The impact of different glossing conditions on the learning of EFL single words and collocations in reading

Abstract Thus far, glossing studies have remained at the level of individual words rather than including their lexical environment. To fill this gap, the present study explored if different glossing conditions would have a distinct impact on L2 reading comprehension and incidental lexical and collocational learning. Sixty-three first language (L1) Cantonese speakers read two English stories that contained 12 adjective-pseudonoun collocations. The participants were placed in one of the three conditions, i.e., unglossed, single-word glossed, and collocation glossed. Participants’ reading comprehension was measured with twelve true-or-false statements for each story, and their lexical and collocational learning was assessed using unannounced recognition and recall tests. The results revealed that collocational glossing promoted reading comprehension significantly compared to the other two reading conditions. In addition, while both glossing conditions promoted lexical and collocational knowledge in the immediate posttest, collocational glossing demonstrated a more durable facilitative impact in the delayed posttest.