This article focuses on informal learning and its implications for instructional design and performance improvement. The authors begin by sharing a story of how a novice instructional designer employs informal learning strategies in her professional and personal life. Next, they offer a definition of informal learning that encompasses both…

A number of studies have shown that second or foreign language learners can acquire vocabulary through reading. The aim of the study was to investigate (a) the effects of reading an authentic novel on the acquisition of 3 aspects of word knowledge: spelling, meaning, and collocation; (b) the influence of reading on the acquisition of partial and…

There is little research available on the incidental learning of figurative language from reading (e.g., Webb, Newton, & Chang, 2013). This study looked at collocations with both literal and figurative meanings, that is, duplex collocations (Macis & Schmitt, 2017a) and whether reading could enhance lexical knowledge of the figurative…

This article reviews and synthesizes empirical literature on critical literacies in English language teaching (ELT), gathering perspectives from international scholarship. Across a range of global contexts, the consistency with which English learning is touted as access to power while acting to marginalize those still learning the language…

Due to the ready availability of new technologies, opportunities for the incidental as well as deliberate practice of English have multiplied and far exceed what can be done in more formal environments. Yet, despite the sizeable literature on the classroom-based use of specific digital resources, few studies have investigated how students evaluate…

This paper describes a task-based activity used at the United States Military Academy, in their first- through third-semester Portuguese language sequence "Proficiencies" (Proficiências). The stand-alone task-based activity can be an effective tool in gaining foreign-language proficiency at even the lowest levels of classroom instruction…

There is a growing theoretical, empirical, and methodological debate in the SLA field as to whether unawareness plays a role during attention to or processing of new incoming second language (L2) data. Indeed, studies that have methodologically addressed the construct of unawareness in their research designs offer both empirical support (e.g.,…

Previous studies have shown that learner individual differences have important impacts on L2 accuracy development. The present study examines a learner variable (i.e. extraversion versus introversion) and its effects on incidental focus on form. Twenty-eight ESL students in two classes (an advanced and an upper-intermediate class) and their…

Use of captioned video in classrooms has gained considerable attention in the second and foreign language learning. However, the effect of application of captioned video embedded with glosses on incidental vocabulary enhancement has not been explored. This study aims to examine the effect of video captions with glosses on EFL students' incidental…

Extensive reading for second language learners have been widely documented over the past few decades. However, few studies, if any, have used a corpus analysis approach to analyze the vocabulary coverage within a single-author story series, its repetition of vocabulary, and the incidental and intentional vocabulary learning opportunities therein.…

Visual attention prioritizes information presented at particular spatial locations. These locations can be defined in reference frames centered on the environment or on the viewer. This study investigates whether incidentally learned attention uses a viewer-centered or environment-centered reference frame. Participants conducted visual search on a…

Adult English-L1 (n = 20) and English-L2 (n = 32) experimental groups were given a novel containing nonce words to read within two weeks to investigate whether the reading of fiction can induce a state of incidental vocabulary acquisition. After reading, an unexpected meaning recall translation assessment measuring acquisition of 49 target nonce…

This paper discusses to what extent synchronous communication via Skype by Argentine university students of History and Danish university students of Spanish contributed to fostering intercultural competence in the two groups of participants. Intercultural gains are considered both as part of the planned tasks to be solved by the participants…

Casual games are everywhere. People play them throughout life to pass the time, to engage in social interactions, and to learn. However, their simplicity and use in distraction-heavy environments can attenuate their potential for learning. This experimental study explored the effects playing an online, casual game has on awareness of human…

Vocabulary knowledge is central to the process of reading comprehension (Cromely & Azevedo, 2007; Stahl & Nagy, 2005; Stanovich, 1986). The majority of our vocabulary knowledge is postulated to come from the process of incidental vocabulary acquisition (IVA) while reading (Nagy & Anderson, 1984). Prior studies have estimated an average…