The impact of structural support and individual differences on incidental collocation learning and reading from task-based reading

This study investigated if second language (L2) learners’ incidental collocation learning from engaging in task-based reading would be moderated by their individual differences in cognitive abilities. Eighty-one Cantonese speakers were invited to review three English articles and determine if they were acceptable for publication in a lifestyle magazine. Half of the participants had to make the acceptance decision independently, whereas the other half received structural support containing a list of reviewing criteria. Each article contained four target collocations, and participants’ knowledge about them was measured with immediate and two-week delayed form recall and recognition tests. Participants’ cognitive abilities were measured in terms of their language aptitude (LLAMA B and F tests), working memory, and attentional control (operation span task, forward digit span task, and three-squared tasks). The results revealed that structural support did not affect reading comprehension scores. It was also found that higher scores in the LLAMA B test and the three-squared task significantly promoted collocation recall and recognition scores. Additionally, structural support was shown to neutralize the role of learners’ phonological short-term memory in the immediate collocation recall test. The findings indicate that careful task design is important to help learners overcome their limited phonological memory in acquiring new L2 features from engaging in L2 reading task.