English Language Teaching; Vol. 7, No. 4; 2014
ISSN 1916-4742
E-ISSN 1916-4750
Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education
The Impact of Attrition on Vocabulary Knowledge among Saudi
Teachers
Thamer Alharthi1
1
Department of European Languages and Literature, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Correspondence: Thamer Alharthi, P.O. BOX 80200, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. E-mail: talharthi@kau.edu.sa
Received: January 16, 2014
doi:10.5539/elt.v7n4p111
Accepted: February 17, 2014
Online Published: March 6, 2014
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v7n4p111
Abstract
This two-year longitudinal study tracks the extent of vocabulary attrition among Arabic-speaking English
graduate teachers. Data were collected through pre-post tests of receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge.
The results showed drastic attrition in vocabulary knowledge soon after the end of formal instruction followed
by slight gain, although the gain was not quite back to the level of baseline achievement. Verbs and adjectives
were more prone to attrition than nouns. The rate of attrition was greater for productive than receptive lexical
knowledge. Interestingly, knowledge at peak attainment emerged as a predictor of attrition over time.
Keywords: vocabulary attrition, EFL, KAU, retention, initial knowledge, baseline
1. The State of Foreign Language Attrition Research
There has been a great deal of research on various aspects of language acquisition including vocabulary in the
last three decades, and as a result we have witnessed new insights being gained, hypotheses generated and
evidence and counterevidence cited (Bogaards & Laufer, 2004; Coady & Huckin, 1997; Meara, 1980; Milton,
2009; Nation, 1990, 2001; Nation & Webb, 2011; Peters, 2013; Schmitt, 2008, 2010; Tian & Macaro, 2012).
However, there has been comparatively little research into lexical attrition specifically in the foreign language
(FL) arena, describing key processes and how quickly or slowly lexical knowledge is forgotten. Yet, more
recently attrition and retention of lexical knowledge by adults has received increased attention in the research
literature (see Alharthi, 2012; Bahrick, 1984; de Bot & Weltens, 1995; Weltens, 1989). Previous empirical
studies that have contributed significantly to the literature on FL attrition at the lexical level have been focused
on situations where learners of English rarely use words they know after the conclusion of formal instruction (e.g.
Abbasian & Khajavi, 2010; Bierling, 1990; Marefat & Rouhshad, 2007). However, equally interesting is attrition
in situations where some possibly limited use is made of the FL after formal instruction has ceased.
To take a concrete example, the type of exposure to English for King Abdulaziz University (KAU) graduate
students in Saudi Arabia is very often mainly – and in some cases even entirely – confined to the classroom. As a
result, this limited exposure is likely to lead to lexical attrition over time. This would create a challenge for EFL
majors who are supposed to build up a much larger lexical repertoire which then can help them with their
teaching of English. By extension, it is possible that they may find it hard to retain the bulk of their vocabulary
knowledge upon leaving KAU and therefore will start to lose their vocabulary. Thus, it appears that once
students finish their formal study of English, they are less likely to use the target language.
The aim of this research then is to measure the extent of attrition and retention of vocabulary knowledge over
time among EFL graduate students. The study focuses on one of the four settings of attrition outlined by de Bot
and Weltens (1995): foreign language learners who upon leaving school, start losing their acquired foreign
language skills. According to Weltens and Cohen (1989), further research into language attrition in various
situations can throw a remarkable light on patterns and variables that researchers need to consider and which
may have implications for the FL teaching profession.
2. Key Issues: A Dearth of Evidence in Studies of FL Vocabulary Attrition
Few studies have been focused on some of the independent variables that might influence FL lexical attrition.
These include initial proficiency in or achievement of lexical knowledge, rate of attrition in vocabulary
knowledge, type of vocabulary knowledge, such as receptive versus productive, and parts of speech (POS), such
as noun, verb and adjective. These are briefly discussed below.
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2.1 Attrition and Proficiency Level
One learner-internal variable that has been frequently reported to be important on subsequent attrition in the
literature of FL attrition is the attained proficiency level (Bahrick, 1984). By initial proficiency is meant the
learners’ ability to recognize and produce the target vocabulary. However, to date there have been few studies
which have addressed this issue directly. For example, research by Bahrick (1984) and Weltens (1989) failed to
determine the effect of initial proficiency on the attrition of vocabulary. Such results have been due to imprecise
measurements (e.g. of level of training and grades received) that have not accurately documented the relationship
between proficiency and attrition. Similarly, Alharthi’s (2012) findings revealed that the amount of attrition was
the same for his participants regardless of their level of attainment. It would be extremely useful to employ more
precise and appropriate lexical measurements that would help show the correlation between proficiency and
attrition. Hence, this study examined the amount of prior lexical knowledge and the impact of this knowledge on
the attrition process as measured by lexical achievement.
2.2 Rate of Attrition
Perhaps one of the most essential, yet at the same time most complicated key issues in language attrition research,
is the rate of forgetting. There are two possible predictions made concerning attrition. The first is that attrition
occurs soon after the learning process stops and then the rate of forgetting slows down over time. The second is
that there is a level of language proficiency beyond which language skills become relatively immune to loss and
the level of language proficiency is maintained. There is some evidence that a rapid decline of FL target
vocabulary occurred soon after formal instruction had ended (Abbasian & Khajavi, 2010; Alharthi, 2012;
Bahrick, 1984; Bierling, 1990; Weltens, 1989). Apart from Alharthi’s (2012) study, there seems to be a lack of
longitudinal research concerning the rate vocabulary attrition. The present study is designed to compensate for
the scarcity of quantitative studies where the rate of vocabulary attrition is measured longitudinally at least two
points in time.
2.3 Receptive Versus Productive Vocabulary Knowledge
Not only does lexical knowledge seem to be more prone to attrition than other aspects of language, such as
grammar or phonology, but it is also the case that various types of word knowledge are affected to different
degrees of attrition. This also holds true for receptive and productive types of lexical knowledge, as shown by
Alharthi (2012), Bahrick (1984), Bierling (1990) and Marefat and Rouhshad (2007) who reported that productive
lexical knowledge is more vulnerable to attrition than receptive lexical knowledge. Given the differences found
in the attrition and maintenance of receptive and productive word knowledge, it might be predicted that this is
due to the difficulty with which some lexical aspects are learned. That is, acquiring productive word knowledge
took the greatest effort and the greatest amount of time and will therefore be the most susceptible to the force of
attrition (Cohen, 1986). The present study aims to gain further understanding of the effect of attrition on
receptive and productive word knowledge, relying on paper-pencil vocabulary measurements.
2.4 Parts of Speech
Another view is that POS affects the level of difficulty of learning words and therefore words belonging to some
categories are more easily forgotten. Several factors have been identified to impact the learnability of FL
vocabulary including words’ grammatical properties, such as POS (Ellis & Beaton, 1993; Nation, 2001; Schmitt,
2010). It has been reported by, among others, Laufer (1997) and Milton (2009), that nouns are easier to learn
than verbs, which in turn are easier to learn than adjectives. Studies of the grammatical class of words have
examined them from the perspective of acquiring new words. However, the question of how much this
knowledge influences attrition has scarcely been asked. Research by Cohen (1989) suggested a greater loss of
the knowledge of nouns compared with other POS. Interestingly, Alharthi (2012) reported unexpected results in
his study in which nouns were more immune to attrition than verbs and adjectives. Given that the number of
studies is quite small, replications are needed in order to verify reported outcomes and to improve our
understanding of the issue of attrition; hence the present study will look at the effect of POS on the attrition of
vocabulary.
3. Why a Longitudinal Research Design Is Needed
In their recent proposal for a general model in FL attrition research, Bardovi-Harlig and Stringer (2010) suggest
that attrition is likely to be considered in terms of a basic time line. The first period corresponds to the end of
formal instruction. The second period refers to the interval of reduced or no exposure to the target language. In
any attrition study, it is of paramount importance to implement longitudinal tracking to assess attrition. Baseline
information is essentially collected through formal measurements that focus on a specific language aspect. The
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same measurements are then used for follow-up periods to identify language variations through tracking the
same individuals’ patterns of attrition or retention in different linguistic features including vocabulary
knowledge.
It could be assumed that the individuals taking part in a longitudinal study would constitute a more reliable and
meaningful sample as they are repeatedly measured at various intervals, which is desirable for any research
project in the area of language attrition. Consequently, a longitudinal design is employed using the same group
of EFL graduate teachers for research on vocabulary after the completion of their course.
4. The Study
4.1 Research Questions
The study was primarily based on a quantitative approach with an aim to examine evidence of vocabulary
attrition or retention after the end of FL instruction. Drawing on existing research results, however, the study was
guided by four principal research questions:
1) Is there a relationship between the initial achievement of lexical knowledge and the degree of attrition?
2) Is there any significant difference in the degree of attrition in terms of receptive or productive word
knowledge?
3) Is there a significant rate or pattern of attrition in word knowledge after the end of formal instruction?
4) Which POS is most susceptible to attrition?
5. Method
5.1 Participants
The initial sample comprised 67 graduate teachers and attempted to establish a baseline (Time 1) for their
knowledge of vocabulary prior to the end of formal training at KAU, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but 24 were
eliminated due to absence of or incomplete data. In the two subsequent data collection intervals (Time 2) and
(Time 3), with a one-year time span between them, 43 participants were identified as available and took part in
the longitudinal study. All participants were Arabic-speaking learners of English as Foreign Language (EFL) and
had studied English for a minimum of 10 years. We can report with some confidence that EFL instruction was
alike for all participants.
5.2 Instruments, Procedure and Data Analysis
Two instruments were used to measure the EFL graduate teachers’ vocabulary attrition of receptive and
productive knowledge of word meaning. In order to construct the target tests, we first had to consult textbook
materials from which the samples of words to be measured would be taken. Target words were mainly academic
that appeared in the participants’ textbook College Vocabulary 3 by Folse and Farina (2006), comprising words
which were introduced in their earlier English classes. The tested items were selected from the exercises in
which new words were presented in bold. These instruments or tests were specifically created in the same
formats as VLT (Schmitt et al., 2001) and PVLT (Laufer & Nation, 1999). Each test presented participants with
a set of 60 word items. The items were constructed with an eye to what the word originally meant in the textbook,
for example, the word theme in the textbook has the meaning of reoccurring subject. Other alternatives such as a
principal melodic subject in a musical composition or short informal essay were excluded. Thus, the tested word
items used the same definition and synonyms as were presented in the textbook.
A sample cluster from the receptive vocabulary test is illustrated below:
1) Analysis
2) Compensation … a supposed belief
3) Discrimination … careful study
4) Integration … unifying all the parts together
5) Presumption
6) Resolution
A sample cluster from the productive vocabulary test where the target word is discrimination is illustrated
below:
Dis… against people with foreign accents is still an unfortunate and widespread reality.
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In order to identify the participants’ baseline vocabulary knowledge, they were administered receptive and
productive vocabulary tasks prior to graduating. Participants were not informed that they would be subsequently
assessed on the target items. Two posttests were handed out one and two years later to track their vocabulary
attrition and retention in relation to their receptive and productive word knowledge. The content of the tests was
kept the same over the intervals.
All three test sessions were administered by the researcher who made sure that the participants received the same
amount of time and identical instructions in Arabic.
The matching task was scored as follows: a point was allotted for a given correct answer and zero for incorrect
answer. For the cued recall task, a correct answer received a point and an incorrect answer received zero. Words
with minor spelling mistakes that are still recognizable as the target words were marked as correct. This can be
illustrated in the following examples:
1) Wrong letters for example flexbelity for the target word flexibility
2) Additional letters like intervale for the tested item interval
3) An omitted letter such as chanel for the target item channel.
Methods used for processing the data were repeated measures ANOVA, t-tests and Pearson correlation
coefficients. The alpha level for all analyses was set at p<.05.
6. Results and Discussion
1) Is there a relationship between the initial achievement of lexical knowledge and the degree of attrition?
In order to test whether the attained level of vocabulary knowledge is an important factor in the attrition or
maintenance for the same constructions at Time 2 and Time 3, correlational analyses were performed. Table 1
displays the correlations between the initial achievement tests and the amount of vocabulary attrition of receptive
and productive vocabulary knowledge (Time 3 – Time 1).
Table 1. Pearson correlations between initial achievement and amount of attrition of receptive and productive
word knowledge
Variables: word
knowledge type
Receptive
Correlation/Sig
R (T3-T1)
P (T3-T1)
r = -624
p<.001
r = -601
Productive
p<.001
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
To be more specific, there were significant correlations between the participants’ initial knowledge of receptive
and productive scores and their scores on the delayed posttests. The tests also provided evidence of strong
inverse correlations (r = -624, p<.001) and (r = -601, p<.001) between Time 1 and Time 3 on reception and
production respectively. These negative values imply that the learners’ levels of receptive and productive
vocabulary knowledge under question at Time 1 are strong indicators of what they will forget over time. In other
words, the more the participants knew the items initially, the less able they were to maintain their knowledge in
the long term. While ‘the more one knows, the more one forgets’ makes intuitive sense and has been alluded to
occasionally in the classical psychological literature, the research presented here suggests that such concept is an
empirically supportable notion which is worthy of further attention. It should be mentioned that the current
findings do not lend support to research by Bahrick (1984), Weltens (1989) and Alharthi (2012). We assume that
the different findings might have been due to the different ways in which we measured the participants’ initial
vocabulary knowledge. That is, the original attainment level of the participants in those studies was determined
according to the number of years of study in a certain language or by scores obtained using inaccurate
measurement tools.
2) Is there any significant difference in the degree of attrition in terms of receptive or productive word
knowledge?
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To examine apparent within-group attrition or retention, we first carried out a series of tests to ensure that
parametric statistics can be applied. This was identified through histograms for both vocabulary pretest and
posttest which had normal distribution curves. These were supported by Kolmogornov–Smirnov tests of
normality (R-K-S = .828; p = .311 and P-K-S = .698; p = .743). The descriptive statistics of Time 1, Time 2 and
Time 3 tests scores are reported in Table 2. Time 1 scores were considered as scores of vocabulary learning,
whereas those of Time 2 and Time 3 tests taken one and two years after the formal instruction ended were
considered as attrition and retention scores.
Table 2. Descriptive statistics of Time 1, Time 2 and Time 3 scores for receptive and productive word
knowledge
Time 1
Word knowledge type
Time 2
Time3
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
Receptive
67.24
7.45
64.11
7.56
65.77
7.44
Productive
44.12
3.33
37.69
5.51
37.74
5.43
An important fact exposed in Table 2 is that participants’ capacity to recognize and produce the meaning of
target words declined from Time 1 and Time 2, while it appears to have been retained somewhat at Time 3, and
that at any point in time receptive vocabulary is greater in size than productive vocabulary. The results of
repeated measures ANOVA for vocabulary scores (see Table 3) show that the amount of vocabulary forgotten
varied as a function of type of word knowledge (F = 125.92) and as a function of time of vocabulary
administration, one year after the course completion (F = 57.31). The main effects were qualified by significant
interaction of Time 1 and Time 2 and the degree of attrition between receptive and productive word knowledge
(F = 1.29, p<.001). These findings thus appear to confirm and replicate the findings of previous investigations
(Alharthi, 2012; Bahrick, 1984; Bierling, 1990; Marefat & Rouhshad, 2007).
Table 3. ANOVA for attrition scores measured over time as a function of type of word knowledge
Source
F
P
Receptive & Productive
125.92
<.001
Time of administration
57.31
<.001
Time X R & P
1.29
<.001
Even though it appears that there was significant measurable attrition between Time 1 and Time 2, the
participants’ mean scores for each type of word knowledge appear to show some slight degree of retention
(between Time 2 and Time 3) which did not reach a level of significance. While improvement in learners’
vocabulary knowledge was not at all anticipated, particularly in our context where little contact with English was
expected after formal FL instruction, one can find similar behaviours in a study by Alharthi (2012) who reported
that the level of maintenance was higher for receptive than productive vocabulary in the interval of 15 months.
The current findings also point to a tendency among our participants to exhibit little communication not only
inside but also outside the classroom. Moreover, this variation might be due to the different test formats. As one
would expect, the production task that asked the test-takers to complete a word in a sentence is one of the most
difficult test formats and consequently leads to low scores, whereas the multiple choice format that requires the
test-takers to match words with their relevant definitions presumably produces high scores. A widespread belief
is that one might recognize the meaning of a word in a given text but is not able to retrieve it when it is needed in
production. This can be referred to a well-known phenomenon called tip of the tongue (TOT) which is a
common experience in one’s L1. Seemingly, the presence of partial information is enough to recognize a word;
however, the productive stage needs more complete information so an item can be successfully retrieved.
The trends emerging at Time 3 likewise reflect the perception among researchers (Weltens, 1989) that factors
such as general cognitive maturation, further academic training and continued learning of other FLs might
explain the participants’ increase in their test performance over time.
3) Is there a significant rate or pattern of attrition in word knowledge after the end of formal instruction?
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We have partially answered this research question in the discussion of the second research question. Returning
briefly to the descriptive statistics presented in Table 2, these provide a trend which confirms our prediction that
once the subjects leave KAU, their competence in vocabulary decreases. The participants demonstrate sharp
attrition on the receptive and productive vocabulary posttests. The pattern of decline can be seen most clearly in
the productive vocabulary test between Time 1 (M = 44.12) and Time 2 (M = 37.69). A paired sample t-test
shows that the difference on this type of knowledge is significant (df = 42, t = 2.32, p = <.001). Table 2,
however, indicates a small decline from Time 1 to Time 2 in mean scores of the receptive vocabulary (M =
67.24), (M = 64.11). Interestingly with such a slight drop, a paired sample t-test reveals a significant difference
(df = 42, t = 1.88, p = <.001). The rate of forgetting found here is in line with the work of Bahrick (1984),
Weltens (1989), Bierling (1990), Abbasian and Khajavi (2010) and Alharthi (2012) and mirrors memory
research that attrition occurs relatively soon after the end of a learning session (Baddeley, 1990). On the other
hand, the participants’ mean scores on receptive and productive word knowledge increase a little at Time 3 (M =
65.77), (M = 37.74) though the gains are not statistically significant. One plausible explanation for this finding
can be given from the psychological perspective of the critical threshold. The participants in the present study
seem to have reached some sort of critical threshold for vocabulary knowledge prior to Time 1 which enables
them to improve at Time 3, though to a lesser degree. Clearly, the participants’ performance displayed
improvement in accuracy after a certain period of time, lending further support to the explanation offered by
Cohen (1975) that following a period of lack or reduced FL input, some sort of residual learning may be held.
4) Which POS is most susceptible to attrition?
The last research question aims to provide evidence as to whether a particular POS influences the attrition of
vocabulary. Table 4 shows the mean scores for nouns, verbs and adjectives for each type of word knowledge at
the three administrations of the test.
Table 4. Mean scores of vocabulary by POS for the three administrations of the test
POS
Time 1
Time 2
Time 3
R
P
R
P
R
P
Noun
66.91
53.56
63.08
49.88
62.20
48.37
Verb
65.01
48.28
57.50
41.48
51.74
36.17
Adjective
55.29
46.63
47.06
38.89
41.59
32.30
The results show that POS declined over time; however, the drop is more pronounced for verbs and adjectives in
both receptive and productive word knowledge. The results of repeated measures ANOVA indicated that the
mean attrition scores for different POS varied as a function of time (F = 2.25, p<.001), (F = 3.54, p< .001) in
receptive and productive word knowledge respectively. The difference between POS reached levels of
significance only for verbs and adjectives (t = 5.48, p< .001) and (t = 4.55, p< .001). These findings to some
extent confirm Alharthi’s (2012) results that nouns were less vulnerable to attrition than other POS. In practice,
empirical evidence seems to support the ‘depth of processing theory’ articulated by Craik and Lockhart (1972).
This suggests that learning new words such as nouns, which involves extra effort, is likely to promote retention
of this type of word. This might be one reason why verbs and adjectives were more likely to be subject to
attrition than nouns. One could argue, for instance, that in almost any natural text, including KAU textbooks,
verbs and adjectives occur less commonly than nouns, hence instances of these word classes are more likely to
be forgotten than nouns. It is worth mentioning that the present findings are totally contrary to that reported for
previous research by Cohen (1989). The most likely explanation for this difference is that it is likely due to the
effect of task type. For example, in storytelling tasks, subjects were required to describe images with a great
focus on verbs and therefore, such tasks reduced the possibility of using nouns.
7. Conclusion
The findings for the four research questions investigated in the current study are summarized as follows:
The results of investigating research question one suggest that there is a negative correlation between the initial
knowledge of vocabulary and the degree of subsequent attrition over time. What such a trend shows is that the
higher the knowledge at peak attainment, the higher the attrition the participants will experience in receptive and
productive word knowledge.
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The results of investigating research questions two and three indicate that there was significant loss in the
participants’ receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge from Time 1 to Time 2 with a slight increase at
Time 3. The results also show that reception scores are higher than production scores at all points in time. The
long-term vocabulary attrition and retention is portrayed in the rate of forgetting over time. That is, the
participants’ scores dropped right after formal instruction had ended and then increased slightly by the end of a
two- year period.
The results of investigating research question four showed the potential effect of POS on the rate of attrition. The
study revealed that verbs and adjectives received lower scores than nouns and therefore were more prone to
attrition than nouns. This observation bears a close relationship to the depth of processing principle (Craik &
Lockhart, 1972) that superficially learned words, e.g. verbs and adjectives, are more vulnerable to loss than are
deeply learned words, such as nouns. It remains to be investigated whether other word characteristics such as
orthography, frequency, imageability and abstractness may positively or negatively affect the process of attrition.
It would be interesting to explore these concepts in future research in FL vocabulary attrition and or retention.
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