With regard to vocabulary retention, Hulstijn (1992) demonstrated that
target vocabulary items were retained significantly longer when their meanings
were correctly inferred than when explained by their synonyms. Joe
(1995) argued that the retention of unfamiliar words was significantly facilitated
when students engaged in a text-based task that demanded a higher
level of generativity. Similarly, Hulstijn and Laufer (2001) demonstrated that
EFL students who participated in a composition task could retain target
words better than those engaged in a reading comprehension or fill-in task,
which suggests that students who were involved in higher levels of vocabulary
production-processing remembered target words better than those who
were not. Plass, Chun, Mayer, and Leutner (1998) stated that students
remembered unknown words better when provided with both pictorial and
written annotations than when provided with only one kind or no annotation.