Incidental Vocabulary Learning

This chapter begins by discussing definitions of incidental vocabulary learning, and then moves on to look at some of the key studies of incidental vocabulary learning. The second half of the chapter details key questions and issues that are necessary to consider when evaluating research on learning words incidentally. These include: What is learned through encountering words when reading and listening? Is incidental vocabulary learning affected by the mode of input? If so few words are learned incidentally after reading, listening, or viewing, wouldn’t it be more effective to learn words intentionally? Are the incidental vocabulary learning gains made through reading, listening, or viewing a single text representative of the amount of learning that occurs through encountering multiple texts? The chapter concludes by highlighting several topics for research on incidental vocabulary learning that need to be explored further.