LING 322

DEVELOPMENT OF VOCABULARY AS LANGUAGE RESOURCE

VOCABULARY AND CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT

DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE

PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHING ACTIVITIES FOR VOCABULARY LEARNINGSTRATEGIES TO DEVELOP AUTONOMY AS

VOCABULARY LEARNER

Word as unitVocabulary sizeWhat it means to know a wordDeveloping meaningsCategorisation and word learningCultural content

Learning more about those words, phrases and chunks, finding words inside the words

Acquisition of meaning takes a longer time than the acquisition of the spoken form

Vocabulary learning is cyclical – meeting new words and initial learning, meeting those words again, extending knowledge of what the words mean and how they are used

Gap between vocabulary size in first and foreign language is very large

A realistic target for children learning a foreign language is around 500 words/year, given good learning conditions

Not all words are useful in foreign language learning

Vocabulary teaching can focus to help learners build up a knowledge of words

TYPE OF KNOWLEDGE

WHAT IS INVOLVED EXAMPLE

RECEPTIVE To understand it when it is spoken/written

MEMORY To recall it when needed

CONCEPTUAL To use with correct meaning

Not to confuse “effect” and “affect”

SPOKEN FORM : PHONOLOGICAL

To hear the word and pronounce it, on its own, and in phrases and sentences

GRAMMATICAL KNOWLEDGE

To use in grammatically accurate way, to know grammatical connections

“well” and “good”She sang very well.She sang very good.

TYPE OF KNOWLEDGE

WHAT IS INVOLVED EXAMPLE

COLLOCATIONAL To know which other words can be used

A beautiful view. VsA good looking view.

ORTHOGRAPHIC To spell correctly “PIZZA” not “BIZZA”

PRAGMATIC KNOWLEDGE

To use in the right situation

“would you like a drink” “what can I get you?”

CONNOTATIONAL

To know its positive and negative associations

“slim” has positive connotations“skinny” is negative

METALINGUISTIC

To know explicitly about the word

Increase in word knowledge does not happen automatically

Conceptual knowledge grows as children experience more of the world

Maturational factors also affect conceptual knowledge

‘syntagmatic-paradigmatic shift’ (types of association children make between words and ideas) between 5-10 yrs of age

Word hierarchy – general/superordinate at the top, specific/subordinate at the bottom

Eg :

Superordinate FURNITURE ANIMAL

Basic level CHAIR DOG

Subordinate ROCKING CHAIR

SPANIEL

Schemas are built throughout childhood within first language culture

May lead to problems as different cultures organise words differently

FUNCTION AND CONTENT WORDS – how they are used to construct sentences. Content words carry lexical meaning, function words carry grammatical meaning

Eg : The little house in the street was built when my mother was a child.

Content and function words need different teaching approaches.

Content words – taught in planned and explicit ways

Function words – incidentally, through continued use

SENSE RELATIONS Antonymy Synonymy Hyponymy Meronymy

THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF VOCABULARY

Have source for encountering new words Getting a clear image Learning the meaning of new words Making strong memory connection between

forms and meanings of words Using the words

LEARNING THE MEANING OF NEW WORDS (pg 85)

By demonstration or pictures By verbal explanation – require pre-existing

knowledge

ATTENDING TO FORM How it is pronounced and written For young learners, spoken form is a priority.

Written form can be introduce soon after or later as reading and writing skills are developed

Need to hear the new word in isolation as well as in discourse context

MAKING STRONG MEMORY CONNECTIONS

Thematic organization of vocabulary Organization of whole to parts Organization from general to specific hierarchies Organization through words and antonyms Organization in ‘ad-hoc’ categories

EXTENDING BEYOND THE TEXTBOOK Vocabulary in course books are predictable Start with the topic in the textbook BUT do not

stop at the given words Learner’s choice Incidental learning through stories

Strong learners : pick up information from linguistic context, topic, illustrations

Weak learners : focus in just on or the other source of information, often guessed the meaning of words without enough info in getting them right, did not embed new words, less flexible as learners

LEARNERS SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO :Guess meanings by using all information availableNotice grammatical information from the way they

are usedNotice links to similar words in their L1Remember where a word has been encountered

before

Model how to use strategiesTeach the sub-skills to use the strategiesClassroom tasks can include structured

opportunities for using those strategiesIndependent strategies can be rehearsed in

classroomsHelp young learners to reflect on the learning

process through evaluating their achievements

VOCABULARY IS A SOURCE FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING EARLY FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING CAN BUILD A

SOLID CORE OF WORDS FOR FURTHER LEARNING EARLY VOCABULARY LEARNING MAY NOT BE

EFFECTIVE IF WORDS ARE NOT CONSOLIDATED AND USED REGULARLY

DO NOT ASSUME THAT CHILDREN HAVE LEARNT WHAT IS TAUGHT

PROGRESSION IN CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS VOCABULARY LEARNING

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PARTICULAR WORDS CAN BE SEEN AS A PROGRESSION FROM PARTIAL KNOWLEDGE TO FULLER KNOWLEDGE

WITH TASKS AND LESSONS, VOCABULARY LEARNING MOVES FROM RECEPTIVE AND INITIAL UNDERSTANDING TO BEING ABLE TO USE IT APPROPRIATELY

LINKING OF WORDS AND MEANING IN CONNECTED NETWORKS CAN BE EXPLOITED FOR MEANING AND MEMORISING

RECYCLING PREVIOUSLY MET WORDS IN VARIED CONTEXTS AND ACTIVITIES IS ESSENTIAL TO KEEP LEARNT WORDS ACTIVE

VOCABULARY IS FUNDAMENTAL IN USING THE FL IN DISCOURSE