Transcript Advanced English for Science Students

Getting to know each other
MAAL6018 Vocabulary Teaching And Learning
Course Outline 2013-2014
Session 1
Building blocks and
dimensions of vocabulary knowledge
- What is a word? What is meant by knowing a word?
- Some research in teaching vocabulary (John Read)
Session 2 (CRT6.32)
Vocabulary size, frequency, word lists
Computer applications
– Are some words “more important” than others?
- Websites for learning word lists, assessing vocab size and profile
Session 3
Vocabulary teaching
-Indirect vs. direct vocabulary teaching
-Vocabulary assessment
- the lexical approach to vocabulary teaching
Session 4
Vocabulary learning
-Vocabulary learning strategies
Session 5 (CRT6.32)
Use of concordancers
Session 6
The mental lexicon
– How L1 and L2 speakers store and retrieve words in their brains
Assignment due October 28
Course website
 http://caes.hku.hk/maal6018/
 Assignment
 Sessions
and Readings
 List of Useful readings
 Dissertations in HKU Library
 Resources on the Web
 Password
protected / copyrighted
Warming Up
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How many words do you think there are in the
English language?
How many words do you know?
What is the longest word you know?
What is the most frequently used word in the
English language?
What do you think is the best way to learn
vocabulary?
The longest word in English

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanocon
iosis (45 letters; longest word in Oxford
Dictionary)

a lung disease caused by silica dust, mostly suffered
by miners
Or

smiled
Why vocabulary learning is
important and challenging

“Without grammar very little can be conveyed,
without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”
(Wilkins, 1972:111)

A finite number of grammar items (about 300 in
English), but an infinite number of vocabulary items
for a typical learner
Grouping words
Grouping words
Grammatical
/ Function
words
Lexical /
Content
words
Multi-word lexical Inflections
items
Derivatives
because of
famous
raining cats and
dogs
bring
occasion
why
singer
catch up
bringing
occasional
cannot
rained
day in and day out
brought
occasionally
the
heavily
now and then
brings
What is meant by “a word”?
1.
2.
Matching
Pair activity
Word Family


Do you think speech and unspeakable should be
included in the same word family as speak?
How about bespoke?
How much do you know about the word “agree”?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
1
Again, agony, agonize, agonistic, age, aging, agent, agency,
aglow, agile, aggressive, aggregate, aggravate
Both (intransitive: I agree; transitive: I agree with you on this
issue)
No (It is agreed that…)
on
Agreement
Agreeable, agreed
Pleasant, acceptable
Disagree (Ungradable)
Yes (dis)
How much do you know about the word “agree”?
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
No
yes
No (We did not agree to go to the cinema)
Consent, concur, assent, accede, side with
Compromise (agree unwillingly)
Consensus (of a group of people)
Yes
She goes to school / much water
Accept that we have different opinions
More (totally agree); less (totally disagree)
Aspects of word knowledge
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Knowing how to pronounce the word.
Knowing the meaning of the word either as an L1 equivalent or as
defined in L2.
Knowing how to spell the word and how its spelling differs from words
that are pronounced similarly.
Knowing the grammatical word class of the word.
Knowing the grammatical patterns in which the word is typically used.
Knowing the collocational patterns in which the word typically fits and
its any constraints upon the use of the word (concerned with, e.g.
frequency, register, formality).
Knowing the morphology of the word and the forms and meanings of its
inflections and derivatives.
Knowing the different senses of the word (polysemy) and the senses of
its derivatives.
Knowing the antonyms of the word.
Knowing the synonyms of the word.
Knowing how the sense and usage of the word differs from that of near
synonyms.
Knowing idioms that consist of the word.
Pedagogical Implications?
The incremental nature of
vocabulary acquisition



our knowledge of a particular word is often
partial & incremental
Recycling of words is important
Focusing on different dimensions of word
knowledge at different times / when meeting
the word in different contexts
Pre-session 1 reading
1. Research in teaching vocabulary (John Read, 2004)

Focus on the research aspects
2. The big picture (Paul Nation, 2008)

Different types of vocabulary (e.g. high-frequency /
low-frequency / academic / technical )

A balanced approach to teaching vocabulary (4 parts
in a curriculum)
Preparation for the next session
(in CRT6.32)



Please bring along a few pieces of your own writing of
no less than 300 words each, and a few other texts
of different genres, e.g. journalistic, academic,
technical, literary, etc. (soft copies saved on a USB or
your email account). We are going to do some analysis
of word choice in different kinds of writing.
Please print off handouts for Session 2 (all available
on the course website – “Course Materials”)
Go over the pre-session reading