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This knowledge is gradually acquired and is typically not the result of one piece of teaching or learning. The notion of the four strands is that vocabulary develop- ment will be optimal if there is a similar amount of time given to learning in each strand. The four strands are meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focused learning, and fluency development.

Reading and listening to material that is at this level of difficulty may allow learners to focus their attention on the unknown words. In meaning-focused input, learners make gradual gains in vocabulary knowledge through repeated encounters with unknown words in context.

Words that teachers believe that their students know may also be enriched through encounters in original contexts. Extensive reading and listening are most commonly associated with meaning-focused input.

In the meaning-focused output strand, the aim is for learners to strengthen and deepen their vocabulary knowledge by using recently encountered words in speech and writing. One of the challenges of this strand for teachers is to design tasks that require the use of the target vocabulary in original contexts. Through meaning-focused output learners can increase all aspects of their productive knowledge of words.

The strand which is typically associated with vocabulary learning is language-focused learning. In this strand the aim is to explicitly focus students on learning words and to train learners how to effectively use vocabulary learning strategies. The highest frequency words deserve deliberate teaching in the classroom.

Teachers may wish to spend a reason- able amount of time teaching several aspects of knowledge for important words or they may spend less time and focus on a single aspect of knowledge typically form and mean- ing. Word cards, vocabulary notebooks, intensive reading, and activities that involve linking form and meaning are some examples of language-focused learning activities. Teaching vocabulary learning strategies is also an important part of this strand because there are too many low-frequency words in a language to teach, and teachers need to ensure that their students can effectively deal with low-frequency words outside of the classroom.

The strategies which have the greatest value are guessing from context, learn- ing from word cards, using word parts, and dictionary use see Nation, , for a detailed description of each strategy. Helping learners gain morphological awareness of inflections and regular, productive derivational affixes can result in better knowledge of word fam- ilies. If students can use these strategies correctly, they should be able to learn more words because the potential for successful vocabulary learning will increase.

It is important for teachers to make time to teach each strategy over a number of classes and check to make sure their students can successfully use them. There is plenty of evidence that deliberate learning quickly results in stable learning Laufer, , and this learning results in the kind of knowledge needed for normal language use. Any course that includes deliberate learning will give better results than one that does not include this important strand. It is important that there are spaced multiple encounters with each word.

While there is no fixed minimum number of repetitions, the general consensus is that there should be at least somewhere between 7 and 16 meetings with each word. There is an enormous amount of evidence that spaced learning is much more effective for long-term recall than massed learning.

Repetition is very important for learning and repetition in new con- texts is particularly important as it enriches as well as strengthens previous knowledge Joe, It is one thing to know the meaning of a word and another to be able to use it fluently. Activities that focus on fluency involve using very easy material with familiar content that does not contain any unknown vocabulary, grammatical features, and discourse features.

There should also be some pressure to achieve a higher speed. Vocabulary development will be enhanced if learning occurs in all four strands because while each strand may help facilitate vocabulary knowledge to some extent, they are not likely to be effective in developing comprehensive vocabulary knowledge.

For example, if words are learned incidentally through extensive reading in meaning-focused input, learners may gain information that was provided in the contexts to some degree. However, their knowledge will be derived solely from what could be gained from those contexts. Encounter- ing words in context can lead to gains in all aspects of knowledge Webb, b but the extent to which learners may be able to successfully use those items may be limited.

Activities that build on the knowledge initially gained in one strand can strengthen and deepen learning. For example, if learners are first given the meanings of words in a language-focused learning task, their understanding and use of those words will be limited to what could be gained through the meanings provided. Encountering those words again in meaning-focused input may consolidate knowledge and has the potential to expand on the knowledge initially gained.

The meaning of words can be elaborated upon when encountered in meaning-focused input, and learners may gain greater awareness of how those words are used. Meaning-focused output activities can help expand productive knowledge. Activities from the fluency strand move learners toward a more native-like use of vocabulary. While teachers cannot be expected to micromanage the learning of each word, they should find that if they try to incorporate a range of activities from each strand over a course, learners develop greater knowledge of target vocabulary than if target words were only encountered in one or two strands.

Measuring vocabulary knowledge during a course can have several benefits. First, it shows learners the value that is placed on vocabulary learning. Vocabulary learning does not have to play a central role in course assessment.

However, a lack of assessment may indicate to learners that vocabulary learning is a peripheral goal that is of lesser importance than other language-learning goals. Short quizzes may be sufficient to demonstrate the need for a continued focus on vocabulary learning. A second reason for measuring vocabulary knowledge is that it also makes learners aware of their progress.

Vocabulary tests can clearly demonstrate to learners that they have made progress in their language learning in a short period of time. This can provide encouragement for future learning.

Third, tests can be created to raise awareness of the different aspects of vocabulary knowledge. For example, learners could be tested on their receptive or productive knowledge of form, meaning, derivatives and inflections, and collocations. Tests or test items could vary between the aspects of knowledge that are assessed. The use of tests measuring different aspects of knowledge may also help learners to expand on their initial learning by focusing on unknown or partially known aspects of knowledge.

Finally, planned vocabulary tests can act as a cue for further encounters with target items. Teachers can plan tests at specific times to help learners consolidate their knowledge of words. Technical vocabulary in specialized texts. Reading in a Foreign Language, 15 2 , — Cobb, T. Computing the vocabulary demands of L2 reading. Reading academic English: Carrying learners across the lexical threshold.

Peacock Eds. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Coxhead, A. A new Academic Word List. Hu, M. Vocabulary density and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 13 1 , — Hunt, A. A framework for developing EFL reading vocabulary. Reading in a Foreign Language, 17 1 , 23— Joe, A. Text-based tasks and incidental vocabulary learning. Second Language Research, 11 2 , — Laufer, B.

Vocabulary acquisition in a second language: Do learners really acquire most vocabulary by reading? Some empirical evidence. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 59 4 , — Focus on form in second language vocabulary learning.

A vocabulary size test of controlled productive ability. Language Testing, 16, 33— Meara, P. Zurich, Switzerland: Eurocentres. Nation, I. Testing and teaching vocabulary. Guidelines, 5, 12— Teaching and learning vocabulary. Learning vocabulary in another language. A study of the most frequent word families in the British National Corpus. Laufer Eds.

Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? The Canadian Modern Language Review, 63, 59— Nation, P. A vocabulary size test. The Language Teacher, 31 7 , 9— New York, NY: Routledge. Schmitt, N. Developing and exploring the behaviour of two new versions of the Vocabulary Levels Test.

Language Testing, 18, 55— Memory for paired associates. Psychological Review, 15, — Webb, S. Learning word pairs and glossed sentences: The effects of a single sentence on vocabulary knowledge. Language Teaching Research, 11, 63— The effects of repetition on vocabulary knowledge.

Applied Linguistics, 28, 46— The vocabulary demands of television programs. Language Learning, 59 2 , — The lexical coverage of movies.

The disadvantage is that less advanced students may rely on their more capable partners to complete tasks. So teachers need to carefully monitor the progress of all students. Include a lot of independent activities that allow students to work at their own level.

Reading activities, writing activities, flashcards, presentations, and extensive viewing are all examples of vocabulary learning activities that work well for independent study.

A particularly good example is the spoken journal, where students record themselves rather than write; this allows them to use the vocabulary that they know and have recently learned to develop their productive vocabulary knowledge.

As students are working on their own, teachers can move around and provide support when it is needed. The disadvantage of independent study is that it may take time for teachers to develop a sufficient number of resources for students at varying levels. Ideally, activities and tasks should be developed and pooled together among all teachers involved in the programme.

If a number of teachers are working on developing resources for students at different levels, then it may not be long before there are enough to cater for a range of proficiency levels. There are several ways in which teachers can deal with this: Place students into sub-groups according to level. Copyright Disclaimer: This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.

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