Some research into Some research into vocabulary teaching and vocabulary teaching and

learninglearningReferring to pp. 151-155 of: Read, J. (2004). Research in teaching

vocabulary. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, 146-161. 

1.What are some of the ways of conducting research into vocabulary teaching or learning? 

2.What conclusions can you draw from these studies reported by Read (2004) about the criteria for effective vocabulary acquisition?

Some research into Some research into vocabulary teaching and vocabulary teaching and

learninglearningDictionary use:Dictionary use: look at how students use dictionarieslook at how students use dictionaries whether they use dictionaries whether they use dictionaries

appropriately / whether they need appropriately / whether they need trainingtraining

whether dictionary use leads to better whether dictionary use leads to better performance / proficiencyperformance / proficiency

what kind of dictionaries they prefer what kind of dictionaries they prefer to useto use

Some research into Some research into vocabulary teaching and vocabulary teaching and

learninglearningVocabulary in the classroom:Vocabulary in the classroom: Look at how students select, record and revise Look at how students select, record and revise

vocabulary in their independent study / whether vocabulary in their independent study / whether training improves use of vocab learning strategiestraining improves use of vocab learning strategies

Audio- or video- record classes and transcribe Audio- or video- record classes and transcribe these clips. Study how the teacher teaches these clips. Study how the teacher teaches vocabulary, e.g. whether target words are vocabulary, e.g. whether target words are repeated or recycled / whether vocabulary is repeated or recycled / whether vocabulary is taught in lexically rich context, i.e. target words taught in lexically rich context, i.e. target words repeated and embedded in easy-to-understand repeated and embedded in easy-to-understand contextcontext

Some research into Some research into vocabulary teaching and vocabulary teaching and

learninglearningComputer applications:Computer applications: Use a computer programme to make sure Use a computer programme to make sure

that target words are repeated in different that target words are repeated in different sentences and texts, and see whether sentences and texts, and see whether students have better retention of these students have better retention of these wordswords

Provide (glosses / pictorial clues / videos / Provide (glosses / pictorial clues / videos / L1 translations) via hyperlinks built into an L1 translations) via hyperlinks built into an online text, and measure students’ online text, and measure students’ understanding and retention of these wordsunderstanding and retention of these words

Criteria for effective Criteria for effective vocabulary acquisitionvocabulary acquisition

Students often use strategies inappropriately / Students often use strategies inappropriately / need vocab strategy trainingneed vocab strategy training

Better to repeat target words in texts / in the Better to repeat target words in texts / in the classroomclassroom

Better to present target words in lexically rich Better to present target words in lexically rich context (comprehensible input for students to context (comprehensible input for students to guess meaning of the unknown words)guess meaning of the unknown words)

Deeper processing of the target words leads to Deeper processing of the target words leads to better retention (e.g. mental imaging / studying better retention (e.g. mental imaging / studying sample sentences are better than only looking sample sentences are better than only looking at L1 translations)at L1 translations)

Session 2Session 2• Vocabulary size and vocabulary profiles of Vocabulary size and vocabulary profiles of

studentsstudents• Often used in proficiency or entrance tests; as Often used in proficiency or entrance tests; as

an indicator of proficiency levelan indicator of proficiency level• Word frequencies Word frequencies

• Which words are more frequently used in the Which words are more frequently used in the English language? English language?

• What kind of words should learners focus on? What kind of words should learners focus on? • Some well-known word listsSome well-known word lists• Computer applications for assessing and Computer applications for assessing and

learning vocabularylearning vocabulary

Warming UpWarming UpNumber of words in the English language:

Number of words a university-educated native English speaker knows:

Number of words that you know:

Vocabulary size needed for basic communication (i.e., to express what one wants to express, however simply):

Vocabulary size needed for reading (understanding any written text):

Can you think of a good way to measure people’s vocab sizes?

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New curriculum proposed by EDB

Key Stage (KS)

Stage target(no. of word

families)

Cumulative target

(no. of word families)

KS1 (Pri 3)

KS2 (Pri 6)

KS3 (Sec 3)

KS4 (Sec 6)

Number of words in the English language:

•1 to 2 million wordsGoulden, Nation & Read (1990) estimated that Webster’s Third International Dictionary (published in 1961) contained around 267,000 entries and 54,000 word families.

Number of words a university-educated native English speaker knows:

20,000 word families

Vocabulary size needed for basic communication (i.e., to express what one wants to express, however simply):

2,000 most frequent wordsWest’s (1953) General Service List:95% coverage of informal spoken English(but only 80% coverage of written English)

Vocabulary size needed for reading (understanding any written text):

Students need to know 95%-98% of the words in a text in order to understand the text(5,000 words – about 90% coverage, depending on the kind of text being read)

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New curriculum proposed by EMB

Key Stage (KS)

Stage target Cumulative target

KS1 (Pri 3) 1000 1000

KS2 (Pri 6) 1000 2000

KS3 (Sec 3) 1500 3500

KS4 (Sec 6) 1500 5000

Vocabulary size and text coverage

Source: Francis and Kucera, 1982 (as cited in Nation & Waring, 1997, pre-session 2 reading)

How many words do you How many words do you know?know?

(Measuring vocab size)(Measuring vocab size)Paul Nation’s Vocabulary Levels TestPaul Nation’s Vocabulary Levels Test

measures number of words that are measures number of words that are known known at various levels of frequencyat various levels of frequency

how can you interpret your score?how can you interpret your score?

Recommended sequence for Recommended sequence for learnerslearners

First 2,000 words 80% of text coverage

First 2,000 words + AWL 90% of text coverage of a text that a student would

typically read First 2,000 words + AWL + Technical vocab

95% of text coverage of a text that a student would typically read

First 2,000 words + AWL + Technical vocab + most frequently used prefixes, roots and suffixes

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Strategies for learning Strategies for learning words of different words of different frequency levels frequency levels 5,000 Word Level (general vocabulary)

•Training at guessing words in context

•Wide general reading : novels, newspapers and magazines

•Intensive reading of a variety of texts

•Advanced English Vocabulary workbooks

University Word Level (specialised academic vocabulary)

•Learn the words on the University Word List (Nation 1990) and Academic Word List (Coxhead, 2000)

•Intensive reading of university texts

10,000 Word Level (a wide, general vocabulary)

•Activities similar to the 5,000 word level,

•combined with learning prefixes and roots

What do you think are the What do you think are the ten most frequently used ten most frequently used

words in English?words in English?10 most frequently used words

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Frequency listsFrequency lists

West (1953)’s GSL (2000 words)West (1953)’s GSL (2000 words) How to make reading texts more How to make reading texts more

comprehensible for learnerscomprehensible for learners Replacing difficult vocabulary with the Replacing difficult vocabulary with the

GSL words, selected according to:GSL words, selected according to: FrequencyFrequency Universality (words used in different countries)Universality (words used in different countries) Range (words used to talk about a range of Range (words used to talk about a range of

topics)topics) Usefulness (words used to define other words)Usefulness (words used to define other words)

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Local Situation:Local Situation:Sources of input for the EDB Sources of input for the EDB

wordlistswordlists Words taken from:Words taken from:

General Service List (GSL)General Service List (GSL) Most frequent words in British National Corpus (BNC)Most frequent words in British National Corpus (BNC) Academic Word List (AWL)Academic Word List (AWL)

Teacher representatives then further selected Teacher representatives then further selected words based on their judgment according to:words based on their judgment according to: themes recommended in the Government’s Curriculum themes recommended in the Government’s Curriculum

GuidesGuides vocabulary content of approved textbooksvocabulary content of approved textbooks other guidelines set by the research team (e.g. other guidelines set by the research team (e.g.

whether words are used in Hong Kong, ease for whether words are used in Hong Kong, ease for learning, etc.)learning, etc.)

17

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Sources for vocabulary listsGSLClassic list of most frequent 2000 words

GENERAL words

BNC100 million word collectionfrom written and spoken texts

AWL ACADEMIC words

570 words that occur frequently in academic texts across disciplines

Tom Cobb’s Compleat Tom Cobb’s Compleat Lexical Tutor (Lexical Tutor (

http://www.lextutor.ca/)) Test Test (to get receptive and productive tests of various word levels)(to get receptive and productive tests of various word levels) List_LearnList_Learn (to learn words at various levels with an online (to learn words at various levels with an online

concordancer and dictionary; to get lists of words from 1k to 20k level concordancer and dictionary; to get lists of words from 1k to 20k level and AWL and UWL)and AWL and UWL)

Vocab Profiler Vocab Profiler (to see the vocab profile of one’s writing / to predict (to see the vocab profile of one’s writing / to predict “readability” of a text for learners)“readability” of a text for learners)

% of words at 2000 word level% of words at 2000 word level % of academic words% of academic words % of words from beyond the most frequent 2000% of words from beyond the most frequent 2000 type-token ratiotype-token ratio

Corpus-based RangeCorpus-based Range checks whether a word is used more frequently checks whether a word is used more frequently in in spoken or written English spoken or written English in the Brown Corpus. It also checks in the Brown Corpus. It also checks the the range of a word range of a word in any of the in any of the 15 sub-corpora15 sub-corpora of the Brown Corpus, of the Brown Corpus, i.e. in which and how many of the 15 sub-corpora a word can be found. i.e. in which and how many of the 15 sub-corpora a word can be found. The sub-corpora cover a wide range of domains such as press, academic, The sub-corpora cover a wide range of domains such as press, academic, and fiction.and fiction.

Text-based Range Text-based Range allows you to upload up to 25 texts of your own and allows you to upload up to 25 texts of your own and check the check the rangerange and and frequencyfrequency of a word in these 25 texts. of a word in these 25 texts.

Type and TokenType and Token

How many types are there in the How many types are there in the following sentence?following sentence?

How many tokens (running words) are How many tokens (running words) are there in the following sentence?there in the following sentence?

We need a vocabulary to talk about We need a vocabulary to talk about vocabulary.vocabulary.

Type-Token Ratio (also called Type-Token Ratio (also called “Lexical Richness” or “Lexical “Lexical Richness” or “Lexical

Density”)Density”) How many types and tokens do you

see here?Watch out! I said watch out!

4 types 6 tokens / running words Type-token ratio: 4/6 (0.67)

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I have a I have a rubberrubber, an old, small , an old, small rubberrubber. Although it . Although it is so small that I can not use it anymore, I still is so small that I can not use it anymore, I still keep it carefully in my drawer as it is so important keep it carefully in my drawer as it is so important for me.for me.

That is a long, long time that I have my That is a long, long time that I have my rubberrubber. . Four years ago, when I was still an eight-years-old Four years ago, when I was still an eight-years-old child, my parents bought me a child, my parents bought me a rubberrubber as my as my birthday present. I put it into my pencil-box and birthday present. I put it into my pencil-box and brought it to school everyday.brought it to school everyday.

We had an interesting game in the past. We We had an interesting game in the past. We used our used our rubberrubber to play with in the game. We to play with in the game. We pushed our pushed our rubberrubber one by one and tried not to be one by one and tried not to be pushed out at the desk by another pushed out at the desk by another rubberrubber. We . We pushed and pulled our pushed and pulled our rubbersrubbers, soon our , soon our rubbersrubbers became older and smaller one day than one day.became older and smaller one day than one day.

Source: Arthur McNeillSource: Arthur McNeill’’s (2004)s (2004)

Text written by a local HK 12-yearText written by a local HK 12-year

““VocabProfile” of a student’s textVocabProfile” of a student’s text

First First 1000 1000 wordswords

SecoSecond nd

1000 1000 wordword

ss

Academic Academic wordswords

(AWL)(AWL)

Off-list Off-list words (Less words (Less

frequent frequent words)words)

88%88% 12%12% 0%0% 0%0% 75 types /137 tokens : 75 types /137 tokens : 0.550.55

Examples from Hong Kong sampleExamples from Hong Kong sample

Repetition of key words (need for Repetition of key words (need for lexical substitutionlexical substitution –– synonyms, synonyms, superordinates / hyponyms, and superordinates / hyponyms, and pronounpronoun substitution) substitution)

The need for lexical enrichment The need for lexical enrichment ((adjectivesadjectives and and adverbsadverbs))

Substitutes for “rubber”Substitutes for “rubber”

It It (pronoun)(pronoun) One One (pronoun)(pronoun) Eraser Eraser (synonym)(synonym) Item of stationery Item of stationery (superordinate)(superordinate) Tool? Tool? (superordinate)(superordinate)

I have a I have a rubberrubber, an old, small , an old, small oneone. Although . Although it is so small that I can not use it anymore, I it is so small that I can not use it anymore, I still keep it carefully in my drawer as it is so still keep it carefully in my drawer as it is so important for me.important for me.

That is a long, long time that I have my That is a long, long time that I have my favourite chosen possessionfavourite chosen possession. Four years ago, . Four years ago, when I was still an eight-years-old child, my when I was still an eight-years-old child, my parents bought parents bought itit for me as my birthday for me as my birthday present. I put it into my pencil-box and present. I put it into my pencil-box and brought it to school everyday.brought it to school everyday.

We had an interesting game in the past. We We had an interesting game in the past. We used our used our erasereraser to play with in the game. We to play with in the game. We pushed our pushed our stationerystationery one by one and tried one by one and tried not to be pushed out at the desk by another not to be pushed out at the desk by another opponentopponent. We pushed and pulled our . We pushed and pulled our weaponsweapons, soon our , soon our rubbersrubbers became older and became older and smaller one day than one day.smaller one day than one day.

Text written by a local HK 16-year Text written by a local HK 16-year old under exam conditionsold under exam conditions

Many students strive for academic excellency, but Many students strive for academic excellency, but what is the motivation behind their hardwork? In what is the motivation behind their hardwork? In this essay, I am going to explore the different this essay, I am going to explore the different aspects of learning, and analyse the pros and cons aspects of learning, and analyse the pros and cons of each motivating factor.of each motivating factor.

The hunger for knowledge and wisdom can The hunger for knowledge and wisdom can motivate students to learn. They hope to widen their motivate students to learn. They hope to widen their horizons through reading, watching educational horizons through reading, watching educational programs, travelling and other ways. To them, the programs, travelling and other ways. To them, the world is a fascinating place, full of wonders and world is a fascinating place, full of wonders and mysteries to unravel. Their love of learning mysteries to unravel. Their love of learning motivates them to seek knowledge in all areas, from motivates them to seek knowledge in all areas, from science and mathematics to arts.science and mathematics to arts.

Source: McNeillSource: McNeill’’s (2004)s (2004)

““VocabProfile” of a student’s textVocabProfile” of a student’s text

First First 1000 1000 wordswords

SecoSecond nd

1000 1000 wordword

ss

Academic Academic wordswords

(AWL)(AWL)

Off-list Off-list words (Less words (Less

frequent frequent words)words)

73%73% 6%6% 10.5%10.5% 10.5%10.5% 69 types / 96 tokens = 69 types / 96 tokens = 0.720.72

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Lexical enrichment

I was sweating. Ms Ip neared my table and put the exam paper in front of me. I closed my eyes and opened them a fraction of an inch. There, on top of the paper, was a 33. My heart sank. Then my teacher took away the paper and put another one in front of me. I took it and saw an 88 in the mark box. The first paper belonged to my neighbor, Sally.

31

Lexical enrichment

I was sweating [adv]. Ms Ip neared my table [adv] and put the [adj] exam paper in front of me. I [adv] closed my eyes and [adv] opened them a fraction of an inch. There, on top of the paper, was a 33. My heart sank. Then my teacher [adv] took away the paper and put another one in front of me. I took it [adv] and saw an 88 in the mark box. [Adv] the first paper belonged to my neighbor, Sally.

32

Lexical enrichment

I was sweating [heavily]. Ms Ip neared my table [unexpectedly] and put the [horrible] exam paper in front of me. I [immediately] closed my eyes and [slowly] opened them a fraction of an inch. There, on top of the paper, was a 33. My heart sank. Then my teacher [swiftly] took away the paper and put another one in front of me. I took it [without thinking] and saw an 88 in the mark box. [Fortunately] the first paper belonged to my neighbor, Sally.

DiscussionDiscussion

What are the benefits of using word What are the benefits of using word lists (such as GSL, AWL)?lists (such as GSL, AWL)? To design a vocabulary curriculumTo design a vocabulary curriculum To decide which texts to use with To decide which texts to use with

studentsstudents To decide which words in a text would To decide which words in a text would

cause difficulty to studentscause difficulty to students

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Task and Discussion: Task and Discussion: What criteria can we use in selecting What criteria can we use in selecting words for learners?words for learners?

Other than frequency, what criteria Other than frequency, what criteria can we use to decide which words can we use to decide which words our learners should learn?our learners should learn?

35

Words that learners should focus on Usefulness

Frequently used (frequency); high-frequency words need to be learnt both receptively and productively whereas low-frequency words can be learnt receptively

Used in a wide range of topics/domains (range) Related to the personal experience

Ease of learning Words that look familiar to students, e.g. “quiet” as

an adjective > “quiet” as a verb) Words made up of some familiar word parts

(prefixes, roots, suffixes), e.g. prepare, predict, precede

Relevance to students’ needs specialized or technical words related to a

particular discipline that the student is studying

36

Local research on vocabulary size and vocabulary knowledge Littlewood & Liu (1996)Littlewood & Liu (1996)

40 first-year HKU/CUHK students knew around 3,500 words

Barber (1999, as cited in Fan, 2001)Barber (1999, as cited in Fan, 2001) found a positive correlation between students’ vocabulary knowledge and their

HKCEE results Cobb & Horst (2000)Cobb & Horst (2000) – post session reading

CityU students knew the most basic 2000 words; also performed well at 3000-word level

But low scores on UWL level Vocabulary growth over a period of 6 months: No

Fan (2001)Fan (2001) – post session reading Vocabulary scores positively correlate with language proficiency Students from Chinese-medium schools and those with E in HKAL

need help with vocabulary