Most of English language learners are aware that learning vocabulary is a vital and absolutely necessary part during their learning. A good command of vocabulary is important for English learners, especially for those who need to master English for specific purposes. Paul Nation describes how learners should deal with specific vocabulary by stating: “It is wise to direct vocabulary learning to more specialized areas when learners have mastered the 2000 -3000 words of general usefulness in English.” (1974: 68)
In order to survive the challenges of advanced vocabulary usage, learners should be taught various types of vocabulary, its usage, and specific approaches that will help them acquire vocabulary. (Brooks, 2008: 153-154) So what is vocabulary?
“Vocabulary can be defined as the words of a language, including single items and phrases or chunks of several words which convey a particular meaning, the way individual words do. Vocabulary addresses single lexical items — words with specific meaning — but it also includes lexical phrases or chunks. Vocabulary is central to English language teaching because without sufficient vocabulary students cannot understand others or express their own ideas. It is said that while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.”
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As it can be guessed from the word ‘core’, core vocabulary refers to those words that are used frequently and are more important to the language than other words. According to McCarthy, people prefer using such words because they have core meaning-potential. These words are meant to be ‘core’ because they are easy to find an antonym or a synonym for. Moreover, they are neutral in formality and usable in a wide dimension of situations. Furthermore, these core words can be used to paraphrase or give definitions of other words. (McCarthy, 2008:
Reading can provide many benefits to the reader. One of those benefits is the expansion of the reader’s vocabulary. The more a reader reads, the broader the reader’s vocabulary.
There are words that the entire discourse community knows. For example they all know that recess means go out to play. But as Mrs. H. Walker informed me in teaching the lexis may be similar but it varies from classroom to classroom. For example her class knows that “Station Time ” means they can go to different stations to play but the same concept in another class could be called “Free Play”. I learned that some lexis sticks around forever and never changes like “ Story time”, “Homework”, and “Timeout”. “Language is important is important because it’s how I communicate with my students” says Mrs. H.
All students need direct instruction of vocabulary, but it is especially imperative for ELLs. They need much more exposure to new vocabulary than their native-English-speaking classmates. ELLs need to learn cognates, prefixes, suffixes, and root words to enhance their ability to make sense of new lexicon. Beginning ELLs and more advanced ELL students should actively engage in holistic activities to practice new vocabulary because learning words out of context is difficult for these students. If they memorize the meanings of the words on a list, they will not be able to use the words in their own writing or verbal production until they really understand the meanings. When vocabulary instruction includes explicit, implicit, and strategy instruction, students are repeatedly exposed to the target vocabulary in a variety of contexts which increases their individual vocabulary development and the other resources that help in doing so is the Semantic Mapping primary focus on visual relationships, which is helpful to students from all backgrounds.
their meaning. The students will repeat the vocabulary words every time the teacher says the
As of this year, I have learned how to use tier three words in my writing. I did not know what tier 1, 2, 3 and 4 words were before taking this class. A big part of learning how to expand my vocabulary was writing essays throughout the year. I learned that making stories interesting is what really grabs readers attention and makes them want to continue reading. What helped me change my use of vocabulary to make my stories worth reading for others? I made a list of words that all mean the same thing, then used the one that added life to the story or would drives the reader to keep reading. I can now go into interviews and talk to professionals with a larger vocabulary. This year, learning to expand my word choices has improved my writing and how I present myself has become better than it has ever
Building vocabulary is an important task in the early grades. There has long been debate on how one should go about teaching vocabulary such as, it is better to teach a limited number of words fully and more intense or expose children to many words to enhance “incidental learning”. Research has proven that incorporating both into instruction is most effective. Read-aloud and teachers increase use of vocabulary have also been proven to help vocabulary and word knowledge. There are three tiers of words that children are presented in their life. Tier one words are those that they are most familiar with such as park, tier 2 are the increasingly hard words such as fortunate and finally the tier 3 words are words that students have rarely been exposed
Studies confirm a high correlation of 0.6 to 0.8 between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension (Baumann & Kame’enui as cited in Dalton and Grisham, 2011 p. 307). However, the rate at which individual children develop vocabulary knowledge is enormously varied. At 5 years old there is already a 30 million word exposure gap (Hart & Risley as cited in Dalton and Grisham, 2011 p. 307). Linguistic morphology, the study of words and word origins, is a significant component of vocabulary learning programs. Children should be actively supplied with multiple exposures to words and exposures in varying contexts. Walbank and Bisby (2016, p. 11) describe how building adjective vocabulary adds dramatically more interest, accuracy and detail to students oral and written language. To encourage this development, students can work in small groups to brainstorm alternative, more interesting words, for commonly used adjectives. For example, replacing the word ‘good’ with ‘magnificent’, ‘superlative’ or ‘exceptional’. This direct vocabulary instruction is essential, but having only explicit teaching is insufficient. Beck et al (2008) estimate that educators can only actively teach 300-400 words per year (as cited in Dalton and Grisham, 2011 p. 307). Also, research indicates that children learn a far greater number of words indirectly through reading, than from instruction (Cunningham & Stanovich as
First, vocabulary teaches pronunciation and the definition of words used in a particular language. If you know the meaning of a word, it is easier to use and understand when communicating. I also learned that vocabulary teaches
In addition to the vocabulary in their readings, students have been expected to learn twenty-five new vocabulary words per week. The focus is not on rote memorization of definitions; students must know synonyms, antonyms, and especially how to use vocabulary words in the context of the entire sentence. They study how to choose the right word for their purpose (diction) and analyze the subtleties of language.
SPED students need a variety of methods to master the content (Sanzo, Clayton, & Sherman, 2011). Olgesby’s strategy for teaching vocabulary is to differentiate instruction. After a pre-test is given, she uses the textbook on-line support tools for English language learners (ELL) to assist with pronunciation of the words. It also
I never had paid much attention to my vocabulary level since everyone in the Valley speaks so poorly, but recently, I have been feeling motivated to improve, not only mine, but everyone else as well, to a more proper way of writing formal essays and transferring those “big” words into everyday words. Not only will improving and increasing my knowledge/vocabulary help me in all of my classes, especially English, but it will help me in any exams I’m required to take by the school, such as the
English language learners need direct instruction of new vocabulary (Haynes, 2010.) Educators must provide practice saying new words. ELL’s should have more exposure to new terms, words, idioms, and phrases than their English fluent classmates. Educators must tie new vocabulary to previous knowledge and use pictorials to highlight significance. Content area Educators are encouraged to teach new vocabulary that occurs in text as well as that related the subject materials.
In order to address the various sort of people we might have to adjust the usage of vocabulary. We have to be straight forward and oriented to the point while expressing our thoughts and views in the form of words. In this situation, knowing a technical word can hit the dart, whereas delivering some other fancy word may create ambiguities. This may result in failure to address the topic properly. However, there is variety not only in the social composition, the race, but also in the literary background. Therefore, to synchronize our words into their point of view; the way we clarify our words matters the most. This concept is so prominent in day to day life. The way our leaders and politicians speak is a striking example. Also, the historical speech delivered by the Martin Luther King addressing the civil rights of black people was clear enough for all the audience independent of their literary background. Thus, our success relies upon our vocabulary
Although vocabulary is the sub-skill of a language, it plays a very important role in language learning and teaching. In fact, vocabulary is central to language and is of paramount importance to language learners. On the other hand, words are the building blocks of a language that are used to label objects, actions, and ideas. In other words, people cannot convey the intended meaning without knowing vocabulary. It is widely accepted that vocabulary is a very important part in English language learning because no one can communicate in any meaningful way without vocabulary. As McCarthy (1990) stated, the single, biggest component of any language course is vocabulary. Nation (1990) also affirms that vocabulary can be considered as the most important element in language learning because Learners think that many of their
Vocabulary plays a significant role in English as second language learning process. For the majority of English as Second Language(ESL) learners, the ultimate goal of learning the language is to understand (read and listen) and communicate (write and speak) with little difficulty and the lack of sufficient vocabulary may be the constraint of such goal (Folse, 2004). As the bedrock of English and as well as language, vocabulary also facilitates the development of other language skills: lexical richness leads to the progress in the use of language, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing skills (Nation, 1994). Reversely, The improvement in such skills may enhance learners vocabulary size as the exposure to more learning materials improves the capacity to acquire new vocabulary. (The importance of learning vocabulary/ why vocabulary?)