Dr. Rob Waring Notre Dame Seishin University Dealing with Vocabulary in the Foreign Language Classroom Okayama May 2014 www.robwaring.org/presentations/ Dr. Rob Waring Notre Dame Seishin University

Typical vocabulary teaching Most vocab teaching is from context Haphazard selection of materials Different vocab topic in each unit Too many words at once Rare words are favoured over common words Focus on single words not multi-word units and combinations All students learn the same words Word teaching = definition and spelling Teachers give meanings

Typical vocabulary teaching II Low recycling of vocab in course books and teachers Teachers leave vocab learning to learners Vocab learning strategies are rarely taught Vocab learning techniques are rarely taught Vocabulary learning goals are rarely set Dictionary skills are rarely taught Vocab notebooks not encouraged Words are kept in lists Vocab exercises test not teach Teachers trust the course book to deal with vocab

Two states of vocabulary learning Form-meaning relationship - matching the spelling and/or sound to a meaning The ‘deeper’ aspects of vocabulary learning - multiple meaning senses / nuances of use - frequency, usefulness etc. - use in context - domain (lexical set) - restrictions on use / pragmatic values - register (polite, casual, rude), spoken, written, formal, informal - lexical access speed, fluency, automaticity - collocation and colligation - etc.

Types of vocabulary Individual words: book, table, life, chance, walk, airplane… Affixes: used, user, usefulness, user-friendly, disuse… Multi-part words: traffic jam, the day after tomorrow, lunch box… Lexical phrases: by the way, to and fro, a kind of,… Idioms: let the cat out of the bag, raining cats and dogs Sentence heads: Do you mind if I…, If I were you,.. Could you…? Collocations: High season, mild cheese, blonde hair… Colligations: agree to do x, agree on X, rely on someone, have an effect on x, x affects y... Others: SONY, Paul, twenty-seven, etc. , UNESCO…

What's a collocation? Collocations are words which often appear together. We say We don't (usually) say beautiful girl handsome girl blonde hair yellow hair mild cheese weak cheese big surprise large surprise go to work go to job catch fire do fire / go fire high cost expensive cost demand a response ask a response make a mistake do a mistake

How much to learn: collocations fast / quick meal train food shower yellow / blonde hair car flower strawberry regular / normal guy fries day exercise a round / circle of friends drinks golf wagons Types Adverb + Adjective: completely satisfied (NOT downright satisfied) Adjective + Noun: excruciating pain (NOT excruciating joy) Noun + Noun: a surge of anger (NOT a rush of anger) Noun + Verb: lions roar (NOT lions shout) Verb + Noun: commit suicide (NOT undertake suicide) Verb + Expression with Preposition: burst into tears (NOT blow up in tears) Verb + Adverb: wave frantically (NOT wave feverishly)

Which collocations? Transparent 'weak' collocations – easy to learn – don't teach Beautiful flower, look out of a window, read a book, play a game Specialized collocations – teach only if needed Insolvency act, habeas corpus, spaghetti bolognese Infrequent collocations – don't bother teaching Rancid butter, a glimmer of hope, circle of friends, by and large Those that need attention Highly frequent collocations (not too many of these) make/do + noun False friends weak tea, *thin tea; meet friends / *play with friends

What’s a colligation? Colligations are words which often appear together grammatically We say We don’t (usually) say depend on someone depend of someone be good at something be good on something ask for something ask on something give something to someone give something someone

They need thousands of Expressions, Idioms and Phrases traffic jam lunch box by and large get along with put back set out on the day before yesterday How's things? If you don't mind, would you…? I'd rather not … I'd like to … If it were up to me, I'd … So, what do you think? What's the matter?

How frequently do lexical phrases occur (BNC)? Raw Rank Word Per million words 177 out of 490 222 per cent 382 272 such as 321 285 of course 309 378 for example 238 1538 in front of 65 1725 all right 58 2159 as soon as 47 2491 in general 41 2970 in addition to 34 3307 next to 30 3755 on top of 26 4378 instead of 21 5409 in charge of 17 5987 just about 15 7396 provided that 11 7885 as good as 10 9125 with a view to 8 Raw Rank Word Per million words 11459 in between 6 13507 by and large 5 14369 at random 4 16684 per se 19505 old fashioned 3 22060 grown up 2 28441 matter of fact 43572 sq m 1 48241 fait accompli 51717 straight forward 58511 habeas corpus 74321 self-same 76170 haute cuisine 82928 a good deal 83882 laissez faire 89371 persona non grata

Most multi-word units aren't worth teaching individually Collocations will always occur less frequently than the words that make them up In the British National Corpus (100m words) Strong occurs 213 times / 1m words Wind occurs 73 times / 1m words Strong wind occurs 3.06 times / 1m words The 'difficult' word compromise occurs 31 times Most collocations aren't worth teaching individually But we must teach the prepositions in colligates

How much needs learning? 2000 basic words to be intermediate level 2,000 Each family has 2-3 derivatives 5,000 Each word has 2-3 meaning senses 12,500 We need to meet each one 10 times to learn it 125,000 Each word has 10-15 collocations Each word is part of 4-5 phrases or idioms It’s impossible to teach all of this…. We need plan B….

How much to learn: Grammar He walked to the station Did he see the man? Who did he go with? He ate with his mother He didn't buy anything She wasn't given anything Were they seen? Why did he mistrust them? You bought it, didn't you? They were being shown the …. If I were you, I'd… If I won the lottery, I'd … Could I have that? Was he going to be there at 12? What were you doing when the phone rang?

They need to master grammatical patterns The grammar systems (e.g. the present perfect tense) A government committee has been created to … He hasn't seen her for a while, has he? No, he hasn't. Why haven't you been doing your homework? There's been a big accident in Market Street. Have you ever met a ghost? It's very hard to see the patterns – there are many forms: Statement, negative, yes/no and wh- question forms, Simple or continuous Active or passive Short answers and questions tags (Yes, I have. …… hasn't he?) Regular and irregular - has vs. have walked vs. bought Present perfect for 'announcing news', PP for 'experiences', etc. etc.

The Balanced Curriculum Receptive Productive Language Study Explicit teaching Dictionary work Studying from a vocab book Intensive reading Language awareness activities Conscious word learning Controlled language production activities. Language and pronunciation drills Gap fill exercises Memorized dialogs Sentence completion tasks Tests Fluency Practice Extensive reading Extensive listening Watching movies Browsing the Internet Listening to the radio or music ‘Free’ language production activities. Casual conversations Debates and discussions Email, and online chat Diary writing Essays

The Balanced Curriculum Receptive Productive Language Study Fluency Practice Build language knowledge and get control over it Develop learning strategies Develop a sense of how the language works Build autonomy Build pragmatic and cultural knowledge

Balance in Language Teaching Receptive Productive Language Study Fluency Practice - provides new knowledge about language features -raises awareness of how the language works - raises awareness of learning strategies -gives practice in checking whether something is known - allows learners to actively construct language - focuses on accurate control over language features - Learners get a feel for how the language works - consolidates the discretely learned language features - allows learners to meet huge amounts of text - gives real time opportunities to experiment with language use - gives feedback on the success of language use - builds fluency of language production

What happens if they don’t do these things? Receptive Productive Language Study Fluency Practice - Fewer chances to notice new things - Hard to add new knowledge - Can’t check the accuracy of what they learnt - Not enough input - Few chances to develop automatic processing - Can’t develop fluent eye movements - Can’t experiment with their knowledge fluently

How much to learn: vocabulary Learners need 8000-9000 words to know 98% of the vocabulary in native novels, magazines and most general reading Intermediate learners need at least a vocabulary of 2000 words receptively and 1000 productively to be able to build fluency rapidly Advanced learners will need 4000-6000 words An average high frequency word has about 8-15 common collocations There are 1000-1200 common phrasal verbs There are 1000-1500 common idioms There are hundreds of common sentences heads and formulaic phrases

What do we know about vocabulary? Because we teach a word does not mean they learned it (i.e. teaching does not cause learning). Note* our text books assume this. Because they finished the textbook does not mean they know all the words in the book Written and spoken vocabulary are different. Fewer words are needed for speaking Initial word knowledge is very fragile. Memories of new words that are not met again soon.

What do we know about vocabulary? II Some words are more difficult to learn than others Learners cannot guess new meaning from context if the surrounding text is too difficult. About 98% coverage needed. Words live with other words, not in isolation Not all words are equally frequent. There is a core useful vocabulary everyone needs (about 2000 word families). Not everyone needs the other 90% of the words in English. Students should learn the most frequent and useful words first, later they can specialize.

Intentional / Incidental Intentional - aim to directly teach / learn something - e.g. textbook presentation, dictionary use, wordcards Incidental - aim to hope them pick up or notice the target from exposure - students are doing something else (e.g. reading a passage for meaning) but notice something new as they do it.

Deductive vs Inductive presentation Deductive – ‘telling’ telling / explaining the rule e.g. on the board, in a text or handout Inductive presentation – ‘discover the rule’ A: What are your plans for the weekend? B: I’m meeting my brother on Friday at 7, and then I’m playing tennis in Yokohama on Saturday. And you? A: I’m not sure maybe I’ll stay home.

Intentional vs. Incidental learning Intentional learning Incidental learning Direct focus on learning when the focus is to learn words FOCUS Learning 'by accident' - as a result of focusing on something else wordlists, word cards, vocabulary exercises, dictionary use E.G. from reading or listening, watching movies, listening to songs, casual conversation Can be learnt systematically Meanings are learnt 16 times faster than with incidental learning Retention high if learnt well Decontextualized or 'local' learning level LEARNING Slow and fragile learning Input tends to be random and unpredictable, unsystematized Contextualized (chances for integrative learning) Best for 'form-meaning' level learning USE Best for 'deeper aspects' of vocabulary learning

How are we going to teach what? Intentional learning e.g word cards Incidental learning e.g extensive reading Individual words Important lexical phrases False friends Loanwords Important collocations and colligations Basic grammatical patterns Important phrasal verbs, idioms etc. Word, phrase and sentence level awareness Register, Genre Pragmatic knowledge Restrictions on use Most collocations and collocations A 'sense' of a word's meaning and use A 'sense' of how grammar fits with lexis - the tenses, articles etc. Discourse level awareness Selection issues – what do we teach? Sequence issues – in what order? Scaffolding issues – how do we consolidate previous learning? Presentation issues – what method? Rough grading Ensuring recycling Engaging text Matching input text to intentionally learnt materials

Get more input (feedback) The Cycle of Learning Notice something Add to our knowledge Get more input (feedback) Try it out

What happens to things we learn? We forget them over time unless they are recycled and memories of them strengthened Our brains are designed to forget most of what we meet - not to remember it Knowledge The Forgetting Curve Time

Leitner’s Memory System Spaced, expanded retrieval Image source: www.lexxica.com

A linear structure to our syllabuses Unit 1 Be verb Simple adjectives Unit 2 Simple present Daily routines Unit 3 Present continuous Sporting activities Unit 4 can Abilities Unit 5 …. ….. Each unit has something new Little focus on the recycling of vocabulary, grammar and so on The theory is “We’ve done that, they have learnt it, so we can move on.” i.e. teaching causes learning

What will naturally happen to the learning? Unit 1 Be verb Simple adjectives Unit 2 Simple present Daily routines Unit 3 Present continuous Sporting activities Unit 4 can Abilities Unit 5 …. …..

Course work and Graded Readers work together Unit 1 Be verb Unit 2 Simple present Unit 3 Present continuous Unit 4 can Unit 5 …. Introducing language Consolidating and deepening language knowledge Extensive Reading

What does this imply? A linear course structure -is focused on introducing new words and grammatical features -does not fight against the forgetting curve -by its very design cannot provide enough repetitions of words and grammar features for long-term acquisition to take place -is not focused on deepening and consolidating older knowledge because the focus is always on new things This is NOT a criticism of course books. They can’t do everything even though we might expect them to. Course books are only part of what students need.

How well are our courses presenting the language students need? Research suggests a typical language courses: do not systematically recycle the grammatical forms outside the presentation unit / lesson have an almost random vocabulary selection (mostly based on topic) without much regard to frequency or usefulness rarely, if ever, recycle taught words either later in the unit, the book, or the series provide little additional practice in review units or workbooks have an overwhelming focus on new material in each lesson

Typical Japanese reading texts In Junior High School -teaches the first 1000 most useful words quite well - readability seems adequate – short passages, easy vocabulary, picture support In Senior High School - radical change to low frequency vocabulary - hundreds of the most important 2,000 most useful words aren't met

Research 1: words in Japanese Senior High Textbooks Research by Chujo, Yoshimori, Hasegawa, Nishigaki and Yamazaki 中條清美・吉森智大・長谷川修治・西垣知佳子・山﨑淳史, 高等学校英語教科書の語彙,日本大学生産工学部研究報告B, 2007 年６ 月第40 巻

Research 2 Types Tokens Horizon 1, 2, 3 (Junior High) 1,124 9,440 Powwow I, II, Reading (Senior High) 2,857 27,221 Centre tests (680 types / 3000 tokens average per test) x 4 1,000 12,000 College Entrance tests (590 types / 1600 tokens average per test) x4 6,400 A total of approximately 55,000 running words will be met (not counting juku and self-study). A generous estimate is 100,000 words and about 3,500 types over 6 years. Listening input would be approximately 10% of this.

Research 3 Lexical coverage of some reading texts % inside the top 2,000 most frequent words Typical beginner level graded readers Typical elementary level graded readers Typical advanced level graded readers Typical unsimplified native texts Typical Daily Yomiuri article Harry Potter Chapter 2 Typical Time magazine article Japanese High School text (Spectrum U16) Japanese High School text (Milestone) Japanese High School text (Unicorn) 99% 97-98% 92-94% 85% 87.4% 94.1% 80.9% 76.8% 78% 79% Source: Browne, C. ECAP Conference, 2008

Lexical coverage of some exams % inside the top 2000 most frequent words Keio University Sophia University Waseda University Kyoto University Nagoya University Tokyo University 69% 72% 77% 68% 80% Source: Browne, C. ECAP Conference, 2008

Research 4 (Waring 2013) Aim: 1. Find out which words are in textbooks 2. Find out how many words students can learn from them 6 Japanese Junior High texts 21 Japanese High school texts 18 Korean Middle School texts 15 Korean High School texts 5 Mexican Middle and Senior High texts Middle School High School Total Japan (Average) 14,066 20,977 35,043 Korea (Average) 23,483 37,950 61,433 Mexico 126,043 106,493 232,536

Course books plus reading Likely uptake (words met more than 10 times from reading 30 texts at each level) Japan Korea Mexico Course books only JH 147 184 854 JH & SH 476 925 1,276 Course books plus reading 403 +174% 602 +227% 959 +12% 1,187 +149% 1,468 +59% 1,677 + 31%

How long will it take to teach them? An average word needs 8-50 meetings for it to be learnt receptively from reading (more for productive use) An average word's meaning takes 10-15 meetings to learn from word cards or word lists To learn the collocations and 'deeper' aspects of language learning takes MUCH longer. There's little research into the rate learning of collocation, colligation or lexical phrases from reading We know nothing at all about how long it takes to master a particular grammatical form e.g. a tense, the comparatives, relative clauses

Short texts Many exercises A Typical Reading Text Many difficult words Definitions given

How are students typically taught to read? From textbooks with short difficult texts Doing lots of exercises to practice the grammar and vocab, reading skills and strategies Teacher leads the students All students read the same teacher-selected material All students read at the same pace All students read at the same difficulty level The text may or may not interest all learners It's hard to develop fluent eye movements – fluency and reading speed – too many 'reading speed bumps' This is called INTENSIVE READING or STUDY READING

'Study Reading' is good Provides good opportunities for the teaching of discrete language points (e.g. vocabulary and grammar) But…. There is no skills practice The 'grammar' in the texts is not like actual spoken grammar They can't develop reading speed It's hard to learn the patterns in the language because the student doesn't read much Not everyone is reading at their own ability level The text book may not interest everyone

Intensive Reading (course books for example) Provides good opportunities for the teaching of discrete language points (e.g. vocabulary and grammar) Few chances for the development of fluent eye movements Few chances to learn the patterns in the language because the student doesn't read much Little allowance for student interest in what is read Little allowance for reading at their own ability level Often difficult for students to add new language to the existing store of language because the material is too difficult

Features of Extensive Reading All the students read different books Student selected material Wide variety of material (genres) The reading will probably interest the student Longer texts Very few difficult words Reading at the student's fluent reading ability level Mostly out-of class reading Emphasis on the skill of reading All reading is in the second language – no Japanese needed New words are often met in later chapters Emphasis on reading for comprehension / enjoyment Provides input for speaking and writing

When reading extensively, students should READ It is CRUCIAL that learners read at the RIGHT level Read something quickly and Enjoyably with Adequate comprehension so they Don't need a dictionary If they need a dictionary, it's too hard and they will read slowly, get tired and stop Their aim is fluency and speed, not learning new language Typically students read at home or out of class- it doesn't take much class time for HUGE benefits We add the reading to our existing program, we don't replace it.

Extensive Reading is easy because … The students 'just read' Once the library is ready, there's little to do Get the students to manage the library Online assessment if you wish - www.moodlereader.org It doesn't take much class time – they can read at home EASY is GOOD – it builds fluency, speed and confidence

Reading at the right level

How do Intensive and Extensive Reading fit together? Pain (too hard, poor comprehension, high effort, de-motivating) Intensive reading (Instructional level, can learn new words and grammar) Extensive reading (fast, fluent, adequate comprehension, enjoyable) Speed reading practice (very fast, fluent, high comprehension, natural reading, enjoyable) 90% 98% 100% Low % of known vocabulary Slow High Reading speed Low High Comprehension

What's the balance? Language focus activities- learning the grammar and vocabulary, reading skills, pronunciation etc. (i.e. coursework) PLUS Massive amounts of easy fluent reading with graded readers Massive amounts of fluent listening The focus should be on deepening and consolidating knowledge of things they learnt in their course books

Build strategic competence Students are not born knowing how to use dictionaries We should teach them to learn words well and systematically Spend a LOT of time on building ‘guessing from context’ abilities

Translation line by line reading – effect on language development Total dependence on the teacher – no student independence Teacher selected material – no respect for student interests No respect for different ability levels No respect for reading skills development Input is not recycled in the next lesson – a linear structure No fluency practice Slow and tedious – likely to be boring Very little text is read Rarer words get more focus than more useful words Often (far too) difficult Retention is notoriously low Knowledge gains are temporary only Restricts learners to ‘word by word’ analysis Often used as an excuse for a linguistics lesson

Translation line by line reading – effect on learning Language input is reactive, not planned Language input is not systemized – there’s no syllabus or curriculum at all Not meaning centered (form centered) – thus little will be remembered Little or no discourse level instruction / practice Translating one sentence does not mean whole text comprehension Sentence level translating does not mean there is an understanding of the sentence Checking one student can translate does not mean the others can Each student only worries about her sentences Only two brains are working on each sentence Often used as an excuse to improve the students’ Japanese! If this is the only method of instruction:- Students likely to die from boredom Excellent way to kill a love for English

Why can’t Japanese students read, listen, speak and write well? Their language knowledge is often abstract, separated, discrete and very fragile so they forget There’s too much work on “the pieces-of-language” and not enough comprehensible, meaningful , connected discourse They haven’t met the words and grammar enough times to feel comfortable using them They CANNOT speak until they feel comfortable using their knowledge They haven’t developed a ‘sense’ of language yet

So what needs to happen? We have to ensure our curriculums and courses: build in recycling and repetition of words and grammar structures give students chances to see how the grammar and vocabulary are used together in real discourse give students chances to deepen and consolidate the language they learn in their course books (or they forget it) allow students to develop their own ‘sense’ of how the language works give students chances to use language rather than just study it

Principles of Vocabulary Learning There is not enough class time to teach everything about a word We don’t need to teach every word in the book Select the vocabulary carefully - Useful and frequent words first Single words as well as phrases and collocations Learners must be set vocabulary learning goals They need massive input to build vocabulary knowledge to deepen vocabulary connections We should teach words the students need Forgetting will happen - > revise, use it or lose it We should not expect things we teach to be known tomorrow The most important vocabulary to teach is yesterday’s vocabulary

Principles II Because time is limited, we have to teach students how to deal with new words (independent learning) thus they need vocabulary learning strategies Give opportunities for guessing words from context Teach them to use a dictionary properly Teach word learning strategies Work at both levels of vocabulary knowledge Use a systematic approach (set realistic goals) – build on old learning Intentional and incidental learning

Principles III Language focus work needed Give opportunities for developing fluency and automaticity Not everything can be learn intentionally Initial meetings should be followed by deeper level processing Opportunities for elaborating word knowledge Let them experiment (force them to think) We do not need to teach all words to be available for use Concept check understanding Understand the task requirements of vocabulary exercises Give opportunities to develop the pronunciation