Beginning Word Recognition: Benefits of Training by Segmentation and Whole Word Methods

In 2 studies, we compared the effectiveness of 4 different methods for acquiring initial reading vocabulary. Training emphasized similarity of word beginnings (onset plus vowel), similarity of word endings (rimes), phoneme segmentation and blending, or simple repetition of whole words. These 4 training regimes were compared with a control group given only regular classroom instruction. Beginning nonreaders acquired the trained words fastest in the onset and rime conditions, and most slowly in the whole word condition. Retention was excellent after 1 week and after 4 to 6 months, with no differences due to method of acquisition when only children who met the learning criterion were considered. Generalization to reading new words and nonwords was 40% to 50% on the first encounter for all children who acquired the entire word set during learning. In Experiment 2, the same pattern of results was obtained for delayed readers in Grade 2.     

Grounding Second Language Vocabulary Instruction in Cognitive Science

Cognitive neuroscience has gained significant insight into the mechanisms underlying the mental lexicon and their impact on second language vocabulary learning. However, relatively little effort has been put into understanding how these mechanisms may impact instructional practices. We attempt to bridge this gap. Towards that end, we first describe three main properties of the mental lexicon: words have distinct form and meaning representations; these representations are organized in multilingual network structures organized by similarity; and the representations differ in strength. Next, we translate the properties into a visual framework that we use to reflect upon how this knowledge affects three important choices in vocabulary instruction: composing word lists, selecting an instruction method, and consolidating newly acquired words. Lastly, we discuss opportunities for both science and practice, highlighting the importance of improving the ecological validity of scientific models and theories, and of developing instructional methods grounded in cognitive science.     

重新认识高职英语词汇教学

词汇是高职学生英语学习的一大障碍,这一问题的产生来自两个方面：教师认识不够以及学生的多种原因而导致的词汇知识掌握片面。因此高职英语教师应对高职英语词汇教学重新认识,了解词汇掌握多维度的必要性。在此认识上,教师在教学中要引导学生以教材为根本形成自己的词汇学习策略,以词块为方式记忆单词。     

How to Memorize English Words

Language is a complicated system, which mainly contains phonology, vocabulary, grammar. The vocabulary is just like stocks used to build the house of a language. Lexicon is fundamental material in language learning. The author attempts to explore English word formation form morphemes. The morpheme, can be considered as "the smallest functioning unit in the composition of words". Morphemes are classified into prefix, root and suffix. In order to have a good command of words, English learners could adopt the rules of word formation from morphemes to enlarge vocabulary efficiently.     

Effects of individualized word retrieval in kindergarten vocabulary intervention

We examined the effects of adaptive word retrieval intervention on a classroom vocabulary program on children’s vocabulary acquisition in kindergarten. In the experimental condition, word retrieval was provided in a classroom vocabulary program, combining implicit and explicit vocabulary instructions. Children performed extra word retrieval activities and received semantic feedback for words they did not learn during the classroom vocabulary program. Eighty-seven children were in the experimental condition, and 115 children were in the classroom vocabulary control condition. Results showed the adaptive word retrieval intervention to stimulate higher learning gains than the classroom vocabulary program on the learning of the target words. Children in the experimental condition also showed transfer effects; they described more words on a standardized expressive vocabulary test than children in the control condition. The research findings suggest additional value of word retrieval with feedback for classroom vocabulary learning.     

英语词汇教学中的联想策略

联想是一种语言学习策略。文章例举了一个联想策略培训课程的开展情况,具体地从联想策略的有效性、如何去联想、如何利用联想策略教学三方面探讨了这一策略在英语词汇教学中的应用。单个词汇可以从词的音、形、义去联想,两个以上的单词可以通过相邻法、相似法、相对法进行联想。联想策略的教学可以融入平时教学中,也可以开设培训课程、讲座等,从而让学生经常使用联想法把枯燥的词汇学习变成新的愉悦体验。     

Unraveling Vocabulary Learning: Reader and Item-Level Predictors of Vocabulary Learning Within Comprehension Instruction for Fifth and Sixth Graders

This study explores reader, word, and learning activity characteristics related to vocabulary learning for 202 fifth and sixth graders (N = 118 and 84, respectively) learning 16 words. Three measures of word knowledge were used: multiple-choice definition knowledge, self-report of meaning knowledge, and production of morphologically related words. Results indicate that significant vocabulary learning occurred on each measure and that certain words were easier to learn for certain types of readers. Controlling for other predictors in the model, reader characteristics like morphological awareness, reading comprehension, and language background were significant predictors of vocabulary learning, but not word reading fluency. Also, word characteristics like morphological family size and opaqueness were significant predictors of word difficulty but not number of morphemes or frequency of the word or root-word or affix. Controlling for other predictors in the model, morphological learning activities supported vocabulary learning for all 3 aspects of word knowledge. Implications for theory and instruction are discussed.     

“投入量”量化指标合理性的检验

通过实证研究比较三组分别完成阅读理解、选词填空和用目标词造句三项涉及目标词的阅读任务后目标词的即时记忆和延时记忆,结合词汇测试成绩与有声思雏的数据对词汇附带学习中“投入量”这一量化指标的合理性进行定量分析与定性描述。实验结果表明：“投入量”并未真实体现学习者在词汇附带学习过程中的投入程度;“投入量”因素不仅要根据阅读任务的类型进行量化,同时还需考虑学习者的词汇学习过程。     

Body in Mind: How Gestures Empower Foreign Language Learning

It has previously been demonstrated that enactment (i.e., performing representative gestures during encoding) enhances memory for concrete words, in particular action words. Here, we investigate the impact of enactment on abstract word learning in a foreign language. We further ask if learning novel words with gestures facilitates sentence production. In a within‐subjects paradigm, participants first learned 32 abstract sentences from an artificial corpus conforming with Italian phonotactics. Sixteen sentences were encoded audiovisually. Another set of 16 sentences was also encoded audiovisually, but, in addition, each single word was accompanied by a symbolic gesture. Participants were trained for 6 days. Memory performance was assessed daily using different tests. The overall results support the prediction that learners have better memory for words encoded with gestures. In a transfer test, participants produced new sentences with the words they had acquired. Items encoded through gestures were used more frequently, demonstrating their enhanced accessibility in memory. The results are interpreted in terms of embodied cognition. Implications for teaching and learning are suggested.     

Using iPads in Vocabulary Instruction for English Language Learners

The purpose of this study was to examine whether English language learners (ELLs) would increase their vocabulary scores in the areas of word recognition, word meaning, and word application when iPads were used during vocabulary instruction. Five third-grade ELLs, at risk of being diagnosed as having learning disabilities, participated in the study. All students demonstrated low test scores in learning vocabulary words during the baseline. During the intervention, 36 vocabulary words selected from the third-grade’s Dolch word list were taught and practiced using the iPad application Learning Touch, First Sight Words Pro. All students were assessed and their vocabulary scores increased in the areas of word recognition, word meaning, and word application. Using the iPad and iPad app appears to provide a potential avenue for ELLs in learning English vocabulary words.     

语素释义说略

词汇教学有多种释义的方法.传统的母语对译法或以串讲课文代替词汇教学的方法都有偏颇之处,而语素释义法则反映了汉语的特点,能真正将语言知识转化为交际能力.把词素释义作为教学中心的价值,远远超过了词汇教学本身.汉语的语素是显性的,代表“语素-音节”的汉字为汉语语素分析提供了得天独厚的条件.汉语的句子——短语——复合词的内部结构具有一致性,而这些具有一致性的“结构”的底层是语素,因此语素是对汉语词义、特别是合成词词义的理解和释义的突破口.把培养学生的语素观念和构词意识作为教学的重心,不仅使学生能掌握课内学习的词语,还能使学生对汉语内部结构的一致性有明确的认识,具有在课外交际的语境中学习新词语的能力.     

中国非英语专业研究生词汇量不同词频等级分布状况研究

本文探讨了中国非英语专业研究生的接受性和产出性词汇量在高频、中频、低频以及学术类词汇四个词频等级的分布情况。上海市两所重点高校的360名研究生参加了两种分别测量学习者接受性和产出性词汇的词汇测试。研究结果表明,我国非英语专业研究生能够掌握大多数高频词和学术类词汇的基本含义,但由于他们对中低频词,尤其是低频词的认知率较低,在今后的学习中仍有可能面临词汇上的困难;研究生的产出性词汇量要远低于其接受性词汇量,且大部分产出性词汇仍属于高频词;尽管学生对学术类词汇的认知率较高,但他们在该词频上的产出性词汇量仍有待进一步提高。针对上述结果,研究建议在研究生英语教学过程中教师应注意对学生词汇学习策略的培养,并通过数据驱动学习、转变写作任务模式等途径扩大学生的产出性词汇量。     

Effective practices to enhance immigrant kindergarteners’ second language vocabulary learning through storybook reading

This study examined the impact of direct instruction and interactive instruction on immigrant kindergarten children’s vocabulary learning during storybook reading. (In the present study the terms “immigrants” and “second language learners” are used alternatively meaning kindergarteners from immigrant families who are in the process of acquiring a second language besides their mother tongue.) Eighty seven immigrant kindergarten children, aged 4–6 years old (mean = 61.68 months, standard deviations = .51) were recruited from 12 public kindergarten classrooms located in Crete. Children were acquiring Greek as a second language. The immigrant children of the 12 kindergarten classrooms were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. During the intervention phase, six stories were read twice in whole group settings. Target and non-target words were assessed by multiple choice vocabulary measure before and after the storybook readings. In the first experimental group, children were provided brief explanations of target words by direct instruction. In the second experimental group, children were involved actively in discussing target words according to interactive instruction techniques. In the control group stories were read without any explanation of target vocabulary. Results showed that interactive instruction was more beneficial on target vocabulary learning than direct instruction and the impact was greater for instructed words than for uninstructed ones. In addition, results showed that boys and girls responded differently to the teaching procedures. Specifically, in both conditions where teaching procedures were implemented, girls outperformed boys on instructed words. Furthermore, children’s initial level in Greek receptive vocabulary and target word knowledge had a significant impact on target word learning.     

Using new vocabulary in writing: Exploring how word and learner characteristics relate to the likelihood that writers use newly taught vocabulary

Understanding academic vocabulary is essential to student success in school. Use of academic vocabulary words in writing is considered one of the strongest measures of how well a reader understands a given word. In theory, willingness to use academic vocabulary in writing indicates the complexity of acquiring representations of the word’s orthography, phonology, and semantics based on the word’s characteristics. In addition, a learner’s overall literacy skills should relate to whether they attempt to use words. In the present study, sixth graders (n = 66), seventh graders (n = 60), and eighth graders (n = 41) learned 25 academic vocabulary words in a supplementary academic vocabulary intervention and were then asked to use those words in short persuasive essay drafts. We measured whether these students attempted to use a word (a binary uses outcome) and the number of times a student used a word (a continuous attempts outcome) and used cross-classified random effects models to examine how (a) the orthographic, phonological, and semantic characteristics of words and (b) the students’ literacy-related characteristics related to their uses and attempts. For word characteristics, students were more likely to use and attempt high frequency than low frequency words. For student characteristics, students proficient on the state exam were more likely to use and attempt the words, and students learning English were less likely to attempt the words. Implications for vocabulary intervention and writing instruction are discussed.     

Improving the Acquisition of Novel Vocabulary Through the Use of Imagery Interventions

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of imagery interventions on the vocabulary acquisition abilities of second grade students. A total of 15 students were randomly assigned to three different intervention conditions: Word Only, which involves the simple verbal presentation of a vocabulary word; Dual Coding, in which a picture was paired with the vocabulary word, and Image Creation, in which students were told to create a mental picture of the vocabulary word in their mind and draw it on paper. These students were taught a total of 21 vocabulary words: seven animal and habitat words, seven musical instrument terms, and seven science terms. A Latin square design was used, in which each group of students rotated through each of the interventions, being exposed to a different treatment condition for each category of words. Participants were measured on the number of words they were successfully able to acquire through the use of experimenter designed comprehension measures. While no statistical significance was shown between the interventions across the word categories, a significant difference was found between the Image Creation and Word Only interventions within the science terms category. Students also reported that the imagery interventions facilitated the ease with which they learned the words. The findings have implications for increasing the success of classroom instruction, specifically for presenting novel vocabulary words to early elementary learners using imagery methods.     

论医护英语词汇教学

该研究试图发现学生在医护英语词汇学习上所运用的不同方法,来改进现阶段医学类高等职业院校教师的词汇教学手段。研究者主要采用问卷调查的研究方法,力图了解学生对医护英语词汇与基础英语词汇学习的不同态度和方法。经过一学期教学实践,研究者发现：学生更倾向运用构词法与参加医学类讲座来学习医护英语词汇。因此,医护英语词汇课堂教学的重点应该是放在构词法的讲解和指导上,提高学生学习医护英语词汇的效率。     

英国英语与美国英语词汇差异的成因及表现

从英国英语与美国英语词汇产生差异的原因入手,进而就二者在同词异义、同义异词、特有词、拼写差异等四种词汇差异类型进行了分析、归纳。对英语词汇教学和比较都有一定的参考意义。     

浅谈高职英语词汇教学

掌握大量词汇是学好英语的关键,然而,词汇的学习历来是英语学习的一大障碍,许多学习者均感到词汇难学、难记;在高职英语词汇教学因脱离语境、教学忽视词汇的文化内涵等方面的原因,致使词汇教学难以达到预期效果,改进高职现有英语教学教法,代之以语音法、联想法、归纳类推法、借助道具法、结合语境法等教学教法,可以极大提高学生英语词汇学习效果。     

关于中专英语词汇教学

通过新旧单词对比、同义词反义词对比、构词法等教会中专学生记忆英语单词以扩大词汇量激发他们的学习英语的兴趣，同时通过与词的搭配方面的教学，促进学生扩大语汇，学会理解英语词的词义并掌握其用法，这是中专英语词汇教学的有效方法。     

The Method of High School English Word Learning

Most Chinese students are not interested in English learning, especially English words. In this paper, I focus on English vocabulary learning, for example, the study of high school students English word learning method, and also introduce several ways to make vocabulary memory becomes more effective. The purpose is to make high school students grasp more English word learning skills.