Vocabulary and comprehension: Two portraits

Parry, Kate

doi:10.1017/cbo9781139524643.007

Cited by 29 publications

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“…Research has also indicated ways in which reading-based vocabulary development can be enhanced through manipulation of various word, text, and task factors to provide optimal support for successful inferencing by learners. For example, student self-selection of reading materials may ensure high motivation and an appropriate difficulty level (Krashen, 1989), while themati-cally related reading provides repeated exposures to words in a given domain (Parry, 1993(Parry, , 1997. In Hulstijn's 1992 research, procedures that encouraged inferencing of word meanings in a reading text, while limiting guessing through the presentation of multiple choices, helped eliminate wrong guesses.…”

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confidence: 99%

Reading‐Based Exercises in Second Language Vocabulary Learning: An Introspective Study

Wesche

Paribakht

2000

The Modern Language Journal

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In this study, university English as a Second Language (ESL) learners' responses to 5 different types of text-based vocabulary exercises were examined. The objective was to understand better how such exercises may promote different kinds of lexical processing and learning and to compare these outcomes with those from thematic reading for comprehension. The results support a view of vocabulary acquisition as an elaborative and iterative process and demonstrate the primary role of the tasks learners carry out with new words that they encounter. Tasks provide learners with varied and multiple encounters with given words that highlight different lexical features, promoting elaboration and strengthening of different aspects of word knowledge. The findings also provide insight into the nature of the advantages, found in previous research, of using text-based vocabulary exercises together with a reading text as opposed to using multiple reading texts for the learning of particular words and their lexical features.THIS STUDY, A FOLLOW-UP TO AN EARLIER experiment, analysed university English as a Second Language (ESL) learners' introspective reflections while they were carrying out different kinds of vocabulary learning exercises drawn from a written text. 1 Its purpose was to explore how the exercises might promote vocabulary growth. The study was prompted by our interest in examining how reading practice interacts with vocabulary development and in explaining the outcomes of an earlier experiment in which reading, combined with text-based vocabulary exercises, led to gains in second language (L2) vocabulary knowledge that were superior to those obtained from a reading for comprehension condition involving multiple texts and equal instructional time . The text and the exercises used in this study were the same as those used in the earlier experiment, and the student participants were similar to the earlier participants in English proficiency, age, academic background, and variability of the first language (L1). The exercises represented a five-part classification based on the nature of the language task and its emphasis on given aspects of word knowledge . The focus of this research is on how learners responded to different vocabulary tasks-particularly with respect to the target words and their features. A better understanding of how given tasks may promote different kinds of lexical learning and of how learners deal with unfamiliar words while reading (Paribakht & Wesche, 1999) may, together, help explain the different vocabulary learning outcomes of the two conditions in the earlier experiment and lead to useful insights for vocabulary instruction. READING AND VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENTResearchers in both L1 and L2 acquisition have studied the role of reading in the acquisition of vocabulary knowledge. In vocabulary acquisition

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confidence: 99%

Reading‐Based Exercises in Second Language Vocabulary Learning: An Introspective Study

Wesche

Paribakht

2000

The Modern Language Journal

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“…Some students appear to approach such words very analytically, but fail to look at the larger context. Other students seem to focus on the broader context, but miss information provided by word parts (Parry, 1997). Mori and Nagy (1999), who examined the degree to which English-speaking learners of Japanese utilize information from word parts and information from surrounding context in interpreting novel kanji compounds, found considerable individual differences: Some learners can successfully combine information from component kanji characters and information from context, but others tend to rely too much on one or the other of these sources.…”

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Beliefs about Language Learning and their Relationship to the Ability to Integrate Information from Word Parts and Context in Interpreting Novel Kanji Words

Mori

1999

The Modern Language Journal

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This study explores the relationship between the strategies second language learners use to interpret unfamiliar words in a target language, and their general epistemological beliefs (i.e., beliefs about the nature of knowledge) and beliefs specifically about language learning. More specifically, this study examines how learner beliefs are related to the ability to combine information from word parts and context in interpreting novel semantically semitransparent kanji compounds (i.e., words consisting of 2 or more Chinese characters). Forty-seven Englishspeaking learners of Japanese completed both a belief questionnaire and a 72-item multiplechoice kanji compounds test. Results indicate modest but statistically significant correlations between (a) belief in the simplicity of knowledge and a tendency to overrely on a single source of information, (b) avoidance of ambiguity and overreliance on kanji clues, and (c) perception of the difficulty of kanji learning and greater use of contextual clues. These findings suggest that language learners' word inference strategies at least partially reflect their beliefs about learning in general and language learning in particular.

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“…Summers' (1988) chapter in Carter and McCarthy's book Vocabulary and Language Teaching has the promising title ‘The role of dictionaries in language learning.’ What is surprising and revealing, however, is the fact that her chapter, and indeed the whole book, refers exclusively to monolingual dictionaries. The same observation may be made of Oxford (1990), White (1997), Parry (1997), Schmitt (2000), Carter (2001) and Ronald (2009).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 52%

“…What is surprising and revealing, however, is the fact that her chapter, and indeed the whole book, refers exclusively to monolingual dictionaries. The same observation may be made of Oxford (1990), White (1997), Parry (1997), Schmitt (2000), Carter (2001) and Ronald (2009).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 55%

Power and pedagogy in ELT: Native‐speaker teachers and the case of bilingual dictionaries and L1

Mandalios

2012

Int J App Linguistics

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This interpretive study explored native‐speaker ELT teachers' beliefs and practices regarding bilingual dictionaries, both as language learners and teachers. Evidence emerged of a significant discrepancy: while respondents reported that bilingual dictionaries were indispensable in their own language‐learning, they felt constrained from encouraging their use among their own students because they felt bilingual dictionaries are viewed negatively by current ELT theory, which they perceive as continuing to support the monolingual approach. The study indicates an imbalance of power within ELT, as respondents felt obliged to follow certain pedagogical approaches, which may conflict with their own instincts and experiences. It offers support for recent calls for the reinstatement of the L1, a reappraisal of the role of bilingual dictionaries, and investigation into the distribution of pedagogical power. Cette étude d'interprétation explorait les opinions et expériences d'enseignants en anglais (l'anglais étant leur langue primaire) concernant les dictionnaires bilingues, en tant qu'étudiants et enseignants. Une différence importante est apparue: alors que les participants ont déclaré que les dictionnaires bilingues sont indispensables à leur propre apprentissage des langues, ils se sentaient contraints d'éviter leur utilisation parmi leurs propres étudiants parce qu'ils pensent que les dictionnaires bilingues sont perçus négativement par la théorie actuelle du ELT, une vue qu'ils considèrent comme une continuation à favoriser l'approche monolingue. Cette étude indique un déséquilibre de pouvoir au sein du ELT, car les participants se sentaient obligés de suivre certaines méthodes pédagogiques, qui pouvaient entrer en conflit avec leurs propres instincts et expériences. Ceci offre un soutien aux appels récents pour la réintégration de la méthode L1 (langue primaire), une réévaluation du rôle des dictionnaires bilingues, et une enquête sur la distribution du pouvoir pédagogique.

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Vocabulary and comprehension: Two portraits

Cited by 29 publications

References 0 publications

Reading‐Based Exercises in Second Language Vocabulary Learning: An Introspective Study

Reading‐Based Exercises in Second Language Vocabulary Learning: An Introspective Study

Beliefs about Language Learning and their Relationship to the Ability to Integrate Information from Word Parts and Context in Interpreting Novel Kanji Words

Power and pedagogy in ELT: Native‐speaker teachers and the case of bilingual dictionaries and L1

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