How to learnvocabulary effectively?

Difficulties in vocabulary learningThere are too many words to learn. I dont know how to cope with them.The words are like eels (). They are too slippery () to be kept in our memory.I know its meaning if I can see the word, but I feel puzzled when I hear the word.When I come across new words, I dont know how to deal with it. Should I consult a dictionary or guess it, or ignore it?

Questions for discussionWhat is a realistic goal in our vocabulary learning?How do we achieve our goal in vocabulary learning?How do we deal with new words in reading?How can we avoid forgetting what we have learned?How can we know our vocabulary size?

Question OneWhat is a realistic goal in our vocabulary learning?

An American university student about 20,000 words.(Receptive vocabulary:

Different types of vocabulary

Listening vocabularyReading vocabularyReceptive vocabularyProductive vocabulary

Speaking vocabularyWriting vocabularyThey overlap considerably and they are used in slightly different ways.

Four types of vocabulary Reading vocabulary contain common words but many more big words recognize them by their context do not use all of them in speaking and writing Listening vocabulary contain many common words contain some technical words understand them when you hear do not use all of them in speaking and writing

Four types of vocabulary Writing vocabularycontain simple and common wordsTechnical words Speaking vocabularycan be simple or sophisticated depending on the audience and the subject to be talked about A flexible vocabulary

What is a realistic goal for us?Dont need a BIG vocabularyNeed the right vocabulary.Speak and writing powerfully by using small words effectivelyEinstein used very simple language to express the most complex ideas

Frequency 3,000 words most frequently used words 4,000 words quite frequently used words 13000 words less frequently used words

Two-stage goal Stage One3000 words Reading, listening, writing & speaking Stage Two: 4000 words Reading and listening

Stage One: 3000 words Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Cover 90% of the text Read simplified novels and talk about daily life One new word in every 10 in reading(Nation, 2001: 17)

Stage Two: 4000 words moreCover about 95% of the text (3000+4000)Read original novels, magazines, academic booksOne new word in 15 words

Question TwoHow can we achieve the two- stage goal of our vocabulary learning?

Achieving our two-stage goal by different ways Stage One: 3000 wordsLearning each of them carefully, patiently and effectively Stage Two: 4000 words more finding short cuts to learn them

Stage-one goalLearning 3000 words carefully, patiently and effectively What should be learned? How should these 3,000 words be learned?

What should be learned?Form () Meaning (): senses ( Use ()

FormSpoken formWhat does the words sound like? (listening)How is the word pronounced? (speaking)Written formWhat does the word look like? (reading)How is the word written and spelled? (writing)Word partsWhat parts are recognizable in this word?What word parts are needed to express the meaning?

Meaning Form and meaningWhat meaning does this word form signal? AssociationsWhat other words does this make us think of?

UseGrammatical functionsIn what pattern does the word occur?CollocationsWhat words or types of words occur with this one?Constraints on use (Register, frequency)Where, when, and how often would we expect to meet this word?

You can tell the meaning of the word when you read it in a text.You can understand the meaning of the word when you hear it. You can write the word correctly.You can use the word in speaking.

experience n (U). n(C) v.

experienceex: out of perience: tested

Longman dictionary of CEExperience n1. Knowledge /skill [U] [+of/in/with] previous experience practical experience first-hand experience2. Knowledge of life [U]3. Something that happens [C]had/gain/get experience

Learning a foreign language was one of the most difficult yet most rewarding experiences of my life. Although at times, learning a foreign language was frustrating, it was worth the effort.

Difficult experiences of my life Rewarding experiences of my life

A difficult experiencerewarding/frustrating /valuable/good/ bitter/pleasant Difficult experiences of my lifeThat experience was rewarding/frustrating/painful/valuablework experience/life experience/business experience

Teaching experienceJournalistic experience

exercise n. physical exercise exercise-book exercise v. use sth Exercise their right to do sthExercise some control over(imagination, restraint, power, patience, perseverance

How should these 3000 words be learned?Strategies for planning vocabulary learningStrategies for learning vocabulary

Planning vocabulary learningThe strategies in this category involve deciding on where to focus attention, how to focus the attention, and how often to give attention to the formChoosing wordsChoosing aspects of word knowledge to focus onChoosing strategies

Choosing wordsReasonsImpossible to learn all the English wordsToo many new words to learn in a textSteps helping you decide if a word is worth learningImportant or not? If not, guess it or ignore it.If important, check in a dictionary to find out whether it is common.If common, learn it. If not, guess it from the context or ignore it.

Choosing aspects of word knowledge to focus onReasonsToo many aspects of word knowledge to learnCannot learn all the aspects of knowledge of one word at one timeSteps helping you decide which aspects of word knowledge to focus onForm: recognition first, production secondMeaning: learn one by one if there are several sensesUse: learn patterns and collocations one by one

Choosing strategies ReasonsDifferent learning stylesDifferent proficiency levels Three learning phasesMemorizingUsingRecycling

Vocabulary learning strategies Memorizing Using Recycling

MemorizingSay the words you are learningRecord the words/phrases you are learning on tape and play them to yourself whenever you have timeWrite the words you are learning on pieces of paper or stick-it notes and put them round your room.Put the words into sentences.Use your knowledge of the parts of words.

UsingCreate sentences of your own.Write a story that includes all the words you have learned.Learn words for a certain topic or situation, and then write about the topic using vocabulary learned or have a discussion or conversation with a partner.

RecyclingFollow a news story that is printed or broadcast every day for several weeks (e.g. war between Israel and Palestine)Focus on one type of news story (e.g. crime, disasters, sports, weather)Watch movies or read books on particular topics (e.g. travel, business)Read several books by the same author

Stage-two goalFinding short cuts to cope with the 4000 more words

Stage-two vocabulary learningLearning strategies for dealing with these words since the words themselves do not deserve learning time

Why do the stage-two words not deserve learning time? The stage-two words are low-frequency words and there are too many low-frequency words.Learners will meet many of these words only once or twice.Any effort spent learning them will not be repaid by meeting them on other occasions.It is far better to spend time on strategies that you can use to deal with these words than to spend time on individual words.

Importance of vocabulary strategiesMost vocabulary strategies applicable to a wide range of vocabulary and useful at all stages of vocabulary learning.

Using prefixes, roots and suffixesOne half of general words and two thirds of all academic, technical, and low-frequency words are derived from Latin, French (through Latin), or Greek. This indicates the importance of learning the meanings of roots and affixes (Nation, 1990: 19).

Word analysis Prefix(), root(), suffix()place (root)replace (prefix+root)replacement (prefix+root+suffix) unwiselywise (root)unwise(prefix+root)unwisely(prefix+root+suffix)

Word analysisIt is the process of separating a word into its parts and then using the meanings of those parts to figure out the meaning of the original word. RetrospectRetro: backspect: lookEffective in guessing the meaning of words but not always correctThe sum of the meaning of their parts = the meaning of the word

inspectinspectorinspectionspeculatespeculatorspeculationspeculartivespeculatorspectacularspectacle

Question ThreeHow do we deal with new words in reading?

Options for dealing with new wordsIgnore itGuess it from the contextConsult a dictionaryGuess it first and then consult a dictionaryLook for clues to meaning in the word itselfAsk the teacher or a friend for assistance

Question FourHow can we avoid forgetting what we have learned?

SuggestionsLearn words repeatedly, with increasing intervals between learning sessions.Have the words you want to learn with you whenever you go.Set aside a regular time for vocabulary learningSpend more time on the words you find difficult.

Suggestion OneResearch in psychology shows that we do not forget things gradually. (See the graph)Most of our forgetting occurs within 20 minutes after we have first learned something.More is forgotten with one hour.Still more within 8 hours.After 8 hours, the rate of forgetting stays surprisingly steady.

Suggestion TwoMake full use of dead timeVocabulary notebookAn electronic dictionary

Suggestion ThreeRegular revisionDaily revision (10 minutes a day)Weekly revision (One hour a week)Monthly revision (One hour a month)

Suggestion FourSpend more time on the words you find difficultGo down a list from the first to the last, trying to memorize each one. Two problems:The words at the top of the list tend to be remembered better than the words further down.Time is wasted on the words that have been learned.

Richard Pemberton, 2000, version 2

dailyweeklymonthlyrewardingfrustratingjuniorpositivesenioropportunityonlinetechnologyparticipatevirtual

dailyweeklymonthlyrewardingfrustratingjuniorpositivesenioropportunityonlinetechnologyparticipatevirtual

dailyweeklymonthlyrewardingfrustratingjuniorpositivesenioropportunityonlinetechnologyparticipatevirtual

Do you want to know your productive vocabulary size?

Test A/ 2000 levelIt is the de( )that counts, not the thought.Plants receive water from the soil through their ro( ).3. The nu( )was helping the doctor in the operating room.4. Since he is unskilled, he earns low wa( ).5. This year long sk( ) are fashionable again.6. Laws are based on the principle of jus( )7. He is walking on the ti( ) of his toes.8. The mechanic had to replace the mo( ) of the car.9. There is a co( ) of the original report in the file.

10. They had to cl( ) a steep mountain to reach the cabin. 11. The doctor ex( ) the patient thoroughly. 12. The house was su( ) by a big garden. 13. The railway con( ) London with its suburbs. 14. She wan( ) aimlessly in the streets. 15. The organisers li( ) the number of participants to fifty. 16. This work is not up to your usu( ) standard. 17. They sat down to eat even though they were not hu ( ). 18. You must have been very br( ) to participate in such a dangerous operation.

Test A/ 3000 level1. He has a successful car( ) as a lawyer. 2. The thieves threw ac( ) in his face and made him blind. 3. To improve the country's economy, the government decided on economic ref( ). 4. She wore a beautiful green go( ) to the ball. 5. The government tried to protect the country's industry by reducing the imp( ) of cheap goods. 6. The children's games were amusing at first, but finally got on the parents' ner( ). 7. The lawyer gave some wise coun( ) to his client. 8. Many people in England mow the la( ) of their houses on Sunday morning. 9. The farmer sells the eggs that his he( ) lays.

10. Sudden noises at night sca( ) me a lot. 11. France was proc( ) a republic in the 18th century. 12. Many people are inj( ) in road accidents every year. 13. Suddenly he was thru( ) into the dark room. 14. He perc( ) a light at the end of the tunnel. 15. Children are not independent. They are att( ) to their parents. 16. She showed off her sle( ) figure in a long narrow dress. 17. She has been changing partners often because she cannot have a sta( ) relationship with one person. 18. You must wear a bathing suit on a public beach. You're not allowed to bath na( ).

Do you want to know the depth of your vocabulary knowledge?

WORD ASSOCIATES TEST

This is a test of how well you know the meaning of adjectives that are commonly used in English. Each item looks like this:

The words here on the left side may help to explain the meaning of "sudden".The words here on the right side are nouns that may come after "sudden" in a phrase or a sentence.There are eight words in the box, but only four of them are correct. You have to choose which are the four correct words.

beautiful quick surprising thirstychange doctor noise schoolsudden

"Sudden" means "happening quickly and unexpectedly", so the correct answers on the left side are "quick" and "surprising". We do not normally say "a sudden doctor" or "a sudden school", but we often say "a sudden change" and "a sudden noise", so "change" and "noise" are the correct answers on this side.e: Note: In this example, there are two correct answers on the left and two on the right, but in some items there will be either one on the left and three on the right or three on the left and one on the right.

1. beautifulenjoyable expensive free loudeducation face music weatherclever famous happy shining2. brightcolour hand poem taste

3. correcteasy free right true answer dream enemy time difficult low solid unkind 4. hardgas hospital moon work

5. humancold green person snowybeings body life season open quiet smooth tired 6. calmcloth day light person

The Compleat Lexical Tutor

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