Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: The construct of task-induced involvement

The paper makes an attempt to stimulate theoretical thinking and empirical research in the domain of L2 vocabulary learning by introducing a construct of involvement with motivational and cognitive dimensions: Need, Search, a nd Evaluation. Retention of hitherto unfamiliar words is claimed to be cond itional upon the amount of involvement while processing these words. Involv ement is operationalised by tasks designed to vary in the degree of need, s earch, and evaluation. The paper reviews a number of constructs that are cu rrently debated and investigated in the literature on cognitive and motivat ional aspects of L2 learning. It also re-examines the existing empirical li terature on task effect in the light of the proposed construct of task-indu ced involvement, stresses the need for deepening and broadening the constru ct, and discusses possibilities it offers for research on vocabulary learni ng.