Emergentist, usage-based L2 research has witnessed that emphasizing formulaic sequences as entry points in meaning-based instructional contexts contributes to the development of linguistic comprehension and production. Related studies have thus far striven to find the most effective methods of highlighting these word strings. This study explored…

The present review explores the meaning of the term 'incidental' in light of how incidental learning is framed, conceptualized, and operationalized in second language (L2) vocabulary research. Three interpretations of incidental vocabulary learning that seem to appear recurrently in the literature are presented and discussed along with examples of…

This article overviews current research on second language vocabulary learning. It concludes 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. In addition, a number of word knowledge aspects need to be learned about each lexical item.…

The goal of this study was to examine incidental and intentional spatial sequence learning during middle childhood and adolescence. We tested four age groups (8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years, and young adults [18+ years]) on a serial reaction time task and used manual and oculomotor measures to examine incidental sequence learning.…

The main findings of a meta-analysis of 23 research reports were the following: giving behavioral objectives, learning directions, or questions before an instructional text is read leads to some improvement in the learning of goal relevant material; however, these preinstructional acts impede the learning of goal irrelevant materials. (Author/BW)

Four kinds of learning are the basis for most of the discussion in this paper: direct-application learning, basic skills, background knowledge, and personal learning. (Author/CB)

Analyzes the process of learning--both intentional and non-intentional--and concludes that the view that learning is learning only if it is formal and intentional is false. (RK)

A series of papers will be written to review in a comprehensive fashion the literature related to 3 categories of variables in concept learning: task variables, stimulus variables, and learner variables. This paper, the first of the series, focuses on task variables. Research dealing with instructions, temporal factors, and feedback is critically…

An experiment was conducted to determine whether tutoring is a learning activity from which the tutor, as well as the tutee, gains cognitively. Undergraduate students (N=80) participated in the study. Half of the subjects studied selected material to tutor another subject. The other half studied material to prepare for a test that they would take.…

One hundred-fifty subjects studied a passage with questions interspersed at different locations. Total level of acquisition was highest in treatments involving postquestions and no questions. The results were attributed to the influence of adjunct questions on learner expectations that affect the selective processing of information. (Author/JAC)

Intentional and incidental learning was investigated developmentally and comparatively using a paired associate learning task with 90 educable mentally handicapped or normal, elementary or secondary school Ss. (DB)

Six-and eight-year olds were exposed to a modeling sequence for cluster rule learning under high, medium, and low degrees of structure. Age differences in vicarious learning emerged only in the medium structure condition, while immediately imitating a model failed to influence learning for either age group. (Author/CP)

Four separate experiments were completed using the same stimulus materials but different groups of subjects to determine if orienting tasks created problems of control in incidental/intentional learning studies. Subjects were all Caucasians and heterogeneous in age (from 24 to 64 years), educational experiences, and career choices. Those in the…

This study examined the effects of four characteristics of instructional objectives presented to the student prior to reading, upon intentional and incidental learning. The most salient result was produced by providing instructional objectives to the student prior to the text. The main findings were that (a) density increases (Proportion of…

Describes the integration of Web resources as instructional and learning tools in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) class in Taiwan. Highlights include challenges and advantages of using the Web; learners' perceptions; intentional and incidental learning; disorientation and cognitive overload; and information seeking as problem-solving. A…