Vocabulary: The Core
Ingredient in Language
Sue Dymock, July 2010
We live in a sea of words.
Reading and listening comprehension requires
knowledge of words and the world.
Word knowledge is an essential
component of reading and listening
comprehension.
The impact of vocabulary knowledge is especially
direct. If a word is not known to the reader or listener,
then the reader’s/listener’s understanding of it depends
entirely on context. Research suggests that readers
often do not infer correctly the meaning of a word from
context clues.
[Michael Pressley, H of RR, p. 548]
Context
Sometimes context is very helpful.
Sometimes context is a bit helpful.
Often context is not helpful.
Context
Context can be helpful if the reader/listener knows the
meaning of more than 95% of the words.
“Ben’s phonological awareness skills were measured
at each assessment at the onset-rime level and
phoneme level.”
“The authors suggest that the dramatic differences in
reading accuracy and speed found across
orthographies reflect fundamental differences in the
nature of the phonological recoding and reading
strategies that are developing in response to the
orthography.”
This session
... will
present three research-based
vocabulary strategies tutors can
include in their course planning and
teaching to enhance the vocabulary of
their learners.
Vocabulary
Between 1,000-2,000 technical words
associated with a subject area (e.g.,
building industry, vet nurse).
These words are fundamental to
understanding the subject.
Vocabulary
General Service List (2000 words / 2284)
First 1000 word list (blue)
Second 1000 word list (green)
----
Academic word list (orange [yellow])
Off-list words (red)
General Service List
The General Service List (GSL) is a list of
roughly 2000 words published by Michael
West in 1953. The words were selected to
represent the most frequent words of
English and were taken from a corpus of
written English.
General Service List
Lexical Tutor is a computer program
(http://www.lextutor.ca/) that identifies word
types. Tutors can either enter
or copy and paste text into Lexical Tutor.
After the text is entered, Lexical
Tutor identifies whether the word appears
on the General Service List (high
frequency), or is considered an academic
word or an off-list word.
Vocabulary (1)
forelimbs
carpal bones
fetlock
sesamoid bones
cannon bones
metacarpal or metatarsal bones
proximal phalanges
herbivores
ruminants
cellulose, cecum
colic, homozygous cream dilutes
double-dilutes
impactions, non-invasive
Vocabulary
General Service List (2000 / 2284)
First 1000 word list (blue)
3.7%
Second 1000 word list (green) 22%
----
Academic word list (orange) 0%
Off-list words (red)
74%
Vocabulary (vet nurse)
Animals that rely on an acute sense of hearing for
survival often have relatively large external ear
parts. Sound intensity is defined as the sound
power P that passes perpendicularly through a
surface divided by the area A of that surface: I =
P/A. For low intensity sounds, the power per unit
area is small. Relatively large outer ears have a
greater area than small outer ears. Hence, large
outer ears intercept and direct more sound power
into the auditory system than smaller out ears do.
Vocabulary (vet nurse)
Animals that rely on an acute sense of hearing for
survival often have relatively large external ear
parts. Sound intensity is defined as the sound
power P that passes perpendicularly through a
surface divided by the area A of that surface: I =
P/A. For low intensity sounds, the power per unit
area is small. Relatively large outer ears have a
greater area than small outer ears. Hence, large
outer ears intercept and direct more sound power
into the auditory system than smaller out ears do.
Vocabulary (hairdressing)
Keratinisation
keratin
Eczema
Chemical
Reaction
Medulla
Hydrogen
Cortex
Colourant
Permanent
Polypeptic chains
No words from first 1000
Vocabulary (building)
The New Zealand Building Code is a schedule to
the Building Regulations 1992. It provides
requirements for compliance with the Building
Act when constructing a new building or altering
an existing one. The Building Code sets out
performance standards that building work must
meet, and covers aspects such as structural
stability, fire safety, access, moisture control,
durability, services and facilities.
Three strategies for teaching (&
increasing) vocabulary
• Word analysis: Latin roots, prefixes, suffixes
Greek combining forms
• Associational instruction
Semantic mapping
• Dictionary / thesaurus skills
Semantic mapping
Synonyms/antonyms
Word Analysis
The Latin & Greek layers of English are the most
challenging for learners (lexical bar).
Latin:
prefix
root
suffix
Greek: 2 combining
forms
destruction
telegram
biology
Word Analysis (building)
schedule
regulations
requirements
constructing
altering
aspects
structural
stability
access
durability
(2)
(4)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(2)
(4)
Latin
Latin
Latin
Latin
Latin
Latin
Latin
Latin
Latin
Latin
Word Analysis (building)
constructing
con + struct + ing
con- = prefix (together, with, jointly)
struct = Latin root (to build)
-ing = suffix (verb / action)
construct
construction
Word Analysis (building)
structural
struct = Latin root (to build)
-al = suffix (relating to)
structures
structuring
structurally
Word Analysis (building)
conconstruct
structural
dedestruct
destruction
structure
structural
structurally
struct
ininstruct
Instructor
obobstruct
obstructive
60 words can be built from the Latin root struct.
Associational Instruction
Dictionary
* Source several good dictionaries
Collins Compact Dictionary, 21st
Century Edition (2002, 5th ed.)
*Consider the print & font size
*Word origin given?
*Pronunciation guide?
*Part of speech provided?
*Synonyms?
Dictionary
* Model dictionary use
* Make using the dictionary fun
* Show learners/students how to use the
dictionary & explain why the dictionary should be
used.
* Some words have more than 25 meanings
(67% of our most common words have more
than one meaning). Selecting the correct
meaning of everyday words (e.g., bank, point)
can present challenges for the learner.
Thesaurus
* Thesaurus (Greek) meaning a treasure
house
* Source of synonyms
* Source of antonyms
Conclusion
“Word consciousness should permeate the entirety
of a word learning programme.
Vocabulary learning is not just talking about words in
class, memorizing definitions and learning word parts.
It is all of this and more.” (Stahl & Nagy, 2006, p. 58)