WEEK 6

VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

• How do we learn words?

• What does L1 vocabulary acquisition have to tell us about L2 acquisition?
• How is memory related to vocabulary acquisition?
• How can learners become independent of teachers in their vocabulary
learning?
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We found that the average educated adult native speaker of English knows
between 15 and 20 thousand word families. Many L2 learners of English also know
thousands of word families. Today we will explore the intriguing question of how
language learners are able to acquire such an impressive amount of vocabulary. Tens
of thousands of word families are probably too many to be learned solely from formal
study, so most L1 vocabulary knowledge has to be "picked up" through simple
exposure during the course of language use.
This suggests two main processes of vocabulary acquisition: explicit learning
through the focused study of words and incidental learning through exposure when
one's attention is focused on the use of language, rather than the learning itself.
Second language learners acquire vocabulary through these same processes, but their
learning context usually differs markedly from children learning their native language.
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In fact, there are so many different variables that affect second

language vocabulary acquisition, such as L1, age, amount of exposure,
motivation, and culture, that it is very difficult to formulate a theory of
acquisition that can account for them all.
Although we do not have a global theory that can explain vocabulary
acquisition, models have been proposed that attempt to describe the
mechanics of acquisition for more limited aspects of lexis, such as how
meaning is learned.
Numerous studies have also focused on L2 vocabulary learning itself.
Now we will highlight some of the most important insights from both of
these research strands.
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The incremental nature of vocabulary acquisition

On the first exposure to a new word, all that is likely to be picked up
is some sense of word form and meaning. If the exposure was verbal, the
person might remember the pronunciation of the whole word but might
only remember what other words it rhymes with or how many syllables it
has. If the exposure came from a written text, the person may only
remember the first few letters of the word. Because it was only a single
exposure, it is only possible to gain the single meaning sense that was used
in that context.
It is also possible that the word class was noticed, but not much
else. As the person gains a few more exposures, these features will be
consolidated, and perhaps some other meaning senses will be encountered.
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It will probably be relatively late in the acquisition

process before a person develops intuitions about the word's
frequency, register constraints, and collocational behavior,
simply because these features require a large number of
examples to determine the appropriate values.
This account allows for a great deal of variability in how
words are learned, but the key point is that some word
knowledge aspects develop at different rates than others.
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But each of these word knowledge types is also mastered to greater

or lesser degrees at any point in time. Henricksen (1999) provides a good
description of the various aspects of incremental development in her
discussion of vocabulary knowledge. She proposes three dimensions of
knowledge, all of which can be acquired to various degrees. She first suggests
that for any lexical aspect, learners can have knowledge ranging from zero to
partial to precise. This would mean that all word knowledge ranges on a
continuum, rather than being known versus unknown:
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If we look at lexical knowledge from a word-knowledge

standpoint, it is clear that all knowledge does not have to be either
receptively or productively known at the same time. For example,
it is easy to find students who can produce a word orally without
any problems but cannot read it receptively. Likewise, students can
often give the meaning(s) of a word in isolation but cannot use it
in context for lack of productive collocation and register
knowledge.
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So instead of thinking of a word being known receptively or

productively, it may be better to consider the degree of
receptive/productive control of the various word-knowledge aspects.
To sum up, vocabulary acquisition incremental is incremental
in a variety of ways. First, lexical knowledge is made up of different
kinds of word knowledge and not all can be learned simultaneously.
Second, each word-knowledge type may develop along a cline, which
means that not only is word learning incremental in general, but
learning of the individual word knowledges is as well. Third, each
word-knowledge type may be receptively or productively known
regardless of the degree of mastery of the others. Taken together, this
indicates that word learning is a complicated but gradual process.
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Incidental and Explicit Learning of Vocabulary
Explicit learning focuses attention directly on the
information to be learned, which gives the greatest chance
for its acquisition. But it is also time-consuming, and for all
but the most diligent student, it would be too laborious to
learn an adequately sized lexicon.
Incidental learning can occur when one is using
language for communicative purposes, and so gives a
double benefit for time expended. But it is slower and more
gradual, lacking the focused attention of explicit learning.
One may have to read a great deal of text or converse for
quite some time to come across any particular word,
especially if it is relatively infrequent.
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A person should be able to start learning incidentally
from verbal conversation almost from the beginning, but
when it comes to reading, a certain amount of explicit study
is probably necessary as a prerequisite. Not only must one
learn to read, but written language typically makes more
use of infrequent vocabulary than does spoken language.
These less frequent words are less likely to be
known, leading to a higher proportion of unknown words on
a page. Unless a high percentage of words on a page are
known, it is very difficult to guess the meaning of any new
words. The upshot is that some explicit learning is probably
necessary to reach a vocabulary size "threshold“ that
enables incidental learning from reading.
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To start reading authentic texts meant for adult native
speakers, the threshold is somewhere between three and five
thousand word families but one can access the easiest
simplified readers with only a few hundred.
The consensus is that, for second language learners at
least, both explicit and incidental learning are necessary, and
should be seen as complementary.
Certain important words make excellent targets for
explicit attention, for example, the most frequent words in a
language and technical vocabulary. Nation (1995) thinks we
should consider vocabulary teaching in terms of cost/benefits,
with the value of learning such words well worth the time
required to teach them explicitly. On the other hand, infrequent
words in general English are probably best left to incidental
learning.
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The field of psychology has given us an important
concept related to explicit language learning: the more one
manipulates, thinks about, and uses mental information, the
more likely it is that one will retain that information.
In the case of vocabulary, the more one engages
with a word (deeper processing), the more likely the word
will be remembered for later use.
An example of an explicit learning technique that
requires relatively deep processing is the Keyword Method
(Hulstijn, 1997).
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This technique works by combining elements of
phonological form and meaning in a mental image. Let us
say that an English speaker wants to remember the
Japanese word for sword (katana). First, a word with a
phonological similarity to katana is found in English, for
example, cat. Then a mental image is conjured up
combining the two, such as a samurai cat waving a sword.
When the person hears the word katana, he or she is
reminded of cat, which activates the mental image. This in
turn leads to the meaning of "sword."
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Use of "deep processing" techniques such as the
keyword method has been shown to help fix target words in
memory. Conversely, techniques that only require relatively
shallow processing, such as repeatedly writing a word on a
page, do not seem to facilitate retention as well.
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Words not explicitly focused upon can be learned
incidentally from exposure, facilitated by the use of
vocabulary learning strategies.
Another way to expedite incidental learning is to
increase the amount of exposure, because lack of exposure
is one of the most common problems facing second
language learners.
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In an L1, incidental learning is the dominant way of
acquiring vocabulary. This really has to be the case because
parents do not "teach" their children most of the vocabulary
they acquire, although they do simplify their speech to
make it more comprehensible. But the children are the
beneficiaries of a massive amount of input, which allows
them to enter school at age 5 with vocabularies of around
four to five thousand word families. In fact, children are
exposed to their native language even before they are born.
Research has shown that embryos become accustomed to
the prosody (rhythm, flow, and stress of a language) of their
mother's speech while still in the womb.
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It appears that some kinds of word knowledge are
particularly responsive to either explicit or incidental learning.
For example, reliable intuitions of collocation can only come
from numerous exposures to a word in varied contexts, which
suggests incidental learning as an acquisition vehicle.
Ellis believes that learning mainly consists of an implicit
tuning in to the orthographic/phonological regularities that
exist in any language system. For example, in English the
consonant cluster sch can begin a word (school), but hsc cannot.
Early conscious learning (if any) eventually becomes
automatized, with the speed and overall proficiency of the
orthographic input (reading) and output (spelling) systems
mainly acquired by the repetitive practice of actually using the
target language.
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Certain factors can facilitate or inhibit this acquisition,
especially in an L2 context.
The orthography is easier if the L1 and L2 use the same
orthographic characters and they are read in the same manner (left
to right, right to left, up to down in vertical columns, etc.).
Similarly, use of the same sequential letter probabilities (consonant
clusters) facilitates learning (e.g., sch is an acceptable cluster in
English, but may not be in another language). The closer the
correspondence between the graphemes and the phonemes they
represent (sound-symbol correspondences), the easier it is to
learn.
If the L1 and L2 words have similar orthographies based on
etymological or loanword reasons (English hound; German hund),
this also facilitates learning. Last, shorter words are easier than
longer words, partly because shorter words occur more frequently.
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In contrast to the incidental acquisition of word form,
Ellis (1997) suggests that meaning is one lexical aspect
amenable to conscious learning, particularly by means of
guessing a new word's meaning from context, using imagery,
and utilizing appropriate strategies for connecting meanings to
word forms.
Because meaning is so central to vocabulary learning,
let us now discuss how it is acquired.
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Acquisition of Word Meaning and Grammatical Knowledge
Meaning
Children acquiring their native language seem to easily learn
elements of the core meaning of words in a kind of "fast mapping"
between word and concept, but it may take much longer to come to a
refined understanding of all of a word's meaning features.
Similarly, it is observed that children acquire word meaning in
two stages: a fast initial stage in which novel words are fitted into
categories (logo is a kind of sign), then a slower stage in which the
words within the categories are differentiated (logos usually identify
companies and are attached to those companies' products, whereas
emblems represent a particular person, group, or idea).
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Aitchison (1987) summarizes the process of meaning
acquisition in L1 children in three basic stages: (1) labeling
(attaching a label [word] to a concept), (2) categorization (grouping
a number of objects under a particular label), and (3) network
building (building connections between related words).
Once learners have acquired the core meaning, they then
learn from additional exposure to the target word in context how
far the meaning can be extended and where the semantic
boundaries are. This is an ongoing process, as each exposure to a
novel usage of a word further defines its boundaries.
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It seems that L1 children categorize novel words with
others of a like kind, but the criteria for "likeness" appear to
change with a child's development. Initially, perceptional
similarity (particularly shape similarity) is paramount, but
gradually coordinate relationships (necklace-ring, cake-pie)
become more important.
Children often overextend their first nouns to things
outside the category, such as using dog to refer to any four-
legged animal. They may also underextend objects that are not
typical members of a class and exclude them from the concept,
as in believing that Chihuahuas are not dogs.
Eventually, enough input is gained to clarify the word
boundaries. But those boundaries often remain fuzzy to some
extent and even very well read native adults are constantly
learning new applications for words they already know.
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Part of this will include learning new meaning senses for
words. Many or most words in English have two or more meaning
senses (polysemy) - for example, spur =cowboy apparel, to
encourage someone, a side road or track, and so on - and native
speakers will be exposed to these new meaning senses
throughout their lifetimes.
From among the different meaning senses for each word,
one is usually the most basic, frequent, neutral, or substitutable
and can be termed the core meaning sense. For example, the
word cream can mean a color or the best part of something but by
far the most common meaning sense is that of a part of milk. West
(1953) puts the relative percentages of usage at 14%, 14%, and
48%, respectively, clearly indicating that the "milk" sense is core.
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In L2 vocabulary acquisition, it seems that learners
acquire the core meaning sense of a word before more
figurative senses and that much L1 meaning information is
transferred over to the L2. Ijaz (1986) found that the core
meaning senses of words are transferred whereas non-typical
meaning senses are not.
In addition, literal L1 meaning senses (break a stick) are
more likely to be transferred to an L2 than figurative meaning
senses (break a heart).
Similarly, Lovell (1941) found evidence that knowledge of
multiple meaning senses of a word is closely related to
understanding the most common meaning sense. All of these
pieces of evidence suggest that words have a core meaning sense
that is relatively universal and is likely to be acquired before
other more figurative senses.
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Like L1 children, L2learners must define the boundaries of
word meaning but they usually have the advantage of already
knowing the concepts. Thus, L2 learners seldom over- or
underextend basic words, but may have trouble initially setting
the meaning boundary between two or more related words that
are less common, such as job, career, and vocation.
This is partially because there is not always a one-to-one
correspondence between words in different languages. For
example, it is often the case where one language has one word
for a semantic space and another two or more for the same area.
Learners have to assimilate enough additional features to
disambiguate similar words that may have almost the same core
meaning, but with subtle differences.
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Grammatical/Morphological Knowledge
Nagy and Anderson (1984) estimate that the average upper
primary school student encounters a minimum of 1,000 new word
families per year while reading, with better readers being exposed up
to a possible 3,000-4,000 new vocabulary items. It is pointed out that
most are related to words already known through prefixation,
suffixation, or compounding.
Thus, a knowledge of morphology is crucial in handling the
flood of novel words being met at this time. But how and when do L1
children gain this morphological knowledge? To some extent, it
depends on the type of morphology. Inflections and compounding
seem to be acquired before derivational suffixes. In fact, students are
able to recognize the base forms within a suffixed word before they
understand the function of the derivational suffix itself.
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One obvious reason why inflections are learned before
derivational suffixes is that inflections are more rule-based and
consistent. But another reason is that derivational suffixes are more
common in the written mode than the oral mode, and are particularly
associated with formal and academic discourse. Therefore, children
simply have more exposure to inflections than derivational suffixes. It
seems that, as their exposure to written language increases, so does
their knowledge of derivational suffixes.
As with other kinds of language knowledge, morphology seems
to be incrementally acquired, and may not be fully mastered until quite
late.
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It has been commonly assumed that once a base form is known, its
inflections and derivations can be learned with minimum effort. This is
exemplified by Bauer and Nation's (1993) vision of word families, which
states that "once the base word or even a derived word is known, the
recognition of other members of the family requires little or no extra effort"
(p. 253).
It seems that knowing the stem word does help facilitate the
learning of its derivations. This does not mean, however, that we can
assume that acquiring the derivations is easy or that it will be accomplished
almost automatically. Indeed, we have seen that even native speakers do
not have full mastery over morphology until at least high school.
If it takes that long to develop in natives, with their advantage of
maximum exposure, then L2 learners are likely to have difficulties in their
morphological acquisition.
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MWUs in Vocabulary Acquisition
Much lexis consists of multiword units (MWUs). These MWUs act as
chunks that facilitate fluent language use with less cognitive overhead.
MWUs also have important ramifications for the acquisition of vocabulary.
To illustrate this, we need to first introduce the idea of item
learning versus system learning. In language acquisition, learning seems to
take place in two ways in phonology, morphology, and other linguistic
aspects:
1. Item learning: learning individual units, such as the words sled and
walked
2. System learning: learning the system or "rules," such as sl =s+l and
walked =walk+ed
Lexical chunks clearly fall into the category of item learning because
their key feature is that they are wholes.
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Grammar, on the other hand, falls into the category of system
learning. But these two types of learning are not mutually exclusive;
rather, they feed into one another. Thus, once a chunk is known, it
can be analyzed and segmented into its constituent words. In this
way, unanalyzed chunks can be analyzed to provide additional
vocabulary.
Peters (1983) presents the argument in its most considered
form, proposing that learning vocabulary from lexical chunks is a
three-part process. First, chunks are learned that are frozen wholes
with no variation possible. At this point they are unanalyzed and are
single lexemes. Common examples are idioms (e.g., kick the bucket,
burn the midnight oil) and proverbs (e.g., An apple a day keeps the
doctor away, A stitch in time saves nine). Also included are some
expressions that are tightly related to a functional use (e.g., Ladies
and gentlemen).
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Second, a language learner may realize that some variation is
possible in certain chunks and that they contain open slots. For
example, after having heard the phrase How are you today? several
times, it may be acquired as a chunk with the meaning of "a
greeting." However, the learner may later notice the phrases How
are you this evening? or How are you this fine morning? and, at that
point, may realize that the underlying structure is actually How are
you?, where the slot can be filled with most time references.
It is then possible for the learner to perceive that what fits in
the slot is a separate lexical unit from the rest of the phrase, which
opens the door to learning that lexical unit. Thus chunks can be
segmentalized into smaller lexical units, often times individual words.
Lexical chunks at this stage are partly fixed and partly creative.
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Third, this segmentation process can continue until all of the
component words are recognized as individual units by use of
syntactic analysis. When this happens, every word in the chunk is
potentially available for learning.
There are some lexical chunks that the learner may never
start to analyze, and that may be retained only as unanalyzed
wholes. Likewise, learners may or may not realize that certain lexical
chunks contain variability and slots. When the variability is realized, it
is possible that only the slots are analyzed; the rest of the pattern
may remain unanalyzed. Still, it seems safe to assume that many, if
not most, of the lexical chunks a learner knows will eventually
become fully analyzed, and Peters (1983) suggests that much of a
learner's vocabulary is learned in this way.
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This segmentation process can lead to more than lexical
knowledge, however. Segmentation also requires grammatical
information, which focuses attention on syntax as well as lexis. Ellis
(1997) argues that grammar can be learned through the implicit
recognition of the patterns in strings of language, some of which are
bound to include lexical chunks.
A perceptive ability to recognize such patterning does seem
to be a sufficient condition for at least some types of grammar
acquisition; a model developed by Kiss (1973) demonstrated that
simply calculating which words occur sequentially eventually
provides enough input to distinguish their word class.
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Role of Memory in Vocabulary Acquisition
Memory has a key interface with language learning. In fact, it
is suggested that short-term memory capacity is one of the best
predictors of both eventual vocabulary and grammar achievement.
It must be recognized that words are not necessarily learned
in a linear manner, with only incremental advancement and no
backsliding. All teachers recognize that learners forget material as
well. This forgetting is a natural fact of learning. We should view
partial vocabulary knowledge as being in a state of flux, with both
learning and forgetting occurring until the word is mastered and
"fixed" in memory.
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Of course, forgetting can also occur even if a word is
relatively well known, as when one does not use a second language
for a long time or stops a course of language study. In this case, it is
called attrition. In general, though, lexical knowledge seems to be
more prone to attrition than other linguistic aspects, such as
phonology or grammar.
This is logical because in one sense vocabulary is made up of
individual units rather than a series of rules. It appears that
receptive knowledge does not attrite dramatically, and when it does,
it is usually peripheral words, such as low-frequency non-cognates,
that are affected.
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On the other hand, productive knowledge is more likely to be
forgotten. The rate of attrition appears to be independent of
proficiency levels; that is, learners who know more will lose about
the same amount of knowledge as those who learn less. This means
that more proficient learners will lose relatively less of their
language knowledge than beginning learners.
When learning new information, most forgetting occurs soon
after the end of the learning session. After that major loss, the rate
of forgetting decreases. By understanding the nature of forgetting,
we can better organize a recycling program which will be more
efficient.
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It is indicated that it is critical to have a review session soon after
the learning session, but less essential as time goes on. The principle of
expanding rehearsal was derived from this insight, which suggests that
learners review new material soon after the initial meeting and then at
gradually increasing intervals.
One explicit memory schedule proposes reviews 5-10 minutes after
the end of the study period, 24 hours later, 1 week later, 1 month later, and
finally 6 months later. In this way, the forgetting is minimized. Students
can use the principle of expanding rehearsal to individualize their learning.
They should test themselves on new words they have studied. If they can
remember them, they should increase the interval before the next review,
but if they cannot, they should shorten the interval.
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Memory comes in two basic types: short-term memory (working
memory) and long-term memory. Long-term memory retains information
for use in anything but the immediate future. Short-term memory is used
to store or hold information while it is being processed. It normally can
hold information for only a matter of seconds. However, this can be
extended by rehearsal, for example, by constantly repeating a phone
number so that it is not forgotten. Short-term memory is fast and
adaptive but has a small storage capacity.
Long-term memory has an almost unlimited storage capacity but
is relatively slow. The object of vocabulary learning is to transfer the
lexical information from the short-term memory, where it resides during
the process of manipulating language, to the more permanent long term
memory.
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The main way of doing this is by finding some preexisting
information in the long-term memory to "attach" the new
information to. In the case of vocabulary, it means finding some
element already in the mental lexicon to relate the new lexical
information to. This can be done in various ways. One is through
imaging techniques such as the Keyword Approach.
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Another is through grouping the new word with already-
known words that are similar in some respect. The new word can be
placed with words with a similar meaning (prank--trick, joke, jest), a
similar sound structure (prank--tank, sank, rank), the same
beginning letters (prank--pray, pretty, prod), the same word class
(prank--cow, greed, distance), or other grouping parameter, although
by far the most common must be meaning similarity.
Because the "old" words are already fixed in the mind,
relating the new words to them provides a "hook" to remember
them by so they will not be forgotten. New words that do not have
this connection are much more prone to forgetting.
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VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES
One approach of facilitating vocabulary learning that has
attracted increasing attention is vocabulary learning strategies
(VLS). It seems that many learners do use strategies for learning
vocabulary, especially when compared to language tasks that
integrate several linguistic skills (e.g., oral presentation that
involves composing the speech content, producing
comprehensible pronunciation, fielding questions, etc.).
This might be due to the relatively discrete nature of
vocabulary learning compared to more integrated language
activities, making it easier to apply strategies effectively. It may
also be due to the fact that classrooms tend to emphasize
discrete activities over integrative ones, or that students
particularly value vocabulary learning.
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Commonly used VLS seem to be simple memorization,
repetition, and taking notes on vocabulary. These more mechanical
strategies are often favored over more complex ones requiring
significant active manipulation of information (imagery, inferencing,
Keyword Method). It would seem that learners often favor relatively
"shallow" strategies, even though they may be less effective than
"deeper" ones.
Indeed, research into some "deeper" vocabulary learning
strategies, such as forming associations and using the Keyword
Method, have been shown to enhance retention -better than rote
memorization. However, even rote repetition can be effective if
students are accustomed to using it.
If a generalization can be made, shallower activities may be
more suitable for beginners, because they contain less material that
may only distract a novice, whereas intermediate or advanced learners
can benefit from the context usually included in deeper activities.
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Rather than being used individually, multiple VLS are

often used concurrently. This means that active management of
strategy use is important.
Good learners do things such as use a variety of
strategies, structure their vocabulary learning, review and
practice target words, and they are aware of the semantic
relationships between new and previously learned L2 words; that
is, they are conscious of their learning and take steps to regulate
it.
Poor learners generally lacked this awareness and
control.
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When considering which vocabulary learning strategies to
recommend to our students, we need to consider the overall
learning context. The effectiveness with which learning
strategies can be both taught and used will depend on a number
of variables, including the proficiency level, L1 and culture of
students, their motivation and purposes for learning the L2, the
task and text being used, and the nature of the L2 itself.
It is important to gain cooperation of the learners,
because a study has shown that students who resisted strategy
training learned worse than those who relied on their familiar
rote repetition approach. We thus have to take learning culture
into consideration, because learners from different culture
groups sometimes have quite different opinions about the
usefulness of various vocabulary learning strategies
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Proficiency level has also been shown to be quite

important, with one study showing word lists better for beginning
students, and contextualized words better for more advanced
students.
In addition, the frequency of the target words is relevant.
High-frequency words should probably be taught, so they mainly
require strategies for review and consolidation, whereas low-
frequency words will mostly be met incidentally while reading or
listening, and so initially require strategies for determining their
meanings, such as guessing from context and using word parts.
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This reflects the different processes necessary for working out a
new word's meaning and usage, and for consolidating it in memory for
future use.
Second, the strategies are further classified into five
groupings. The first contains strategies used by an individual when
faced with discovering a new word's meaning without recourse to
another person's expertise (Determination strategies [DET]). This can
be done through guessing from one's structural knowledge of a
language, guessing from an L1 cognate, guessing from context, or using
reference materials.
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Social strategies (SOC) use interaction with other people to

improve language learning. One can ask teachers or classmates for
information about a new word and they can answer in a number of
ways (synonyms, translations, etc.).
One can also study and consolidate vocabulary knowledge with
other people.
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Memory strategies (MEM) (traditionally known as mnemonics)
involve relating the word to be retained with some previously learned
knowledge, using some form of imagery or grouping. A new word can be
integrated into many kinds of existing knowledge or images can be
custom-made for retrieval (e.g., images of the word's form or meaning
attributes).
Groupings is an important way to aid recall and people seem to
organize words into groups naturally without prompting. If words are
organized in some way before memorization, recall is improved.
Another kind of mnemonic strategy involves focusing on the
target word's orthographic or phonological form to facilitate recall.
The use of physical action when learning has been shown to
facilitate language recall. Asher (1977) has made it the basis for a whole
methodology, the Total Physical Response Method (TPR), which seems to
be especially amenable to the teaching of beginners.
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It is worth noting that memory strategies generally involve the

kind of elaborative mental processing that facilitates long-term
retention. This takes time but the time expended will be well spent if
used on important words that really need to be learned, such as high-
frequency vocabulary and technical words essential in a particular
learner's field of study.
A learner may not have time to "deeply process" every word
encountered but it is certainly worth attempting for key lexical items.
 VOCABULARY ACQUISITION
Cognitive strategies (COG) exhibit the common function of
"manipulation or transformation of the target language by the
learner". They are similar to memory strategies but are not focused so
specifically on manipulative mental processing; they include repetition
and using mechanical means to study vocabulary, including the
keeping of vocabulary notebooks.
Finally, Metacognitive strategies (MET) involve a conscious
overview of the learning process and making decisions about planning,
monitoring or evaluating the best ways to study. This includes
improving access to input, deciding on the most efficient methods of
study/review, and testing oneself to gauge improvement. It also
includes deciding which words are worth studying and which are not as
well as persevering with the words one chooses to learn.
 VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

In sum, it is suggested that VLS have a great deal of potential

but that we must be very sensitive to our learners and their needs
when we incorporate strategy instruction into our curriculum.
 VOCABULARY ACQUISITION
IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS
Vocabulary is learned incrementally and this obviously means
that lexical acquisition requires multiple exposures to a word. This is
certainly true for incidental learning, as the chances of learning and
retaining a word from one exposure when reading are only about 5% -
14% (Nagy, 1997, p. 74). Other studies suggest that it requires five to
sixteen or more repetitions for a word to be learned (Nation, 1990, p.
44).
If recycling is neglected, many partially known words will be
forgotten, wasting all the effort already put into learning them.
Fortunately, this recycling occurs naturally as more frequent words
appear repeatedly in texts and conversations. This repetition does not
happen to nearly as great an extent for less frequent words, so
teachers should look for ways to bolster learner input to offset this.
Extensive reading seems to be one effective method.
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For explicit learning, however, recycling has to be consciously

built into any study program. Teachers must guard against presenting a
word once and then forgetting about it, or else their students will do
the same. This implies developing a more structured way of presenting
vocabulary that reintroduces words repeatedly in classroom activities.
Learning activities themselves need to be designed to require multiple
manipulations of a word, such as in vocabulary notebooks in which
students have to go back and add additional information about the
words.
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L2 learners benefit from a complementary combination of

explicit teaching and incidental learning.
Explicit teaching can supply valuable first introductions to a
word, but of course not all lexical aspects can be covered during these
encounters.
The varied contexts in which learners encounter the word
during later incidental meetings can lead to broader understanding of
its collocations, additional meaning senses, and other higher-level
knowledge. In addition, repeated exposure will help to consolidate the
lexical aspects first learned.
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Additionally, explicit teaching is probably essential for the most

frequent words of any L2 because they are prerequisites for language
use.
The learning of these basic words cannot be left to chance but
should be taught as quickly as possible because they open to the door
to further learning. Less frequent words, on the other hand, maybe
best learned by reading extensively because there is just not enough
time to learn them all through conscious study.
Thus, explicit teaching and incidental learning complement each
other well, with each being necessary for an effective vocabulary
program.
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It is probably worth considering adding a vocabulary learning
strategies component to your vocabulary program. You will not be able
to teach all the words students will need and even the input generated
by extensive reading has its limitations.
Students will eventually need to effectively control their own
vocabulary learning. The research has shown that to be effective
training must be tailored to your particular situation, taking into
account the age, motivation, proficiency, and desires of your students.
Also, it appears that learners naturally mature into using
different strategies at different times of their life, so it seems
reasonable to introduce them to a variety of strategies and let them
decide which ones are right for them.
 NEXT WEEK

TEACHING AND LEARNING

VOCABULARY