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1、English Vocabulary: tests and tasksMonica HillEnglish Centre, University of Hong Kongmmhillhkucc.hku.hkAbstractStudies show that native English speaking undergraduates are considered to have a vocabulary level of around 17,000 - 20,000 words (Goulden et al, 1990). Pilot studies at HKU suggest that m
2、any incoming students to this university have English vocabulary levels below 5,000 words; and some know fewer than 3,000. Research has indicated that vocabulary learning is closely correlated with language competence, particularly reading performance (Laufer, 1997) and the ability to comprehend aca
3、demic texts is a fundamental part of academic study. In an ideal world, taught courses could focus on developing students vocabulary levels. There is, however, not enough time to include a substantial word learning component in English enhancement programs. It is simply not feasible to increase clas
4、s time for English due to students busy schedules with their other academic studies at tertiary level. One solution is to take vocabulary learning out of the classroom and direct students to web based resources, specifically designed for Chinese learners of English at tertiary level. This project fo
5、cuses on assessing the vocabulary levels of incoming students to Hong Kong and then identifying which types of tasks are most effective in on-line learning. Based on the research, a range of self-learning web based vocabulary materials is being developed to help learners increase their academic word
6、 level. Recommendations will be made regarding teaching academic and discipline-specific lexis and assisting students to increase their vocabulary in their own time and at their own pace.IntroductionA frequent request from incoming tertiary students who are studying in a second or foreign language i
7、s for assistance in handling the reading of academic texts. While these students may have been good at dealing with secondary school textbooks, often their vocabulary is simply not up to coping with the heavier demands of texts produced by eminent scholars. Academic papers and textbooks are generall
8、y written for an audience of educated native speakers, rather than for second language learners. Students who are not native English speakers can find assignments that are required to be written in English a double challenge: comprehending the source and putting their ideas across concisely and accu
9、rately.This paper first looks at the amount of vocabulary required by students learning in a second language to comprehend academic texts. Next it focuses on assessing the vocabulary levels of incoming students to Hong Kong University and describes a web site which was developed at this university t
10、o help students increase their word power. The paper then explains the development of a resource for learners of economics and financial terminology and finally outlines a further computer based research project that identifies types of tasks which are most effective in vocabulary learning. Based on
11、 this new study, an additional selection of self-learning web based vocabulary materials will be developed to help learners increase their academic word level.Vocabulary size and reading abilityMany researchers agree that a wide vocabulary is an essential aid for reading comprehension. (See for exam
12、ple Carter 1987; Carter and McCarthy, 1988; Coady, 1997; Laufer, 1997; Nation 1990; Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997). Not only is a wide vocabulary essential for reading, but it is also fundamental for students to be able to express themselves both orally and in writing in a clear and concise manner. Res
13、earch has been conducted to attempt to quantify the learning load faced by tertiary level students. The average vocabulary size of native English speaking university graduates in Goulden, Nation and Reads (1990) study was shown to be around 17,000 - 20,000 base words. Many adult second language lear
14、ners who spend years studying the language do not achieve near native vocabulary levels, and while it is a possible goal, few attain it. It could, however, be argued that most L2 students only need to know the words related to their academic studies. What then is the minimum number of words required
15、 by second language students studying at tertiary level? Laufer (1988, 1991) argues that students need around 3,000 word families to enable them to comprehend 95% of an academic text. A word family means the base word and all its inflected and derived forms (eg walk, walks, walking, walked, walker)
16、which increases the total number of words to around 5,000 lexical items. Nation and Coady (1988) claim that readers need to know around 98% of the lexical items in a text in order to successfully guess the meanings of unknown words from the context. Many ESL students entering tertiary institutions r
17、equire a substantial vocabulary expansion program to enable them to comprehend academic texts. Several measurement scales exist for quantifying the depth and breadth of a learners vocabulary and these are based on different corpora of texts. Two in particular will be discussed in this study. Coxhead
18、s, (1998) Academic Word List (AWL) has been drawn up from a wide range of academic disciplines such as arts, science and law texts, but from which only the 2,000 most frequently used English words has been removed. This effectively means that the words on the list are of a fairly high frequency leve
19、l and the list is considered to contain the bare minimum vocabulary of a general academic nature that a learner needs to know for tertiary study. Xue and Nations (1984) University Word List (UWL) of around 800 academic words is culled from a similar corpus of texts. These academic words account for
20、approximately 8% of the words in an average university text and are particularly useful for upper secondary and tertiary students in English medium institutions. The list excludes the 5,000 most frequently used English words - on the assumption that they will already be known - and could be consider
21、ed essential for reading comprehension at tertiary level (See Laufer, 1992; Nation, 1990; Read 1988 and Belgar and Hunt, 1999). Based on frequency levels, it can be concluded that the AWL is level one and the UWL a more advanced, and arguably a more realistic level to achieve if a student is to be a
22、ble to comprehend academic texts without the need for constant checking of meanings in a dictionary.Assessing the vocabulary levels of incoming studentsIn order to ascertain the vocabulary levels of freshmen to Hong Kong University, two tests were conducted. A test was devised based on the AWL and a
23、dministered to over 1200 first year students in September 1999. The mean score by faculty is shown in Table 1.Table 1. Mean score in pre course test of academic vocabulary by facultyFacultynmean SDEngineering44877% 8.13Arts38884% 6.25Social Science22784% 5.7Education12386% 5.3Economics4984% 4.7BBA36
24、88% 5.2Total 127183% 3. 58Students from the Business School achieved the highest scores, knowing 88% of the words on the Academic Word List, while the engineers trailed behind at 77%. While this may seem a reasonable score, it should be remembered that this test covers only the 550 most basic academ
25、ic words above the 2,000 word level and that research suggests that the 5,000 word level is required in order to be able to comprehend texts. A further sample of 111 students from Dentistry, BBA and Economics were given vocabulary tests at the more advanced University Word Level and they knew only 5
26、6% of the words. The data show that most of our incoming students do not have sufficient English vocabulary to read academic texts effectively. Measures need to be taken to help these learners to increase their academic vocabulary thereby improving not only their reading skills but also their academ
27、ic writing and their confidence in speaking in tutorials. A contentious issue in teaching vocabulary is whether words are best learned incidentally, through reading, or if they should be subjected to intentional learning through word lists and dictionary checks, for example. Incidental vocabulary is
28、 learned as a by-product of another activity, without the learners conscious decision, or intention, to learn the words. Krashen (1989) claims that students will learn all the words they need to know by reading extensively. According to his Input Hypothesis, successful language learning is a result
29、of comprehensible input combined with a powerful internal language acquisition device. It should be noted, however, that only three of the 144 studies cited to support his argument are based on second language learners. For long term retention of a large amount of vocabulary, learners must make a co
30、nscious effort and intend to learn the new words. Cognitive psychologists and language acquisition researchers working within the framework of cognitive psychology believe that retention of information is determined by the way the information is processed and that intentional learning is most effect
31、ive. Bereiter (forthcoming) argues that students should be producing conceptual artifacts that help them understand the world - which in this case is learning words to help them understand the texts. The learners need to have a purpose and goal if they are to succeed in their learning.Based on empir
32、ical evidence, the aim of the vocabulary course is to encourage intentional learning strategies, promote interaction with the newly encountered words and increase their long term retention. Given the number of discipline-specific courses that students are required to follow, there is usually only a
33、limited amount of time left for enhancing language proficiency. English language courses often focus on academic reading and writing skills, with an emphasis on grammatical accuracy. There is usually insufficient time in class to work on academic vocabulary - an essential stepping-stone to comprehen
34、sion, brevity and clarity.Increasing vocabulary by web based learningOne solution is to take vocabulary learning out of the classroom and encourage those students who need to develop their university word skills, to work autonomously at their own pace and in their own time, selecting the areas in wh
35、ich they most need to improve. With the push towards greater integration of online courses with multimedia components, the web is rapidly becoming an ideal setting for independent learning that involves video demonstrations, sound and animated graphics. Coincidentally, the IT initiative at the Unive
36、rsity of Hong Kong requires all students to have their own computers and most opt to buy heavily subsidized notebook computers, allowing network access on and off campus. To complement this initiative, Words on the Web , a vocabulary learning site, has been produced to help incoming students assess
37、their vocabulary level and then work on increasing their word power. Vocabulary learning strategies are explained and students are encouraged to learn the pronunciation of words, as well as their meanings and usage. As with CSILE (Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environments), it is designed
38、 to help learners achieve greater vocabulary learning goals by providing supports for thinking about words and understanding their meanings.Words on the Web is based on materials written for an elective vocabulary building course run as part of the Summer Institute of the English Centre at the Unive
39、rsity of Hong Kong. The course annually attracts around 100 students. The materials were prepared with copious teachers notes explaining psycholinguistic theory and suggestions for in-class experiments to illustrate how words are stored in the mind. Many of the tasks involve eliciting words in group
40、 or pair work. Unfamiliar words are presented orally and grouped together on a whiteboard with links illustrating word associations. Student handouts are more task related than theoretical and the focus is very much on intentional learning. The challenge was to rewrite the course to make it easily c
41、omprehensible without teacher fronted input, yet interactive, motivating and instructive.The web authoring tool chosen had to include the pronunciation of words by native speakers (as opposed to computer-generated pronunciation), video recordings of teachers enunciating the sounds represented by pho
42、nemic symbols, a glossary with translation and a search feature to allow students to find specific words or sections. In addition, it was considered essential to allow students to take online tasks or exercises with automatic feedback for incorrect responses. For assessment purposes, a log was also
43、required from which students could assess their progress and compare their performance with that of their peers. For research and pedagogical purposes, it was desirable to keep a record of student work that would be available to teachers who wanted to track student performance and identify problem a
44、reas.In early 1998, when Words on the Web was in its infancy, Web Course Tools (WebCT) had just been licensed to the University of Hong Kong. Its features that allow students to view video clips, access sound and a customised glossary, assess their learning, check their progress and take part in bul
45、letin board discussions, all seemed highly useful and relevant to this particular kind of course. Figure 1 shows the opening screen of a typical WebCT course showing the icons which represent the key features of the course.Figure 1: Icons represent the key features of the course Course descriptionOn
46、 entering the course, students are required to input their student ID and password so that a record can be kept of their progress in the database. Students are then invited to take online quizzes based on the University Word List vocabulary levels tests which enable students to assess their English
47、vocabulary proficiency. Suggestions are then made, according to the score achieved, as to how students can develop their academic word power.Session one focuses on basic psycholinguistic principles of vocabulary learning and how we store words in our mind. Short interactive tasks are included for st
48、udents to test themselves on recalling words by sight and by sound. Many Chinese students of English recall words by sight (or spelling) and have considerable difficulty in pronouncing an unfamiliar word. Another frequent problem area is in separating words which have similar spelling and pronunciation, but different meanings. An example illustrated in Figure 2 is the often confused compliment, complement and complementary.Figure 2: Web page illustrating ways of distinguishing between words which cause confusionThe next session further develops this important and often neglected aspect