Learning words

4 Learning words pIes for teaching that can help learners build up these different aspects
and make links between them. The third section applies these principIes
to activities for vocabulary learning. The final section of the chapter
draws on strategy research to consider how children can be helped to
develop their autonomy as self-directed vocabulary learners.

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Vocabulary development in children's language learning
The previous chapter was concerned with children using the foreign
language as discourse in the classroom and how such use might work to 4.2.1 The word as unít
promote learning. This chapter deals with the development of vocabu-
lary as a language resource. Vocabulary development is about learning words, but it is about much
Building up a useful vocabulary is central to the learning of a foreign more than that. Vocabulary development is also about learning more
language at primary level. While opinions differ as to how much about those words, and about learning formulaic phrases or chunks,
grammar of the foreign language can be taught, children are clearly finding words inside them, and learning even more about those words.
capable of learning foreign language words through participating in the Even the idea of what counts as a 'word' starts to become confused
discourse of classroom activities. Vocabulary has moved to centre stage when linguists try to produce watertight definitions (Singleton 1999).
in foreign language teaching in recent years, backed by substantial and However, we will start from words in the recognition that infants,
increasing research (e.g. Carter and McCarthy 1988; Coady and children and adults tal k about 'words' and think in terms of a word as a
Huckin 1997; Schmitt and Meara 1997; Singleton 1999; Read 2000). discrete unit. Children will ask what a particular word means, or how
Alongside the growing importance of vocabulary, there are fascinating to saya word in the foreign language, and, in learning to read, the word
and, I suspect, very significant, changes taking place in how we think is a key unit in building up skills and knowledge.
about the relative nature and roles of vocabulary and grammar. The The role of words as language units begins with the early use of
more we find out about how words work in language and how nouns for naming objects in first language acquisition, and of use of
vocabulary is learnt, stored and used, the more difficult it becomes to other words to express the child's wants and needs, e.g. 'more!' or 'no'.
uphold the traditional split between vocabulary and grammar. Much Infants go through a period of rapid vocabulary growth as they start to
important grammatical information is tied into words, and learning name, as well as interact with, the world around them. There is an
words can take students a long way into grammar. This suggests that if interesting coincidence in timing between infants learning to point, and
we give a high priority to vocabulary development, we are not thereby a well-documented sudden increase in the rate of acquisition of nouns
abandoning grammar. Rather, vocabulary learning can serve as a for naming objects, as if the two reinforce each other by enabling the
stepping stone to learningand using grammar. The interrelation of children to get helpful adults to label the world for them. Many of these
vocabulary and grammar in language learning will be taken further in words are 'names for things', acquired through ostensive definition, i.e.
the next chapter. by the child seeing or touching the object that a word refers to. Very
The chapter begins with an overview of vocabulary development. often early words are used to do things, so that when a young child says
Children are still building up their first language vocabulary, and this 'daddy book', she may be trying to get her father to give her a book or
development is intimately tied up with conceptual development. In to read a book to her, with the context of use making the intended
planning and teaching a foreign language, we need to take account of Illeaning quite clear.
this first language background to know what will work and what may We need to be aware, as Vygotsky warned, that although children
be too difficult for children. It also becomes quickly apparent that Illay use the same words as adults, they may not hold the same meanings
learning a new word is not a simple task that is done once and then for thosc words (Vygotsky 1962; Wertsch 1985). The acquisition of
completed. wonl 1llcanings takes much longer than the acquisition of the spoken
The second part of the chapter covers the many differl'llt ;lSpl'CtSof fonn of ¡-he words, ancl children use worcls in their speech long before
vocabulary knowledge involved in learning words, ;111<1 ~;('Is0111 princi- IIll.'YhaVl' a hdlllndcrstanding of thclll (Lockc 1991). Wc can think of

72 7\
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alllllli
 Teaching Languages to Young Learners Learning words

words as rather like flowers growing in the soil. A11 we see above words someone knows, they have to make many simplifying assump-
ground is the flower, but that flower is kept alive and growing by roots tions and decisions. For example, in many measures, only receptive
that spread underneath it. Underneath the flowers of spoken words lie knowledge is measured: a person is said to 'know' a word if they can
the roots, a connected web of meanings, understandings and links. A11 recognise its meaning when they see it. Vocabulary size is usua11y
through childhood, words are used with only a partial understanding of measured to the nearest thousand, and counts 'word families', in
the fu11meaning system that underlies them. This is true for adults too; which a base word and a11its inflected forms and derived forms counts
you only have to think about technical words that we use quite happily, as one e.g. the word family is the base form walk plus walking,
but whose fu11 meanings are not known, such as carburettor or hard walked, walks, a walk. The English language is said to contain around
disk. We can use words with 'good enough' meanings for them; if we 54,000 (54K) word families, when these are counted in a large
had to have complete knowledge of words before using them, we would dictionary (Nation and Waring 1997). No one persoI} knows a11 the
be restricted to very limited vocabularies. In this sense, our production words in the language, of course, and figures for native speaker adults
races ahead of our comprehension, and vocabulary development is a range from 20K for a student of about eighteen years of age starting
continuous process, not just of adding new words but of building up university (Nation and Waring 1997) to the 37K that Shakespeare is
knowledge about words we already know partia11y. a11eged to ha ve used, although he did invent many of those! Child
For children learning the vocabulary of a foreign language, this native speakers of English have about 4 or 5K word families by the
partial knowledge issue is compounded. Some of the foreign language age of five, to which they add about 1K each year. Second language
words wi11map on to word meanings that are already fu11yformed in learners of English who attend English speaking school have also been
the first language. Many of the words, however, may link to first found to add about 1K per year, but the 4-5K gap between them and
language words and concepts that they are in the process of learning their native speaker peers remains (Nation and Waring 1997). Nation
about and have only partial meanings foro In addition, the first and (1990) reports studies of foreign language learners in India and
foreign language words may not map straightforwardly one on to Indonesia that showed children reaching 1 or 2K word families in
another, but may have different underlying meanings beca use of cultural English after five years of regular lessons.
or other differences. What these complications emphasise is that These figures show that the gap between vocabulary size in first and
vocabulary development is about learning words, but that learning foreign language is very large, and seldom closed, even by adult FL
words is not something that is done and finished with. Learning words learners after many years of study. They also suggest that a realistic
is a cyclical process of meeting new words and initiallearning, fo11owed target for children learning a foreign language might be around 500
by meeting those words again and again, each time extending knowl- words ayear, given good learning conditions.
edge of what the words mean and how they are used in the foreign To put the numbers into some perspective, it is important to note that
language. Each time children meet familiar words again, they too have not a11 words are equa11y useful in using a foreign language. When
changed and will bring new first language and conceptual knowledge to words are considered in terms of their frequency of use in written texts,
the vocabulary. The root system of word knowledge continues to grow it seems that the most frequent 2K English words account for a large
and become thicker and more tightly inter-linked, so that the flowers of proportion (80% or more) of a11 texts (Nation 2001). Vocabulary
word use are more and more strongly supported. teaching can be focused to help learners build up a knowledge of words
in ways that will enable them to use the language efficiently and
4.2.2 Vocabulary síze successfu11y.We return to this later.

Having acknowledged the complexity of knowing words, and before 4.2.3 What ít means to know a word
pursuing it in more detail, we will briefly focus on vocabulary
development in terms of building up a greater number of words. Some 'To illustrate the many types of knowledge involved in 'knowing a
useful work has been done on measuring the size of learners' vocabul- word', cOllsider the following classroom extract, in which a native-
aries that wi11put a helpful perspective on classroom foreign language speaker tcacher is talking with a second language learner of English
learning. abOlll' lhc eqlliplllcllt nceded to draw a pie chart (a circular graph that
When researchers set out te>meaSLlre voca hll lary si/,l', ()J' how 111 a IlY shows proporliolls like a pie ()J' cakc Cllt into slices).

7'1 7)
 Teaching Languages to Young Learners
Learning words
1 T: a compass (2.0) you need a compass ( . )
These different aspects of word knowledge are summarised in Table
what el se do you need for a pie chart? (2.0)
4· 1, which combines similar lists from E11is and Sinclair (1990: 99) and
because you're measuring angles aren't you? slices of the cake
( . ) so to speak ( . ) Schmitt and Meara (1997: 18). These in turn drew on work by Richards
(1976) and Nation (1990).
so what do you need for angles?
5 p: measure ( . ) angle measure to
what recall
situation
with isown, it when
compasses needed __n.
Table 4.1 Knowing about
to hear
end
ato
spoken
not
is she
whenmore
positive
example
negative
the know
word,
pronounce it
of
aknow
parts
would
noun;
endings /involved
"understand
use
such asthe
wordofwith
confusing
ongood-looking
beautiful
hear
protractor
spell
whereas
use
its it used
in the
whichword
the
written
its
youof
athatInl
Ivery
undertaken
itsang it
the
appropriate
the
explicitly
associations,
c.g.
andit its when
is
same
positive
like
verb correct
sound
other
slim
and
pro
right
connotations,agood;
and
acceptably,
view
about
correctly
skinny view
produce
not has
to
and
is
protractor
about
not
protractor
is
grammatically
and in it
abe
averb
drink?
forms, in aisaare
at
':.
person,
the
':·protracter
negative
phrases the formal
is she sangarvery
semi-formal
well not
T register
spoken
knowledge form:
kTlowlcdgc
phonological of knowledge
style and grammatica
words
to
with
know
related
andaural
mealllng
to know its
sentences
connections
can Iwith
beproperties
associations
words
usedother
Igrammatical
decoding with it
••••••••••••••••••••••••••• - •••••• ,"-., ." ••• "H ••••• un ••••••••• n situation
accurate
_••• _.unthan
what canway;
firefix I get you?
•••••••••••••••• __
what's it ca11ed? is there a special namegrammatical
memory for ( .knowledge:
connotational
pragmatic
knowledge
orthographic ) knowledge
the
the piece of conceptual
knowledge,
Il1ctalinguistic
Receptive of knowledge collocationalknowledge
knowledge
equipmem that we use for measuring angles? ( . ) Type of knowledge
go on ( . ) you've started
p.
????? (unclear utterance)
10 T: protractor

The extract of classroom talk helps consider what the pupil knows
about the word protractor and what he still has to learn about it. If we
ask the naive question - Does the pupil know the word protractor? _ we
would have to answer that he does seem to know something about it,
since he tries to say it in line 9, and in order to do that, he must
understand the meaning of what is being talked about. Word knowledge
is always then a matter of degree, rather than a11 or nothing. The pupil
seems to have some receptive knowledge of the word, but not yet to
have sufficient productive knowledge to be able to produce it automati-
ca11y on demand (line 5). Because the pupil did not himself say the word
in this piece of discourse, we cannot te11 whether he can pronounce the
word acceptably, i.e. has phonological knowledge of the word.
This exchange was spoken, so that, even if the pupil's productive
spoken knowledge of the word has increased and he remembers the
word next time he needs it, he sti11 may not recognise it when he sees it
written down (decoding knowledge) or be able to spe11 it (orthographic
knowledge).
Notice that, in the last line, the teacher te11s the pupil the word
protractor, but only gives him the single word. As a result, the pupil
does not receive any grammatical information about how the word
works in clauses or phrases. Por example, he needs to know that we say
a or the protractor (it is a countable noun and needs an article), that the
plural form is protractors. There is further information about the use of
the word, its pragmatics, that is part of knowing it: to know that a
protractor is a technical term for the piece of equipment used when
talking mathematics (knowledge of style and register); to know that in
English certain other words are likely to occur in surrounding discourse,
we use a protractor to draw / divide a eircle/ measure angles (co11oca-
tional knowledge). A further type of knowledge about a word is
Illetalinguistic, COllccrn i ng the formal properties of thc word, e.g. to
kllow that pro/r,/du,. iS:1 1101111.

7('
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 Teaching Languages to Young Learners
Learning words
In summary, knowing about a word involves knowing about its form
probably reflects other developments: they become more able to deal
(how it sounds, how it is spelt, the grammatical changes that can be
made to it), its meaning (its conceptual content and how it relates to with abstract connections, such as 'a dog is a kind of animal', and they
other concepts and words), and its use (its patterns of occurrence with build up more knowledge of the world, words to go with it and ways of
other words, and in particular types of language use). The next section organising it. Schooling has a major impact on how children's knowledge
and vocabulary develops because it introduces them to formal logical
looks inmore
ment deeply into different types of meaning and their develop-
childhood. thinking. As they move through school, so they learn how to sort things
into sets, how to classify and label sets and categories according to
characteristics, how to compare and contrast categories. The categor-
4.2.4 Oeveloping meanings in childhood
ising, labeUing and talking about categories is, moreover, I increasingly
carried out in the language of the adult world, as children learn the ways
Empirical research shows that increasing the depth of word knowledge
of thinking and using language that is characteristic of subject disciplines
does not happen automaticaUy in a foreign or second language, even in
such as science and history. Schooling also moves children from the
what seems like the most favourable circumstances where children are
immersed in the language through their schooling. Verhallen and concrete to the abstract as they no longer only work with what they can
Schoonen (I993; 1998) have shown that Turkish children at school in see and touch, as happens at home and in nurseries, but develop skills for
HoUand know fewer meaning aspects of Dutch words that their native working with ideas and talking about what is not immediately presento
speaker peers, and also know fewer meaning aspects in their first As children deepen their word knowledge, they increase both syntag-
matic and paradigma tic knowledge, but also shift over the years of
language than in their second. Schmitt's research with adults learning childhood towards more emphasis on the paradigmatic and the ab-
English as a foreign language showed that they too are often working
stract. Because these developments occur deep in a child's mind, they
with a limited set of meanings for words (Schmitt 1998). Learning a will be applicable to foreign language learning too, in that children will
word takes a long time and many exposures to the word used in
different situations. increasingly be able to handle paradigmatic aspects of word meaning,
and words with less concrete meanings.
Conceptual knowledge grows as children experience more and more of
the world in their daily lives. There are also maturational factors that
seem to affect the nature of conceptual knowledge about first language 4.2.5 Categorisation and word leaming
vocabulary at different ages, and that can be expected to have a knock-on
Research into the types of categories used in early childhood has shown
effect for foreign language learning. One of these factors is the
that the middle of a general to specific hierarchy is particularly
'syntagmatic-paradigmatic shift' that occurs between five and ten years
of age (Miller al1d Johnsol1-Laird 1976; Singleton 1999). This shift refers significant for children, and hence for their foreign language learning
to the types of associations that children make between words and ideas. (Lakoff 1987; Cameron 1994). Here are two examples of hierarchies
Children in word-association experiments are given a word and asked with the most general concept, or superordinate, at the top, and the
most specific, labelled subordinate, at the bottom:
what the word brings to mind; as they get older, so the types of words
that come to mind seem to change. When given a cue word like dog or Superordinate FURNITURE ANIMAL
table, younger children tend to make syntagmatic associations, choosing Basic level CHAIR DOG
a linking idea in a word from a different part of speech, or word class, so Subordinate ROCKING CHAIR SPANIEL
the noun cue words might produce verb responses bark or eat. We can
also think of these link s as 'thematic', in that the ideas link together in a
kind of theme. Older children are more likely to respond to cue words In each case, the hierarchies could be extended upwards and down-
wards. However, it is the middle, or 'basic', level that is of interest. The
with words from the same word class: animal or chair. These are caUed
words for basic level concepts are the most commonly used words, they
paradigmatic responses (Verhallen al1d Schoonen 1998: 454; Singleton
are learnt by chilclren before words higher al' lawer in the hierarchy,
1999: 76). Recall that the word 'paradigmatic' was used in section 3.5.3 they are the shortest worcls, and they are the words used in neutral
to describe discourse that is organised through categories, rather than
contexts e.g. Wl' Iw/!(' a!t(lcll'S f.'l'jJI do,!!,:; is more likely to be llsed than
temporally as in narrative. Children's shift to paracligmatic respollses
\VI' hillll' u/n'ilYs /.:('111 sl'illlil'ls. (:ollceplllally, tlll' basil' kvel is t1ll'
7H
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Teaching Languages to Young Learners Learning words

highest level at which objects have similar shapes, are used in similar Hsia et al. (1995) found that Chinese learners of English in Hong
ways and at which a single mental image can be used for the whole Kong used their first language schemas in organising their foreign
category (Lakoff 1987). So, we can create a single image of a chair, but language words. One learner put together the words early and light,
not of furniture, and we interact physically with all chairs in the same explaining this as 'when light first appears at dawn'. The same Chinese
way (sitting on them), but interact differently with diHerent examples of character is used for early and morning, so that the learner may have
furniture. At the basic level, a child's experience with the physical world associated the word early with the schema for morning.
links directly into the development of concepts and vocabulary, serving
as an 'entry point' for learning.
In the foreign language classroom, basic level concepts are more 4.2.7 The development of children's vocabulary: Summary
likely to have been mastered than superordinate and subordinate levels
What implications does vocabulary and conceptual development across
that develop through formal education (see section 4-2.4 above). When
the early years at school have for vocabulary development in children's
teaching vocabulary around a topic or lexical set, e.g. food or space
foreign language learning? Conclusions from this section and principIes
travel, we can begin from basic level items, such as pizza or rocket,
for teaching are listed below:
moving over time to superordinate or more general vocabulary (such as
vegetables or vehicles), and downwards to more specific words - The types of words that children find possible to learn will shift. Five
(sprouting broccoli or moon landing module). year olds learning a foreign language need very concrete vocabulary
that connects with objects they can handle or see, whereas older
learners can cope with words and topics that are more abstract and
4.2.6 Cultural content in word meanings
remote from their immediate experience.
Words and their meanings are connected in syntagmatic and paradig- - Vocabulary development is not just learning more words but is also
matic patterns as described above. These patterns create networks of importantly about expanding and deepening word knowledge. Chil-
connections in the mind that have been variously calJed 'schemas' (or dren need to meet words again and again, in new contexts that help
'schemata'), 'scripts' and 'frames'. When a word is encountered, the increase what they know about words. Teaching needs to indude the
schema that they are part of will be activated, and the network of recyding of words.
activated meanings becomes available to help make sense of the - Words and word knowledge can be seen as being linked in networks
discourse and the words at a holistic leve!. of meaning. Meeting a word will actívate the network and thus
While the detailed theory of schemas is not necessary here, the provide support for understanding and for learning.
general idea of networked and connected ideas in the mind is a useful - Basic level words are likely to be more appropriate for younger
one in thinking about vocabulary. In particular, it is helpful to remember children, or when learning vocabulary for new concepts. Older
that, for foreign language learners, these schemas are usually being learners can benefit from building up superordinate and subordinate
constructed throughout childhood (and onwards) within the first lan- vocabulary linked to basic leve! words they already know.
guage culture. When foreign language words are learnt, they are likely - Children change in how they can learn words. Whereas the very
to be mapped on to first language words and to thereby enter schemas young learners will learn words as coUections, older children are
that have already been built up. However, this mapping of foreign much more able to make connections between the words they learn
language words on to first language schemas may lead to problems, and to use the paradigma tic organisation of words and concepts as a
beca use different cultures organise aspects of the world differently. The help in vocabulary learning.
schemas that foreign language words are placed in may be appropriate
for the first language but less so for the second. For example, if someone
living in Britain says, TU go and fetch the milk', they are (still) quite 4.3 Organisation of words in a language
likely to mean that they will go to the front door ;llld piek IIp ¡-hebotdes
of milk delivered by a 'milkl1lan'. The schcrna o( mi/le illdlldes doorstep 'rhe idea oE voc;lhlllnry itellls alld l1lc¡)llings linkcd in an increasingly
delivcries; for SOl1leOl1eliving olllside Brilaill, Ihis IS 1llllikely, ;IIHI (omp!!'x weh o( (OlllH'dioIlS ill Ihe Illilld is ilnporl";jlll for le;lI'llillg, aJl(1
felchillg mil" n¡;¡y illvolve a ITip lo 11ll'SI'iH'l'Il101l'kl'l. 1(11' Il';IChill)',.1>'11I'111('1'
W;IYS ollhillkilll'. ;Ih(llll lillks Iwlwl'en w()rds ill lhe

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Teaching Languages to Young Learners Learning words

foreign language are considered in this section. These connections are

4.3.2 Sense relations
primarily linguistic i.e. to do with the language as forma11y analysed,
but they can also be useful for learning by organising the words taught Content word meanings in a language can relate to each other in a
in lessons and activities. range of ways, ca11ed 'sense relations' (Lyons 1995), also labe11ed
'semantic relations' or 'lexical relations'. The types of sense relations
that hold between words include:
4.3.1 Function and content words
• antonymy being opposite in meaning e.g. alive - dead;
The words of a language split roughly into two groups according to
how they are used to construct sentences. Content words are those that • synonymy having (nearly) the same meaning e.g. rich - wealthy;
• hyponymy one is an example or type of another e.g. furniture - chair;
carry a lexical meaning, even out of context, whereas function words
• meronymy one is part of another: e.g. army - soldier. '
seem to be mainly used to carry grammatical meaning. In the fo11owing
sentence, the content words are underlined, and a11 the others are Hyponymy overlaps with the idea of basic leve! words introduced in
function words: section 2.2.5.

The hule house in the street was built when my mother was a child.
4.3.3 Organisation of words in the language: summary and
teaching principIes
The distinction is based on meaning but maps fairly neatly on to word
class, and on to potential for coining new words. So content words are Content and function words work differently in the language, and wi11
nouns (e.g. house), lexical verbs (e.g. built), adjectives (e.g. liule); be taught and learnt differently. Function words wi11 be acquired
function words are modal and auxiliary verbs (e.g. could, was), articles through repeated use in different contexts. Content words can be taught
(e.g. a, the), and prepositions. Content words form an 'open set' in that more directly.
new content words can be invented, whereas the set of function words Content words can be linked as sets of related ideas in various ways.
is 'closed'. New nouns like calendarisation (adding the date to a This organisation can he!p in analysing text book demands, in
document automatically) are constantly being added to the language, choosing teaching activities and in extending learners' vocabulary
but new prepositions are very rare. The distinction between content and beyond the text book. Text book writers and sy11abus designers often
function words is not unproblematic (Singleton 1999), but it does use the various types of word organisation to write and structure
capture an important idea for lariguage teaching. There is also some courses. As a result, we can also use them to analyse the content and
neurological evidence that this is an important distinction: research into demand on learners. It is important in considering the suitability of
reading is showing that function and content words may be stored in texts for learners to set the vocabulary demand (4.3) against concep-
different parts of the brain. As we have seen, content words are mentally tual development factors (4.2). Vocabulary input may be we11 orga-
linked in schemas or networks of meaning. Networks are less important nised but may sti11not be compatible with the age and developmental
for understanding and remembering function words. Function words point of the pupils.
are a much sma11er set, and are used very frequently: for example, the
first 71 words in order of frequency of occurrence in the Cobuild corpus
of English are function words, and only six content words come in the 4.4 Learning and teaching vocabulary
first 150 most frequently used words (Carter and McCarthy 1988: 149).
Content and function words need different teaching approaches. The information about mental development, categorisation, and lexis in
While the meaning of content words can be explained and talked about, language is now taken forwards into the practicalities of the young
it is very difficult to do this with function words. Children will learn learner classroom. After considering what is known about the path of
function words incidentally, through continued use in a range of vocabulary learning, we examine what text books, lessons and activities
different discourse contexts, rather than through direct teaching or can usefu11y offer the young Icarner.
explanation. Content words can hc taught in more planned and explicit
ways.

Xl H 1
Teaching Languages to Young Learners Learning words

4.4.1 The dynamic nature of vocabulary leaming 4.4.2 Leaming the meaning of new words
In the previous paragraph, 1 deliberately chose to use the word path, Nation (1990: sr) listed basic techniques by which teachers can explain
rather than steps or stages, to emphasise the dynamic and continuous the meanings of new words, a11 of which can be used in the young
nature of vocabulary learning. Hatch and Brown (1995: 372) describe learner classroom:
five 'essential steps' in vocabulary learning based on research into
learners' strategies: By demonstration or pictures
(1) using an object
(1) having sources for encountering new words; (2) using a cut-out figure
(2) getting a clear image, whether visual or auditory or both, for the (3) using gesture
forms of the new words; (4) performing an action
(3) learning the meaning of the words; (5) photographs
(4) making a strong memory connection between the forms and mean- (6) drawings or diagrams on the board
ings of the words; (7) pictures from books
(5) using the words. (to these wemight add moving images, from TV, video or
We have seen that there is a lot to be learnt about a word and that computer)
children's capacities for learning change as they get older. So the
By verbal explanation
learning of words is a process that continues, but that changes in (8) analytical definition (as in the teacher's description of a
nature as it continues. To use a metaphor, learning words is not like
protractor, on page 76, lines 6 and 7)
ticking off items on a shopping list when they have been bought. It is
(9) putting the new word in a defining context (e.g. an
more like the continual process of trying to keep a house clean; the ambulance takes sick people to hospital)
cleaning (or learning) can be done one day, but needs doing again the (10) translating into another language
next. Floors and furniture need to be cleaned in different ways, but
both need to be clean for a room to look clean, just as function and Verbal explanations (8) and (9) clearly require greater pre-exlstmg
content words, or superordinate and basic level words, may be learnt knowledge of the language, but even at a fairly simple level, definitions
in different ways. and explanations can help activate schemas or networks that wi11 in
Vocabulary needs to be met and recycled at intervals, in different turn help understanding. If children know hosPital, then mentioning it
activities, with new knowledge and new connections developed each will help them construct a meaning for ambulance, by activating
time the same words are met again. Looking at the five steps, we can scenarios connected with hospitals.
see that each 'step' is in fact something that needs to happen over and Notice that a11 except (10) require the learner to do some mental
over again, so that each time something new is learnt or remembered. work in constructing a meaning for the new foreign language word. The
Nation (1990) suggests that a new word needs to be met at least five amount of mental work done by learners affects how we11a new word
or six times in a text book unit before it has any chance of being is engraved in memory; the more learners have to think about a word
learnt. 1 am emphasising the need for words to recur, not just in a unit, and its meaning, the more likely they are to remember it. This hypo-
but across units or chapters, and across levels and years. For children thesis about the importance of 'deep processing' (Craik and Lockhart
who start language learning young this is particularly important. 1972) can be complemented by noting that methods that involve
Although some of the words learnt early on may become redundant relatively 'sha11ow' processing, such as repetition and learning lists by
beca use they refer to childish things e.g. doll, many others will be heart, can also help memorising (Schmitt 1997). However, it is impor-
useful later, but only if they can be reca11ed. Recycling makes reca11 tant to re alise that the immediate translation of a new word takcs away
more probable. from the child any need 01' motivation to think about the mcaning of the
In the fo11owing sections we examine what may help Iearners at forcign langll;l¡?,eword or lo hold the ncw word in mind. As a reslllt,
various points in the learning proccss. althollgh lInderS{;1I1dlllJ',Ill:1Y1)(' rapid and painless, longcr trnn rl'llll'nl"
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 Teaching Languages to Young Learners Learning words

50metimes a new word is first explained in the foreign language or When children encounter the written form of a new word, their
with pictures, but is then immediately translated in the first language. attention should be drawn to its shape, to initial and final letters, to
Pupils will soon realise the pattern of their teacher's explanations and letter clusters, and to its spelling.
learn that they don't ha ve to concentrate on working out the meaning,
because the translation is predictably given· afterwards. As a general
4.4.4 Making strong memory connections
principIe, it would seem useful to avoid translation as a regular way of
explaining new words, and to try other techniques, both for variety and Having met and understood a new word, and paid attention to its form,
for promoting learning. Often when new words are introduced, pupils the pupils' vocabulary learning process has begun. The word has
will produce the first language translation. Then the teacher can accept entered the learner's short term memory, and the next teaching issue is
the translation, as useful evidence of understanding, but can still how to build up the memory of the word so that it is available for use in
proceed with explanations in the foreign language that will provide the longer termo Memorising activities are needed at the point of
useful input. learning new words for the first time, and at regular intervals to recycle
Nation suggests that an explanation is quickly followed by a check of vocabulary, so that it stays active and ready to use.
understanding, using a difierent technique. So, having explained ambu- Vocabulary memorising activities can make central use of the idea of
lance through a defining context, learners' understanding can be networks of meaning that have been discussed in some detail earlier in
checked by asking them to identify an ambulance in a picture. If the the chapter. As we revisit these links below, each type is followed by
new word has not been understood, a further explanation can be given. examples of vocabulary memorising activities. Many of the organisa-
tional networks lend themselves to diagrams or pictures, and the use of
difierent media can help memorising.
4.4.3 Attending to form
Form - how a word is pronounced and how it is written - is a key part
(1) Thematic organisation of vocabulary
of word knowledge. For young learners, the spoken form should have
priority, but written forms can be introduced either soon after, for Things that go together or happen together. A theme can be seen as
learners who are literate in the foreign language, or some time later as including:
reading and writing skills are developed. With a focus on discourse and
people + objects + actions + processes (combinations of actions)
embedding new words in a discourse context, we may be at risk of
+ typical events + places.
forgetting that form is difficult to notice when a word is encountered in
a sentence. Pupils need to hear a new word in isolation as well as in a Children can build up a collage on the theme of shopping that will
discourse context, so that they can notice the sounds at the beginning practise newly learnt words such as shopping bag, change, assistant,
and end, the stress pattern of the word, and the syllables that make up and at the same time recycle earlier learnt words for {ood. To make sure
the word. They will need to hear the word spoken in isolation several the words are actually used, the teacher might give the pupils a list of
times to catch all this information. If we again use the example of things to be included in their collage; the learners then decide how to
ambulance, then the teacher's explanation could be followed by saying share out the list between them and set out to find and cut out pictures
the word by itself several times, before returning it to a discourse in old magazines. Before making the collage, each learner has to report
contexto The teacher talk might look like this: back to their group and show the pictures they have found of their
allotted items. The large collage pictures can be used as a background
An ambulance takes sick people to hospital. context to introduce and practise further vocabulary for actions and
Ambulance processes e.g. stack the shelves, pay the bill, push the trolley.
Am-bu-lance More forma 11y diagrammed grids and sets can be used to organise
Ambulance vocabulary, p1'oviding p1'actice in the process, e.g. sorting pictures of
Can you see the ambulance in this pie/u re? (ch i Iti poi nts to sports eqllipll1Cllt, f:1I1Wllsplaye1's, clothing (01' the words) into sets of
pictllre) basketball / foolldl / Il'llllis, de. Nation ('990: 99) has a vcrsion for
)/I'S, IlJer!' 's 11.7('dl/lll/lldl/t'I' drril'il/,'-: 111 t/,(·!.llIsl,illll. oltler !t'arners who (,111\ (111\' wilh grids amI tables.
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 Learning words
Teaching Languages to Young Learners

(4) Organisation of vocabulary through words and antonyms

(2) Organisation of vocabulary through relations of wholes to parts
Some words that have meanings related thraugh antonymy can be
For example, body - arms /legs - fingers / toes.
placed on lines or clines (sloping lines) that give a picture of the degrees
When parts of the body are to be learnt, initial explanations are easily
of difference, e.g.:
done by pointing and touching. Memorisihg activities could include
singing the song 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes', in which moving hot - warm - cold
and touching link with saying the words. Alternatively, children might
work in pairs on a 'listen and do' activity, each giving the other
With young children this can be done with real objects or pictures to
instructions to draw an imaginary animal or monster: 'draw two blue
support the foreign language words e.g. food that is hot, warm and
heads, six legs, a long tail'. The completed monster pictures can be used
cold, rather than with written words. New words can be inserted
for further practice thraugh listening: they are all placed on the wall or
between known words e.g. cool would be placed between warm and
board, the teacher describes one and pupils identify which it is, and cold.
thraugh speaking: a pupil selects one picture secretly and the others
have to guess by asking yes / no questions such as 'does it have two
heads?' Organising words by their related meanings can help with memorising
and recycling more abstract words, e.g.:

(3) Organisation of vocabulary in general to specific hierarchies always - usually - sometimes - never
For example, types of {ood - vegetables - cabbages.
For older learners, these words could be written on cards that have to
Activities to sort and categorise will practise vocabulary through this
be placed in order by meaning. A further set of pictures of activities
type of organisation. If food words are being learnt, children can sort
could then be sorted and placed under the appropriate adverb e.g.
real items into vegetables and fruit, naming the individual items as they
eating break{ast, taking the bus to school, going to the cinema.
go.
A game that exploits these graded adverbs has a pupil construct a
Some language games also exploit this type of organisation. The
description of someone famous or in the class fram a set of sentences,
game 'Shipwreck' puts pupils into teams with pencil and paper. They
each using one of the adverbs. The rest of the class has to guess who
are given three minutes to list alI the drinks they can think of, then all
they are describing. For example: 'he always succeeds in his tasks; he
the {ood, then all the clothes. Then one team reads out their list item by
usually helps people in need; he sometimes flies through the air; he
item, and if another team has also written an item, it has to be crassed
never tells anyone his identity' (answer: Superman).
off everyone's listo Teams can only keep items that no-one else has
listed. At the end of the game, teams have to imagine themselves
landing on a desert island after a shipwreck, with only those items left (5) Organising vocabulary in 'ad-hoc' categories
on their list (usually an amusing selection of odd things).
This is the name given to collections of things put together on the spur
'Word Tennis' splits the class into two teams. The teacher names a
of the moment e.g. things to take on a picnic (Barsalou 1987). A nice
category e.g. sports, and teams take it in turns to give examples in a
example of how this can be exploited for vocabulary practice comes
kind of tennis rally. The winner is the last team to find a word. The
fram a Malaysian text book unit on the topic of equipping an office
game then repeats with another category.
(Moving On, Year 6). The unit has a set of vocabulary items introduced
These kinds of games bring together previously learnt vocabulary in
through pictures: files, a typewriter, stapler, paper clips, envelopes, a
organised groups, recycling them and embedding them back more
filing cabinet, etc. Later in the unit, pupils are asked to look at the items
deeply in memory. Played at odd moments in lessons, they can help
and say which can be brought back from the shop and which will need
keep words active.
to come later in a lorry. This is a simple activity, but one which requires
pupils to think and use the new words, and thus helps those words
l1l'collll' pa rt of dll' lea I'1lcrs' longer term voca hu Luy resou rccs.

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 Teaching Languages to Young Learners Learning words

The idea of moving outwards from a given topic is very powerful in

4.4.5 Extending children's vocabulary beyond the text book
adjusting a text book unit to suit learners; it will be recycled when we
The vocabulary of course books for young learners is fairly predictable. look at working with stories.
Most start with words connected to the family, the house, the school, Such vocabulary extension techniques can also help if a text book
and work outwards from the child's world, bringing in other countries, unit contains too many different topics with insufficient repetition of
topics from history and so on. As is conventional in foreign language vocabulary. Instead of following the book to the letter, teachers can
teaching, vocabulary input is limited. It is clear from talking to teachers enrich and recycle vocabulary from just one of the topics, including the
that many pupils either fail to learn, or forget, a lot of the vocabulary spoken language activities or grammar learning set out but just chan-
they meet in their early years and that is vital for future language ging the background or situational contexto
learning. Often, text books do not help beca use pupils only meet new
words briefIy and there are insufficient recycling and consolidation
activities. Extra recycling and consolidation activities need to be added. (2) Learners' choice
However, there is another concern about vocabulary learning that at Vocabulary learning around a topic could begin from the learners rather
first sight seems quite the contrary to this: are children encouraged to than from the book, by asking them directly what words they already
learn a wide enough vocabulary in their foreign language? know and what words they would like to learn in the foreign language.
Children are getting more and more global in their interests through Here is a positive use of first language that leads to the foreign language,
the Internet, television and video, and computer games. Their worlds rather than away from it as translation does. Suppose the book has a
are much bigger, from much younger ages, than used to be the case. It unit on wild animals. The teacher could write 'wild animals' on the
may be that young learners could take on much more vocabulary than board and ask learners what they already know and which words they
their course books and syllabuses give them access to, given the would like to know in the foreign language. The words are then written
opportunity. on the board, the unknown ones in the first language and then
The two issues may be connected: difficulties in learning vocabulary translated into the foreign language (from Phillips 1993)·
may result from that vocabulary not being sufficiently connected to In doing this activity, learners will meet the word in isolation but also
pupils' real lives, rather than the lives that text book and syllabus within the larger meaning context of the topic. The first language words
writers think they should lead! can be rubbed off the board, leaving just the foreign language words to
Here are three ways in which the vocabulary that children are given be copied down, perhaps illustrated with a quick picture to serve as a
access to could reach beyond the text book. reminder to meaning.

(1) Working outwards from the text book (3) Incidentallearning of vocabulary through stories
Start from the topic of the text book unit, but do not stop with the Young children learn many of their first language words through social
words that are given. The idea of thematic organisation will help extend interaction with adults, and the use of stories in young learner class-
the words. Take the Malaysian example of 'Setting Up an Office' that 1 rooms would seem to offer similar rich opportunities for learning
have already referred to. Vocabulary extension could begin by asking vocabulary indirectly, or incidentally, while attending to something else.
what other types of equipment would be needed for a really up-to-date Additionally, words encountered in stories are heard in linguistic and
office (computer, laser printer, mobile phone). It can then move to the discourse contexts, so that important grammatical and collocational
people who work in an office (manager, clerk) and the jobs they do information is available about words. Moreover, the plot and characters
(filing, faxing), and to the events that happen in offices (meetings, of a story are likely to form a thematic organisation for many of the
appointments). We could then pick up the general-specific organisation words, thus assisting understanding and learning.
of words, and note that the set vocabulary in the book is mostly basic The potentia I of stories for learning must not be assumed, but should
leve!. Perhaps some superordinates would be helpflll (furniture, sta- bc bascd on cl1lpirical evidence, and it must be said that very little
tinnery). Sllbordinates would recycle large I small cnvelopes or plastic I research cvidcncc is availah1e. One study carried out by Elley (1989)
metal paper clips. investigated IHlW 7 and X year old children 1carnt words from storics in
'ID 1) I
 Teaching Languages to Young Learners
Learning words
their first language. He found encouraging results: that useful amounts picked up information fram the linguistic context, fram the topic, fram
of vocabulary were learnt, and retained over several months, and that illustrations, ete., the weak learners tended to focus on just one or other
the lowest ability children improved most. Several factors influenced source of information that seemed salient to them. This meant that they
learning: the number of occurrences of a new word in the story; the often guessed the meaning of words without enough information to get
number of times the word was pictured; the helpfulness of cues to them right. They also did not embed new words in tightly connected
meaning in the texto When teacher explanations of new words were networks of information and meaning, and so were less successful at
added to the process, gains in vocabulary doubled. However, he found remembering them. They were also less 'flexible' as learners, not
that different stories had different effects on vocabulary learning, and looking beyond what was salient and staying with a meaning when they
suggested that children's involvement in a story affects what they can had guessed it, even if it was clearly not right. The differences between
learn from it. We should also recall that learning words takes a long learners suggest useful strategies that teachers can encolfrage learners to
time and that some of the effects he found might have been due to adopt:
previously partially known words becoming better known.
It is important to note the need to match stories to children's interests • guessing meanings by using all the information available in a picture
and language levels; if there are too many new words, a story might or text;
make no sense to the learners. Views on how many new words should • noticing grammatical information about words fram the way they are
be in a text vary from 1 new word per 15 words to 1 per 50 words used;
(Nation 1990). • noticing links to similar words in the first language;
• remembering where a word has been encountered before and how
that helps with its form and meaning.
4.5 Children's vocabulary learning strategies
Both Schmitt's and Ahmed's studies compared secondary level lear-
ners with older learners, in ]apan and the Sudan respectively. They both
By vocabulary learning strategies we mean the actions that learners take
show changes with age, although this seems to be affected by culturally
to help themselves understand and remember vocabulary. Schmitt determined educational practices, such as whether the use of monolin-
makes a useful distinction between 'discovery' strategies, such as gual dictionaries is encouraged in place of bilingual dictionaries. In
looking up a new word in a dictionary or guessing it fram its context, ]apan, older learners did more guessing words fram context and
and 'consolidation' strategies, such as learning a list of words by heart creating images of words to help remember them, and they made less
or asking someone to test you (Schmitt 1997).
use of written repetition of words and study of word spellings or words
in lists. In Sudan, younger learners who were successful used other
4.5. 1 Empirical evidence on the usefulness of strategies people to help find meanings, but with increasing use of dictionaries as
they moved up the school.
Much empirical work has been done on vocabulary learning strategies,
although again unfortunately very little with young language learners.
Schmitt (1997) contains an overview and a taxonomy of strategies.
Some studies though have investigated strategy use by secondary level 4.5.2 Strategies and young leamers
pupils just slightly older than our age graup (Ahmed 1988, Schmitt The evidence is somewhat inconclusive as to whether it is useful to train
1997, Schouten-van Parreren 1992). These show that strategy use young learners in strategy use and, if so, which strategies are most
changes with age and that successful and less successfullearners vary in helpful. Schmitt (1997) suggests introducing children to a range of
what strategies they use and in how they use them.
strategies so that these are available for learners to chao se fram as suits
Schouten-van Parreren investigated Dutch 12- 15 year olds working their individuallearning styles. Certainly, many of the strategies used by
out the meanings of new words in reading French as a foreign language. older learners can be seen as having their roots in what happens earlier.
She found that weak learners, who gene rally had smaller vocabularies It is clear too that learners may nat adopt strategies automatically, and
in their first language toa, did not make systematic use of the inforllla-
thllS SO\lle explicit trnining \llay he helpful. The general principIes of
tion about a word available in the texto (Jlllike the strong Jearners who helping dlildn'll lo le;lr1l (Chapt·cr 1) apply:
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 Learning words
Teaching Languages to Young Learners
2. Over lessons and years, knowledge about particular words can be
• Teachers can model how to use strategies and draw children's
attention explicitly to aspects of strategy use. For example, teachers seen as a progression from partial knowledge of their meaning, use
and form to fuller knowledge.
can show how to find clues to the meaning of a new word in a picture
or in other words in the same sentence. 3. Over tasks and lessons, progression in vocabulary learning moves
• Teachers can teach the sub-skills needed to make use of strategies. For from receptive and initial understanding of what a word means to
example, to use a dictionary efficiently requires knowledge of alpha- being able to use it appropriately.
betical order and lots of practice with it. Two key ideas for teaching that have emerged are that the linking of
• Classroom tasks can include structured opportunities for using strate- words and meaning in connected networks can be exploited for
gies. For example, when reading a story, teachers can explicitly meaning and memorising, and that recycling previously met words in
encourage prediction of the meanings of new words. varied contexts and activities is essential to keep learnt words active.
• Independent strategy use can be rehearsed in classrooms. For In the previous chapter, we considered the developrrient of discourse
example, children can be helped to prepare lists of words that they skills. Vocabulary is fundamental to using the foreign language as
want to learn from a lesson, can be shown ways of learning from lists discourse, since vocabulary is both learnt from participating in dis-
and later can be put in pairs to test each other. course, and is essential to participating in ir. Teachers' planning may
• Young learners can be helped to reflect on the learning process separate vocabulary as a resource from discourse skills, in order to
through evaluating their achievements. For example, at the end of a think about which words are to be learnt and how, but from a pupil's
lesson they can be asked how many new words they have learnt, and viewpoint the separation should be much fuzzier. They will encounter
which words they need to learn more about. Through regular self- new words in a discourse context, which will provide many clues to
evaluation, children can come to understand more about what they their meaning and use; they will begin to use new words in a discourse
are learning and how. context that makes sense to them and which contains many better
known words; they will eventually have those words ready for use in
discourse to communicate their own ideas. When words are assembled
4.6 Summary
into discourse, what holds them together is grammar, and it is to
Vocabulary has been seen as a major resource for language use. Early grammar that we turn our attention next.
foreign language learning offers the chance for learners to build up a
solid core of words useful for further learning, together with words that
are learnt beca use they interest or excite young learners at that age.
However, early vocabulary learning may be ineffective if words are not
consolidated and used regularly. Children entering secondary education
will have varying amounts of words, some they have mastered really
well, some only partially learnt and some that they have met once or
twice but not remembered. It should not be assumed that children know
what they have been taught, i.e. the content of their course books or
syllabus. They know what they have learnt.
Progression in vocabulary learning has been examined from several
different perspecti ves:
1. Over the timescale of primary education, progression in conceptual
development impacts on vocabulary learning. As children get older,
they are more able to handle abstract ideas and words as well as
concrete and the here-and-now; and to work oLltwards fro111hasic
leve! concepts to more general and Illore spccific COIlCcpts amI
voca bula ry.
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