Exploring Strategies for Vocabulary Learning and Teaching for ESL Learners - A literature review (original) (raw)
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Teaching Vocabulary to ESL Students
Online Submission, 2011
This paper looks at the ways in which vocabulary is taught and in particular what the important learning points ESL students should know in order to understand new vocabulary words. It also discusses various ideas of how teachers could teach vocabulary. It highlights the importance of a theory that states there are 3 key stages that students' progress through when they are learning new vocabulary. In addition it focuses on how this theory can be applied in the classroom when designing new materials, and on the types of exercises and learning experiences that ESL students could use to develop their meta-cognition and self-regulation skills as a view to long term strengthening of their vocabulary study to enhance reading and in-depth understanding. The article concludes with a suggestion on how vocabulary logs could be designed and organized from simple word associational exercises to comprehension exercises and finally through to generative style exercises.
Teaching Vocabulary in ESL Classroom
ABSTRACT The first step in teaching vocabulary is to determine the nature and relative difficulty of the word. There are many English words, e.g. pen, ball, bag, table etc. which have already entered the pupils’ mother tongue. There are other words e.g. father, mother, sun, moon, cat, dog, eat, and drink which have at least in their meanings, exact equivalents in their mother tongue. When we teach the vocabulary to SL learners we try to give the meaning in their mother tongue, teach the spelling, meaning in mother tongue, and teach the spelling, the forms (singular / plural, past / present etc. in the case of irregular nouns and verbs) and the pronunciation. Figurative and transferred meaning of the words will require special treatment. But there are many other words in English which haven’t exact translation equivalents. Therefore these kinds of words would be difficult for the pupils. Most of the structural words and other high frequency words come under this category.
Among so many differing methods suggested by classical and modern linguists, the ideal method for the adult acquisition of vocabulary remains difficult to ascertain. Implicit vocabulary acquisition, as found in the young learner, persists as the ideal manner by which to acquire new words, while explicit learning prevails as the abiding champion of foreign language classroom methods. In this pilot study, theoretical foundations are presented with respect to the frameworks which have aided the development of implicit and explicit vocabulary instruction. The study is outlined and presented in detail, with academic narrative discussing the cognitive theories and frameworks that may assist learners in their pursuit of words in the target language.
Effective Vocabulary Teaching Strategies for ESL Students: Challenges and Solutions
International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research , 2017
Lexis comprehension is an important and crucial element of any language scholarship. This piece of research focuses on efficient vocabulary teaching strategies in the English for Academic Purposes of ESL classroom. Illustration on results obtained from the study of three English for Academic Purposes ESL classrooms of RISE Krishna Sai Group of Institutions, Ongole, Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh and the personal experience as a teacher and learner, the author discusses various effective vocabulary teaching strategies in the English for Academic Purposes classroom which could greatly help English language learners in their voyage of language ability realization and further the language progression. Introduction Vocabulary teaching and learning is a constant challenge for teachers as well as students because historically there has been minimal focus on vocabulary instruction in the ESL classroom. Due to this, an increased emphasis on vocabulary development is crucial for the English language learner in the process of language learning. The native speakers continue to learn new words while English language learners face the double challenge of building that foundation and closing that language gap. Another crucial point is the amount of time it takes for English language learners (ELLs) to learn English and be ready for school. Why ELLs would be struggling with the academic content. Firstly, the English language learners are doing two jobs at the same time; they are learning a new language (English) while learning new academic concepts. They are literally moving between two different worlds. Secondly, ELLs have to work harder and need more scaffolding than the average native English-speaking student who has an age-and level-appropriate command of the English language. Thirdly, academic vocabulary is often very technical used in the English language classroom. Due to the enormous and alarming gap between the acquisition of basic conversation English and academic English, it is therefore important for teachers in the English for Academic Purposes ESL classroom to be knowledgeable about the most effective and current teaching strategies in vocabulary instruction and provide constant academic scaffolding to ELLs. English for Academic Purpose classroom needs a language proficiency that will enable students to comprehend academic content and participate in activities and assignments, and then it is even more important for the teacher to employ effective and dynamic teaching strategies that will empower the students to master the required tasks. The language demands of academic learning are enormous. The more diverse, creative and effective teaching strategies the teacher in the English for Academic Purposes classroom employs, the richer the student's academic language becomes and the more likely will they experience success with the content and will be able to communicate with various registers. This paper discusses the various teaching strategies currently employed by teachers in the English for Academic Purposes classroom and their implications for effective vocabulary acquisition. It outlines how vocabulary is learned and explores best practices in vocabulary teaching practiced in the RISE Krishna Sai Group of Institutions, Ongole. It discusses the new insights
Vocabulary Acquisition: Practical Strategies for ESL Students
Journal of International Students, 2013
The English language is considered to have the largest vocabulary in the world (Crystal, 2002). Educated native speakers of English are expected to know approximately 20,000 word families or 70,000 words (Nation, 2001); however, educated non-native speakers of English know less than one quarter of the native speakers’ vocabulary (Laufer & Yano, 2001). Nonnative speakers of English must increase their vocabulary knowledge in order to become successful in their academic endeavors in English-medium educational environments. A solid foundation of vocabulary knowledge is essential at every stage of the learner’s second language (L2) development. Regardless of the degree of the learner’s competency in grammar and pronunciation; one cannot have effective communication without sufficient vocabulary knowledge.
Incidental and Intentional Learning of Vocabulary among Young ESL Learners
3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies
Developing a rich vocabulary repertoire in English is an essential achievement for young learners acquiring English as a second language (ESL) as having a strong word knowledge base supports the development of the four language skills in the second language. Most studies on vocabulary learning, however, have been conducted with adult learners at the college levels. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of different instructional techniques (incidental learning and intentional learning) on vocabulary acquisition among young ESL learners. The participants were 99 students between 10-11 years old in a Malaysian Tamil primary school. Stratified sampling was applied, and the subjects were divided into 3 groups; a control group and two experimental groups: extensive reading (ER) and extensive reading plus vocabulary enhancement (ER+). The ER group received treatment involving extensive reading of storybooks while, the ER+ group received treatments involving extensive reading of storybooks and vocabulary enhancement activities. The treatments were conducted as after-class activities. The control group did not attend the after-class activity but continued with regular class activities. The vocabulary levels test (VLT) was administered to all groups before and after the treatment to measure the significant difference between the three groups. The results show a significant gain for both the experimental groups with the ER+ group having higher means in both the posttest and delayed post-test scores. However, there was no gain recorded for the control group. The study provides evidence that extensive reading can enhance vocabulary learning but the blending with vocabulary enhancement activities was more effective.
International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature
INTRODUCTION Vocabulary is a cornerstone of every language, as are the skills that emerge as a result of the appearance of useful vocabulary. The goal of learning the target language will be hampered if vocabulary is not acquired, and knowledge of the projected language will be severely limited. Vocabulary development is essential for communication and skill development. There are various methods and strategies for learning vocabulary. In general, as language is a matter of micro-skills and competence in them, the expansion of vocabulary is the result of external forces and necessary elements of each skill for better comprehension, understanding and application. There is an indication of important strategies for acquiring vocabulary and therefore, vocabulary practice becomes familiar to the learners, resulting in putting a long-term effect on language pedagogy and other components of language. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Paul Nation (2001a) recommends a comprehensive method of discursive attitude toward vocabulary in learning and teaching. By decoding the labyrinthine fallacies of the words, he went into great detail about the sources and procedures for learning vocabulary. He came up with the concept of style, planning, strategies, teaching methodologies and the lexical bar as elements that affect vocabulary development. The study finds mastery of a language is followed by excellence in vocabulary, linguistic expertise, and other features. Nation also stated that the range and volume of one's vocabulary can be used to assess for better comprehension, acquisition and application through a variety of tests and other cognitive output. According to James Milton (2009) the diverse range of frequency and good exposure to lexical variety matter to the learning process of the language and comprehension of the diversity of foreign language. It also demonstrates how lexical performance and authority influence vocabulary acquisition. Milton's discussion in his book covers a wide range of vocabulary learning methods and means. It also emphasizes word knowledge, frequency, inflection and derivation, which provide a fantastic technique to know the vocabulary better.
A Comparison of Three Learning Strategies for ESL Vocabulary Acquisition
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The Effects of Explicit Vocabulary Instructions on Secondary ESL Students' Vocabulary Learning
3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 2020
This study intends to investigate the effect of explicit vocabulary instructions on students' vocabulary learning in Perak. A quasi-experimental research design was employed, and the scores of the pre-and post-tests were analysed using independent sample t-test, paired sample t-test and descriptive statistics. The score comparison and total improvement scores in percentage were also presented. The questionnaires in the student's feedback form were analysed descriptively in terms of their mean scores and standard deviation. The qualitative data from the semi-structured students' interview was transcribed, categorised and coded by using content analysis. The paired sample t-test results were (t=-17.85, df=29, p<.05) for the experimental group and (t=-4.85, df=29, p<.05) for the control group. Based on the results, the experimental and control groups improved significantly (p=.000*) in the post-test with a mean difference of 15.62. Thus, the use of different techniques of the explicit method is effective in helping learners to acquire target words. A longitudinal study is recommended to observe the effects of the explicit method of vocabulary instructions if longer time is given for the learners to learn the target words. Such work will indicate whether longer learning period results in better vocabulary knowledge or not. This research extends value in the field of vocabulary learning because it can be used to carry out further investigations in improving the students' ability to learn new words. A possible global extension of this study should be conducted to further determine the power of explicit or other novel vocabulary approaches in advancing students' vocabulary prowess.