This study investigated the effects of text modification and task on incidental learning offoreign language vocabulary by reading. The focus of the study was on how different cue types(appositives and single and multiple-choice marginal glosses) and a task (translation) wouldaffect processing of input, initial learning, and retention of the meaning of target words in a text.Two hundred thirty-one students in Japanese universities were randomly assigned to 10conditiongroups. After a pretest, a reading task, and a cloze test, they were given a surprise vocabularytest. A week later, two unexpected delayed posttests were also given. The results indicated that(a) both single and multiple-choice marginal gloss conditions performed significantly better thanthe no cue and the appositive conditions, (b) no statistically significant difference existedbetween the single and the multiple-choice gloss conditions nor between the appositive and theno cue conditions, and (c) the translation task had no effect.