Vocabulary Teaching Methods Research Articles

A Cognitive Linguistic Approach to Classroom English Vocabulary Instruction for EFL Learners in Mainland China

Vocabulary learning and teaching has been one of the main issues in ESL/EFL learning and teaching research. EFL teachers in China, in particular, are grappling with the effective vocabulary teaching methods. This paper is doing part of this job in a different way. It discusses three principles based on Cognitive Linguistics (CL), namely the study of categorization, prototype, and metaphor, and implications of these principles in formal vocabulary instruction in a Chinese context of English learning in South-western mainland China.

한자어의 의미 분석을 통한 어휘 지도 방안 -고등학교 한문과 교육과정 개정안과 관련하여-

한자어의 의미 분석을 통한 어휘 지도 방안 -고등학교 한문과 교육과정 개정안과 관련하여-

시디롬 전자사전을 활용한 고등학교 영어 어휘 교재 개발

This study intends to overview the use of English monolingual dictionaries on CD-ROM for the development of English teaching materials for Korean high school teachers. It is because English dictionaries contain basic information for English teaching and dictionaries on CD-ROM provide teachers and material developers with easy access to the data. First, the precedent studies on vocabulary teaching methods were investigated and effective strategies were selected. Second, the data in the English dictionaries on CD-ROM were analyzed and sorted according to their uses for the development of English language teaching materials. Finally, a framework for the development of ELT materials by using CD-ROM dictionaries is proposed. I expect that the framework will help teachers develop their teaching materials in a more efficient way.

An Effective English Vocabulary Teaching Method through the Responses by Word Association Tests

An Effective English Vocabulary Teaching Method through the Responses by Word Association Tests

A study on Vocabulary Teaching Method: Collocations

A study on Vocabulary Teaching Method: Collocations

Teaching new words to children with poor existing vocabulary knowledge: a controlled evaluation of the definition and context methods

Children who have poor vocabulary knowledge are at risk of wider language weaknesses and reading comprehension difficulties, which will impact upon their educational achievement. The central question addressed in this paper is how best to teach new vocabulary items to these children. To investigate the effects of two different methods of teaching vocabulary on both vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. Twenty-four children (aged 7-8 years) with poor existing vocabulary knowledge took part in an intervention study. Half the children were taught new vocabulary items using definitions; the other half were taught a strategy for deriving meanings from written context. Tests of vocabulary knowledge were given before teaching, immediately after teaching and 3 months later. Immediately after teaching, both groups had improved equivalently in vocabulary knowledge for the taught words. However, 3 months later, the context group showed significantly better expressive vocabulary knowledge. The context group went on to show significantly better comprehension of text containing a number of the taught words and demonstrated that they could use the newly acquired strategy independently to derive meanings from written context. The context method developed is effective in increasing vocabulary knowledge and improving reading comprehension in children with poor existing vocabulary knowledge, and this is therefore recommended for use with children who require extra help developing vocabulary and comprehension skills.

Vocabulary learning and instruction in a second or foreign language

This article discusses major issues concerning vocabulary learning and instruction. The different “knowings” that constitute knowledge of a word are discussed, with the point made that students should develop a depth as well as a breadth of knowledge of vocabulary. Different ways that vocabulary is taught in the classroom are briefly reviewed. Though direct vocabulary teaching methods play an important role, students are the best judges of which words are useful for them to learn. The main point of the article is that, in order to help intermediate and advanced learners develop a depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge, it is important to help them develop the skills and abilities to understand and learn vocabulary on their own. As learning through exposure to vocabulary in oral and written contexts is a major source of vocabulary development, helping students develop strategies and knowledge to use internal and external contexts to infer meanings is a major step towards helping them become independent learners.

The Effects of Vocabulary Instruction: A Model-Based Meta-Analysis

This paper reports a meta-analysis of studies concerned with the effects of vocabulary instruction on the learning of word meanings and on comprehension. This analysis was used to examine two questions: Does vocabulary instruction have a significant effect on children’s comprehension of text? What types of vocabulary instruction are most effective? In response to the first question, a mean effect size of .97 could be attributed to vocabulary instruction for comprehension of passages containing taught words and of .30 for global measures of comprehension, both of which are significantly different from zero. For the second question, it was suggested that the most effective vocabulary teaching methods included both definitional and contextual information in their programs, involved the students in deeper processing, and gave the students more than one or two exposures to the to-be-learned words. In addition, the mnemonic keyword method was found to have reliable effects on recall of definitions and sentence comprehension.

To teach a word well: A framework for vocabulary instruction

Abstract A framework developed to describe effective vocabulary instruction suggests that vocabulary teaching methods can be described by the types of information they provide and the types of processing they require. It is suggested that people who know a word's meaning have both definitional and contextual knowledge about that word and that the most effective vocabulary teaching methods provide both types of knowledge. Further, it is suggested that having students engage in deeper processing will lead to better vocabulary learning. This framework can be supported by the results of methods comparison studies and can be used to improve existing vocabulary instruction.

A Classroom Technique for Teaching Vocabulary

The primary purpose of this paper is to present a method for conducting a vocabulary class. This method will, in addition to helping the students learn vocabulary, also help them develop their reading comprehension, aural comprehension, and fluency in asking and answering questions.1 Students who can profit from this technique are those who have learned how to produce and answer questions, since their oral performance in class often consists of questioning and answering. I shall classify questions in this paper as yes-no questions, questions using question words, and alternative choice questions. The technique proposed here is characterized by three stages. The first two stages which are not repeated after they have been completed prepare the students for the third stage. After this stage is reached, it is continued throughout the course. In Stage One the teacher demonstrates a particular method of teaching vocabulary and reading comprehension consisting of a question-answer dialogue. Stage Two is a trial and error period during which the teacher acts as a prompter and assists the students in forming the same types of questions which he demonstrated in Stage One. In Stage Three the teacher allows

Issues in the second year of teaching vocabulary

This article addresses the relationship between grammar and translation as well as direct methods of teaching vocabulary in the second year of study, i.e., cross-training and structural models for teaching. The author concludes that the basic precondition for teaching is a structural model, and teaching these models is the main tool for developing language skills. The article proposes some working methods to develop written and spoken language skills.