L2 Vocabulary Research and Instructional Practices: Where ... · L2 Vocabulary Research and Instructional Practices: Where Are the ... vocabulary in a limited period of time;

TESL-EJ20.1,May2016 Rossiter,Abbott,&Kushnir 1

TheElectronicJournalforEnglishasaSecondLanguageL2VocabularyResearchandInstructionalPractices:WhereAretheGaps?May2016–Volume20,Number1MarianJ.RossiterUniversityofAlberta,Canada<[email protected]>

MarilynL.AbbottUniversityofAlberta,Canada<[email protected]>

AndreaKushnirUniversityofAlberta,Canada<[email protected]>

Abstract

Thisstudyinvestigatesthevocabularyknowledge,beliefs,andpracticesofadultEnglishas a second language (ESL) instructors. Thirty participants responded to an onlinesurveydesignedtoelicitinformationregardingtheirknowledgeandbeliefs;approachesto assessment; vocabulary teaching techniques and strategies; instructional practicesrelated to repetition, retention, andextensive reading;useof technology, dictionaries,frequency lists, corpora, and formulaic sequences; and professional developmentinterests. We used descriptive statistics to analyze responses and identifieddiscrepancies between teacher beliefs/practices and current research findings in: (1)the setting of instructional priorities (word phrase frequency and coverage;expectationsoflearningrateandretention);(2)vocabularyassessment;(3)vocabularyteachingpractices;(4)extensivereading;(5)technology;and(6)dictionarychoice,use,and training. Participants expressed greatest interest in the following professionaldevelopmenttopics:teachingtechniques,learningstrategies,assessment,thelinkingofclassroom practice to research findings, and effects of repetition. Professionaldevelopment in evidence-based best practices in these areas would enhance theteachingandlearningofsecondlanguage(L2)vocabulary.Keywords:Englishasasecondlanguage,vocabulary,instruction,beliefsandpractices,adult


Introduction

Although native speakers naturally acquire vocabulary through contextualized inputovermanyyears,second language(L2) learnersoftenneedto learna largeamountofvocabulary in a limitedperiod of time; thus, vocabulary instruction is of fundamentalconcerntoeducators.Languageteachersarefacedwithdecisionsregardingvocabularyassessment,instructionalpriorities,teachingtechniques,vocabularylearningstrategies,andresources,amongothers. In thepast20years,a revivalof research interest inL2vocabularyteachingandlearning(Folse,2010;Laufer,2009;Miura,2005;Read,2013)hasexpandedourunderstandingofvocabularyacquisitionandledtothedevelopmentofbestpractices that instructorscanuse toenhance learning.However,manyEnglishlanguage instructors are not reading academic journals (Borg, 2013) and “the gapbetween research and practice seems to have increased rather than diminished”(Korthagen,2007,p.303).Todetermineifgapsexistbetweenvocabularyresearchandinstructional practices, we conducted a survey to explore adult English as a secondlanguage (ESL) teacher knowledge and beliefs, assessment of vocabulary knowledge,and L2 vocabulary teaching and learning techniques, strategies, and resources (i.e.,repetition and retention, dictionaries, frequency lists and corpora, and formulaicsequences).TeacherKnowledgeandBeliefs

AccordingtoBorg(2003),teachercognitionis“whatteachersthink,know,andbelieveand the relationships of thesemental constructs towhat teachers do in the languageteaching classroom” (p. 81). Teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning, the role ofteachers, curricula and materials, and effective instructional techniques affect theirclassroompractice(see,forexample,Borg,2003,2006;Fleming,Bangou&Fellus,2011;Phipps & Borg, 2009; Zhang, 2008). These beliefs are influenced by factors such aseducationandotherformsofprofessionaldevelopment,experience,andengagementinandwithresearch.

Teachercognitionstudieshavefocusedprimarilyontheteachingofgrammar,reading,andwriting(Borg,2003,2006).AsZhang(2008)notes:

[I]n recent years, vocabulary instruction, one of the most important curricularaspects in language teaching, hasattracted littleattention.TobetterunderstandL2teacherknowledge,moreworkwillbeneeded focusingonthisunderexaminedcurricularaspectoflanguageteaching,includingvocabularyinstruction.(p.25)

Little research to date, however, has been conducted on L2 vocabulary research andteachercognition(i.e.,thestudyofteachers’knowledge,beliefs,attitudes,andpractices;butseeGao&Ma,2011;Niu&Andrews,2012;Zhang,2008).AssessmentofVocabularyKnowledge

Nation(2001,2008)arguesthatinordertoprovideeffectiveinstruction,teachersmustfirst measure learners’ vocabulary knowledge, but he adds that this is not commonpractice inall institutions(Nation,2011).Herecommendstheuseof toolssuchastheVocabulary Levels Test and the Productive Vocabulary Levels Test for assessing ESLlearnervocabulary(Nation,2008).


Research suggests that speakers whose first language (L1) is English acquireapproximately1,000newwordfamiliesperyearforthefirst20yearsoftheirlives,soan average educated English L1 speaker knows about 20,000 word families (Nation,2013)or70,000words(Folse,2011).Schmitt(2008)summarizedresearchstudiesonpost-secondary English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ vocabulary size, whichranged from 1,200 to 2,000word families after 800 to 1,500 hours of instruction. AstudybyWebbandChang(2012)showedvocabularygainsingroupsofTaiwaneseEFLlearners that ranged from 18 to 430 in one year; such considerable gaps betweenlearner and L1 speaker vocabulary knowledge emphasize the need for efficientvocabulary teaching and learning practices. Many studies (e.g., Hu & Nation, 2000;Nation,2006;Schmitt, Jiang&Grabe,2011)havefoundthatinordertocomprehendawritten English text without the use of a dictionary, native speakers and non-nativespeakers need to know at least 95-98% of thewords in the text. Therefore, learnersneedtoknowapproximately8,000to9,000wordfamiliesinordertounderstandtextssuchasnovelsandnewspaperarticles.AccordingtoacorpusanalysisbyNation(2006),themostcommon2,000wordsofEnglishwouldfacilitatecomprehensionofabout90%of the words in everyday spoken English; however, an understanding of 98% isrecommended.Tomakeuptheadditional8%textcoverage,anincreasein6,000-7,000wordfamilieswouldberequired.

L2VocabularyTeachingandLearningTechniques,Strategies,andResources

Nation (2008, 2013) listsmany typical techniques that teachers and learners employ:saying a new word aloud, write the word on the board, giving a simple definition,lookingup theword inadictionary,usingvocabularynotebooks todefinenewwordsandtheirformsandotherinformationofinterest,studyingtargetwordlistsandtheirL1translations, and reviewingword cardswith the targetwordwrittenonone sideof asmall card and its L1 translation/picture on the other. These techniques assist in thedevelopment of the nine aspects of word knowledge: pronunciation, spelling, wordparts, meaning, associations, grammar, collocations, register, and frequency (Nation,2013). Because there are multiple aspects of word knowledge, ranging from simplyknowing its spelling and pronunciation to learning its collocations and frequency,learninganewwordisanincrementalprocess.

In an interview with Miura (2005), Nation reminds us that although the currentcommunicative approach emphasizes contextualization and implicit vocabularylearning,researchshowsexplicitvocabularylearningtobeveryeffective.Nation(2008)assertsthat:

Everypieceofresearchcomparingdeliberatelearningwithincidentallearninghasshownthatdeliberatewordlearningeasilybeatsincidentalvocabularylearningintermsofthetimetakento learnandtheamount learned.Thedeliberate learningstudiesalsoshowthatsuchlearninglastsforaverylongtime.(p.104)

Learning the form-meaning connection (the L2word form and itsmeaning) of targetwords in a short period of time is facilitated by explicit instruction of isolatedwords(Folse,2004;Nation,2001,2011;Webb,2009).However,contextisveryimportantfor


strengtheninganddeepeningwordknowledge,sostudentsshouldhaveaccesstobothtypesofinstruction.Nation(2001)urgesinstructorsnottospendvaluableclasstimeinthe direct teaching of vocabularywords outside of the 2,000most frequentwords ofEnglish;instead,studentsshouldbeencouragedtostudytheseontheirowntimeusingeffectivevocabularylearningstrategies.

Repetitionandretention

Schmitt (2008)suggested that thenumberof times learnersneed toencounteranewwordinordertolearnitsmeaningrangesfrom8to10,andWebb(2007)foundthattogainsizablereceptiveandproductivewordknowledge,participantsneededmorethan10exposurestoaword.Theneedforrepeatedexposurevariesaccordingtofactorssuchas studentmotivation, attention, similarity between the L1 and L2words, short-termmemory capacity, and quality of input. Nation (2013) noted that in addition to thenumberofrepetitions,thespacingofrepetitionsaffectsacquisition,facilitatesretention,andinhibitsattrition(Ebbinghaus,1913;Weltens&Grendel,1993).

Repetition and retention are also enhanced through extensive reading, which Nation(2001) defines as the reading of relatively large amounts of text with a focus oncomprehending meaning. Graded readers are typically used in L2 extensive readingprograms because they have controlled vocabulary and grammatical structures forspecific reading levels. Extensive reading has also been recognized as an importantmeans of increasing students’ exposure to comprehensible input (Cobb, 2008; Horst,2005;Krashen,1989;Nation,2011;Pigada&Schmitt,2006;Waring&Takaki,2003).

Technology

With advances in technology, a greater variety of tools (e.g., computer programs,Internetwebsites,electronicdictionaries,cellphoneapps,e-bookreaders)areavailableto enhanceL2vocabulary acquisition (Nurmukhamedov, 2012).Although thebenefitsand drawbacks of such tools have not yet been extensively researched, somepreliminary studies (e.g., Kilickaya & Krajka, 2010; Loucky, 2010; Varley, 2009) haveshownpositiveeffectsoftechnologyuseonvocabularyacquisition.Dictionaries

Currently,onecanfindonlinedictionaries,handheldelectronicdictionaries,dictionaryapplicationsforcellphones,andsoftwareversionsofdictionaries(thatoftencomeasanaccompanyingCD-ROMwithpaperdictionaries).Althoughthereisstilllimitedresearchinthisarea,somestudies(e.g.,Dziemianko,2010;Pasfield-Neofitou,2009)havefoundthat electronic dictionaries are at least as or more effective than their papercounterparts.

BilingualizeddictionariesareacrossbetweentraditionalmonolingualdictionariesandbilingualdictionariesthatpresentonlytheL1headwordandanL2translation(Laufer&Kimmel,1997).Thesedictionariesarethusahybridformthatincludesdefinitionsanddetails of word usage in both languages. Although many ESL instructors have apreferenceformonolingualdictionaries(Folse,2004),avarietyofstudiessuggestthatbilingualizeddictionaries are thebetter choice for students at all levels of proficiency(Chen,2010,2011;Folse,2004;Laufer&Kimmel,1997;Nation,2013).


Manyresearchers(e.g.,Folse,2004;Nation,2001;Tang,1997)havenotedthatstudents,especially thosewith a non-alphabetic L1, often do not knowhow to use dictionarieseffectivelyandthattheybenefitfromtrainingindictionaryuse,suchasunderstandinghow to find alphabetized entries, using the dictionary’s pronunciation guide, andcomprehendinggrammarexplanations.Pasfield-Neofitou(2009)notes:“Itappearsthatteachersneedtogiveatleastsomeexplicitinstructiononhowtousethevariouskindsofdictionaries”(p.17).Frequencylistsandcorpora

Frequencylists(themostcommonwordsinEnglish)andcorpora(electroniccollectionsof written/spoken authentic texts) illustrate the increasing role of technology inenhancing language acquisition (Horst, Cobb, & Nicolae, 2005; Read, 2004). Englishfrequency listscommonlyusedbyESLteachers includeWest’s(1953)GeneralServiceListandCoxhead’s(2000)AcademicWordList.Well-knownexamplesof largeEnglishcorporausedtoexaminevocabularyuseincontextarethe425-million-wordCorpusofContemporary American English (COCA) (Davies, 2008) and the 100-million-wordBritishNationalCorpus(BNC)(BritishNationalCorpus,2007).

Formulaicsequences

Formulaicsequencesarerecurrentmulti-wordlexicalitemsthatfunctionandneedtobelearned as a single unit, for example, idioms (kick thebucket,apieceofcake), phrasalverbs (calloff,throwaway), andother ‘chunks’ (Iwaswondering if,ontheotherhand)(Schmitt,2010).Thesearekeytoachievingfluentproduction(Nation,2013).Accordingtotheliterature,thepercentageofspeech/textmadeupof formulaicsequencesvariesfrom32%(Foster,2001)to58%(Erman&Warren,2000);Nation(2006)estimatesthatinspokenEnglish,itisperhapsashighas90%.MartinezandSchmitt’s(2012)PhrasalExpressionsList(PHRASEList)presentsthe505mostfrequentformulaicsequencesinEnglish,basedontheBNC.TheAcademicFormulasList (Simpson-Vlach&Ellis,2010)presents themost common 3-, 4-, and 5-word formulaic sequences (e.g.,the questionof,referredtoas,tosomeextent)foundinavarietyofacademiccorpora.Theseareusefulresourcesforinstructors;however,moreempiricalresearchisneededonbestpracticesfor teaching formulaic sequences,which are not adequately represented in publishedlearnertexts(Meunier,2012).Teacherknowledgeandbeliefshaveaprofoundeffectontheirvocabularyinstructionalpractices; however, due to thewide variety of contextual factors in theL2 classroom,approachestoteachingandlearningvocabularymaydiffer.AccordingtoFolse(2010),“[alt]hough teachers recognize their learners’ lexical gaps, many feel uncertain abouthowvocabularycanbestbeincorporatedintotheirteachingplans”(p.143).Thus,thepurpose of this study was to explore adult ESL teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, andinstructionalpracticesbyaddressingthefollowingresearchquestions:

1. WhatknowledgeandbeliefsdoESLinstructorshavewithrespecttoteachingL2vocabulary?

2. Whenandhowoftendoinstructorsassessstudentvocabulary?3. What vocabulary teaching techniques do they use and how frequently do they

usethem?


4. Whatvocabularylearningstrategiesdotheydevelopintheirclassrooms?5. Whatvocabularylearningresourcesaremostfrequentlyused?

MethodParticipants

An onlineSurveyMonkey® questionnaire was sent via email to members of aprofessional ESL teaching organization. Responses were received from 30 adult ESLinstructors (85% female, 15% male) with at least one year of full-time teachingexperience. They ranged in age from 28 to 65 years (M= 48y;Mdn= 52;SD= 10.5).Experience was used as a criterion because, as Borg (2003) noted, pre-service andnovice teachers often have knowledge and beliefs that differ greatly from those ofexperiencedteachers.Eight-ninepercentofrespondentsindicatedthattheyhadatleast5yearsofESLteachingexperienceinCanada(M=15years;Mdn=11;SD=6.4;Range:3-41).Tenparticipants reportedhaving taught full-timeEnglish as a foreign languageoverseas(M=5years;Mdn=3.5;SD=4.6;Range=1-15).Toprovideacontext for thestudy,participantswereasked tochooseonecourseasaframeofreferenceforansweringthesurveyquestions–itwasrecommendedthatthiscoursebeeitherthecoursemostrecentlytaught,oracoursewithwhichtheparticipantwas very familiar (i.e., had taughtmost frequently).Of the 30 respondents, 7% choseESL literacy courses as their frame of reference, 47% beginner courses, 33%intermediatecourses,and13%advancedcourses.Forty-threepercentoftheinstructorswere teaching settlementESL, 27%generalESL, 20%English forAcademicPurposes,3% English in theWorkplace, and 7% in other (ESL literacy, grammar) classes. Themeanlengthofcoursewas14.5weeks(Mdn=14;SD=5.7;Range:8-40),andtheclassesmet an average of 4.5 times aweek (Mdn= 3;SD= 1.1;Range: 1-5) for 3.6 hours perclass(Mdn=3;SD=1.3;Range:1-5).

Instrument

The online survey elicited information regarding teacher context and demographics,instructor beliefs, and classroom teaching practices (see Appendix A). Question typesincludedmultiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, Likert-type scales, check-all-that-apply, andranking.Completiontimewasapproximately20minutes.Procedure

Permission was requested to use the professional TESL association’s listserv todisseminatethesurvey,whichwasavailableonlinefortwoweeks.TheSurveyMonkey®dataweredownloadedandanalyzedusingdescriptivestatistics.

ResultsandDiscussionTeacherKnowledgeofSelectedVocabularyResearchFindings

Three multiple-choice questions explored instructors’ vocabulary knowledge andbeliefs.OneaskedthemtoselectthenumberofwordsknownbytheaverageeducatedEnglishL1 speaker;onlyone respondent correctly selectedFolse’s (2011)estimateof


70,000words,whichisequaltoabout20,000wordfamilies(Nation,2013).Whenaskedwhat percentage of everyday spoken English is covered by the 2,000 most frequentEnglishwords,19%ofrespondentschose90%,thecorrectanswer(Nation,2006).Overhalfoftherespondents(53%)estimatedthatformulaicsequencescomprise50%orlessof everyday spoken English, although researchers estimate that formulaic sequencesmake up perhaps 90% of spoken English (Nation, 2006) and 32% to 58% ofspoken/writtenEnglish(percentagesreportedbyFoster,2001;Erman&Warren,2000,respectively). Inaccurate estimates of vocabulary coverage, as evidenced in manyresponses,couldresultinmisplacedemphasisoncriticalcomponentsofL2vocabularyinstruction,particularlywithrespecttoexplicitinstructionofhighfrequencyvocabularyandformulaicsequences.

AssessmentofVocabularyKnowledgeOf29respondents,62%assessedtheirstudents’vocabularyknowledgeatthebeginningofthecourse,72%attheend,and21%atneitherpoint.Althoughonemightexpectthatthose respondents who assessed their students’ vocabulary at the beginning of thecoursewouldalsoassesstheirstudentsattheendofthecourse,11%ofthemindicatedthat they did not. Assessment enables instructors to choose level-appropriatevocabulary, as native speaker intuitions about word frequency and learner wordknowledge are not always accurate (Nation, 2001). Frequent assessment providesinstructors with a means of monitoring their students’ vocabulary learning andretention rates. On average, instructors gave a vocabulary test in every seventh class(Mdn= 5;mode= 5;SD= 4.79;Range: 0-20). Systematic vocabulary testing involvestesting cumulative vocabulary at spaced time intervals (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly).This encourages students to review previously learned vocabulary; re-study sessionspromote mastery learning and retention of vocabulary (Folse, 2004; Nation, 2001;Pashler, Rohrer, Cepeda, & Carpenter, 2007). Of those respondents who reportedadministeringregularvocabularytests,only37%includedwordslearnedbothrecentlyand in earlier classes. However, to effectively recycle students’ vocabulary, minimizeforgetting, and discourage students from cramming (and likely soon forgetting),cumulativetestsareconsideredmoreeffective(e.g.,Folse,2004;Nation,2001,2008).

VocabularyTeachingTechniquesTable 1 shows the frequencywithwhich teachers used a variety vocabulary teachingtechniques.At least75%of respondentssometimes/oftenused the following teachingtechniques in class: saying the word aloud, using the word in an example sentence,giving a simpledefinition,writing theword, giving examples of a synonymor relatedword,askingstudentsfordefinitions, identifyingthestresspatternoftheword,actingout the word using gestures, using supplemental materials, discussing underlyingmeanings of words, identifying prefixes or suffixes, referring to information in thecourse textbook, and drawing/displaying a picture of the word. Participants lessfrequentlyhadstudentslookupthewordinadictionaryanddisplayedimportantwordsandphrasesintheclassroom.Learnerswouldbenefitfromgreateravailabilityanduseof appropriate dictionaries (Chen, 2010, 2011; Folse, 2004; Laufer & Kimmel, 1997;Nation, 2013), as well as visual representations posted around in the classroom toreinforce learning (Schmitt, 2008;Webb, 2007). The instructors in this study did not


appear to be taking adequate advantage of these last two valuable resources. Manyother useful teaching techniques can be found in the list of recommended teacherresourcesinAppendixB.

Table1.HowOftenInstructorsUseVocabularyTeachingTechniques(n=30)

Whenteachinganewword,I: Never(0)

Rarely(1)

Sometimes(2)

Often(3)

M SD

Saythewordaloud 0 0 2 28 2.9 0.3

Usethewordinanexamplesentence

0 0 5 25 2.8 0.4

Giveasimpledefinition 0 0 6 24 2.8 0.4

Writetheword 1 2 3 24 2.7 0.8

Giveexamplesofasynonymorrelatedword

0 1 12 17 2.5 0.6

Askastudentforthedefinition 0 2 13 15 2.4 0.6

Identifythestresspatternoftheword

1 3 9 17 2.4 0.8

Actoutthewordusinggestures 1 3 10 16 2.4 0.8

Usesupplementalmaterials 1 3 11 15 2.3 0.8

Discusstheunderlyingmeaningoftheword

1 3 13 13 2.3 0.8

Identifyprefixesorsuffixes 3 3 9 15 2.2 1.0

Refertotheinformationprovidedinthecoursetextbook

2 5 8 15 2.2 1.0

Draw/displayapictureoftheword

3 2 11 14 2.2 1.0

Lookupthewordinadictionary 2 8 16 4 1.7 0.8

Displayimportantvocabularyandphrasesaroundtheclassroom

6 9 4 11 1.7 1.2

VocabularyLearningStrategies

Participants were presented with a list of ten vocabulary learning strategiesrecommendedintheliterature(e.g.,Nation,2001,2008;Schmitt,2000).UsingaLikert-typescale(0=never,3=often),theyreportedhowoftentheyhadstudentsuseeachofthem. The most frequently used vocabulary learning strategies were guessing fromcontext (M= 2.5,SD= 0.7), working in pairs/groups (M= 2.4,SD= 0.6), guessing the


meaningofawordfromitsparts(M=2.3,SD=0.9),andchoosingwordstolearn(M=2.2,SD= 0.9). These frequently used strategies were also rated by instructors as themosteffectivevocabularylearningstrategiesofthechoicesprovided(seeTable2).

Table2.InstructorBeliefsAboutEffectivenessofVocabularyLearningStrategies(n=30)

Whenstudentslearnnewwords,Ibelieveitishighlyeffectiveforthemto:

StronglyDisagree

(1)

Disagree

(2)

Neutral(3)

Agree(4)

StronglyAgree(5)

M SD

Guessthemeaningofthewordfromcontext

1 1 1 8 19 4.4 1.0

Workinpairs/groupstocompletevocabularyactivities

0 0 2 14 14 4.4 0.6

Choosewordsthattheyareinterestedinlearning

0 1 4 9 15 4.3 0.9

Guessthemeaningofthewordfromitsparts

2 0 2 9 17 4.3 1.1

Studyusingavocabularynotebook

2 0 1 14 13 4.2 1.0

Studyusingmnemonicstrategies

0 4 5 7 14 4.0 1.1

Studyusingwordcards

0 1 8 12 9 4.0 0.9

Lookupthewordinadictionary

1 4 4 12 9 3.8 1.1

Studyusingwordlists

2 3 4 13 8 3.7 1.2

UseavocabularylearningprogramsuchasWordchamp

2 0 21 3 4 3.2 0.9

When asked if guessing word meanings from context was highly effective, 90% ofinstructorsagreedorstronglyagreed,7%disagreedorstronglydisagreed,and3%wereunsure.Participantswereaskedtochoose,fromfouroptions,thepercentageofwordsin


atextthatmustbeknowntocorrectlyguessthemeaningofanunknownwordfromitscontext.Themajority (93%)werenot aware that this is effectiveonlywhen studentsknowatleast98%ofthesurroundingwords(Hu&Nation,2000;Nation,2006;Schmittetal.,2011).Theseresultssuggestthatinstructorsover-estimatetheirstudents’abilityto learn new vocabulary from context, and that instructors and their studentswouldbenefitfrombeingmadeawareofresearchinthisarea.

When asked if studying word cards was a highly effective strategy for learning newwords,70%ofrespondentsagreedwithresearch(e.g.,Folse,2004;Nation,2001,2008)thathas shown thebenefitsandefficiencyof focused,decontextualized learningusingwordcardstomemorizethemeaningsofnewwords.Only23%ofinstructors,however,agreedthatvocabularylearningcomputerprogramswerehighlyeffective.Thissuggeststhatinstructorsmaybeunsureofthetechnologicalbenefitsofusingcomputerprogramsforvocabularylearning(asoutlinedbyKilickaya&Krajka,2010),thattheymaynotbeawareofsuchprogramsorhowtousethemintheirclasses(Breyer,2009),and/orthatthey may not have access to computers in their classes. Further studies on theavailability, use, and effectiveness of specific computerized vocabulary learningprogramsandapplicationsoftwarewouldhelptoaddresstheseissues.

RepetitionandretentionInstructors reported that they expected their ESL students to learn an average of 19wordsperweek(Mdn=16;SD=13.4;Range=2-50).Ifstudentswereenrolledinthree16-weeksessions,theywouldlearnanaverageof912wordsayearatthisrate;thisisfar fewer than the2,000wordsneeded to comprehend90%of spokenEnglishor the8,000 to9,000word familiesneeded tounderstandauthentic texts, such asnovels ornewspapers (Nation, 2006). Greater awareness of these statistics may motivatecurriculumdevelopers, instructors,andlearnerstore-assesstheirvocabularyteachingandlearninggoals.

Whenasked toselect from fourmultiple-choiceoptions thenumberof timesstudentsmustencounterawordinordertolearnitsmeaning,themajorityofresponses(70%)weresupportedbytheresearch,whichsuggeststhat8to10exposures(Schmitt,2008)are necessary and thatmoremay be needed for productiveword knowledge (Webb,2007).Participantswereaskedtochoose,fromfouroptions,thechancethatastudentwouldrememberthemeaningofawordonehourafterencounteringitforthefirsttime;21% chose the correct response (45%), while only 4% over-estimated students’chances. When asked what chance a student would have of remembering a wordwithout having seen it for one day, 83% selected 10%, the lowest of four optionsprovided.Spacedrepetition isnecessary to facilitate long-termretention;according toEbbinghaus(1913),theaverageretentionrateafteronehouris45%andafteronedayis 30%. The discrepancy between the research and our findings suggests that ESLinstructorsneedtoraisetheirexpectationsoftherateatwhichstudentscanlearnandremembernewvocabulary.

Respondentswereaskedhowoften(0=never,1=rarely,2=sometimes,3=often)theyused each of three techniques for reinforcing vocabulary in their lessons. Presentingpreviously studied words in new contexts was done sometimes/often by 97% (M=


2.7,SD= 0.7); requiring students to use studied words in their writing by 93% (M=2.6,SD= 0.7), and reading extensively in areas of interest by 67% (M= 1.8,SD= 1.1).These findings suggest that instructors should be made aware of the benefits ofextensive reading andprovidedwith strategies for implementing successful extensivereadingprograms.Extensivereadingishighlyrecommendedbymanyresearchers(e.g.,Cobb,2008;Horst,2005;Krashen,1989;Nation,2011;Pigada&Schmitt,2006;Waring& Takaki, 2003) as a motivational means of reinforcing and enriching L2 learners’vocabularyknowledge.

VocabularyLearningResources

When asked about dictionary availability and use, 57% of respondents reported thattheyhadaclasssetofdictionaries,butonly43%ofallparticipantsprovideddictionaryinstruction, which ranged from 1 to 10 hours (M= 3 hr;Mdn= 2; Mode = 2;SD=2.44;Range: 1-10). Having a class setwas not a prerequisite for providing dictionarytraining: 53% of instructorswith class sets provided dictionary training, and 31% ofinstructors without also provided training. Research shows that instructors oftenmistakenly believe that students already know how to use an English languagedictionary efficiently (e.g., Pasfield-Neofitou, 2009). These findings suggest thatstudents’ dictionary skills should be assessed at the beginning of a course. Efficientinstructionisfacilitatedwhenallstudentshaveindividualaccesstothesamedictionaryat the same time, whether it is a cell phone application or a class set in paper orelectronic format. Instructors reported that they often allowed the in-class use ofEnglish-English (86%), bilingual (28%), and bilingualized (21%) dictionaries (withwhich instructorsmay be less familiar). Of the three types, respondents selected thebilingual dictionary as most appropriate for beginner ESL learners (48%), and theEnglish-English dictionary as most suitable for intermediate (89%) and advanced(100%) proficiencies. Although English-English dictionaries pose fewer problems foradvancedthanforbeginningorintermediatestudents(Nation,2001),currentresearchsuggests that bilingualized dictionaries are the best type of dictionary for all ESLproficiencies(Chen,2010,2011;Folse,2004;Laufer&Kimmel,1997;Nation,2001).Thelatter combine the speed and ease of understanding of a translationwith the deeperunderstandingprovidedbyextendedEnglishusageinformationandexamplesentences.Eightypercentofrespondentswereawareofwordfrequencylists,63%ofcorpora,60%of concordancers, and 53% of formulaic sequences that are freely available on theInternet. Varyingpercentages of instructors reported that they sometimes/oftenusedthese resources to guide their instruction: frequency lists (66%), formulaic sequences(50%),corpora(43%),andconcordancers(27%).Only28%usedacomputerprogramsuch as Lextutor (Cobb, n.d.) to verify the reading levels of supplementarymaterialsused in class and, by extension, to ensure that students were provided withcomprehensibleinput.

Advances and reductions in the cost of technologywill expand theuseof technology-related resources in L2 classrooms and result in the need for continuing professionaldevelopment.Computerprogramshavethepotentialtopromotelearnerautonomyandenhance language learning (e.g., Kilickaya & Krajka, 2010; Loucky, 2010) by


incorporatingaudioandvisualmaterial,offeringinstanton-screentranslations,trackingindividualprogress,andprovidingtailoredspacedrepetition,amongotheroptions.Finally, instructors were presented with a list of 11 vocabulary-related topics forprofessional development. They expressed greatest interest in the following: teachingtechniques (83%) and learning strategies (83%); assessment (69%); the linking ofclassroompracticetoresearchfindings(69%);andeffectsofrepetition(59%).

ConclusionDiscrepancies between current research and adult ESL instructors’ beliefs have beenidentified in this study, suggesting that instructors’ teaching would benefit from adeeper understanding of evidence-based best practices, especially with regard to thesetting of instructional priorities (e.g., word/phrase frequency and coverage,expectationsoflearningrateandretention),assessment,extensivereading,technology,anddictionarychoice,use,andtraining.Participants’reportedprioritiesforprofessionaldevelopmentreflectedthesethemes.

Research with larger numbers of instructors teaching at varying ESL levels wouldprovide a more representative sample and allow for comparisons of vocabularyknowledge, beliefs, and instructional practices across proficiency levels. Furtherinvestigationintoinstructorknowledgeandbeliefsandhowtheyaffectactualclassroompractices (rather than perceived/self-reported practices) is necessary to corroboratethesefindings;however,thisstudyhasprovidedanimportantfirststepinascertainingthestateofadultESLteachercognitionandpracticeinrelationtocurrentL2vocabularyresearch.Thegaps identifiedby this research canalsobeused to informEnglishas asecondlanguageteacherpreparationandprofessionaldevelopment.

AbouttheAuthorsMarianRossiter,PhD,isAssociateProfessorintheTESLProgramintheDepartmentofEducationalPsychologyattheUniversityofAlberta,Edmonton,Canada.

MarilynAbbott,PhD,isAssociateProfessorintheTESLProgramintheDepartmentofEducationalPsychologyattheUniversityofAlberta,Edmonton,Canada.

AndreaKushnir,MEd, isagraduateof theTESLProgram,DepartmentofEducationalPsychology,UniversityofAlberta,Edmonton,Canada.

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Chen, Y. (2011). Studies on bilingualized dictionaries: The userperspective.InternationalJournalofLexicography,24(2),161-197.Cobb,T.(n.d.).Compleatlexicaltutor.Retrievedfromhttp://www.lextutor.ca.

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Dziemianko, A. (2010). Paper or electronic? The role of dictionary form in languagereception, production and the retention of meaning and collocations.InternationalJournalofLexicography,23(3),257-273.Ebbinghaus, H. (1913).Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology(Translatedby Ruger, H. A., & Bussenius, C. E.) (Originally published in 1885). Retrieved fromhttp://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Ebbinghaus/Erman,B.,&Warren,B.(2000).Theidiomprincipleandtheopenchoiceprinciple.Text,20(1),29-62.Fleming, D., Bangou, F., & Fellus, O. (2011). ESL teacher-candidates’ beliefs aboutlanguage.TESLCanadaJournal,29(1),39-56.

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Pasfield-Neofitou, S. (2009). Paper, electronic or online? Different dictionaries fordifferentactivities.Babel,43(2),12-18.Pashler, H., Rohrer, D., Cepeda, N., & Carpenter, S. (2007). Enhancing learning andretardingforgetting:Choicesandconsequences.PsychonomicBulletin&Review,14,187-193.Phipps, S., &Borg, S. (2009). Exploring tensions between teachers’ grammar teachingbeliefsandpractices.System,37,380-390.Pigada,M.,&Schmitt,N.(2006).Vocabularyacquisitionfromextensivereading:Acasestudy.ReadinginaForeignLanguage,18(1),1-28.

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Read,J.(2013).Secondlanguagevocabularyassessment.LanguageTeaching,46(1),41-52.Schmitt,N. (2000).Vocabulary in languageteaching. Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.Schmitt, N. (2008). Review article: Instructed second language vocabularylearning.LanguageTeachingResearch,12(3),329-363.

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Webb, S. (2009). The effects of receptive and productive learning of word pairs onvocabularyknowledge.RELCJournal,40(3),360-376.Webb,S.A.,&Chang,A.C.S.(2012).Secondlanguagevocabularygrowth.RELCJournal,43(1),113-126.Weltens, B.,&Grendel,M. (1993), Attrition of vocabulary knowledge. InR. Schreuderand B. Weltens (Eds.),The bilingual lexicon(pp. 135-156). Philadelphia, PA: JohnBenjamins. West, M. (1953).A general service list of English words. London, UK:Longman.

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AppendixA

VocabularyBeliefsandPracticesSurveyMonkey®QuestionnaireA.COURSEINFORMATIONInordertofocusyouranswers,pleasethinkofoneESLcourseyouhavetaught.A1.PleaseprovidetheproficiencyleveloftheESLcoursethatyouwillrefertoduringthissurvey.Thiscoursewillbeyourframeofreferenceforansweringtherestofthequestionsinthissurvey.Thelevelofmycoursewas:

♦ESLliteracy(Pre-Benchmark)♦Beginner(CanadianLanguageBenchmarks[CLB]1–4)[1]♦Intermediate(CLB5–8)♦Advanced(CLB9–12)Forquestionsrequiringanumericalanswer,pleasewriteyouranswerusingArabicnumerals(e.g.,1,2).A2.Themainfocusofmycoursewas:

♦LanguageInstructionforNewcomerstoCanada(SettlementESL)♦GeneralESL♦EnglishforAcademicPurposes♦EnglishforSpecificPurposes♦EnglishintheWorkplace♦ExamPreparation(e.g.,TOEFL,IELTS,CAEL)♦Other(pleasespecify)___________________________________

A3.Thecourseindicatedabovewas___________weekslong.A4.Theclassmet_________timesperweek.

A5.Eachclasswas_________hourslong.B.TEACHINGANDLEARNINGVOCABULARYThissectionasksabouthowyouteachnewvocabulary.Pleasegiveyourbestestimateastohowoftenyouemploythefollowingtechniques.

Whenteachinganewword,I: Never Rarely Sometimes Often

Refertotheinformationprovidedinthecoursetextbook.

Saythewordaloud.

Writetheword.

Draw/displayapictureoftheword.

Usethewordinanexamplesentence.


Whenteachinganewword,I: Never Rarely Sometimes Often

Giveasimpledefinition.

Lookupthewordinadictionary.

Askastudentforthedefinition.

Giveexamplesofasynonymorrelatedword.

Actoutthewordusinggestures.

Discusstheunderlyingmeaningoftheword.(e.g.,neckofaperson/bottle/river=askinnyconnectingpart.)

Identifythestresspatternoftheword.

Identifyprefixes(un-,re-)orsuffixes(-able,-tion).

Usesupplementalmaterials(i.e.,materialsotherthanthoseinthecoursetextbook).

Display/createimportantvocabularyandphrasesaroundtheclassroom(e.g.,posters,wordwalls).

C1.BELIEFSABOUTVOCABULARYLEARNINGSTRATEGIESVOCABULARYLEARNINGSTRATEGIES

PleaserefertothedefinitionsbelowtohelpyouanswersectionC1.VocabularyNotebook:aspacewherestudentswritedowninformationaboutwordstheyencounterorfindinteresting/useful.

WordList:alistthathastheEnglishwordinonecolumn,andthemeaning/translation/examplesentenceinanothercolumn.

WordCard:anEnglishwordiswrittenononesideofacard,andthemeaningiswrittenontheother(ineitherEnglishorthestudent’sfirstlanguage).Studentslookatonesideofthecard,guesstheanswer,thenchecktheback.

MnemonicStrategy:strategiesotherthantraditionalmemorizationthathelpstudentstorememberaword’smeaning.Forexample,creatingmentalimageofthewordormentallylinkingthewordtoasimilar-soundingwordinthestudent’sfirstlanguage.

Thissectionasksaboutwhatstrategiesyouhaveyourstudentsusewhenlearningvocabulary.Whenmystudentslearnnewwords,Ihavethem:

Often Sometimes Rarely Never


Keepavocabularynotebook.

Studyusingwordlists.

Studyusingwordcards.

Useamnemonicstrategytobetterrememberaword.

Guessthemeaningofthewordfromcontext.

Guessthemeaningofthewordfromitsparts.(e.g.,redrawmustmean“drawagain”.)


UseavocabularylearningprogramsuchasWordchamp.

Choosewordsthattheyareinterestedinlearning.

Workinpairs/groupstocompletevocabularyactivities.

C2.BELIEFSABOUTVOCABULARYLEARNINGSTRATEGIESThissectionfocusesonyourbeliefsabouttheeffectivenessofthefollowingvocabularylearningstrategies.PleaserefertothedefinitionsinsectionCtohelpyouanswersectionC2.


StronglyDisagree

Disagree NotSure

Agree StronglyAgree

Studyusingavocabularynotebook.

Studyusingwordlists.

Studyusingwordcards.

Studyusingmnemonicstrategies.

Guessthemeaningofunknownwordsfromcontext.

Guessthemeaningofthewordfromitsparts.


Useavocabularylearning



StronglyDisagree

Disagree NotSure

Agree StronglyAgree

program,suchasWordchamp.

Choosewordsthattheyareinterestedinlearning.

Workinpairs/groupstocompletevocabularyactivities.

D.DICTIONARYUSEThissectionasksaboutdictionaryuseinyourclassroom.

D1.Myclassroomhasaclasssetofdictionaries.♦Yes♦NoD2.Inmyclass,Iprovidemystudentswithdictionarytraining.♦Yes♦NoD3.Ispendapproximately______hourstotalinthiscourseondictionarytraining.D4.Pleaseselectallthatapply.

Ibelievethatthebestdictionaryfor:

English-English Bilingual Bilingualized1

BeginnerESLstudentsis:

IntermediateESLstudentsis:

AdvancedESLstudentsis:

1Bilingualized=AdictionarythathasallthefeaturesofanEnglish-Englishdictionary,plusatranslationoftheboldedheadword.

D5.Pleaseselectallthatapply.

Inclass,Iallowmystudentstouse:

Never Rarely Sometimes Often

English-Englishdictionaries.

Bilingualdictionaries.

Bilingualizeddictionaries.

E.REPETITIONANDWORDLEARNINGThissectionwillexploreyourthoughtsonrepetitionandlearningnewwords.E1.Onaverage,Iexpectmystudentstolearn_____newwordsperweek.


E2.Ithinkthat,onaverage,studentsneedtoencounteranewword_____timesinordertolearnitsmeaning.a)1-4b)5-12c)13-20d)21-35

E3.Whenastudentstudiesanewwordforthefirsttimeanddoesnotseethewordagainforonehour,thechancethestudentwillrememberitsmeaningisprobably_____%.

a)25b)45c)65d)85

E4.Andafteronedayofnotseeingthewordagain,thechancethatastudentwillrememberitsmeaningisprobably_____%.a)10b)30c)50d)70

E5.Inmyclass,I: Never Rarely Sometimes Often

Reinforcepreviouslylearnedwordsinmylessonsbypresentingthemindifferentcontexts.

Requirestudentstouse,intheirwriting,wordsstudiedinclass.

Requirestudentstodoextensivereadinginareasthatareofinteresttothem.

F.FREQUENCYLISTSANDCORPORAThissectionasksaboutfrequencylistsandcorporaastheyrelatetovocabularylearning.

PleaserefertothedefinitionsbelowtohelpyouanswerquestionsF1–F4.

Corpus(plural“corpora”)=anelectroniccollectionofwritten/spokenauthentictexts.Thesecollectionsareusuallycomprisedofmillionsofwords,fromsourcessuchasnewspaperarticles,textbooks,andTVshows.Anexampleofacorpusisthe425millionwordCOCA(CorpusofContemporaryAmericanEnglish).

FrequencyList=thesearewordlistsdevelopedfromcorpora.Theselistsrankthefrequencyofwords.Forexample,therearefrequencylistsforthemostcommon1000,2000,3000,etc.wordsofEnglish.AnexampleofafrequencylististheGeneralServiceListdevelopedbyWestin1953.


F1.IamawareoffreecorporaavailableontheInternet.♦Yes♦No


F2.Iusecorporatohelpguidemyvocabularyteaching.

F3.IamawareoffreewordfrequencylistsavailableontheInternet.♦Yes♦No


F4.Iusefrequencyliststohelpguidemyvocabularyteaching.

G.FORMULAICSEQUENCES

Thissectionwillaskquestionsaboutteachingformulaicsequences.PleaserefertothedefinitionsbelowtohelpyouanswerquestionsG1-G4.

FormulaicSequences=setphraseslikeidioms(rainingcatsanddogs),phrasalverbs(togiveup,tobefedup),andotherwordswhichcommonly“gotogether”.AnexampleofafrequencylistofformulaicsequencesistheAcademicFormulasList,compiledbySimpson-VlachandEllis(2010).

Concordancer=acomputerprogramwhichletsuserssearchforinstancesofaspecificwordorphraseinacorpus.Theprogramthenliststheword/phrasewithitssurroundingcontext,whichenablesuserstoseethewordinauthenticcontexts.AnexampleofaconcordancercanbefoundonCobb’sLexTutorwebsite.

G1.IamawareoffreeformulaicsequenceslistsavailableontheInternet.♦Yes♦No


G2.Iuseformulaicsequencesliststohelpguidemyvocabularyteaching.

G3.IamawareoffreeconcordancersavailableontheInternet.♦Yes♦No


G4.Iuseconcordancerstohelpguidemyvocabularyteaching.

H.ASSESSINGVOCABULARYKNOWLEDGE

Thissectionfocusesonassessingyourstudents’vocabularyknowledge.

H1.Iassessmystudents’vocabularyknowledgeatthebeginningofthecourse.♦Yes,♦No


H2.Iassessmystudents’vocabularyknowledgeattheendofthecourse.♦Yes♦NoH3.Igivemystudentsvocabularytestsonceper_______(numberof)classes.

H4.Whatkindofvocabularytestsdoyouusuallygiveyourstudents?♦Non-cumulative(includesonlywordstheclassiscurrentlystudying)♦Cumulative(includescurrentwordsplusallpreviously-studiedwords)H5.Doyouuseaprogram(suchasLextutor)tocheckthereadinglevelofsupplementarymaterialsyouuseinclass?♦Yes♦NoI.INSTRUCTORKNOWLEDGE

I1.Ithinkthatfirst-yearuniversitynativespeakersofEnglishknowapproximately_____words.a)30,000b)50,000c)70,000d)90,000

I2.Ibelievestudentsneedtoknowabout____%ofthewordsinatextinordertocorrectlyguessanunknownword’smeaningfromcontext.

a)68b)78c)88d)98I3.Ibelievethatthemostcommon2,000wordsinEnglishmakeupabout____%ofthewordsusedinEnglishindailyconversation.

a)60b)70c)80d)90

I4.Ithinkthatapproximately______%ofeverydayspokenEnglishismadeupofformulaicsequences.a)30b)50c)70d)90

J.INSTRUCTORVOCABULARYINTERESTSTheresponsestothissectionwillhelpdeterminewhichaspectsofteachingvocabularywillbethefocusofafollow-upreport.

Howinterestedareyouinlearningmoreabout…

NotInterested

SomewhatInterested

VeryInterested

…techniquesforteaching


Howinterestedareyouinlearningmoreabout…

NotInterested

SomewhatInterested

VeryInterested

vocabulary?

…strategiesandskillsforlearningvocabulary?

…dictionaries?

…aspectsofwordknowledge?

…whichvocabularyisbesttaughttogether?

…repetitionandvocabularylearning?

…frequencylistsandcorpora?

…formulaiclanguageteachingtechniques?

…assessmentofvocabularyknowledge?

…linkingclassroompracticetoresearchfindings?

…usingtechnologytoteachvocabulary?

K.DEMOGRAPHICINFORMATION

Thisfinalsectionasksyouforsomedemographicinformation.K1.Pleaseselectyourgender.

♦Female♦Male

K2.Pleaseprovideyourage.___________________K3.IhavetaughtESLfor_______yearsfull-timeinCanada.

K4.IhavetaughtESLfor_______yearsfull-timeoverseas.

Note:[1]TheCanadianLanguageBenchmarks(CLB)standardisadescriptivescaleofEnglishasasecondlanguageability;itconsistsof12referencepoints(benchmarks)onacontinuumthatrangesfrombasictoadvancedlevelsoflanguageability.CentreforCanadianLanguageBenchmarks.(2012).CanadianLanguageBenchmarks:Englishasasecondlanguageforadults(rev.ed.).Ottawa,ON:Author.Retrievedfromhttp://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/language-benchmarks.pdf


AppendixBRecommendedTeacherResources

Folse,K.S.(2004).Vocabularymyths:Applyingsecondlanguageresearchtoclassroomteaching.AnnArbor,MI:UniversityofMichiganPress.

Nation,I.S.P.(2008).Teachingvocabulary:Strategiesandtechniques.Boston,MA:HeinleCengageLearning.Nation,I.S.P.(2013).Learningvocabularyinanotherlanguage(2nded.).Cambridge,UK:CambridgeUniversityPress.

Zimmerman,C.B.(2009).Wordknowledge:Avocabularyteacher’shandbook.NewYork,NY:OxfordUniversityPress.

©Copyrightrestswithauthors.PleaseciteTESL-EJappropriately.

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