An Expanded Conceptual Model of the Involvement Load Hypothesis for Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

Abstract

Since the Involvement Load Hypothesis was developed two decades ago, a colossal amount of empirical studies have been conducted to verify its predictive or explanatory power through comparison of various kinds of word-focused tasks with different involvement load indices. Extant findings barely lend a full credence to the prediction of the hypothesis, and modifications to its model were proposed but spread in different papers based on their experimental results with a limited number of variables manipulated. Despite these corrections, recent studies still use the old model to explain task comparison results. By integrating refinements supported by tangible experimental evidence, this study proposed an expanded theoretical framework of the Involvement Load Hypothesis with a new component, frequency of word usage, and modification to the tenets of the existing three components.