Addressing the Vocabulary Gap with the GSL and the AWL

TESL Ontario ConferenceOctober 2011Daragh Hayes & Kristibeth Kelly

AGENDA The Vocabulary Predicament - What do learners need to know? The General Service List (GSL) The Academic Word List (AWL) Approaches at Lower Levels Application at Intermediate/Advanced

Levels

THE VOCABULARY PREDICAMENT

Spoken Discourse:•2,000 words everyday spoken conversation

(Schonell et al., 1956) •2,000 – 3,000 words for 95% comprehension

(Laufer, 1989)•6,000 – 7,000 words for 98% comprehension

(Nation, 2006)

THE VOCABULARY PREDICAMENT

Written Discourse:•8,000 - 9,000 words to comprehend the

average newspaper article (Jeffries, 2011)•10,000 word families to read most university

textbooks (Hazenburg & Hulstijn, 1996)•15,000 – 20,000 word families for a native

speaker-like proficiency (Nation & Waring, 1997)• (Lemmas = inflections: adapt adapts; no

change in Part of Speech)

THE VOCABULARY PREDICAMENT

Written Discourse:•8,000 - 9,000 words to comprehend the

average newspaper article (Jeffries, 2011)•10,000 word families to read most university

textbooks (Hazenburg & Hulstijn, 1996)•15,000 – 20,000 word families for a native

speaker-like proficiency (Nation & Waring, 1997)• (Word Families = adapt adaptation; the

other Parts of Speech)

Reading Comprehension:

95% of the words in any given text to facilitate comprehension (Schmitt, 2000)

For full comprehension, 98% coverage is necessary (Jeffries, 2011 via Nation)

HOW MUCH DOES A LEARNER NEED TO KNOW?

HOW MUCH DOES A LEARNER NEED TO KNOW? (OPTIMISM!)

50% of the words in an average passage (e.g. newspaper article) are common function words (the, it, to, is, etc.).

If a learner knows the 2,000 most frequent words, he/she knows 85-90% of the words in most reading texts.

(Jeffries, 2011, Extensive Reading, via Nation)

Wordspelling

meaning

grammar

pronunciationfrequency

connotations

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ‘KNOW’ A WORD?

formality

collocations

Vocabulary is not an all-or-nothing piece of learning for any particular word… It is a gradual process of one meeting with a word adding to or strengthening the small amounts of knowledge gained about the word from previous encounters.

(Nation, 2001)

FACILITATING VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

How do we begin to address the gap?

Incidental Learning?

Extensive Reading?

Explicit Vocabulary Instruction?

INCIDENTAL LEARNING…learning which accrues as a by-product of language usage, without the intended purpose of learning a particular linguistic feature. An example is any vocabulary learned while reading a novel simply for pleasure, with no stated goal of learning new lexical items.

(Schmitt, 2010: 29)

…learning which accrues as a by-product of language usage, without the intended purpose of learning a particular linguistic feature. An example is any vocabulary learned while reading a novel simply for pleasure, with no stated goal of learning new lexical items.

(Schmitt, 2010: 29)

…is learning which accrues as a result of a focused and deliberate attempt to learn a particular linguistic feature. An example is any vocabulary learned from explicitly studying a word list with the intention of memorizing the words on it.

(Schmitt, 2011)

INTENTIONAL LEARNING

…is learning which accrues as a result of a focused and deliberate attempt to learn a particular linguistic feature. An example is any vocabulary learned from explicitly studying a word list with the intention of memorizing the words on it.

(Schmitt, 2011)

7 - 10, up to 20 encounters, depending on the word, the context, the type of text, etc.

(Jeffries, 2011)

Learning = Function of repetition & time (Mikulecky,

2011)

FACILITATING VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

FACILITATING VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

Explicit Teaching Intentional Learning: - Explicit focus on target linguistic features results

in learning that is:• stronger• more durable•more consistent among learners with

different learning styles Productive mastery Productive engagement

(Schmitt, 2011)

EXPOSURE VS. LEARNING

Reading does not teach you the word

meanings

Students need multiple

exposures to words

HOW TO BEST ‘TEACH’ A WORD?

Vocabulary cannot be taught. It

can be presented, explained,

included in all kinds of activities,

and experienced in all manner of

associations … but ultimately it

is learned by the individual.

Wilga Rivers, 1983

Vocabulary cannot be taught.

HOW CAN WE BEST ‘TEACH’ A WORD?

The most important deliberate

learning part of a vocabulary

course is the learners taking

responsibility for their own

learning.

Paul Nation, 2008

General Service List (GSL)- 2,284 most common head words in English

(i.e. “be” includes “am”, “is”, “are”, etc.)

Academic Word List (AWL) - 570 words, ten sublists, excludes the GSL

(Note: UWL updated to AWL)

WORD FREQUENCY LISTS

WORD FREQUENCY LISTS

(Hotta Dover & Dimeropoulos, 2010)

Text Coverage for a Range of TextsWORD FREQUENCY LISTS

Source GSL(first 2,000)

UWL Total

Academic 78% 9% 87%

Newspapers 80% 4% 84%

Popular Magazines 83% 4% 87%

Fiction 87% 2% 89%(Nation & Waring, 1997)

Access to list Rationale & data Accountability Link to success in

course (i.e. Test scores)

GSL AT THE LOWER LEVELS

72.15 %-First 1,000 level words

8.79%-Second 1,000 level words

3.12% -Academic Word List

15.97% -Off List

Vocabulary Journal - Front

LOWER LEVEL APPROACH:VOCABULARY JOURNALS

Vocabulary Journal - Back

LOWER LEVEL APPROACH:L1 AS A LEARNING RESOURCE

Establish a meaning – form link

L1 as vehicle to establish this link quickly (Schmitt, 2011)

LOWER LEVEL APPROACH:L1 AS A LEARNING RESOURCE

Cummins’ ‘Dual Iceberg’ model

Pre-existing schema relabeling

LOWER LEVEL APPROACH:L1 AS A LEARNING RESOURCE

(Cummins, 1980/2001, p. 118)

INDIVIDUALIZED VOCABULARY QUIZ… IN PRACTICE

First three words only!

Access to list Explanation of Benefits

- get “buy in” Multiple Exposures - reading texts

- listening passages Practice - online - in class Accountability - rubrics Application

- writing - speaking

AWL IN THE INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED LEVELS

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED APPLICATION:AWL HIGHLIGHTER

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED APPLICATION:AWL HIGHLIGHTER

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/awlhighlighter.htm

AWL HIGHLIGHTER IN USE: STUDENT ESSAY

ACCOUNTABILITY AT LOWER LEVELS

Remember the individual

vocabulary quiz?

How much do you remember?

RETENTION STRATEGYREHEARSAL & REPETITION

In what manner does a mind forget new information?

(Schmitt, N., 2011)

RETENTION STRATEGYREHEARSAL & REPETITION

(Schmitt, N., 2000, p. 131)

RETENTION STRATEGY:KEEP IT BRAIN FRIENDLY

ReadingListening

to speech

Thinking about words

Thinking about

words & speaking

Carter, R. Mapping the mind. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.

SUGGESTIONS OF HOW TO INCLUDE THE GSL & AWL IN AN ESL PROGRAM: Raise awareness among faculty and students Link the GSL & AWL to student success Add vocabulary level questions to placement,

diagnostic and/or exit level tests Assess current levels, set tangible learning targets Promote self-study and individual accountability Make explicit links to classroom evaluation Include GSL/AWL in all skill areas (Don't just limit vocabulary to reading & writing

tasks alone)

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED ONLINE RESOURCES:

AWL WebsitesPractice your knowledge of AWL words - http://awl.londongt.org/questionsAWL Highlighter - http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/awlhighlighter.htmAWL Exercises & Pronunciation - http://www.academicvocabularyexercises.com/id21.htmPrefixes & Suffixes- http://www.uefap.com/vocab/vocfram.htmConcordance - http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/concordances.htm

The GSL and AWL Lists of Words http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/wordlists.htmExercises from all 10 sublists of the AWL - http://www.academicvocabularyexercises.com/Reading Articles with AWL words - http://www.uefap.com/vocab/exercise/exercise.htmAcademic Word Lists and Exercises - http://www.mrcoward.com/slcusd/academicwords.html

GSL - Games & Exercises http://www.uefap.com/vocab/exercise/wordsrch/gsl/gsl.htmGeneral Service List Exercises - http://www.englishvocabularyexercises.com/

Student Choice in Vocabulary Testing - http://www.teslontario.org/uploads/publications/contact/ContactFall2011final.pdf

Addressing the Vocabulary Gap with the GSL and the AWL

Daragh Hayes - dchayes@fanshawec.ca& Kristibeth Kelly – kkelly@fanshawec.ca