Vocabulary Notebook Research Articles

A Comparison of Vocabulary Learning Strategies among Elementary Iranian EFL Learners

A multitude of factors are involved in learning a second language, among which knowing ample vocabulary plays a crucial role. Despite many efforts for vocabulary learning, one of the first problems of foreign language learners, especially Iranian EFL learners, is how to commit lots of foreign words to memory. The present study aimed to compare three vocabulary learning strategies (flashcard strategy, sentence writing method, and vocabulary notebook strategy) with the traditional way of vocabulary learning (repetition) among Iranian elementary EFL learners to find out which one was the most efficient approach to vocabulary learning and best increased long-term retention of meaning. To do this end, four groups (three experimental groups and one control group) were chosen to take part in the experiment. The groups were all homogenized in the wake of administering a vocabulary pretest, and then each of the experimental groups was exposed to its pertinent treatment. After the completion of the experiment, and in the light of a vocabulary posttest, the results showed that there existed differences among the four strategies in terms of vocabulary learning and retention. In terms of vocabulary learning, the difference among the four groups was significant, but the difference on posttest which examined the long-term retention of the new vocabularies was not statistically significant. The study revealed that flash card strategy was the best strategy for vocabulary learning process among elementary level learners.

The Effects of Keeping Vocabulary Notebooks on Productive Academic Vocabulary Growth

This study is an experimental study aiming to explore the effects of keeping vocabulary notebooks on productive academic vocabulary growth. The participants are composed of the first year ELT students at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University. The participants got the treatment during their “Advanced Reading and Writing Skills II” course. The study consists of two groups, one of which is the control and the other one is the experimental group. The groups were selected randomly between two classes in the spring term of 2013-2014 Academic Year. The data were obtained in two sections: before and after the treatment. Before the treatment, the participants of both groups had a pre-test on vocabulary composing of three sections as true-false, word formation and multiple choice questions so as to define their current level of academic vocabulary knowledge. Both groups used the same materials whereas only the participants of the experimental group were asked to keep vocabulary notebooks. The treatment lasted eight weeks at the end of which post-tests were applied to both groups to detect any differences. The findings showed that the experimental group made more progress than the control group especially in terms of word formation section which requires productive vocabulary knowledge.

Learning Strategy Training and the Shift in Learners’ Beliefs About Language Learning

This study examines the impact of teaching learning strategies on learners’ beliefs about language learning and reading comprehension ability. Participants were 78 university freshmen studying English language teaching, translation, and literature. They were divided into two groups. The experimental group received a number of learning strategies adopted and adapted by the researchers, including concept-mapping, vocabulary notebook, passage restatement, dictionary use, summary writing, and guessing. The treatment was carried out 4 hr a week for 15 consecutive weeks. The Language Learners’ Beliefs Scale, developed and validated by Birjandi and Mohammadi, and the reading comprehension section of Cambridge Preliminary English Test (PET) were administered before and after the treatment to identify the students’ shifts in beliefs about language learning and to measure reading comprehension ability, respectively. The results of independent t test indicated that the instruction of learning strategies changed the university students’ beliefs about language learning. Furthermore, learning strategy instruction could boost their reading comprehension ability.

Vocabulary Learning and Consolidation with Mobile Application

Language learners at all levels need a way of recording and organising newly learned vocabulary for consolidation and for future reference. Listing words alphabetically in a vocabulary notebook has been a traditional way of organising this information. However, paper-based notes are limited in terms of space (learners often run out of space for certain categories; for others the space might be unused) and time (handwritten pages deteriorate over time and cannot easily be updated). Organizing vocabulary in more meaningful categories might make it easier to learn. Textbooks, for example, often introduce new vocabulary thematically. Words can also be organised according to their grammatical class or characteristics, their real world category (e.g. modes of transport, means of communication), their phonological pattern, their etymological elements, or according to when/where they were learnt. This research experiments how the mobile learning of a lexical spreadsheet can be used for the consolidation of and reference to new vocabulary. Offering the learner multiple ways of organising vocabulary at the same time – combining all of the approaches mentioned above, the resource can easily be modified and updated. Importantly, in keeping with autonomous learning theory, the spreadsheet is designed to encourage learners to take more responsibility for their own vocabulary learning and to approach this process more systematically. The resource can be used from any mobile smart phone, tablet or i-Pad.

Learning vocabulary: CALL program versus vocabulary notebook

Abstract This study investigated the short and long-term effectiveness (as measured by pre, post, and delayed post-tests) of two popular but little researched vocabulary learning approaches: 1) vocabulary notebooks and, 2) a Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) program with spaced repetition. A third group, the control group, was not given a treatment. The participants included 140 first-year Japanese university students studying English as a second language. Results indicate that similar statistically significant gains were made, in terms of increases in vocabulary scores, from the pre to post-tests for both the CALL and vocabulary notebook groups. In terms of longer term gains, the CALL group performed slightly better. The use of both approaches, with respect to pedagogical soundness and future usability, is discussed. The researchers caution against using vocabulary notebooks and recommend that teachers take into account a number of factors before considering a particular CALL program.

Challenges and Strategies for Teachers and Learners of English as a Second Language: The Case of an Urban Primary School in Kenya

With over 40 spoken tongues in Kenya, English serves as a language of instruction in schools and is taught from the onset of schooling, making the language a significant factor in academic achievement and subsequent social mobility. This article draws on a case study conducted in an urban multilingual primary school in Kenya and focuses on the challenges and strategies for teaching and learning English as a second language (ESL) in primary schools. The findings are based on evidence gathered from teachers, through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, and from pupils, through learner diaries. The data show a strategic approach to teaching and learning English and reveal the tremendous effort invested by teachers and learners in grappling with the challenges of learning English in the context of an unresolved national language policy, interference from regional linguistic heritage languages and an examination-oriented education system. The strategies deployed by teachers to address these challenges include varied instructional approaches and creating a warm classroom climate to provide a non-threatening environment for learning and language acquisition. Data from pupils shows that group based interactions with their peers and individual reinforcement strategies, such as keeping vocabulary notebooks, are the most common learner strategies. The study shows how school-based research can give teachers and learners a voice in the development of successful language teaching and learning strategies for complex and challenging multilingual environments.

Non-English Major Freshmen’s Perception and Practice of the Vocabulary Notebook as their Vocabulary Learning Strategy

<p>Freshmen English is one of the compulsory courses in universities in Taiwan. Vocabulary notebooks are<br />frequently advocated as a way for students to take control of their vocabulary learning (Fowle, 2002).<br />This study focuses on the perception and practice of 157 freshmen, who were all non-English majors, of<br />the vocabulary notebook as their vocabulary learning strategy. The major data in this study included<br />vocabulary notebooks, self-evaluation of keeping vocabulary notebooks, and instructional PowerPoint<br />files. The freshmen in this study had a positive attitude toward vocabulary notebooks, because<br />vocabulary notebooks helped them learn English words and increase their word knowledge,<br />particularly of word families. They used the vocabulary notebooks to review the lessons and prepare for<br />the exams. One interesting finding was that participants in this study preferred making their vocabulary<br />notebooks in hard copy on paper because they could easily carry the notebooks around and review the<br />lessons. Moreover, of all the required elements of the vocabulary notebooks, the learners found that<br />word families were the most useful, because they could memorize word families and use them to make<br />sentences. Suggestions are provided for how to make vocabulary notebooks an effective vocabulary<br />learning strategy.</p>

The Vocabulary Notebook as Vehicle for Vocabulary Acquisition

This past semester I conducted my dissertation research at Penn Valley Community College (PVCC) in Kansas City, Missouri. PVCC is located in the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri, and its academic English program serves primarily refugees and immigrants, as opposed to the international students that we work with at the Applied English Center. I chose to work with the students at PVCC because my roots as an ESL teacher are within the refugee and immigrant communities, and I enjoy maintaining my connection with these very interesting students.

Wordlists in Language Teaching and Learning Research

Words comprise a great part of learners’ knowledge of a second language (L2). In fact, vocabulary expansion is one of the very important ways for learners to gain proficiency in the L2. To this end, they try many different vocabulary learning strategies and seek help from many different sources. The strategies may range from mere oral repetition of the words and their native language equivalents to keeping some personalized vocabulary notebooks. The sources may also range from the entries of dictionary to the words found in the advice column of a monthly magazine. However, by taking a brief look at the literature we easily see the abundance of research on vocabulary learning strategies and its paucity on sources of learning vocabulary. In other words, we can claim that the researchers have mostly focused on how rather than what to teach and learn as far as vocabulary is concerned. Though comparatively small in its quantity, the research on the gradation of words is by no means a newborn topic. SLA researchers in this area have tried to use the existing corpora to squeeze out highly efficient and at the same time manageable wordlists which can capture the most frequent vocabularies encountered by learners in different genres. The purpose of this paper is to present a review of different wordlists that have been proposed in the field of applied linguistics. Wherever possible, the applications of these wordlists for the teaching and learning of an L2 are highlighted.

The effect of keeping vocabulary notebooks on vocabulary acquisition

Vocabulary notebooks are frequently advocated as a way for students to take control of their vocabulary learning (Fowle, 2002), with the added benefit of improvements in vocabulary learning (Schmitt and Schmitt, 1995; Laufer and Nation, 1999). The study described in this article attempts to lend empirical support to these claims, by investigating the effect of vocabulary notebooks on EFL students’ vocabulary acquisition. Students in three lower intermediate EFL classes participated in the study. A vocabulary notebook program was implemented in one class over a 4-week period, with the remaining two classes acting as control groups, following the same curriculum with the same materials but without keeping vocabulary notebooks. Receptive and controlled productive vocabulary tests revealed significantly greater learning of the target words in the treatment group. In addition, students in the treatment group demonstrated a greater tendency to use the target words in free writing compositions. However, a positive impact on learner autonomy — as has been reported in previous studies (McCarthy, 1990) — was not observed. These findings lead the authors to conclude that vocabulary notebooks can be an effective learning tool in EFL classrooms, but positive impacts on learner autonomy may not be seen in the absence of appropriate motivation for language learning.

Examining learner vocabulary notebooks

Most vocabulary teaching literature advises learners to keep vocabulary notebooks to help promote vocabulary acquisition as well as learner autonomy. Yet, there have been few studies of the vocabulary notebooks kept by students studying English as a foreign language. This study examined the vocabulary notebooks kept by 124 first year English majors at a Japanese university to determine: (1) the sources from which students choose words, (2) the types and frequency of words selected, and (3) the reasoning behind word selection. The study found that students draw the words for their notebooks overwhelmingly from textbooks, favour certain parts of speech, have difficulty identifying high frequency words, and view all words they do not know as equally important. These findings provide teachers and researchers with new information about vocabulary notebooks and show how standard notebook strategies do not always meet students' vocabulary learning needs.

Vocabulary notebooks: implementation and outcomes

Vocabulary notebooks: implementation and outcomes

Teaching Collocation: Further Developments in the Lexical Approach

This volume contains papers by a number of teachers and theoreticians interested in the practical classroom implications of incorporating collocation into everyday classroom teaching. The book is designed to: provide a perspective on collocation; provide practical ways of introducing the idea to students; give examples of good classroom practice; describe teachers' experiences; give examples of good practice from teachers' own experience; show practical classroom activities; and help students get the most out of their vocabulary notebooks.

Vocabulary notebooks: theoretical underpinnings and practical suggestions

In spite of the recent surge of interest in many aspects of vocabulary learning, little has been written about what constitutes a good vocabulary notebook. This article attempts to address this perceived gap by first deriving eleven principles from language memory and language research which can serve as a guide in the creation of a pedagogically-sound notebook. Drawing from these principles, a design for vocabulary notebooks is presented which emphasizes the incremental learning of vocabulary, and different aspects of word knowledge. Suggestions are then made for integrating this kind of notebook into classroom activities. A sample schedule is provided to illustrate how notebooks can be introduced into a class.