Listening to the voices of learners as they write an essay or try to cope with unfamiliar words in a text is a luxury often reserved for researchers. This book observes individuals performing similar tasks in their first and their foreign language and invites readers with an interest in foreign language acquisition to follow the same learners in their efforts to cope in both languages.
Measuring Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition provides an examination of the background to testing vocabulary knowledge in a second language and in particular considers the effect that word frequency and lexical coverage have on learning and communication in a foreign language. It examines the tools we have for assessing the various facets of vocabulary knowledge such as aural and written word recognition, the link with word meaning, and vocabulary depth. These are illustrated and the scores they produce are demonstrated to provide normative data. Vocabulary acquisition from course books and in the classroom in examined, as is vocabulary uptake from informal tasks. This book ties scores on tests of vocabulary breadth to performance on standard foreign language examinations and on hierarchies of communicative performance such as the CEFR.
This highly regarded work brings together prominent authorities on vocabulary teaching and learning to provide a comprehensive yet concise guide to effective instruction. The book showcases practical ways to teach specific vocabulary words and word-learning strategies and create engaging, word-rich classrooms. Instructional activities and games for diverse learners are brought to life with detailed examples. Drawing on the most rigorous research available, the editors and contributors distill what PreK-8 teachers need to know and do to support all students' ongoing vocabulary growth and enjoyment of reading. New to This Edition*Reflects the latest research and instructional practices.*New section (five chapters) on pressing current issues in the field: assessment, authentic reading experiences, English language learners, uses of multimedia tools, and the vocabularies of narrative and informational texts.*Contributor panel expanded with additional leading researchers.
This book offers a comprehensive investigation into advanced students’ knowledge of vocabulary in their L1 and L2. As a cross-sectional study, it examines the quantitative aspects of students’ vocabulary knowledge through parallel tests of upper secondary level vocabulary, specialised vocabulary, and advanced vocabulary in both their L1 and L2. It also, primarily in qualitative terms, investigates students' L1 and L2 knowledge of polysemous words, lexical fields of near synonyms and false friends. Knowledge of derivative forms, idioms, proverbs, idiomatically used prepositions and multi-word verbs offer insights into both the breadth and depth of students’ L1 and L2 vocabulary knowledge. Finally, it considers the extent to which students’ results can be attributed to differences between inferencing skills in their L1 and L2. In each subfield, the pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed. This book will be of interest to teachers and researchers focusing on the teaching and learning of vocabulary.
Building on Michael Graves's bestseller, The Vocabulary Book, this new resource offers a comprehensive plan for vocabulary instruction that K–12 teachers can use with English language learners. It is broad enough to include instruction for students who are just beginning to build their English vocabularies, as well as for students whose English vocabularies are approaching those of native speakers. The authors describe a four-pronged program that follows these key components: providing rich and varied language experiences; teaching individual words; teaching word learning strategies; and fostering word consciousness. This user-friendly book integrates up-to-date research on best practices into each chapter and includes vignettes, classroom activities, sample lessons, a list of children's literature, and more.
On Second Language Writing brings together internationally recognized scholars in a collection of original articles that, collectively, delineate and explore central issues with regard to theory, research, instruction, assessment, politics, articulation with other disciplines, and standards. In recent years, there has been a dramatic growth of interest in second-language writing and writing instruction in many parts of the world. Although an increasing number of researchers and teachers in both second-language studies and composition studies have come to identify themselves as specialists in second-language writing, research and teaching practices have been dispersed into several different disciplinary and institutional contexts because of the interdisciplinary nature of the field. This volume is the first to bring together prominent second-language writing specialists to systematically address basic issues in the field and to consider the state of the art at the end of the century (and the millennium).
The book discusses vocabulary learning strategies as an integral subgroup of language learning strategies. It defines language learning strategies in general and their features on the basis of cognitive theory and relevant models of second language acquisition as the basis for empirical research. Furthermore, the book gives a survey of research on vocabulary learning strategies and describes three original empirical studies. Thus, the book attempts at integrating the approaches of theories of second language acquisition, the theory and practice of instructed foreign language learning, and the findings of current empirical research.
