Purposes Vocabulary Research Articles

Challenges in ESP Vocabulary Acquisition: A Study of Vietnamese Non-English Majors

This study investigates the challenges encountered by Vietnamese non-English major university students in their pursuit of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) vocabulary proficiency. Employing a survey-based research methodology, the study collects data from a representative sample of students, with a primary focus on identifying the key difficulties experienced during ESP vocabulary acquisition. The findings reveal significant obstacles in the process, including limited exposure to ESP terminology, difficulties in comprehending and retaining specialized terms, as well as a lack of practical application opportunities. These results emphasize the critical need for tailored teaching strategies and resources to enhance ESP vocabulary learning for non-English majors. Furthermore, the implications of this study extend to language teaching practices, highlighting the necessity for curriculum adjustments that better align with the specific requirements of these learners within the Vietnamese educational context.

An Account of Systematic Review of English for Medical Purposes (EMP) Vocabulary Memorization

A high volume of global medical information exchanges has escalated due to the recent pandemic that has hit the world. In addressing international demands of sorts, it is imperative that students improve their English language proficiency, especially for medical purposes. Sufficient vocabulary knowledge is vital for language skills to be employed effectively. However, in China, limited attention has been given to vocabulary learning over the years, especially English for Medical Purposes (EMP) vocabulary since it is very large, complex and filled with jargon. Research shows that students perceive the difficulty of EMP to lie in the learning of vocabulary itself. Faced with problems and challenges in the process of EMP vocabulary learning through memorization technique, theoretical research is urgently required to comprehensively reveal the research status of EMP vocabulary memorization. Therefore, this study adopts the systematic literature review method to evaluate related research on EMP vocabulary memorization in China and abroad from 2011 to 2021. The main characteristics of EMP vocabulary memorization research, the factors that affect EMP vocabulary memorization, and the most popular memory strategies are elaborated in detail in order to integrate the existing fragmented knowledge and demonstrate the development of EMP vocabulary memorization technique(s).

VOCABULARY ACQUISITION IN TEACHING LSP. A CASE STUDY APPROACH TO HOW ROMANIAN MEDICAL STUDENTS ACQUIRE FRENCH MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY

This paper researches and presents a case study approach to teaching lexical items to facilitate vocabulary acquisition of French for specific purposes. Given a confirmed lack of conventional teaching materials in several domains, the research questions addressed in this study relate to the principles and guidelines for initiating and facilitating foreign languages for specific purposes (LSP) vocabulary learning and to the most effective learning strategies and skills that students use while learning and expanding their LSP vocabulary. The beneficiary target group consists of first-year Romanian students who study Medicine and who have chosen French for Specific Purposes as their second language. Literature and practice have noted a significant deficiency in textbooks and grammar books for Romanian students who want to emigrate to French-speaking countries. Hence, this paper highlights theoretic and practical methods to be considered in terms of teaching French medical vocabulary, based on students’ studying predilections.

The NGSL Project: Building Wordlists and Resources to help EFL Learners (and Teachers) to Succeed

During my JALTCALL 2020 Plenary Address, I explained about the importance of high frequency and special purpose (SP) vocabulary for second language learners of English, and then went on to introduce our New General Service List Project, a collection of 7 open-source, corpus-based word lists offering the highest coverage in each of their specific genres, as well as the large and growing number of free apps and online tools we have either developed or utilized to help learners, teachers, researchers and materials developers to better be able to utilize our lists. This chapter is a very brief summary of this project.

ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES: BRIEF HISTORY

Abstract. The paper describes the development of English for Specific Purposes, its linguistic features and role in modern linguistics. The beginning of the 21st century has been marked by speedy and great changes in various professional areas. These changes have seriously modified professional communication, particularly in terminology and vocabulary for special purposes. These changes created new challenges for professionals, including teachers of special-purpose language and communication instructors and called for a number of focused research based on historical estimation of the special purpose vocabulary in the second half of the twentieth century and until modern times. The article goes back to establishment of the term ESP within the framework of cognitive linguistics. With English becoming the lingua franca of international communication in all spheres, there arose a need for developing methods of teaching the English language that would meet modern demands. So ESP went through five approaches which are described in the article: register analysis, rhetorical or discourse analysis, target situation analysis, analysis of study skills and strategies and learning-centered approach. And it is still of great interest to researchers.

Has Vocabulary Intervention Had an Effect? A Valid, Reliable, and (Fairly) Quick Outcome Measure for Semantic Knowledge.

Purpose Vocabulary intervention should be guided by information from outcome measures that demonstrate whether the student has grown in depth or breadth of understanding of the taught words. However, there is a paucity of tools, to measure depth of vocabulary knowledge, that are available for clinical use. Method The challenges of vocabulary measurement are summarized. A procedure to assess semantic knowledge of specific words, both before and after treatment, is outlined: 5 yes/no questions that use the target word in different contexts (Stallman et al., 1995), and definitions, scored on a 5-point scale (Duff, 2019). These combined measures evaluate word knowledge along a wide continuum of semantic knowledge. Results Evidence for the validity and reliability of these measures, as well as sensitivity to treatment effects, is reviewed, and implementation resources are provided for clinicians. Conclusion This protocol can be used by clinicians to evaluate the effectiveness of vocabulary treatment by comparing a child's semantic knowledge of specific words before and after treatment.

From Implicit Norms to Explicit Skills – Focusing on Danish Academic Vocabulary

Research shows that L1 as well as L2 and L3 students in Danish tertiary education struggle with acquiring the necessary academic language skills for studying in Danish. Research also shows a tendency for educators in the Danish setting to treat academic language norms as implicit norms, making it much harder for students to grasp the language-related demands of academia. This article argues that in order to make the demands and norms of academic language explicit to the students, irrespective of linguistic background, we need more research-based knowledge about Danish academic language. Furthermore, focussing on one particular aspect of academic language, namely academic vocabulary, can be a step towards more explicit approaches to academic language norms. Academic vocabulary is here defined as a non-technical, general purpose vocabulary with distinct academic functions used across a range of academic disciplines. To come nearer an understanding of how we can make the academic language norms more tangible and accessible to both students and staff, the article begins with a review of existing research on Danish academic language and academic vocabulary with a particular focus on Danish SLA research. This is followed by an analysis of Danish guidance literature on academic writing for students. The article concludes with suggestions for further research in relation to teaching Danish academic vocabulary.

Understanding test-takers’ perceptions of difficulty in EAP vocabulary tests: The role of experiential factors

This study, conducted by two researchers who were also multiple-choice question (MCQ) test item writers at a private English-medium university in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context, was designed to shed light on the factors that influence test-takers’ perceptions of difficulty in English for academic purposes (EAP) vocabulary, with the aim of improving test writers’ judgments on difficulty. The research consisted of a survey of 588 test-takers, followed by a focus group interview, aimed at investigating the relative influences of test-taker factors and word factors on difficulty perceptions. Results reveal a complex interaction of factors influencing perceived difficulty dominated by the educational, and particularly, the social context. Factors traditionally associated with vocabulary difficulty, such as abstractness and word length, appeared to have little influence. The researchers concluded that rather than basing their intuitions regarding vocabulary difficulty on language-lesson input or surface features of words, EAP vocabulary test writers need a clear understanding of test-takers’ difficulty perceptions, and how these emerge from interactions between academic, social and linguistic factors. As a basis for EAP vocabulary item writer training, four main implications are drawn, related to test-takers’ social and educational background, field of study, the features of academic words, and the test itself.

Measuring the Vocabulary Size of Native Speakers of English in New Zealand Secondary Schools

The primary aim of this study was to examine the vocabulary size of native speakers of English in New Zealand secondary schools. Two equivalent forms of the 20,000 version of the vocabulary size test were used in this study. Two hundred and twenty-seven 13–18-year-old native speakers of English at secondary school took an individually administered version of the test. The data from this study fits with the vocabulary size estimates for younger native speakers of Biemiller and Slonim (J Educ Psychol 93:498–520, 2001). The results suggest that most native speakers at secondary school have enough general purpose vocabulary to cope with their reading at school, and any deliberate attention to vocabulary should focus on subject-specific vocabulary.

Technical College Students’ Perceptions of English for Specific Purposes Vocabulary Learning and Teaching

The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning difficulties and the preferred teaching method among Taiwanese junior college students while they were taking English for Specific Purpose (ESP) vocabulary courses. Subjects comprised 232 students at the Junior College Division of Fooyin University in southern Taiwan. The ESP vocabulary learning questionnaire designed by the researcher was administered to the selected nursing department students who had enrolled in the medical terminology course as a requirement. In addition, the participants’ learning difficulties, learning sources, and attitudes toward ESP vocabulary were under observation for the entire semester. The results of the survey indicated that vocabulary abstractness was the most difficult for most participants, followed by pronunciation, word length, and orthography. Effective ESP vocabulary teaching should be combined with authentic teaching materials to increase learners’ learning motivation. The enhancement of pronunciation accuracy for English as a foreign language (EFL)/ESP instructors cannot be ignored. Moreover, word morphology for ESP vocabulary learning should be the priority, particularly for EFL/ESP vocabulary learners.

Self-Assessment of Vocabulary and Relevant Language Skills for Evaluation Purposes

Learner self-assessment of linguistic performance has been lately used due to its potential to activate the process of learning. Self-assessment raises learner awareness of language use and leads to developing learner responsibility and autonomy. However, usefulness of self-assessment for evaluation purposes has been scarcely researched. This paper examines some aspects of learners’ self-assessment for evaluation purposes at tertiary level. Research focuses on self-assessment of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) vocabulary and some language skills relevant for vocabulary retention. Data on learner self-assessment are compared to actual results in tests. The analysis provided points to importance of self-evaluation in language acquisition and suggests practical implications of self-assessment for evaluation.

Acquisition of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Vocabulary in Arabic Contexts: the Delimitations of Attrition

Acquisition of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Vocabulary in Arabic Contexts: the Delimitations of Attrition

Where would general service vocabulary stop and special purposes vocabulary begin?

Using frequency, text coverage, and range as criteria, this study looks at the dividing line between a general service vocabulary and a special purposes vocabulary. A general service vocabulary gives a good return for learning up to the 2000 word level and after that a special purposes vocabulary gives a better return for learning effort for those learners going on with special interests.