Cover not available

In:Second Language Acquisition Theory: The legacy of Professor Michael H. Long
Edited by Alessandro G. Benati and John W. Schwieter
[Bilingual Processing and Acquisition 14] 2022
► pp. 77–100

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 4
Enhanced incidental learning

 | University of Portsmouth
Published online: 11 August 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.14.04bor
Abstract
This chapter will focus on theory and research into enhanced incidental learning (EIL), which is an approach to facilitating learning from input. The chapter will draw comparisons between EIL and input enhancement (IE). Input enhancement (Sharwood-Smith, 1981, 1993) consists of overt increases in the perceptual salience of target items, and is intended to improve noticing. The possibility that input enhancement may only result in improved explicit knowledge will be examined. In contrast, EIL does not entail changes to the input itself, but covert modifications of the conditions under which the input is processed (Long, 2017). There will be discussion of existing empirical results which suggest EIL may give rise to implicit knowledge by means of detection rather than noticing.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Enhanced incidental learning and input enhancement: pedagogical needs and definition
  • 3.Enhanced incidental learning and input enhancement: Psycholinguistic rationale and implications
  • 4.Enhanced incidental learning and input enhancement: Empirical evidence
    • 4.1Input enhancement
    • 4.2Enhanced incidental learning
  • 5.Conclusion and directions for future research
  • Note
  • References
References (92)
References
Alotaibi, S. (2020). The effect of input mode, input enhancement and number of exposures on the learning and processing of binomials in the L2 (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Nottingham.
Barclay, S. (2021). The role of form presentation mode and learning aptitude in foreign language vocabulary learning and decay. Presentation at the British Association of Applied Linguistics Vocabulary Special Interest Group Conference. University of Sheffield, 27 May 2021.
Benati, A. G. (2005). The effects of processing instruction, traditional instruction and meaning-output instruction on the acquisition of the English past simple tense. Language Teaching Research, 9(1), 67–93. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystock, E. (1978). A theoretical model of second language learning. Language Learning, 28(1), 69–83. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boers, F., Demecheleer, M., He, L., Deconinck, H. & Eyckmans, J. (2017). Typographic enhancement of multiword units in second language text. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 27(2), 448–469. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Borro, I. (2021). Enhanced incidental learning of formulaic sequences by Chinese learners of Italian L2 (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Portsmouth.
Bowles, M. (2003). The effects of textual enhancement on language learning. An online/offline study of fourth semester students. In P. Kempchinsky & C. E. Pineros (Eds.), Theory, practice and acquisition: Papers from the 6th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium and the 5th Conferencre on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese (pp. 395–411). Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, R., Waring, R., & Donkaewbua, S. (2008). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from reading, reading-while-listening, and listening to stories. Reading in a Foreign Language, 20(2), 136–163.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chang, A. (2009). Gains to L2 listeners from reading while listening vs. listening only in comprehending short stories. System, 37(4), 652–663. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chang, C.-S., & Millett, S. (2015). Improving reading rates and comprehension through audio-assisted extensive reading for beginner learners. System, 52, 91–104. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cho, M., & Reinders, H. (2013). The effects of aural input enhancement on L2 acquisition. In J. M. Bergsleithner, S. N. Frota, & J. K. Yoshioka (Eds.), Noticing and second language acquisition: Studies in honor of Richard Schmidt (pp. 133–148). University of Hawai‘i, National Foreign Language Resource Center.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Choi, S. (2017). Processing and learning of enhanced English collocations: An eye movement study. Language Teaching Research, 21(3), 403–426. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chung, H. (1995). Effects of elaborative modifications on second language reading comprehension and incidental vocabulary learning. University of Hawai’i Working Papers in ESL, 14, 27–61.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cintrón-Valentín, M., & Ellis, N. (2015). Exploring the interface: Explicit focus-on-form instruction and learned attentional biases in L2 Latin. Language Learning, 37(2), 197–235.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Conklin, K., Alotabi, S., Pellicer-Sánchez, A., & Vilkaitė-Lozdienė, L. (2020). What eye- tracking tells us about reading-only and reading-while-listening in a first and second language. Second Language Research, 36(3), 257–276. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DeKeyser, R. M. (1994). How implicit can adult second language learning be? In J. Hulstijn & R. Schmidt (Eds.), Consciousness in second language learning (pp. 83–96). AILA Review, 11, 83–96.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Skill Acquisition Theory. In B. VanPatten & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition (pp. 94–112). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, N. (1994). Implicit and explicit learning of languages. Academic PressGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2001). Constructions, chunking, and connectionism: The emergence of second language structure. In C. Doughty & M. Long (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 2–66). Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). At the interface: Dynamic interactions of explicit and implicit language knowledge. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27(2), 305–352. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Salience in usage-based SLA. In S. Gass, P. Spinner & J. Behney (2018). Salience in second language acquisition. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 21–40.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gass, S. (1999). Incidental vocabulary learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21(2), 319–333. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gass, S., Spinner, P., & Behney, J. (2018). Salience in second language acquisition. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Godfroid, A. (2016). The effects of implicit instruction on implicit and explicit knowledge development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 38(2), 177–215. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Godfroid, A., & Kim, K. (2021). The contributions of implicit-statistical learning aptitude to implicit second-language knowledge. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 43(3), 606–634. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Godfroid, A., Boers, F., & Housen, A. (2013). An eye for words: Gauging the role of attention in incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition by means of eye-tracking. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35(3), 483–517. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goo, J., Granena, G., Novella, M., & Yilmaz, Y. (2009). Implicit and explicit instruction in L2 learning: Norris and Ortega (2000) revisited and updated. Paper presented at the Second Language Research Forum, Michigan State University.
Granena, G. (2016). Age differences, maturational constraints, and implicit and explicit L2 learning. Brill Research Perspectives on Multilingualism and Second Language Acquisition, 1(1), 9–44.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Horst, M., Cobb, T., & Meara, P. (1998). Beyond a Clockwork Orange: Acquiring second language vocabulary through reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 11(2), 207–223.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hulstijn, J. (2005). Theoretical and empirical issues in the study of implicit and explicit second-language learning. Introduction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27(2), 129–140. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Indrarathne, B., & Kormos, J. (2016). Attentional processing of input in explicit and implicit conditions. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 39(3), 401–430. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Issa, B., Morgan-Short, K., Villegas, B., & Raney, G. (2015). An eye-tracking study on the role of attention and its relationship with motivation. Eurosla Yearbook, 15(1), 114–142. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Izumi, S. (2002). Output, input enhancement, and the noticing hypothesis: An experimental study on ESL relativization. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24(4), 541–577. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jahan, A., & Kormos, J. (2015). The impact of textual enhancement on EFL learners’ grammatical awareness of future plans and intentions. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 25(1), 47–66. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jordan, G. & Long, M. (2022). English language teaching now and how it could be. Cambridge Scholars Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Y. (2006). Effects of input elaboration on vocabulary acquisition through reading by Korean learners of English as a foreign language. TESOL Quarterly, 40(2), 341–373. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kobayashi Hillman, K. (2020). Effects of different types of auditory input on incidental vocabulary learning by L2 Japanese learners (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation). College Park, MD: University of Maryland.
Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Pergamon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
LaBrozzi, R. (2016). The effects of textual enhancement type on L2 form recognition and reading comprehension in Spanish. Language Teaching Research, 20(1), 75–91. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, J., & Benati, A. G. (2007). Delivering processing instruction in classrooms and virtual contexts: Research and practice. Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, M., & Révész, A. (2018). Promoting grammatical development through textually enhanced captions: An eye-tracking study. The Modern Language Journal, 102(3), 557–577. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020). Promoting grammatical development through captions and textual enhancement in multimodal input-based tasks. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 42(3), 625–651. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, S. (2007). Effects of textual enhancement and topic familiarity on Korean EFL students’ reading comprehension and learning of passive form. Language Learning, 57(1), 87–118. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leow, R. (2001). Do learners notice enhanced forms while interacting with the L2? An online and offline study of the role of written input enhancement in L2 reading. Hispania, 84, 496–509. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leow, R., Grey, S., Matijuan, S. & Moorman, C. (2003). The roles of textual enhancement and type of linguistic item in adult L2 learners’ comprehension and intake. Applied Language Learning, 13, 93–108.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lichtman, K., & VanPatten, B. (2021). Was Krashen right? Forty years later. Foreign Language Annals, 54(2), 283–305. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Loewen, S., & Inceoglu, S. (2016). The effectiveness of visual input enhancement on the noticing and L2 development of the Spanish past tense. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 6(1), 89–110. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Long, M. H. (1983). Linguistic and conversational adjustments to non-native speakers. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 5(2), 177–193. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Long, M. (2015). Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Long, M. H. (2017). Geopolitics, methodological issues, and some major research questions. ISLA, 1(1), 7–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). Optimal input for language learning: Genuine, simplified, elaborated, or modified elaborated? Language Teaching, 53(2), 169–182. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Loschky, L. (1994). Comprehensible input and second language acquisition: What is the relationship? Second Language Acquisition, 16(3), 303–323. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malone, J. (2018). Incidental vocabulary learning in SLA. Effects of frequency, aural enhancement, and working memory. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(3), 651–675. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montero Perez, M., Van Den Noortgate, W., & Desmet, P. (2013). Captioned video for L2 listening and vocabulary learning: A meta-analysis. System, 41(3), 720–739. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(1), 59–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norris, J., & Ortega, L. (2000). Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning, 50, 417–528. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Donnell, M. E. (2009). Finding middle ground in second language reading: Pedagogic modifications that increase comprehensibility and vocabulary acquisition while preserving authentic text features. The Modern Language Journal, 93(4), 512–533. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oh, S. (2001). Two types of input modification and EFL reading comprehension: Simplification versus elaboration. TESOL Quarterly, 35(1), 69–96. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1994). Neurolinguistic aspects of implicit and explicit memory: Implications for bilingualism and SLA. In N. Ellis (Ed.), Implicit and explicit language learning (pp. 393–419). Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pellicer-Sánchez, A., & Boers, F. (2019). Pedagogical approaches to the teaching and learning of formulaic language. In A. Siyanova-Chanturia & A. Pellicer-Sanchez (Eds.), Understanding formulaic language: A second language perspective (pp. 153–173). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Peters, E. (2012). Learning German formulaic sequences: The effect of two attention- drawing techniques. Language Learning Journal, 40(1), 65–79. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reber, A. (1989). Implicit learning and tacit knowledge. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 118(3), 219–235. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reber, A. S. (1967). Implicit learning of artificial grammars. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 6, 317–327. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rebuschat, P., Hamrick, P., Sachs, R., Ziegler, N., & Riestenberg, K. (2015). Triangulating measures of awareness: A contribution to the debate on learning without awareness. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 37, 299–334. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmidt, R. W. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11(2), 129–158. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2010). Attention, awareness, and individual differences in language learning. In W. M. Chan, S. Chi, K. N. Cin, J. Istanto, M. Nagami, J. W. Sew, T. Suthiwan, & I. Walker (Eds.), Proceedings of Classic 2010, Singapore, December 2–4. Singapore (pp. 721–737). National University of Singapore, Centre for Language Studies.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmidt, R., & Frota, S. N. (1986). Developing basic conversational ability in a second language: A case study of an adult learner of Portuguese. In R. R. Day (Ed.), Talking to learn: Conversation in second language acquisition (pp. 237–326). Newbury House.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sharwood-Smith, M. (1981). Consciousness-raising and the second language learner. Applied Linguistics, 2, 159–168. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1991). Speaking to many minds: On the relevance of different types of language information for the L2 learner. Second Language Research, 7(2), 118–132.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1993). Input enhancement in instructed SLA: Theoretical bases. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15(2), 165–179. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simard, D., & Foucambert, D. (2013). Observing noticing while reading in L2. In J. M. Bergleithner, S. N. Frota & J. K. Yoshioka (Eds.), Noticing and second language acquisition: Studies in honor of Richard Schmidt (pp. 207–226). National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sonbul, S., & Schmitt, N. (2013). Explicit and implicit lexical knowledge: Acquisition of collocations under different input conditions. Language Learning, 63(1), 121–159. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Szudarski, P., & Carter, R. (2016). The role of input flood and input enhancement in EFL learners’ acquisition of collocations. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 26(2), 245–265. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tekmen, E., & Daloglu, A. (2006). An investigation of incidental vocabulary acquisition in relation to learner proficiency level and word frequency. Foreign Language Annals, 39(2), 220–243. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Teng, F. (2018). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from reading-only and reading-while-listening: A multi-dimensional approach. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 12(3), 274–288. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomlin, R., & Villa, V. (1994). Attention in cognitive science and SLA. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 16(2), 183–204. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toomer, M., & Elgort, I. (2019). The development of implicit and explicit knowledge of collocations: A conceptual replication and extension of Sonbul and Schmitt (2013). Language Learning, 69(2), 405–439. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toya, M. (1992). Form of explanation in modification of listening input in L2 vocabulary learning (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Hawai‘i, Honolulu.
Urano, K. (2000). Lexical simplification and elaboration: Sentence comprehension and incidental vocabulary acquisition (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Hawai’i, Honolulu.
VanPatten, B. (Ed.). (2004). Processing Instruction. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
VanPatten, B., & Benati, A. G. (2010). Key terms in second language acquisition. Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
VanPatten, B., Smith, M., & Benati, A. G. (2020). Key questions in second language acquisition. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Webb, S., & Chang, A. (2020). How does mode of input affect the incidental learning of collocations? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1–22. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Webb, S., & Chang, C.-S. (2012). Vocabulary learning through assisted and unassisted repeated reading. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 68, 276–290. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Whong, M., Gil, H-G., & Marsden, E. (2014). Beyond paradigm: The ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of classroom research. Second Language Research, 30(4), 551–568. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Williams, J. N. (2005). Learning without awareness. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27(2), 269–304. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Winke, P. (2013). The effects of input enhancement on grammar learning and comprehension: A modified replication of Lee, 2007, with eye-movement data. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35(2), 323–352. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wulff, S. (2019). Acquisition of formulaic language from a usage-based perspective. In A. Siyanova-Chanturia & A. Pellicer-Sanchez (Eds.), Understanding formulaic language: A second language perspective (pp.19–37). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yano, Y., Long, M., & Ross, S. (1994). The effects of simplified and elaborated texts on foreign language reading comprehension. Language Learning, 44, 189–219. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zipf, G. K. (1949). Human behavior and the principle of least effort. Addison-Wesley Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Della Putta, Paolo & Elisa Ghia
2025. 4 • Focalizzare la forma oggi: sfide e risorse . In La focalizzazione sulla forma nell’apprendimento e nell’insegnamento delle lingue straniere Aspetti linguistici, psicolinguistici e glottodidattici , DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 3 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue