Incidental and Intentional vocabulary learning through reading

The present study aims to investigate the contextualization effect of both incidental and intentional vocabulary learning through reading and the retention of vocabulary in the short and in the long run. Data was collected from 30 pre-intermediate-level university students. Participants read an English passage containing 10 target words in the text. Students were assigned to one of two conditions: a) Read for meaning only (incidental) b) Read for learning words (intentional). Data was analyzed through MANOVA. The results reveal that intentional group learners benefited from the vocabulary knowledge more than incidental group and intentional group recalled more words in the delayed post-test than incidental group.