A corpus driven study of the potential for vocabulary learning through watching movies

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 497-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Webb
Keyword(s):  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Word List ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Word Families

In this corpus driven study, the scripts of 143 movies consisting of 1,267,236 running words were analyzed using the RANGE program (Heatley et al. 2002) to determine the number of encounters with low frequency words. Low frequency words were operationalized as items from Nation’s (2004) 4th to 14th 1,000-word BNC lists. The results showed that in a single movie, few words were encountered 10 or more times indicating that only a small number of words may be learned through watching one movie. However, as the number of movies analyzed increased, the number of words encountered 10 or more times increased. Twenty-three percent of the word families from Nation’s (2004) 4th 1,000-word list were encountered 10 or more times in a set of 70 movies. This indicates that if learners watch movies regularly over a long period of time, there is the potential for significant incidental learning to occur

scholarly journals Word Roots in English: Learning English Words through Form and Meaning Similarity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Zheng Wei
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Word List ◽  
Word Families ◽  
Frequency Criterion ◽  
Etymological Dictionary ◽  
Two Stages

<p>The research first proposes a vocabulary learning technique: the word part technique, and then tests its effectiveness in aiding vocabulary learning and retention. The first part of the thesis centers around the idea that the knowledge of the first 2000 words language learners already possess may give them easier access to words of other frequency levels because the root parts of the low frequency new words share form and meaning similarities with the high frequency known words. The research addresses the issue at two stages: to quantify the information concerning the number of words able to be accessed through the analysis of the word roots, and to analyze the pedagogical usefulness of the accessible words. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (Klein, 1966) was used as the source to show the possible formal and meaning connections among words. All the words in the first 2000 word list were first looked up individually and all the cognates provided under each of these words were collected and placed under each of the high frequency words if they meet the requirement that their roots share more than one letter and/or more than one phoneme with the roots of the first 2000 known words. After the data was roughly gathered, three criteria were applied to filter the data, namely, the frequency criterion, the meaning criterion and form criterion. In applying the frequency criterion, words with frequency levels lower than the tenth thousand were removed from the data. In applying the meaning criterion, hints were given to show the semantic relations between the higher frequency words and the first 2000 thousand words. The hints were then rated on the scale for measuring meaning transparency. Words that were rated at level 5 on the scale were considered inaccessible; words that were rated at levels 1, 2a, 2b, 2c, and 3a were considered easy to access. In applying the form criterion, calculations were done for each semantically accessible word to show their phonological similarity and orthographic similarity in relation to the known word. The words whose phonological or orthographical similarity scores were larger than 0.5 were considered to be phonologically or orthographically easy to access. Finally the "find" function of Microsoft Word was used to check the data by picking up any words that might have been missed in the first round of data gathering. The above procedures resulted in 2156 word families that are able to be accessed through the meaning and form relations with the first 2000 words in their root parts. Among the 2156 word families, 739 can be accessed easily and are therefore more pedagogically useful and 259 can be accessed, but with difficulty. 21 pedagogically useful form constants were selected because they can give access to more unknown lower frequency words than other form constants. In the second part of the thesis, an experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of the word part technique in comparison with the keyword technique and self-strategy learning. The results show that with the experienced Chinese EFL learners, the keyword technique is slightly inferior to the word part technique and the self-strategy learning.</p>

scholarly journals Word Roots in English: Learning English Words through Form and Meaning Similarity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Zheng Wei
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Word List ◽  
Word Families ◽  
Frequency Criterion ◽  
Etymological Dictionary ◽  
Two Stages

<p>The research first proposes a vocabulary learning technique: the word part technique, and then tests its effectiveness in aiding vocabulary learning and retention. The first part of the thesis centers around the idea that the knowledge of the first 2000 words language learners already possess may give them easier access to words of other frequency levels because the root parts of the low frequency new words share form and meaning similarities with the high frequency known words. The research addresses the issue at two stages: to quantify the information concerning the number of words able to be accessed through the analysis of the word roots, and to analyze the pedagogical usefulness of the accessible words. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (Klein, 1966) was used as the source to show the possible formal and meaning connections among words. All the words in the first 2000 word list were first looked up individually and all the cognates provided under each of these words were collected and placed under each of the high frequency words if they meet the requirement that their roots share more than one letter and/or more than one phoneme with the roots of the first 2000 known words. After the data was roughly gathered, three criteria were applied to filter the data, namely, the frequency criterion, the meaning criterion and form criterion. In applying the frequency criterion, words with frequency levels lower than the tenth thousand were removed from the data. In applying the meaning criterion, hints were given to show the semantic relations between the higher frequency words and the first 2000 thousand words. The hints were then rated on the scale for measuring meaning transparency. Words that were rated at level 5 on the scale were considered inaccessible; words that were rated at levels 1, 2a, 2b, 2c, and 3a were considered easy to access. In applying the form criterion, calculations were done for each semantically accessible word to show their phonological similarity and orthographic similarity in relation to the known word. The words whose phonological or orthographical similarity scores were larger than 0.5 were considered to be phonologically or orthographically easy to access. Finally the "find" function of Microsoft Word was used to check the data by picking up any words that might have been missed in the first round of data gathering. The above procedures resulted in 2156 word families that are able to be accessed through the meaning and form relations with the first 2000 words in their root parts. Among the 2156 word families, 739 can be accessed easily and are therefore more pedagogically useful and 259 can be accessed, but with difficulty. 21 pedagogically useful form constants were selected because they can give access to more unknown lower frequency words than other form constants. In the second part of the thesis, an experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of the word part technique in comparison with the keyword technique and self-strategy learning. The results show that with the experienced Chinese EFL learners, the keyword technique is slightly inferior to the word part technique and the self-strategy learning.</p>

Deliberate Learning Of Second Language (L2) Vocabulary: Research-Based Guidelines

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
Syarifuddin .
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Word List ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Word Families ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Deliberate Learning ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

<p>This article is devoted to overviewing several current studies on L2 vocabulary learning, especially those aimed at investigating and exploring the ways in which deliberate vocabulary learning would be best facilitated, and thus would increase learning. It is argued that knowledge of vocabulary is fundamental in all language use, and becomes an essential part to master second language. A large amount of vocabulary is required to use English both receptively and productively: 8000 – 9000 word families needed in order to adequately comprehend a wide range of written discourse (Nation, 2006), and 2000 – 3000 word families required to get sufficient comprehension of spoken discourse (van Zeeland &amp; Schmitt, 2012). Knowing a lexical item entails several aspects of word knowledge i.e., form, meaning, and use, each of which is further comprised of several sub-aspects of word knowledge. In addition, vocabulary learning is incremental in nature. Taken all these into account, there should be a component of deliberate vocabulary learning in language teaching, regardless of the preferred teaching methods being applied. Most importantly, deliberate learning of vocabulary should be intensively focused on lexical items which fall into both the new GSL word list (Brezina &amp; Gablasova, 2015) and the new AWL word list (Coxhead, 2000). Finally, reviewing current studies on L2 vocabulary learning results in several research-based guidelines for deliberate or intentional vocabulary learning which are discussed throughout the rest of this article.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong><em>vocabulary learning, vocabulary size, word knowledge, high-frequency words, academic words, deliberately-learning-vocabulary guidelines</em><em> <strong></strong></em></p>

scholarly journals Selecting Television Programs for Language Learning: Investigating Television Programs from the Same Genre

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Webb
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Forensic Investigation ◽  
Television Programs ◽  
Frequency Word ◽  
American Drama ◽  
Word Families ◽  
Equivalent Number

The scripts of 288 television episodes were analysed to determine the extent to which vocabulary reoccurs in television programs from the same subgenres and unrelated television programs from different genres. Episodes from two programs from each of the following three subgenres of the American drama genre: medical, spy/action, and criminal forensic investigation were compared with different sets of random episodes. The results showed that although there were an equivalent number of running words in each set of episodes, the episodes from programs within the same subgenre contained fewer word families than random programs. The findings also showed that low frequency word families (4000-14,000 levels) reoccur more often in programs within the same subgenre. Together the results indicate that watching programs within the same subgenre may be an effective approach to language learning with television because it reduces the lexical demands of viewing and increases the potential for vocabulary learning.

Incidental vocabulary learning through viewing television

2019 ◽  
Vol 171 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. H. Rodgers ◽  
Stuart Webb
Keyword(s):  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Test Design ◽  
Television Programs ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Word Families ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Learning

Abstract Previous research investigating L2 incidental vocabulary learning from video has primarily focused on short videos from genres that may be conducive to vocabulary learning. The research provides evidence that L2 incidental vocabulary learning can occur through video. However, it is uncertain whether viewing episodes of full-length television programs can contribute to incidental learning. This study investigated the effects of viewing 7+ hours of television on incidental vocabulary learning as well as the effects of the frequency and range. One-hundred and eighty-seven Japanese university students viewed ten 42-minute episodes of an American drama. Two vocabulary tests at differing sensitivities were used in a pre- and post-test design measuring receptive knowledge of the form-meaning connection of 60 word-families. The results indicated that (a) viewing television contributed to significant gains in vocabulary knowledge and (b) there was a positive relationship between frequency of occurrence and vocabulary learning. Pedagogical implications are discussed in detail.

scholarly journals The Newspaper Word List: A Specialised Vocabulary for Reading Newspapers

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihwa Chung
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Word List ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Word Families ◽  
General Service ◽  
Very High

The primary purpose of this study is to identify words that are of special importance for reading newspapers. In the Newspaper Corpus of 579,849 running words, 588 word families are identified as Newspaper Words. These words account for 6.8% of the running words in the corpus. When combined, proper names and 2,521 families of the General Service List of English Words (GSL) and the NWL make up 92.5% of the running words in the corpus. This is lower than the 98% ideal coverage required for understanding a text successfully, but very high given the small vocabulary size. Thus, the NWL will give the best return for vocabulary learning to learners of English as a foreign language who wish to read newspapers as soon as possible. 本研究の目的は新聞を読むのに必要な語彙を特定することである。Newspaperコーパスに記載された579,849語の中から6.8％に上る588語をNewspaper Wordsとして選び出した。固有名詞、General Service List of English Wordsの2,521語、NWLの語彙を総計するとコーパスの92.5％になる。テキストを理解するのに必要とされている98％よりはやや低い数値であるが、NWL全体の総語数を考慮すれば非常に高い値であるということができる。したがってNWLは新聞英語を早く読めるようになりたいと望む英語学習者にとっては最も効率のよいものであるということができる。

Limitations to the Spacing Effect

2005 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 257-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter P. J. L. Verkoeijen ◽  
Remy M. J. P. Rikers ◽  
Henk G. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Phase Retrieval ◽  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Spacing Effect ◽  
Word List ◽  
Intentional Learning ◽  
Study Phase ◽  
Learning Condition

Abstract. The spacing effect refers to the finding that memory for repeated items improves when the interrepetition interval increases. To explain the spacing effect in free-recall tasks, a two-factor model has been put forward that combines mechanisms of contextual variability and study-phase retrieval (e.g., Raaijmakers, 2003 ; Verkoeijen, Rikers, & Schmidt, 2004 ). An important, yet untested, implication of this model is that free recall of repetitions should follow an inverted u-shaped relationship with interrepetition spacing. To demonstrate the suggested relationship an experiment was conducted. Participants studied a word list, consisting of items repeated at different interrepetition intervals, either under incidental or under intentional learning instructions. Subsequently, participants received a free-recall test. The results revealed an inverted u-shaped relationship between free recall and interrepetition spacing in both the incidental-learning condition and the intentional-learning condition. Moreover, for intentionally learned repetitions, the maximum free-recall performance was located at a longer interrepetition interval than for incidentally learned repetitions. These findings are interpreted in terms of the two-factor model of spacing effects in free-recall tasks.

Incidental vocabulary learning and retention of EFL learners

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-52
Author(s):  
Marco Cancino
Keyword(s):  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Research Field ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Relevant Variable ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Topic Interest ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Learning ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Research addressing the effect of interest on learning has been thoroughly discussed in learning theory (Renninger et al., 2014). From this rich research field, topic interest has been put forward as a relevant variable in learning in general (Hidi, 2001; Renninger, 2009), and in L2 reading comprehension (Brantmeier, 2006; Eidswick, 2009). However, research focusing on the extent of its influence on L2 incidental vocabulary learning has been scarce (Lee & Pulido, 2017). Thus, this study sought to explore the relationship between topic interest and L2 vocabulary learning by asking 55 male EFL learners at a technological university in Chile to read texts in two conditions (high topic interest and low topic interest) and then assessing incidental learning and retention of twenty target words. Results suggest that topic interest influenced the vocabulary gains made by learners, and that the relationship between topic interest and vocabulary learning and retention can be mediated by dictionary look-up behaviour. Findings are discussed with a focus on the pedagogical actions that can increase learner topic interest.

scholarly journals Effects of Enhancement Techniques on L2 Incidental Vocabulary Learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Shiping Duan
Keyword(s):  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Multiple Choice ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
New Words ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Knowledge Scale

Enhancement Techniques are conducive to incidental vocabulary learning. This study investigated the effects of two types of enhancement techniques-multiple-choice glosses (MC) and L1 single-gloss (SG) on L2 incidental learning of new words and retention of them. A total of 89 university learners of English as a Freign Language (EFL) were asked to read the same reading texts with the two types of glossing and no glossing. Vocabulary acquisition was measured with the vocabulary knowledge scale (VKS). The results indicated that there were obvious vocabulary gains for both MC and SG groups. MC glossing is more conducive to incidental vocabulary learning than SG glossing in both immediate and delayed vocabulary post test. What’s more, learners with larger vocabulary size demonstrated much more significant gains than those with small ones.

scholarly journals Portuguese Vocabulary Profile: uma lista de vocabulário a aprendentes do PL2/PLE, baseada nos corpora de aprendentes e de livros de ensino

2017 ◽  
pp. 387-400
Author(s):  
Shintaro Torigoe
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Word List ◽  
Elementary Level ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Learner Corpora ◽  
Word Classification ◽  
The Common ◽  
Pilot Version ◽  
Vocabulary List

This paper reports the second pilot study of the Portuguese Vocabulary Profile (PVP) project, a Portuguese vocabulary list for learners in Japan based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Inspired by the English Vocabulary Profile (Capel, 2010, 2012), the PVP takes a learner-centric approach. For this study, the author modified the first pilot version which was constructed solely from learner corpora (Torigoe, 2016a) by comparing it with a word list based on a corpus of Portuguese textbooks published in Japan. The result is a broadened vocabulary for both the elementary and intermediate levels. The major improvement is that some intuitively basic words, including numbers, months of the year, foods, and facilities, which had been previously categorized as intermediate or advanced level words or which were missing from the first version due to their low frequency were correctly categorized as the elementary level words. However, the norm of word classification remains somewhat arbitrary given that the small size of both the input (learner corpora) and the comparative data (textbook corpus) does not allow for the use of statistical methods with less frequent words.

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