9th Christians in English Language Teaching (CELT 2012) Conference Teaching With Excellence Strand

Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China Sunday January 29, 2012

Vocabulary Learning and Teaching:

Pedagogy, Research, and Resources Michael Lessard-Clouston
Biola University, Cook School of Intercultural Studies
Department of Applied Linguistics & TESOL
13800 Biola Avenue, La Mirada, CA 90639 U.S.A.
[email protected]
1. Introduction/Background
 Why is vocabulary important in language learning and teaching?
• Without sufficient vocabulary people cannot understand others or express their own ideas.
 “...while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be
conveyed”. (Wilkins, 1972, pp. 111-112)
 “Lexis is the core or heart of language”. (Lewis, 1993, p. 89)
 “Language is very difficult to put into words.” – Voltaire (Baumann, Kame’enui, & Ash, 2003, p. 752)
Learners often instinctively seem to recognize the importance of vocabulary for their learning: as
Schmitt (2010) notes, “learners carry around dictionaries and not grammar books” (p. 4).
• Language learning usually involves a large number of different literacy activities and practices,
and without some breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge these are difficult to grasp/do!
• As Cummins (2003) pointed out, three inter-related aspects of language proficiency are
conversational fluency, discrete language skills, and academic language proficiency. From
middle school and above there’s more focus on activities that require the latter two skills, and
which demand mastery of less frequent and more academic vocabulary in reading, writing, etc.
2. Understanding Vocabulary: A L2/FL Perspective
 What is important to know about vocabulary?
1. As Lewis (1993) declared, “language consists of grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalized
grammar” (p. 51). Unfortunately, most L2/FL and teacher training programs neglect vocabulary.
2. Vocabulary includes both individual words and phrases (Schmitt, 2010; Zimmerman, 2009).
 Lewis (1993) and others thus recommend teaching vocabulary in “chunks”.
3. The concept of a ‘word’ can be defined in various ways (Baumann, Kame’enui, & Ash, 2003),
but three significant aspects include form, meaning and use (see also 1. in section 3. below).
4. From a L2 perspective it’s helpful to think of word families, sets of related words focusing on
a base word (with one main meaning), plus its inflected forms and derivations (Nation &
Waring, 1997, p. 7). For example, “observe” in English includes: observes, observed, observing,
observation, observable, observance, observational, observant, observatory, observer, etc.
 Note, however, that different meanings for the same written form, such as “pupil”
(student or center of the eye), are considered different “words” in this view. Also, we can
not assume that if someone knows one word form in the family they will know the others.
5. There are various types of vocabulary knowledge. Two important distinctions are:
1) expressive or productive vocabulary (used in one’s speech or writing), and receptive
vocabulary (used to understand/associate meanings in reading or listening);
2) breadth (or quantity, the number of words known) vs. depth (or quality of knowledge
about a word, phrase, its use, meaning, etc.) knowledge (Baumann, Kame’enui, & Ash, 2003).
 Note: Individuals have various degrees of knowledge of specific vocabulary items.
Typically learners have greater receptive (and more breadth than depth) vocabulary knowledge.

CELT 2012 Hong Kong - Vocabulary Learning and Teaching © Michael Lessard-Clouston 2012 1
3. Vocabulary Learning Research
 What does L2/FL research say about vocabulary learning?
1. To know everything about a word, one needs to know (Nation, 2001, p. 27) the word’s:
Form: spoken form, written form, and word parts (e.g., prefix/root/suffix)
Meaning: meaning(s), concepts/referents, and associations (positive, etc.)
Use: grammatical functions, collocations, constraints (register, frequency)
Aspects of “word mastery are interrelated, and are holistically connected” (Schmitt, 2010, p. 18).
2. People can learn word meanings incidentally from reading and/or listening contexts, but such
learning most often does not come easily (Baumann, Kame’enui, & Ash, 2003; Nation, 2011).
3. Vocabulary learning is an incremental process, both for sheer numbers of words and for
specific lexical items (Schmitt, 2010, p. 19). Research indicates the aspects of word knowledge
(in 1.) seem to go from zero to partial to more precise development (Nation & Webb, 2011).
4. Vocabulary learning strategies are useful in learning/reviewing new word or phrases (Schmitt,
2000). Otherwise students simply forget what they are learning and have learned. Try using word
cards and word parts, guessing from context, and dictionary use (Nation & Meara, 2010).
5. Many factors (frequency) influence vocabulary knowledge, yet engagement is key: “the more
a learner engages with a new word, the more likely he/she is to learn it” (Schmitt, 2010, p. 26).
6. Students’ L1 can be a hindrance (e.g., false friends) and a resource (e.g., cognates) in L2
vocabulary learning. People use their L1 to learn the L2; beware of interference (Arabski, 2006).
7. The “learning burden” of a word deals with how easy it is for a student to learn a word
(Barker, 2007). For pronunciation, meaning, etc., the learning burden tends to be heavier for
longer words, those that are for abstract concepts, are multidefinition words, or false friends.
8. ESL/EFL textbooks seldom address all/many of the aspects noted in 1. above (Brown, 2011).
9. “The relationship between word knowledge and comprehension is unequivocal” (Baumann,
Kame’enui, & Ash, 2003, p. 775). Apart from research, the anecdotal evidence is clear: students
can’t understand or communicate much if they don’t have the vocabulary with which do to so!
4. Issues/Suggestions in Vocabulary Teaching
 What do we or should we know about teaching vocabulary appropriately?
1) It’s key to understand something about the vocabulary of the language being learned.
• The dominant approach to English language teaching is a frequency perspective, because the
vocabulary of English is so large (see Schmitt & Marsden, 2006). From this perspective,
Coxhead (2006), Nation (2001, 2008, 2011), Nation and Waring (1997), Nation and Webb
(2011), Zimmerman (2009), and others distinguish four main types of vocabulary in English:
▪ high frequency words (the most frequent 2,000 cover about 75-80% of most text; GSL)
▪ general academic vocabulary is common in academic texts and contexts (UWL/AWL)
▪ technical/specialized vocabulary used in specific academic fields (about 1,000 words?)
▪ low-frequency words (hundreds of thousands of words!! in English).
 Based on this division and a frequency view, they suggest ensuring that people know the high
frequency first, and then general academic vocabulary, and then learn the technical vocabulary of
their field(s), and use vocabulary learning strategies in order to deal with low-frequency words.
• Learning goals can differ, yet in English “a large vocabulary is required for language use” for
communication (Schmitt, 2010, p. 6). Nation and Meara (2010) thus argue that 4,000-5,000 word
families are required for intermediate level performance in English, and at least 6,000-9,000 for
advanced proficiency. Educated native English speakers, in contrast, have consistently been
shown to have some 16,000-20,000 word families in their English vocabularies (Schmitt, 2010).
• As Nation and Meara (2010) declare, however, “the statistical claims put forward for English
will not apply straightforwardly to other languages” (p. 48). English has layers of vocabulary

CELT 2012 Hong Kong - Vocabulary Learning and Teaching © Michael Lessard-Clouston 2012 2
with many synonyms that for historical reasons include Anglo-Saxon, Norman French, and Latin
or Greek origins (for example cow/beef/bovine, pig/pork/porcine; Nation & Meara, 2010, p. 47).
Other languages may simply have less vocabulary or use compounding more frequently, etc.
• Find resources (books, dictionaries, websites) helpful for you (Ur, 2012) and your students.
2) Be sure to get to know your students, their learning goals, and vocabulary knowledge.
• Test students to see what their current knowledge is of the target language and vocabulary. You
might use bilingual or target language paper and pencil or computer tests, oral interviews, etc.
Yet remember that such tests typically test receptive vocabulary knowledge. Be sure to provide
opportunities for productive vocabulary knowledge and use, if possible. Diagnostic tests will
help you to determine where the student would best fit in your program, what particular classes
or content would meet his or her learning objectives, and perhaps how best to teach him or her.
• Go beyond the macro to the micro level (specific topics, themes): Do students need vocabulary
for personal testimonies or preaching? Shopping and hobbies? Academic reading? Are their
vocabulary goals more receptive (listening and reading) or productive (speaking and writing)?
• Consider any test just one form of evidence for what and how to teach that particular student.
3) It’s important to have guidelines for how to teach vocabulary – in classes, tutoring, etc.
• In Teaching Vocabulary, Nation (2008) suggests using four strands for teaching: 1) meaning-
focused input for listening and reading practice, particularly with graded readers, 2) meaning-
focused output for speaking and writing, 3) deliberate vocabulary teaching, using rich vocabulary
instruction, raising students’ word consciousness, and teaching vocabulary learning strategies,
and 4) developing fluency with vocabulary across language skills (practice, making connections
with already known vocabulary). Nation and Meara (2010) provide a summary of these strands.
In this view, Nation (2008) argues that the learner’s main jobs are to use the language
(practice!), focus on deliberate learning, and take responsibility for their vocabulary learning.
• In Word Knowledge, Zimmerman (2009) suggests “word consciousness” is key, including the
“often entertaining reminder that language is human, not always consistent, and often confusing”
(p. 3). Features to consider include register, precision, word choices in speech and writing,
collocation, and word formation, and guidelines for vocabulary teaching in various classes are
to: 1) Be selective about the words targeted in lessons, by explaining, recycling, and practicing
words appropriate to students, based on frequency, salience, learners’ goals, and the learning
burden of words (pp. 6-8), 2) Be particular about the information presented, by pre-teaching
words briefly based on the information relevant to particular activities (and notice student errors,
p. 9), 3) Provide sufficient repetition (10+ encounters is good, p. 9), spacing these and using
various types of class tasks for introduction/repetition (p. 10), 4) Offer effective vocabulary
practice by structuring lessons carefully (use familiar vocabulary, repeat themes, sequence
practice), using “interesting and relevant contexts”, and making it meaningful, interactive, and
focused through practicing functions, using teachable moments, and facilitating “student-
centered group work” (pp. 11-12), and 5) Monitor student understanding and learning through
regular feedback. This approach assumes/builds on an incremental view of vocabulary learning.
• Students should be taught to learn and use words as much as possible in context, so always
give example sentences. Teachers should actively teach the meaning of specific words, using
various materials, strategies, and techniques that are appropriate to their students and context.
• Using themes in teaching/using reading can help L2/FL learners develop their general
academic and specialized vocabulary knowledge in content areas (Freeman & Freeman, 2003).
4) Use corpora, where possible, to inform your teaching and students’ vocabulary learning.
• Frequency views need corpus-based research (Gilquin & Granger, 2010; Nation & Webb, 2011).
• Corpus evidence for vocabulary teaching is more effective than intuition (Friedman, 2009).

CELT 2012 Hong Kong - Vocabulary Learning and Teaching © Michael Lessard-Clouston 2012 3
5. Vocabulary Learning and Teaching Resources
A. Books on Vocabulary Teaching/Pedagogy
Allen, J. (2007). Inside words: Tools for teaching academic vocabulary grades 4-12. Portland, ME:
Stenhouse.
Baumann, J. F., & Kame’enui, E. J. (Eds.). (2004). Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice. New
York: Guilford.
Benjamin, A., & Crow, J. T. (2010). Vocabulary at the center. Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education.
Burns, A., & Joyce, H. D. S. (Eds.). (2001). Teachers’ voices 7: Teaching vocabulary. Sydney, Australia:
National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research.
√ Coxhead, A. (2006). Essentials of teaching academic vocabulary. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Folse, K. S. (2004). Vocabulary myths: Applying second language research to classroom teaching. Ann
Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
√ Graves, M. F. (2006). The vocabulary book: Learning and instruction. New York: Teachers College
Press. (Geared toward content-based K-12, with many examples for English language learners.)
Graves, M. F. (2009). Teaching individual words: One size does not fit all. New York: Teachers College
Press.
Leaney, C. (2007). Dictionary activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lewis, M. (1993). The lexical approach: The state of ELT and a way forward. Hove, UK: Language
Teaching Publications.
Lewis, M. (1997). Implementing the lexical approach: Putting theory into practice. Hove, England:
Language Teaching Publications.
√ Lewis, M. (Ed.). (2000). Teaching collocation: Further developments in the lexical approach. Hove,
England: Language Teaching Publications.
McCarten, J. (2007). Teaching vocabulary: Lessons from the corpus, lessons for the classroom. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
McCarthy, M., O’Keefe, A., & Walsh, S. (2010). Vocabulary matrix: Understanding, learning, teaching.
Andover, U.K.: Heinle Cengage.
Morgan, J., & Rinvolucri, M. (2004). Vocabulary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
√ Nation, I. S. P. (2008). Teaching vocabulary: Techniques and strategies. Boston, MA: Heinle.
Nation, P. (Ed.). (1994). New ways in teaching vocabulary. Alexandria, VA: TESOL.
Nation, P., & Gu, P. Y. (2007). Focus on vocabulary. Sydney, Australia: Macquarie University National
Centre for English Language Teaching and Research.
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stahl, S. A., & Nagy, W. E. (2006). Teaching word meanings. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Thornbury, S. (2002). How to teach vocabulary. Harlow, U.K.: Longman.
√ Ur, P. (2012). Vocabulary activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (With CD-ROM)
√ Zimmerman, C. B. (2009). Word knowledge: A vocabulary teacher’s handbook. Oxford: Oxford
University Press. (√ = particularly recommended)
B. Books on Research on Vocabulary Learning, Teaching, etc.
Albrechtsen, D., Haastrup, K., & Henriksen, B. (2008). Vocabulary and writing in a first and second
language: Process and development. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Arabski, J. (Ed.). (2006). Cross-linguistic influences in the second language lexicon. Clevedon:
Multilingual Matters.
Barfield, A., & Gyllstad, H. (Eds.). (2009). Researching collocations in another language: Multiple
interpretations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Boers, F., & Lindstromberg, S. (Eds.). (2008). Cognitive linguistic approaches to teaching vocabulary
and phraseology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Bogaards, P., & Laufer, B. (Eds.). (2004). Vocabulary in a second language: Selection, acquisition, and
testing. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Catalan, R. M. J. (Ed.). (2010). Gender perspectives on vocabulary in foreign and second languages.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

CELT 2012 Hong Kong - Vocabulary Learning and Teaching © Michael Lessard-Clouston 2012 4
√ Chacón-Beltrán, R., Abello-Contesse, C., & Torreblanca-López, M. D. M. (Eds.). (2010). Insights into
non-native vocabulary teaching and learning. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Coady, J., & Huckin, T. (Eds.). (1997). Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rationale for
pedagogy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Daller, H., Milton, J., & Treffers-Daller, J. (Eds). (2007). Modelling and assessing vocabulary
knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Farstrup, A. E., & Samuels, S. J. (Eds.). (2008). What research has to say about vocabulary instruction.
Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Fitzpatrick, T., & Barfield, A. (Eds.). (2009). Lexical processing in second language learners: Papers
and perspectives in honour of Paul Meara. Bristol: Mulitlingual Matters.
Hatch, E., & Brown, C. (1995). Vocabulary, semantics, and second language education. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Hiebert, E. H., & Kamil, M. L. (Eds.). (2005). Teaching and learning vocabulary: Bringing research to
practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
√ O’Keefe, A., & McCarthy, M. (Eds.). (2010). The Routledge handbook of corpus linguistics. London:
Routledge.
Meara, P. (2009). Connected words: Word associations and second language vocabulary acquisition.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Milton, J. (2009). Measuring second language vocabulary acquisition. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
√ Nation, I. S. P., & Webb, S. (2011). Researching and analyzing vocabulary. Boston, MA: Heinle.
Read, J. (2000). Assessing vocabulary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Romer, U., & Schulze, R. (Eds.). (2009). Exploring the lexis-grammar interface. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins.
√ Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary: A vocabulary research manual. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Schmitt, N., & McCarthy, M. (Eds.). (1997). Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Takac, V. P. (2008). Vocabulary learning strategies and foreign language acquisition. Clevedon:
Multilingual Matters.
Wilkins, D. (1972). Linguistics in language teaching. London: Arnold.

C. Other References (articles, book chapters, etc.)

Barker, D. (2007). A personalized approach to analyzing ‘cost’ and ‘benefit’ in vocabulary selection.
System, 35, 523-533. doi:10.1016/j.system.2007.09.001
Baumann, J. F., Kame’enui, E. J., & Ash, G. E. (2003). Research on vocabulary instruction: Voltaire
redux. In J. Flood, D. Lapp, J. R. Squire, & J. M. Jensen (Eds.), Handbook of research on
teaching the English language arts (2nd ed.) (pp. 752-785). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
√ Brown, D. (2011). What aspects of vocabulary knowledge do textbooks give attention to? Language
Teaching Research, 15, 83-97. doi:10.1177/1362168810383345
Cummins, J. (2003). Reading and the bilingual student: Fact and friction. In G. G. Garcia (Ed.), English
learners (pp. 2-33). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Folse, K. (2010). Is explicit vocabulary focus the reading teacher’s job? Reading in a Foreign Language,
22, 139-160.
Freeman, D., & Freeman, Y. (2003). Teaching English learners to read: Learning or acquisition? In G. G.
Garcia (Ed.), English learners (pp. 34-54). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Friedman, G. L. (2009) Learner-created lexical databases using web-based source material. ELT Journal,
63, 126-136. doi:10.1093/elt/ccn022
Gilquin, G., & Granger, S. (2010). How can data-driven learning be used in language teaching? In A.
O’Keefe & M. McCarthy (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of corpus linguistics (pp. 359-370).
London: Routledge.

CELT 2012 Hong Kong - Vocabulary Learning and Teaching © Michael Lessard-Clouston 2012 5
Hairrell, A., Rupley, W., & Simmons, D. (2011). The state of vocabulary research. Literacy Research and
Instruction, 50, 253-271. doi:10.1080/19388071.2010.514036
√ Nation, I. S. P. (2011). Research into practice: Vocabulary. Language Teaching, 44, 529-539.
doi:10.1017/S0261444811000267
√ Nation, P., & Meara, P. (2010). Vocabulary. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), An introduction to applied linguistics
(2nd ed.) (pp. 252-267). London: Hodder Education.
Nation, P., & Waring, R. (1997). Vocabulary size, text coverage and word lists. In N. Schmitt & M.
McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy (pp. 6-19).
Schmitt, N. (2008). Review article: Instructed second language vocabulary learning. Language Teaching
Research, 12, 329-363. doi:10.1177/1362168808089921
Schmitt, N., & Marsden, R. (2006). English vocabulary: Why are there so many words, and where did
they come from? Why is English like that? Historical answers to hard ELT questions (pp. 78-
110). Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
√ Zimmerman, C. B., & Schmitt, N. (2005). Lexical questions to guide the teaching and learning of
words. CATESOL Journal, 17, 164-170.

D. Potentially Useful Internet Resources (√ = particularly recommended)

a. Vocabulary-related sites
BeeOasis.com (EFL, graded readers, “big ideas made easy”) http://www.beeoasis.com/
Chris Greaves’ Virtual Language Centre (web concordancer, WordTrap game) http://vlc.polyu.edu.hk/
Extensive Reading Foundation (graded reader scale, links, etc.) http://www.erfoundation.org/erf/
√ Humanising Language Teaching (journal - see especially its “Ideas from the Corpora” articles)
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/ (geared to EFL, but much will apply to ESL and other contexts)
JP Loucky’s Call4All (especially sections A, D, V, & W) http://www.call4all.us///home/index2.php
√ Paul Meara’s _lognostics and Vocabulary Acquisition Research Group (computer tools, research)
http://www.lognostics.co.uk/ (note the VARGA bibliographies, tools, etc.)
√ Paul Nation’s web page (check the computer programs, bibliographies, tests, resources, etc.)
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/staff/paul-nation.aspx
Reading in a Foreign Language (journal - lots of vocabulary stuff) http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/
Rob Waring’s ‘Second Language Vocabulary’ resources page (frequency lists, research)
http://www.robwaring.org/vocab/index.html (check the extensive reading pages)
√ The Academic Word List http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist/default.aspx
√ The General Service List (GSL) http://jbauman.com/aboutgsl.html
√ Tom Cobb’s “Compleat Lexical Tutor” (English, French, German, Spanish; VocabProfile program)
http://www.lextutor.ca/ (concordances; tutorial, research, and teachers’ pages, etc.)
Vocabulary.com (dictionary, vocabulary lists, word of the day) http://www.vocabulary.com/
Word Engine (flash cards, graded readers; geared for Japanese stds) http://www.wordengine.jp/
Word Frequency Lists and Dictionary from the COCA http://www.wordfrequency.info/
Word Generation (middle school literacy and vocabulary development) http://wg.serpmedia.org/
√ WordSift (online program/resources to assess vocabulary in texts) http://www.wordsift.com/

b. Corpora, etc., of possible interest for teaching and/or research related to vocabulary
American National Corpus (ANC) http://americannationalcorpus.org/
British National Corpus (BNC) http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/
Collins Wordbanks Online http://www.collinslanguage.com/content-solutions/wordbanks
√ Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/
Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC) – a site of various corpora http://www.ldc.upenn.edu/
√ Mark Davies’ Seven Online Corpora (including Spanish & Portuguese) http://corpus.byu.edu/
Santa Barbara Corpus of Spoken American English http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/research/sbcorpus.html
√ Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English (VOICE) – a corpus of Lingua Franca English
http://www.univie.ac.at/voice/voice.php?page=what_is_voice

CELT 2012 Hong Kong - Vocabulary Learning and Teaching © Michael Lessard-Clouston 2012 6