Integrating Concordance Tools Into L2 Vocabulary Instruction

Since its emergence, corpora have made investigating language possible in a precise and objective way. Language practitioners are now equipped with concordancing tools that can check millions of utterances in seconds. These tools have caused a revolution in processing and analyzing a language for different purposes. Teachers now can examine the information in a textbook by referring back to corpus tools, keep track of the target language use, and infer generalizations that are hardly provided by traditional language books. After presenting a theoretical and historical overview of corpora and concordancers, this chapter discusses the role of corpora and concordancing tools in English language teaching (ELT), specifically in vocabulary instruction, and presents four corpus-based activity ideas that the classroom practitioners can easily utilize in their classes.

Semantic Reasoning: Building Vocabulary With Critical Thinking Skills

Purpose: Increasing the depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge is critical for academic success, particularly for middle and high school students who face ever-increasing linguistic demands with each grade advancement. Implementing effective vocabulary instruction methods that integrate with classroom curricula remains of critical clinical importance for struggling students. This clinical focus article addresses the challenge of contextual vocabulary instruction by presenting semantic reasoning, an evidence-based instructional approach that utilizes both cognitive and linguistic processes. Semantic reasoning pairs critical-thinking, multiple visual examples, and language-based instruction to teach vocabulary words. Conclusions: This article provides a description of semantic reasoning as an evidence-based vocabulary teaching approach that can be used in contextualized language intervention, particularly with adolescent students. Step-by-step guides for preparing and implementing contextualized vocabulary lessons that use semantic reasoning are provided in an effort to promote clinical application of this approach.

Crosslinguistic Influence (CLI) of Lexical Breadth and Depth in the Vocabulary of Bilingual Kindergarten Children – A Bilingual Intervention Study

Introduction: Research in recent years has explored the vocabulary size (lexical breadth) of bilingual children, but less is known about the richness of bilingual word knowledge (lexical depth), and about how knowledge of words in the two languages interact. This study explores how bilingual narrative intervention with vocabulary instruction in each language may modulate crosslinguistic influence (CLI) between the languages of bilingual kindergarten children, focusing on CLI of lexical knowledge, and which factors modulate performance.Methods: Forty-one typically developing English-Hebrew bilingual children (M = 64.63 months) participated. A bilingual adaptation of Story Champs narrative intervention program (Spencer and Petersen, 2012) was used to deliver vocabulary instruction in separate blocks of home language (HL) and school language (SL) sessions. Different intervention words were targeted in each language, but the children were tested on all target words in both languages. Lexical knowledge was assessed with a definition task four times throughout the study: prior to intervention, after each intervention block, and 4–6 weeks later. Learner characteristics (chronological age, age of onset of bilingualism and length of exposure) and proficiency in each language (standardized tests, familiarity with the vocabulary introduced in the intervention at baseline) were examined as possible modulators of performance.Results: Children showed growth in lexical breadth and depth in their HL/English after HL intervention and in lexical breadth in the SL/Hebrew following SL intervention, with CLI for semantic depth observed via a qualitative analysis, but not quantitatively. Better HL/English performance was correlated with later AoB (and shorter SL exposure) and higher HL language proficiency scores. Children with higher HL/English proficiency responded better to the SL/Hebrew intervention, gaining more than those with lower English proficiency. Children with SL/Hebrew vocabulary dominance at the outset of the study also gained more from the HL/English intervention. No correlations were found between learner characteristics and SL performance.Discussion: The current study indicates that bilingual narrative intervention with vocabulary instruction may be efficacious for improving the lexical breadth and depth of bilingual kindergarten children. It suggests that CLI may enhance bilingual children’s language learning success, and points to the importance of strengthening both languages of bilingual children.

Explicit vocabulary instruction: Effects of vocabulary learning on Form Two ESL learners

Per its English curriculum, vocabulary instruction is only integrated indirectly in the teaching of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills in Malaysian schools. ESL learners then may overlook the variety of meanings that a word and its spelling can offer. This research aims to describe the effects of the explicit approach of vocabulary instruction on 30 Form Two (eighth grade) students from a suburban school in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. A descriptive style was adopted, and specific vocabulary lessons were used to help students learn the target words. Using descriptive statistics, vocabulary pre- and post-test scores were analysed and compared to determine the impact of this approach. The frequency counts, percentages, mean scores, and standard deviation of the students’ evaluation form responses were analysed. Content analysis was used to transcribe, classify, and categorise qualitative data from the interview session. According to the data, the students’ vocabulary scores increased dramatically in the post-test, with a mean gap of 21.9. The students were also enthusiastic about the teacher’s instructions (M=4.48, SD=0.64) and vocabulary lessons (M=4.34, SD=0.59). It is suggested that the explicit approach of vocabulary instruction, which engages students in exciting vocabulary learning techniques as employed by this study could enhance their vocabulary knowledge.

The Effect of WeChat-Based Online Instruction on EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Knowledge

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of online instruction through different mobile applications has become more common in education all over the world. Therefore, this research investigated the potential effects of using WeChat-based online instruction on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge. To achieve this objective, 44 Iranian intermediate subjects were picked out among 67 students based on the findings of the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). The subjects were then randomly divided into two equal groups: experimental and control. After assigning the subjects to two groups, they were pretested by a vocabulary test. Then, the experimental group received vocabulary instruction using WeChat application, while the control group received a conventional vocabulary instruction. After the instruction, a vocabulary posttest was given to both groups to assess the effectiveness of the treatment. The gathered data were analyzed through independent samples t-test, one-way ANCOVA, and paired samples t-test. The outcomes attained in this research demonstrated that there was a significant difference between the posttests of both groups in favor of the experimental group. Eventually, the conclusions and the pedagogical implications of this study were explicated.