Effective Vocabulary Learning Research Articles

RÓŻNORODNOŚĆ TECHNIK UCZENIA SIĘ SŁOWNICTWA W JĘZYKU OBCYM

In this article I will concentrate on various techniques for learning and teaching vocabulary that support the memorizing of new words, and I will present the results of a survey conducted among students of applied linguistics on this topic. The main aim of this article is to verify the hypothesis that students haven’t yet been exposed to different techniques for effective vocabulary learning. First, I will show what the mental lexicon is and how it is organised. How mnemonists learn will also be discussed. Then I will briefly explain the terms ‘vocabulary’ and ‘lexical competence’ and show the important principles of vocabulary training. At the end, I will present the most important results of my survey (opinion poll).

EFFECTIVE VOCABULARY TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

Communicating in a foreign language is impossible without mastering vocabulary. It is of special importance in English for Specific Purposes (further ESP) courses as requirements of modern realities in Kazakhstan force experts to know enough ESP vocabulary to be able to demonstrate their knowledge in their professional sphere. Since vocabulary plays such an important role in ESP courses it is essential to determine what strategies ensure effective teaching and learning it in specific groups of learners. This paper presents results of a study held on vocabulary teaching and learning strategies employed by ESP teachers and learners at L.N. Gumilyev Eurasian national university (further ENU) in Astana, Kazakhstan. An open-ended questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were conducted among 20 ESP teachers and 48 ESP students of L.N. Gumilyev ENU. The questions elicit not only teachers’ vocabulary teaching experiences and opinions about the most effective vocabulary teaching approaches but also the reasons for students’ vocabulary learning and using problems. During the interview students described their preferred vocabulary learning styles and confirmed the importance of learning vocabulary in ESP. The study determined the most effective ESP vocabulary teaching and learning strategies for teachers to use at L.N. Gumilyev Eurasian National University.

Investigating of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by Undergraduate Students

The present study aimed to investigate Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLSs) used by undergraduate students (S1) of 6th semester and how they learned or acquired VLSs. In addition, the study compares the use of VLSs between low and high achievers of undergraduate students that consisted of 30 students. An explanatory sequential mixed research method was implemented in this study. The corroboration was used employing a questionnaire adapted from Schmitt’s taxonomy (Classification of VLSs) as the instruments. As for the qualitative approach, the writer conducted interviews to explore how the students acquired VLSs. The research report showed that the mean score indicated the uses of Determination strategies are most frequently used by both of achiever. Likewise, the least frequently used vocabulary learning strategy was Social strategies (Consolidation). There were no great differences found in using vocabulary learning strategies between the low and high achievers and they learn the most frequently used strategy in several situations such as, course, organization, English club, media, and etcetera. Effective vocabulary learning and teaching strategies need to be incorporated into students’ vocabulary learning process.

EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE USE OF CEFR-V

This study explores the perceptions towards the use of the Vietnamese Common European Framework of Reference for Language Proficiency (CEFR-V) as criteria to evaluate graduate students’ English proficiency held by EFL teachers. The participants were 41 EFL teachers from one university in Mekong Delta. The instruments of data collection were questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire was administered to identify the students’ beliefs about effective vocabulary learning strategies. Six participants were selected for the follow-up interviews. The interview questions were developed on the basis of the initial results of the analysis of the questionnaire responses. The purpose of the interview was to elicit more information that the questionnaire responses failed to provide. The obtained results revealed that the participants in general had positive perceptions towards the CEFR-V use. They also addressed possible benefits, possible problems and suggestions for optimizing the CEFR-V. Article visualizations:

DEVELOPING STUDENT VOCABULARY WORKSHEET BY USING AFFIXES

This paper aims at describing the stages of developing vocabulary worksheet by using affixes by adopting the process of the same development research of Wutsqo. The stages of vocabulary worksheet development involved the needs analysis, the making of the vocabulary worksheet, the validation process by the reviewer, the make up of the first design based on the feedback by the reviewer, and the try out. the object of this study was the students of Grammar for English Teacher class of the academic year 2014/2015. The instruments of this study were pre-test as the initial needs analysis of the students capability of vocabulary stock that they had. The second instrument was the previous research data that was conducted by the researchers to identify how necessary to develop an effective vocabulary learning. The third instrument were three two of questionaires. The first one was for the reviewer to validate the first design of the worksheet and to ask for the feedback, and the second one was for the students in order to identify their personal impression towards the worksheet. The results of this study are; 1) Based on the assessment validator can be concluded that the aspect of validity has met the criteria development vocabualry student worksheet to learn the material additive that has been prepared to have a very good quality, 2) Based on the recommendation of experts and providers of materials, practicality aspect has fulfilled the minimum criteria with certain notes on 21st century learning, 3) The results of the pre-test and post-test student learning augmentation material by using SVW has met the minimum criteria of improvement.

EVALUATING THE PRESENTATION OF NEW VOCABULARY ITEMS IN MALAYSIAN FORM THREE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOK

Learners in Malaysia usually face difficulties in acquiring their four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing in English language because of their limited vocabulary knowledge. In order to solve the problem, effective vocabulary learning should be given serious attention. This study aimed to evaluate the presentation of new vocabulary items in the Form Three English language textbook used in Secondary Schools in Malaysia. A group of purposively selected teachers (n = 5) used a checklist to evaluate the presentation of vocabulary items in the textbook. The findings showed that the textbook is weak in vocabulary presentation. It was found that no specific method was followed to teach the new vocabulary. There was no index of the new vocabulary at the end of the textbook. The results have implications for the learners, English language teachers as well as textbook developers. The findings are also expected to provide guidance to teachers for improving their pedagogical practices in teaching vocabulary and to compensate for the weaknesses of the presentation of vocabulary in the textbook. KEYWORDS:

Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning Strategies in Malaysia

Arabic Language is a compulsory subject for students in National Religious Secondary School (SMKA) in Malaysia. Therefore, students need to increase Arabic vocabulary to master their language skills. This study aims to identify the level of Arabic Vocabulary Learning Strategies applied by students and to identify the level of the Arabic Vocabulary Mastery by students of National Religious Secondary School (SMKA). The study used questionnaire and a written test as an instrument of data collection. The sample of study consisted of 157 Form Four students randomly chosen from Secondary School in Malaysia. The results showed that the level of Arabic Vocabulary Learning Strategies applied by students and the level of the Arabic Vocabulary Mastery by students at Secondary School in Malaysia were at moderate level. Pedagogical implications of this study is that effective Vocabulary Learning Strategies should be exposed to the students in the learning process, so that students can use various Vocabulary Learning Strategies to enhance their Arabic Vocabulary Mastery.

Effective vocabulary learning tasks: Involvement Load Hypothesis versus Technique Feature Analysis

L2 vocabulary learning is a complex process involving not only understanding the meanings of words but also being able to retain, retrieve, and use them in production. To this end, learners need not only to pay deliberate attention to the target words but also have to deeply process the various aspects of the words to learn them effectively. This has been referred to as “elaborate processing.” Two frameworks have been proposed to operationalize the construct of elaborate processing for L2 vocabulary learning: Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH) and Technique Feature Analysis (TFA). However, the two frameworks vary in the ways they conceptualize elaborate learning and also in terms of their attentional components. The present study was designed to empirically compare these two frameworks and their predictability for effective L2 vocabulary learning tasks. Ninety-six adult EFL learners were divided into four groups, and were required to learn the meanings of 14 unknown words. Each group performed one of four vocabulary tasks ranked differently by the two frameworks. The results showed that the TFA had a better explanatory power in predicting vocabulary learning gains than the ILH. The implications of the findings for designing effective L2 vocabulary tasks will be discussed.

The Relationship among Receptive Vocabulary, Non-word Repetition, and Quick Incidental Learning in Preschoolers with and without Delay in Vocabulary Development

Objectives: The present study investigated whether children with normal language (NL) and children with delay in vocabulary development (VD) show difference in performance on non-word repetition and quick incidental learning (QUIL), whether these factors correlate with one another, and whether these factors could predict children’s receptive vocabulary. Methods: The study included children between 2 to 6 years of age, 19 NL and 19 VD. The experiments consisted of two tasks: non-word repetition to measure phonological memory, and QUIL to measure vocabulary learning ability. We compared group performances on each task. We also investigated correlations among factors and predictors. Results: The results were as followed. There were significant differences between two groups on all two tasks showing that children with VD performed significantly lower than children with NL. In the VD group, receptive vocabulary correlated only with the non-word repetition task, whereas receptive vocabulary correlated with both non-word repetition and QUIL tasks in the NL group. The strongest factor which predicted children’s receptive vocabulary was QUIL in NL group, whereas non-word repetition predicted VD group’s receptive vocabulary the most. Conclusion: The results show that implicit learning ability could be the important factor only in young NL group when they learn receptive vocabularies. On the other hand, phonological short-term memory promotes receptive vocabulary learning in VD group. It indicates that children with VD inefficiently learn vocabularies compared to NL children, and if children with VD could facilitate implicit learning ability, it could result in effective vocabulary learning.

Tuning In to Vocabulary Frequency in Coursebooks

For second language learners vocabulary growth is of major importance, and for many learners commercially published coursebooks will be the source of this vocabulary learning. In this preliminary study, input from three levels of the coursebook series New English File (Oxenden and Latham-Koenig, 2006; Oxenden, Latham-Koenig, and Seligson, 2004, 2005) was analyzed using the computer program VocabProfile (Cobb, 2009). The results suggest that learners who complete three coursebook levels will receive exposure to fewer than the first 1,500 most frequent words in English. This has important pedagogical implications for learners, teachers and materials writers. Supplementary sources of suitable reading input are recommended, as is instruction in effective vocabulary learning strategies, if learners are to have regular opportunities to meet the most frequent 2,000 words of English.

Vokabellernen (ohne) Vergessen (mit) Vokabellernstrategien

The aim of this article is to describe the issue of effective vocabulary learning among the students of neophilological faculties as well as to provide an answer to the question on how to learn vocabulary effectively. To achieve this aim, two vocabulary learning strategies (the key-word method and learning by heart) were compared on the basis of empirical research. Moreover, the vocabulary learning style of the informants was described, the conclusions were drawn and recommendations given.

Effects of SMS Text Messaging on Vocabulary Learning

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of using SMS (Short Message Service) technology in vocabulary learning in an EFL university context. Data were collected through vocabulary tests and survey including in-depth interview from 62 students in three English classes. The students in the control group had a lesson only in class while the students in the two experimental groups received SMS text messages. The difference between the experimental group 1 and 2 was interactivity. The analysis of the data revealed that students who learned vocabulary through SMS improved their vocabulary knowledge more than those who did not. In regard to the interactivity effect within the SMS groups, the results showed that the students with interactivity learned significantly more words than those without. Based on the results of the survey and interview, the students in the experimental groups showed positive feedback toward using SMS in vocabulary learning. The results of the study lead to instructional implications for teachers and students to use m-learning appropriately for effective vocabulary learning. The study also discusses limitations and suggestions for the future research to apply SMS into vocabulary learning in the Korean EFL settings.

Approaches and Practices for Effective Vocabulary Teaching and Learning

Approaches and Practices for Effective Vocabulary Teaching and Learning

The Effects of Corpus-Based Language Instruction on Productive Vocabulary Knowledge

While the issues of receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge have been discussed in many vocabulary studies, language learners and practitioners have also tried to reduce the discrepancy between the two types of vocabulary knowledge. At the same time, with the development of new technology of the Internet, web based concordancers became easily accessible for the language learners. However, there has been little research on investigating the effect of the concordancer with empirical data. The current research, therefore, explores the effects of the concordanccer, an application of the corpus-based language instruction, on ESL learners’ productive vocabulary knowledge. Korean undergraduate students at an American public university were recruited, randomly assigned to an experimental group (concordancer group, n=10) or a control group (thesaurus group, n=11) for a series of writing practice, and their vocabulary errors in writing samples were statistically compared. The results indicate that the concordancer is an effective vocabulary reference and learning tool, and it is more effective in improving grammar knowledge of vocabulary than the lexical knowledge. The discussion includes suggestions for the future research of corpus-based language learning in assessing ESL productive vocabulary knowledge.

Vocabulary Learning Strategies by Thai Primary School Students

The study surveyed vocabulary learning strategies of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) primary school students and their problems in vocabulary learning. A questionnaire was distributed to 50 Pratom 6 students (aged 11-12) and 10 of them were further selected for a follow-up semi-structured interview. The findings indicated that most students realized the importance of vocabulary learning and they had encountered new words from various sources. However, they did not devote enough time to vocabulary learning and this strongly affected their lexical development. Moreover, many of them relied heavily on rote learning rather than other strategies. Their vocabulary learning problems were also related to their negative attitudes and poor English background as well as lack of support from their teachers, parents and peers. Therefore, teachers and parents need to work cooperatively to support their learning and to deal with negative attitudes. Also, students should be trained with a variety of effective vocabulary learning strategies in order to maximize their potential for language learning.

Meaning Recall and Retention: The Impact of the Translation Method on Elementary Level Learners’ Vocabulary Learning

Whilst the communicative approach advocates the use of the target language and implicit/incidental learning in vocabulary teaching, recent literature suggests that there is a need for these methods to be reconsidered. This is motivated by studies which suggest that for effective vocabulary learning process to occur explicit learning should be complemented with implicit learning. Given this, a study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the translation method in teaching vocabulary to elementary level ESL learners in Form 4. The translation method is used in the study because it uses the learners’ L1 as the medium of instruction and it involves explicit learning. The findings of the study reveal that the translation method has a positive impact on learners’ recall and retention of the meaning of words that they learned. Recommendations are made in the paper for the incorporation of this method in the Malaysian English language syllabus and its implementation in English language classrooms, in particular, in teaching vocabulary to elementary level learners.

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