Learning Vocab without Studying Vocab (Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies) Language Learning Forum

Learning Vocab without Studying Vocab
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Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies

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Jeffers
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Message 49 of 67

21 July 2013 at 3:25pm | IP Logged

patrickwilken wrote:

Can you point to the research?

My understanding of memory is that the act of recall is what actually strengthens the memory, which is why flash cards work. The limitation is that you tend to only learn what is on the cards. So for simple word lists you are basically just learning L1-L2 word pairings.

So my reading of the research is that flash cards are great for learning vocabulary.

I think the problem is that people sometimes fall into the trap that they think that language learning is only really about learning lots of vocabulary plus various explicit grammar rules.

I agree entirely that to learn a language you need to actively engage with it by reading/listening/speaking, but it certainly helps that when you first pick up a book you have a lot of these L1-L2 pairings in your head, not for ever, but long enough that you slowly go to L2 only.

One source of information I would point to is Teaching Today by Geoff Petty. The basic principle of the book is the idea of cognitivism, which is that to be retained new learning must be connected to old learning. What he calls "deep learning" occurs when "Learners constuct their own meaning for new learning, and makes connections between new and existing learning." The more connections made the better the learning is understood, retained, etc.

Petty doesn't specifically speak about vocabulary learning, but the principles are easy to apply. Words might be learned by memorizing them in some way (flashcards, wordlists, vocabulearn, etc), but they must be connected in order for "deep learning" to occur. For example, they must be used in context with other words the student already knows. I think that learning words by flashcards, wordlists, etc is fine, but the learning must be deepened by seeing and producing the same words in new contexts: that is, reading, listening, speaking and writing.

Here's an online article which explains constructivism well.

Some other articles from Geoff Petty's website.

EDIT: just a note that from what I understand, "cognitivism" is basically a modern formulation of "constructivism", with reference to more recent research in neuroscience.

Edited by Jeffers on 21 July 2013 at 3:43pm
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s_allard
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Message 50 of 67

21 July 2013 at 5:23pm | IP Logged

patrickwilken wrote:

I'm With Stupid wrote:

I think most modern research would suggest that the key to
memorizing vocab is doing something with it.

Can you point to the research?

My understanding of memory is that the act of recall is what actually strengthens the memory, which is why flash
cards work. The limitation is that you tend to only learn what is on the cards. So for simple word lists you are
basically just learning L1-L2 word pairings.

So my reading of the research is that flash cards are great for learning vocabulary.

I think the problem is that people sometimes fall into the trap that they think that language learning is only really
about learning lots of vocabulary plus various explicit grammar rules.

I agree entirely that to learn a language you need to actively engage with it by reading/listening/speaking, but it
certainly helps that when you first pick up a book you have a lot of these L1-L2 pairings in your head, not for
ever, but long enough that you slowly go to L2 only.

Here is an oldish but interesting paper on strategies for foreign language vocabulary acquitiion.
http://crins07.wmwikis.net/file/view/Vocabulary-Learning+Str ategies+of+Foreign-Language+Students.pdf

(Sorry, I couldn't get the link to work properly.)

There is an interesting discussion in the paper on deliberate vocabulary acquisition.

I don't think that anybody is saying that flashcards are bad or don't work. Some people like them, some people
don't. I'm an avid fan of flashcards myself, but I see their limitations. That doesn't prevent me from walking
around with a stack of cards in my pocket.

IMO, the fundamental problem is one of how to go from the passive knowledge that I get from reading my cards
to the active knowledge of being able to use the language accurately in real-life. This is what engaging the
language is all about. Whether to use or not to use flashcards is a side issue,

Edited by s_allard on 21 July 2013 at 5:47pm
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Jeffers
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Message 51 of 67

21 July 2013 at 6:34pm | IP Logged

Here's another tidbit from some research on vocabulary acquisition:

Quote:

A number of recent studies (Barcroft, 2009; Borer, 2007; Catalán, 2003; Fan, 2003; Gu, 2002; Gu & Johnson, 1996; Schmitt, 1997; Tseng & Schmitt, 2008) have concluded that more proficient L2 learners successfully use a variety of VLS significantly more often than less proficient students, and use learning strategies that require more cognitive effort. In fact, it has been suggested that L2 learners can be categorized on the basis of their learning strategies (Ahmed, 1989; Lawson & Hogben, 1996). Successful L2 learners, according to Ahmed, are able to use a wider variety of cognitive demanding strategies, while less successful learners generally use fewer strategies and tend to use them inadequately. Ahmed‘s conclusion is an important factor to consider since research in cognitive psychology has shown that the more cognitive effort is invested in learning a word, the easier it becomes to recall that word at a later time (Baumann, Kame‘enui, & Ash, 2003; Borer, 2007; Ellis, 1995; Schmitt & McCarthy, 1997).

The point here is that it is not "picking the right strategy" that makes the difference, it is using a "wider variety of cognitively demanding strategies".

EDIT: here's the article. (The quote above is from page 4 of the pdf, which is page 210 of the journal).
EDIT 2: VLS = vocabulary learning strategy.

Edited by Jeffers on 21 July 2013 at 7:12pm
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s_allard
Triglot
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Message 52 of 67

21 July 2013 at 11:07pm | IP Logged

With respect to the OP, I think that much of the recent discussion says that for most people learning
vocabulary requires studying. Admittedly, studying does not have to be formal or elaborate but the idea that
an adult learner could just absorb the language without any effort through repeated exposure is something
has very weak scientific foundations.

That said, there are certainly examples of people, I thinking particularly of uneducated immigrants, who find
themselves plunged in a different linguistic environment and have to acquire some knowledge of the language
on their own. The results are usually not very good.

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montmorency
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Message 53 of 67

22 July 2013 at 9:26am | IP Logged

Memory is strange though. The other day, I was trying to remember the name of the
original screen "Bond". I could think of Roger Moore, Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan, and
might have come up with some others if I had tried, but I couldn't name the original,
although of course I "knew that I knew" (and had known since the 1960s).

Later on it came to me - Sean Connery of course - without searching with google or
looking in IMDB.

So it seems that for a while, the name "Sean Connery" had disappeared from my active
vocabulary, but would still have been in my passive vocabulary (I "knew that I knew it"
and would have recognised it the instant I saw it).

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Iversen
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Message 54 of 67

22 July 2013 at 10:52am | IP Logged

montmorency wrote:

I seem to remember that our own Iversen reported once here that he'd analysed all English words he'd used on HTLAL over a long period, in order to estimate his vocabulary, and this would be active vocabulary. I'm sure he'd be the first to admit its limitations, but I'll bet that that's the most realistic test of active vocabulary we are likely to see in practice, in quite a long time. (It does not cover spoken vocabulary, of course).

That's correct. I took everything I had written in English here at HTLAL over something like 3 or 4 months, reduced the result to something like dictionary headwords (although I was somewhat harder on derivations than most dictionaries would be), and then I ended up at somewhere around 2400-2500 words. Given that my estimates on passive vocabulary in English consistently lie above 30000 words and that English is my best foreign language it shows how little of your passive vocabulary you actually use. BUT... the active vocabulary is not the amount of words you actually have used, but the number of words you could have used. And there is no clear method to measure this, although a test setup with open slots or a quiz of some sorts in theory might function. However calibrating such a test would be a nightmare, and the results would be quite unreliable.

Edited by Iversen on 22 July 2013 at 10:54am
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Iversen
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Message 55 of 67

22 July 2013 at 11:53am | IP Logged

Quote:

Here is an oldish but interesting paper on strategies for foreign language vocabulary acquisition: Vocabulary-Learning Strategies of Foreign-Language Students

Excellent study, not least because it is so concrete. Many, if not most supposedly scientific articles are more concerned with giving references to myriads of collegues and opponents than on supplying useful information about the subject matter to the reader. This one gives a minimum of references and then proceed to a report on how learners actually do while memorizing new words. And instead of wasting half the article on discussing ways the introspective reports could be inaccurate it simply states that there may be some objections to the procedure, and then it leaves it at that and goes on to analyze the concrete report data. And these seem to indicate that good learners have a fairly broad repertoire of techniques which they use in a consistent way. Bad learners are stuck with a few techniques (like simple repetition), and they use them inconsistently.

Edited by Iversen on 22 July 2013 at 11:55am
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yuriFromRoma
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Message 56 of 67

22 July 2013 at 1:00pm | IP Logged

montmorency wrote:

Indeed, it is strange! The phenomenon you are talking about is called "tip-of-the-tongue". I have read quite a bit about it, so below are listed some tips that I found out to be effective whenever this phenomenon occurs:

1- Make a conscious effort on trying to rember for a minute or so, then, if nothing pops out, let it go for some while (an hour or so) and try it again later.

2- Think about things related to the piece of infomation you are looking for. Since bits of information are grouped in conceptual networks (in the brain), usually the mere remembering/activating one memory spreads over its network(s). (Domino principle)

3- Use a general algorithm that generates clues which might trigger the information you want retrieve. It hasn't to be a complex or fancy one, e.g. recite the alphabet (a, b, .., z) looking for the initial letter of the word and stop as soon as the letter that "feels right" is encountered, then think about words beginning with this letter. If turns out the letter is wrong, just keep going with the next letter of the sequence until the right letter has been found or the sequence is finished.

Hope this helps.

Yuri

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