups after the immediate post-test. The three experimental groups received the intervention—intentional, incidental, or a combination—while the three control groups received no vocabulary learning instruction. The results show that the mixed instructed group outperformed the other two groups and retained the vocabulary longer than the other groups. Incidental vocabulary learning placed second and intentional vocabulary learning placed third. Keywords: Intentional vocabulary learning, incidental vocabulary learning, mixed vocabulary instruction, vocabulary retention Introduction Vocabulary learning is deemed to be of great importance and one of the most elusive aspects of learning a new language. The vicissitudes of vocabulary learning have led teachers and researchers to investigate and search for the best method for students to acquire vocabulary. Schmitt (2008, p. 329) stated that “a large vocabulary is necessary to function in English: 8000– 9000-word families for reading, and perhaps as many as 5000–7000 families for oral discourse.”Laufer (2005, 1998) pointed out that the number of received words for non-native speakers ofa language are more than the number of produced words in a language, an important factor for making a distinction between native and non-native speakers. With these two factors in mind, the need for a large vocabulary and the discrepancy between received knowledge and production, the acquisition of sufficient vocabulary seems to be one of the most important tasks of language learners (Lewis, 2000) with the result that insufficient vocabulary knowledge impedes comprehensible communication among speakers. Vocabulary is of paramount importance for communication. Schmitt (2008) highlighted this importance and stated that teachers and researchers delve into methods and approaches to ameliorate the vocabulary learning process for language learners in learning a new language. Teachers and researchers can improve this vocabulary learning situation through investigating and implementing the most important effective strategies and factors for vocabulary learning. This will help e

FAQs

Which vocabulary learning strategy best supports long-term retention in EFL classrooms?

The mixed instructed group performed best and retained vocabulary longer than the intentional-only and incidental-only groups.

How were students assigned to the experimental and control groups?

Three experimental groups received intentional, incidental, or mixed vocabulary-learning interventions, while three control groups received no vocabulary learning instruction.

What testing schedule was used in the study?

All groups completed a pre-test and an immediate post-test after instruction; a delayed post-test was administered to the experimental groups after the immediate post-test.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by 4398046744996