The contribution of output-oriented and input-oriented tasks to L2 vocabulary comprehension and production

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of outputoriented and input-oriented tasks on second language vocabulary comprehension and production. A sample of 80 adult Iranian intermediate level learners (both male and female) was selected. They divided into 4 groups; and each group treated with four task types. The four task types consisted of the Multiple-choice cloze task (Group A); Gap-filling task (Group B); Word formation task (Group C), and Codemixing task (Group D). Of the four groups, the first two groups (group A and B) constituted the input-oriented treatment group and groups C and D acted as the output-oriented treatment group. At the end of the treatment, two posttests were administered. A 30-item vocabulary test in multiple-choice format was used to measure the participants’ vocabulary comprehension. Another 30-item vocabulary test in fill-in-the-blank format was utilized to measure the participants’ vocabulary production. To analyze data, two separate independent samples t-tests were used. The result showed that the output-oriented groups outperformed the input-oriented groups in both comprehension and production of the new vocabulary items. The findings of the present study may have theoretical as well as practical implications for the teachers, researchers, and syllabus designers.

output-oriented tasks, input-oriented tasks, vocabulary