How to learnvocabulary effectively?

词汇学习策略

Difficulties in vocabulary learning

There are too many words to learn. I don’t know how

to cope with them.

The words are like eels ( 鳝鱼 ). They are too slippery

( 滑 ) to be kept in our memory.

I know its meaning if I can see the word, but I feel puz

zled when I hear the word.

When I come across new words, I don’t know how to

deal with it. Should I consult a dictionary or guess it,

or ignore it?

Questions for discussion What is a realistic goal in our vocabulary

learning?

How do we achieve our goal in vocabulary

learning?

How do we deal with new words in reading?

How can we avoid forgetting what we have

learned?

How can we know our vocabulary size?

Question One

• What is a realistic goal in

our vocabulary learning?

An American university student – about 20,000 words.

– (Receptive vocabulary: 接受性词汇）

Different types of vocabulary

Listening vocabulary

Reading vocabulary

Receptive vocabulary

接受性词汇

Productive vocabulary

表达性词汇Speaking vocabulary

Writing vocabulary

They overlap considerably and they are used in slightly different ways.

Four types of vocabulary Reading vocabulary

contain common words but many more big words

recognize them by their context

do not use all of them in speaking and writing

Listening vocabulary contain many common words

contain some technical words

understand them when you hear

do not use all of them in speaking and writing

Four types of vocabulary

Writing vocabulary contain simple and common words

Technical words

Speaking vocabulary can be simple or sophisticated depending on

the audience and the subject to be talked about

A flexible vocabulary

What is a realistic goal for us?

Don’t need a BIG vocabulary

Need the right vocabulary.

Speak and writing powerfully by

using small words effectively

Einstein used very simple language

to express the most complex ideas

Frequency（词频）

3,000 words most frequently used words

4,000 words quite frequently used words

13000 words less frequently used words

Two-stage goal

Stage One

– 3000 words

– Reading, listening, writing & speaking

Stage Two:

– 4000 words

– Reading and listening

Stage One: 3000 words

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

Cover 90% of the text

Read simplified novels and talk about daily life

One new word in every 10 in reading

(Nation, 2001: 17)

Stage Two: 4000 words more

Cover about 95% of the text (3000+4000)

Read original novels, magazines,

academic books

One new word in 15 words

Question Two

How can we achieve the

two- stage goal of our

vocabulary learning?

Achieving our two-stage goal by different ways

Stage One: 3000 words

Learning each of them carefully, patiently

and effectively

Stage Two: 4000 words more

finding short cuts to learn them

Stage-one goal

Learning 3000 words carefully, patiently

and effectively

What should be learned?

How should these 3,000 words be

learned?

What should be learned?

Form (词形 )

Meaning (词义 ): senses ( 义项）

Use (词法 )

Form

Spoken form

What does the words sound like? (listening)

How is the word pronounced? (speaking)

Written form

What does the word look like? (reading)

How is the word written and spelled? (writing)

Word parts

What parts are recognizable in this word?What word parts are needed to express the meaning?

Meaning

Form and meaningWhat meaning does this word form signal?

AssociationsWhat other words does this make us think of?

Use

• Grammatical functions– In what pattern does the word occur?

• Collocations– What words or types of words occur with this

one?

• Constraints on use (Register, frequency…)– Where, when, and how often would we expect to

meet this word?

You can tell the meaning of the word

when you read it in a text.

You can understand the meaning of the

word when you hear it.

You can write the word correctly.

You can use the word in speaking.

experience

n (U). n(C)

v.

experience

ex: out of

perience: tested

Longman dictionary of CE

Experience n

1. Knowledge /skill [U]

[+of/in/with]

previous experience

practical experience

first-hand experience

2. Knowledge of life [U]

3. Something that happens [C]

had/gain/get experience

Learning a foreign language was

one of the most difficult yet most

rewarding experiences of my life.

Although at times, learning a

foreign language was frustrating, it

was worth the effort.

Difficult experiences of my life

Rewarding experiences of my life

• A difficult experience• rewarding/frustrating /valuable/good/

bitter/pleasant • Difficult experiences of my life

That experience was rewarding/frustrating/painful/valuable

• work experience/life experience/business experience

• Teaching experience• Journalistic experience

exercise n.

physical exercise

exercise-book exercise v.

use sth

Exercise their right to do sth

Exercise some control over

(imagination, restraint, power, patience, perseverance…

How should these 3000 words be learned?

Strategies for planning vocabulary

learning

Strategies for learning vocabulary

Planning vocabulary learning

The strategies in this category involve deciding on where to focus attention, how to focus the attention, and how often to give attention to the form– Choosing words– Choosing aspects of word knowledge

to focus on– Choosing strategies

Choosing words Reasons

Impossible to learn all the English words Too many new words to learn in a text

Steps helping you decide if a word is worth learning Important or not? If not, guess it or

ignore it. If important, check in a dictionary to find

out whether it is common. If common, learn it. If not, guess it from

the context or ignore it.

Choosing aspects of word knowledge to focus on

Reasons– Too many aspects of word knowledge to learn

– Cannot learn all the aspects of knowledge of one word at one time

Steps helping you decide which aspects of word knowledge to focus on– Form: recognition first, production second

– Meaning: learn one by one if there are several senses

– Use: learn patterns and collocations one by one

Choosing strategies

Reasons– Different learning styles– Different proficiency levels

Three learning phases– Memorizing– Using– Recycling

Vocabulary learning strategies

Memorizing

Using

Recycling

Memorizing Say the words you are learning Record the words/phrases you are learning

on tape and play them to yourself whenever you have time

Write the words you are learning on pieces of paper or stick-it notes and put them round your room.

Put the words into sentences. Use your knowledge of the parts of words.

Using

Create sentences of your own.

Write a story that includes all the words

you have learned.

Learn words for a certain topic or

situation, and then write about the topic

using vocabulary learned or have a

discussion or conversation with a

partner.

Recycling

Follow a news story that is printed or

broadcast every day for several weeks (e.g.

war between Israel and Palestine)

Focus on one type of news story (e.g.

crime, disasters, sports, weather)

Watch movies or read books on particular

topics (e.g. travel, business)

Read several books by the same author

Stage-two goal

Finding short cuts to cope with

the 4000 more words

Stage-two vocabulary learning

• Learning strategies for dealing with

these words since the words

themselves do not deserve learning

time

Why do the stage-two words not deserve learning time?

• The stage-two words are low-frequency words and there are too many low-frequency words.

• Learners will meet many of these words only once or twice.

• Any effort spent learning them will not be repaid by meeting them on other occasions.

• It is far better to spend time on strategies that you can use to deal with these words than to spend time on individual words.

Importance of vocabulary strategies

Most vocabulary strategies

applicable to a wide range of

vocabulary and useful at all stages of

vocabulary learning.

Using prefixes, roots and suffixes

One half of general words and two thirds of all

academic, technical, and low-frequency words

are derived from Latin, French (through Latin),

or Greek. This indicates the importance of

learning the meanings of roots and affixes

(Nation, 1990: 19).

Word analysis

Prefix( 前缀 ), root( 词根 ), suffix( 后缀 )place (root)

replace (prefix+root)

replacement (prefix+root+suffix)

unwiselywise (root)

unwise(prefix+root)

unwisely(prefix+root+suffix)

Word analysis It is the process of separating a word into

its parts and then using the meanings of those parts to figure out the meaning of the original word. RetrospectRetro: backspect: look

Effective in guessing the meaning of words but not always correct

The sum of the meaning of their parts = the meaning of the word

inspect

inspector

inspection

speculate

speculator

speculation

speculartive

speculator

spectacular

spectacle

Question Three

How do we deal with new

words in reading?

Options for dealing with new words

• Ignore it• Guess it from the context• Consult a dictionary• Guess it first and then consult a dictionary• Look for clues to meaning in the word

itself• Ask the teacher or a friend for assistance

Question Four

• How can we avoid forgetting what we have learned?

Suggestions

• Learn words repeatedly, with increasing intervals between learning sessions.

• Have the words you want to learn with you whenever you go.

• Set aside a regular time for vocabulary learning

• Spend more time on the words you find difficult.

Suggestion One

• Research in psychology shows that we do not forget things gradually. (See the graph)

• Most of our forgetting occurs within 20 minutes after we have first ‘learned’ something.

• More is forgotten with one hour.

• Still more within 8 hours.

• After 8 hours, the rate of forgetting stays surprisingly steady.

Suggestion Two

• Make full use of ‘dead’ time

– Vocabulary notebook

– An electronic dictionary

Suggestion Three

Regular revision

– Daily revision (10 minutes a day)

– Weekly revision (One hour a week)

– Monthly revision (One hour a month)

Suggestion Four

Spend more time on the words you find

difficultGo down a list from the first to the last, trying to

memorize each one. Two problems:The words at the top of the list tend to be remembered

better than the words further down.

Time is wasted on the words that have been learned.

daily weekly monthly

rewarding

frustrating

junior

positive

senior

opportunity

online

technology

participate

virtual

Richard Pemberton, 2000, version 2

daily weekly monthly

rewarding

frustrating

junior

positive

senior

opportunity

online

technology

participate

virtual

daily weekly monthly

rewarding

frustrating

junior

positive

senior

opportunity

online

technology

participate

virtual

Do you want to know your productive vocabulary size?

Test A/ 2000 level

1. It is the de( )that counts, not the thought.

2. Plants receive water from the soil through

their ro( ).

3. The nu( )was helping the doctor in the operating room.

4. Since he is unskilled, he earns low wa( ).

5. This year long sk( ) are fashionable again.

6. Laws are based on the principle of jus( )

7. He is walking on the ti( ) of his toes.

8. The mechanic had to replace the mo( ) of the car.

9. There is a co( ) of the original report in the file.

10. They had to cl( ) a steep mountain to reach the cabin.11. The doctor ex( ) the patient thoroughly.12. The house was su( ) by a big garden.13. The railway con( ) London with its suburbs.14. She wan( ) aimlessly in the streets.15. The organisers li( ) the number of participants to fifty.16. This work is not up to your usu( ) standard.17. They sat down to eat even though they were not hu ( ).18. You must have been very br( ) to participate in such a dangerous operation.

Test A/ 3000 level1. He has a successful car( ) as a lawyer.2. The thieves threw ac( ) in his face and made him blind.3. To improve the country's economy, the government decided on economic ref( ).4. She wore a beautiful green go( ) to the ball.5. The government tried to protect the country's industry by reducing the imp( ) of cheap goods.6. The children's games were amusing at first, but finally got on the parents' ner( ).7. The lawyer gave some wise coun( ) to his client.8. Many people in England mow the la( ) of their houses on Sunday morning. 9. The farmer sells the eggs that his he( ) lays.

10. Sudden noises at night sca( ) me a lot.11. France was proc( ) a republic in the 18th century.12. Many people are inj( ) in road accidents every year.13. Suddenly he was thru( ) into the dark room.14. He perc( ) a light at the end of the tunnel.15. Children are not independent. They are att( ) to their parents.16. She showed off her sle( ) figure in a long narrow dress.17. She has been changing partners often because she cannot have a sta( ) relationship with one person.18. You must wear a bathing suit on a public beach. You're not allowed to bath na( ).

Do you want to know the depth of your vocabulary knowledge?

WORD ASSOCIATES TEST

•This is a test of how well you know the meaning of adjectives that are commonly used in English. Each item looks like this:

• The words here on the left side may help to explain the meaning of "sudden".

• The words here on the right side are nouns that may come after "sudden" in a phrase or a sentence.

• There are eight words in the box, but only four of them are correct. You have to choose which are the four correct words.

beautiful quick surprising thirsty

change doctor noise school

sudden

• "Sudden" means "happening quickly and unexpectedly", so the correct answers on the left side are "quick" and "surprising".

• We do not normally say "a sudden doctor" or "a sudden school", but we often say "a sudden change" and "a sudden noise", so "change" and "noise" are the correct answers on this side.

e: Note: In this example, there are two correct answers on the left and two on the right, but in some items there will be either one on the left and three on the right or three on the left and one on the right.

1. beautiful

enjoyable expensive free loud

education face music weather

clever famous happy shining

2. bright

colour hand poem taste

3. correct

easy free right true

answer dream enemy time

difficult low solid unkind

4. hard

gas hospital moon work

5. human

cold green person snowy

beings body life season

open quiet smooth tired

6. calm

cloth day light person

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