Differences between explicit and incidental learning of vocabulary.

There are differences between explicit and incidental learning of vocabulary, which are about to be covered.
 Schmitt, N, Vocabulary in Language Teaching (Cambridge Language Education) (2000) suggests explicit learning being the most comprehensive way of acquiring new vocabulary. He, however, denotes it as the most demanding way of learning. The purpose is to provide a guided instruction in the basic understanding of required skills, which students can then build on through practice.

As for incidental learning, it can occur in a daily discourse. When it comes to reading, it is pointed out that in order to incidental learning be successful one must hold a certain starting level of vocabulary gained from explicit learning. Schmitt says that psychology has contributed vastly in the area of language learning and processing.
"The more a language is processed in one's mind, the easier it stores in the memory for deeper processing." (Schmitt Norbert. 2000: ) To give an example, a research titled Keyword Method (Hulstijn, 1997) is brought about, in which one mentally constructs a bridge between the phonological form and meaning of a word to a mental image, thus giving easier access to the targeted word in memory. It is also possible to learn words incidentally by increasing the volume of exposure. When it comes to an L1 (Native speakers), incidental learning is the prevalent method of vocabulary acquisition. It is even said that one is exposed to the rhythm, flow and stress of a language before birth.

There are certain types of word knowledge that are especially responsive to either explicit or incidental learning. Ellis (1997) states that good command over the orthography and phonology for a L2 (Second language) speaker is mostly gained incidentally, it being an overall good form of learning. As for learning is concerned, the more relation there is between two languages' graphemes and phonemes (sound-symbol -wise) the less effort is needed for fluent acquisition.

Schmitt, Norbert. ”Incidental and explicit learning of vocabulary”, Vocabulary in Language Teaching, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000, 120-123

By: Kasper Kussi, Onur Tumer,  G-11