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Dr. Charles Browne, Professor of Applied LinguisticsChair, EFL Teacher Education ProgramMeiji Gakuin University, Tokyo, [email protected]
Outline of Presentation
1. Some basic findings of corpus linguistics
2. Introduction to problems faced by Japanese EFL learners related to vocabulary & reading
3. Introduction to online tools for identifying and teaching vocabulary from authentic videos
Why Focus on Vocabulary?
The seminal work in vocabulary instruction
Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Words % known # known Researcher
1 7% 97/100 West(53), Nation(90)
10 25% 3/4 West(53), Nation(90)
100 50% 1/2 West(53), Nation(90)
1000 75% 1/4 West(53), Engles(68)
2000 81% 1/7 West(53), Nation(90)
5000 95% 1/20 Hirsch & Nation(92)
8000 98% 1/50 Laufer (92), Coady(93)
350,000 100% 100/100 Oxford English Dictionary
The Importance of “Frequency”
Problem 1:
EFL learners don’t know enough high frequency
words…
How many words do L2 learners know? Minimum 5000 words needed for
independent learning(Laufer, 1989, 1992, Nation 2000, etc…)
Country Vocab. Size
Hours of Instruction
Reference
Japan (University) 2000-2300 800-1200 Shillaw (95), Barrow (99)
China (English Majors) 4000 1800-2400 Laufer (99)
Indonesia (University) 1220 900 Nurweni & Read (99)
Oman (University) 2000 1350 Hort et al (98)
Israel (HS graduates) 3500 1500 Laufer (98)
France (HS students) 1000 400 Arnaud et al (85)
Greece (age 15, HS) 1680 660 Milton & Meara (98)
Germany (age 15, HS) 1200 400 Milton & Meara (98)
Problem 2:
Reading and Listening materials in Japan (i.e.
INPUT) are too difficult…
Vocabulary & Readability: How do MEXT-approved EFL textbooks
measure up?
Junior High:
• Teaches first 1000 GSL words fairly well
• Readability of texts seems good - short passages, easy vocabulary, lots of pictures to support texts
Senior High:
• Focus changes dramatically to teaching of low frequency words
• Many, many words from 1000-2000 are never taught…
• Readability of texts is actually MORE difficult than unsimplified native speaker texts!
The Compleat Lexical Tutorwww.lextutor.ca
Vocab Profile: Online Vocabulary Analysis Tool
www.lextutor.ca
Typical Yomiuri Newspaper Article
85% expected for 2000 words
87.4%
Harry Potter Chapter 2 85% expected for 2000 words
94.1%
Typical Time Magazine Article 85% expected for 2000 words
80.9%
Japanese High School Textbook (Spectrum Unit 16)
85% expected for 2000 words
76.8%
Are Japanese students reading the right vocabulary? (Browne, 1996, 1998)
Text Coverage from 2000 High Frequency Words
Spectrum 71%
Milestone 78%
Unicorn 79%
Unsimplified Native Texts 85%
Are universities testing the right vocabulary? (Kikuchi, 2006, Browne & Kikuchi,
2008)
Text of Entrance Examinations for:
% Coverage from 2000 High Frequency Words
Keio Univ. 69%
Sophia Univ. 72%
Waseda Univ. 72%
Kyoto Univ. 77%
Nagoya Univ. 68%
Tokyo Univ. 80%
Summary of Vocab-Profile Results for Various Texts
20123
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Frequency
350,000
5,000
EFL Vocabulary Learning in Japan…
chaos
permission
andof
the
exasperate
digress
chaos
permission
andof
the
abstain
emigrate
torment
The Negative Effect of “Test English”
PROBLEM: Students NEED to learn the first 5000 words of English to use English in the real word…
But entrance exams and high school textbooks force students to memorize hundreds of low-frequency words…
RESULT? High school students can’t deal with real world English because they don’t know hundreds of the most important high frequency words…
sum
bid
ace
HFW2,289
2,566
4,441
14,641
23,371
25,537
42,024
84,168
Solution Number One:
COMPREHNSIBLE INPUT
authentic and motivating listening and reading materials
Graded Materials - Reading
• Cambridge
• Oxford• Penguin
• etc…
Graded Materials - Listening
(found materials on the internet)
Graded Materials - Listening
(recorded version of graded readers)
How to Grade a Reading or Listening Text..
http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/
http://www.lextutor.ca
Problem 3:Graded Content can be Boring….
Authentic content is what our student want, but….
But which is easy? Which is difficult?
Graded Authentic Videos
How can an “authentic” video be graded?....
Method 1: Teacher intuition
Method 2: Readability Formulas
Method 3: Vocabulary Frequency Formulas
Readability Formulas(Flesch-Kincaid, Flesch Reading Ease)
Readability Formulas(Flesch-Kincaid)
Readability Formulas(Flesch-Kincaid)
Readability Formulas(Flesch-Kincaid)
Readability Formulas(Flesch-Kincaid)
Readability Formulas(New Dale-Chall Formula)
Solution Number Two:
KEYWORD IDENTIFICATION
identifying the most important words to learn in a video
How to Identify Keywords
http://www.lextutor.ca/
How to Identify Keywords
http://www.lextutor.ca/
How to Identify Keywords
http://www.lextutor.ca/
Key Words for Dracula…
How to Identify Keywords
http://www.lextutor.ca/
How to Identify Keywords
http://www.lextutor.ca/
Key Words for Obama’s Education Speech...
Solution Number Three:
Scaffolding tools to help learners deal with videos above their
level
Scaffolding Tools…(Captioning, Repeat Function, Voice Speed
Contols)
EnglishCentral Scaffolding Tools…
(clickable dictionary, sample sentence, sound file)
100%
0%
Video Captioning(Google auto-captioning for YouTube videos…)
100%
0%
“Keyword” Captioning(“Automaticity” – decreasing cognitive load by deleting
less important/known vocabulary )
Problem 3:
The little vocabulary teaching that DOES go on is usually
decontexualized…
Classroom Flashcards Smart Phone Flashcards
Solution Number Four:
Concordancing
A corpus-based approach for teaching new words in context…
Concordancing for Language Learning
What do you do when you come across a word in an authentic video that your students don’t understand?...
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Concordancing for Language Learning
Solution Number Five:
KEYWORD LEARNING
In-context, spaced-repetition vocabulary learning system
100%
Short-term memory loss
50%
0%
Time
100%
0%
The Forgetting Curve Ebbinhaus (1885), Leitner (1972), Pimsleur (1967), Mondria, (1994)
Repeated viewings foster long-term retention
Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory
Based on the research of Ebbinghaus, Pimsleur, Leitner, and Mondria, electronic flashcards automatically repeat each new word at spaced time intervals, and until the learner achieves long-term, instant-recall ability.
Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory
Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory
Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory
Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory
Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory
Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory
Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory
Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory
Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory
Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory
Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of
videos
Quiz mode is based on Ebbbinghaus, Leitner and Pimsleur’s “spaced-repetition” approach
Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of
videos
First, the meaning and context of 2-3 new words are introduced via video flashcards
Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of
videos
Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of
videos
Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of
videos
Thank you !
For a copy of this Powerpoint, please contact:
Dr. Charles Browne, Professor of Applied LinguisticsChair, EFL Teacher Training ProgramMeiji Gakuin University, Dept. of [email protected]
