An English reading class of 10th graders ( N = 50) was asked to self-construct English word cards for unknown vocabulary incidentally encountered when completing textbook readings. The students were assigned this task to determine what linguistic and nonlinguistic elements they would self-select to include on the cards and whether the appearance of those particular self-selected elements affect English vocabulary growth. Learners’ second language (L2) vocabulary size was assessed before and after the investigation, and learners’ self-constructed word cards were subjected to qualitative analysis uncovering additional “elements” included on the cards that were not suggested by the classroom teacher. Among the uncovered “element” themes (i.e., Formulaic Language, Word Formation, Additional Language Features, Creativity, Misunderstanding, and Carelessness), Word Formation was found to correlate significantly with L2 vocabulary growth. A multiple regression model accounted for 15.8% of the variance in vocabulary growth of which word formation explained the most variance, yielding a medium effect. A critical discussion of findings is provided in connection with previous literature to elucidate the feasibility of incorporating word card construction into L2 classroom instruction while also providing teachers suggestions on implementing a word card construction component into their classes.
Development of vocabulary is one of the fundamental elements for second language acquisition; it is important to meaning transfer and successful communication as well (Barcroft 2004). The purpose of the research reported in this paper was to investigate to what extent the characteristics of vocabulary affect Taiwanese English language majors’ second-language vocabulary acquisition and retention. This research builds upon similar research conducted by Willis and Ohashi (2012), which found a relationship between acquisition and a word’s frequency, cognateness, and length for Japanese learners of English. Our results indicate a significant relationship between acquisition and a word’s frequency, level of polysemy, and part of speech. Correlation results show that polysemy and frequency are both strongly related to acquisition. Nevertheless, a negative correlation between phonemes and acquisition was also shown. The findings indicate that high frequency words and polysemous words are both easily acquired and retained; in contrast, words with more phonemes require more effort by Taiwanese English language majors to learn and retain. Findings from a multiple regression analysis further suggest that high frequency polysemous nouns are easily acquired and retained by Taiwanese English language majors. Pedagogical implications concerning the variables investigated are provided.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.