High vs. Low Load Vocabulary Learning Tasks: A Case for Intentional Learning

Abstract

The present study aimed at investigating whether the amount of task-induced involvement load has any effects on the immediate and delayed retentions of words in an intentional learning environment. To meet this end, two groups of college students were selected as the participants of the study. The immediate and delayed retentions of ten unknown words were measured in two learning tasks (reading comprehension vs. reading comprehension plus sentence production) which induced different amounts of involvement loads. The time-on-task also differed in the two groups. No significant difference was found between the two groups on the immediate retention tests. However, the results demonstrated that the group with higher involvement load significantly outperformed the group with lower involvement load on the delayed post-tests. The theoretical and pedagogical implications are also discussed.