How Words are Learnt: Testing and Researching Vocabulary

elective courses

Learning vocabulary is an essential but difficult aspect of language learning. Researchers have been investigating vocabulary learning for decades, but much is still to be done.

In this course, participants will learn the fundamentals of researching vocabulary. To achieve this, the course will first discuss word knowledge (what does it mean to know a word?). Then, issues affecting lexical learning will be introduced and illustrated with select samples from empirical research. Next, general aspects concerning research design will be outlined, followed by an enhanced focus on vocabulary research. Finally, participants will critically analyse the research design of published studies and consider a design of their own.

The course is intended to be mostly theoretical, but always drawing on real-life examples. Participants will better understand their teaching practice and learning experience, and for those interested, become a more discerning consumer and producer of research.

Acquiring vocabulary is an essential but difficult aspect of language learning. Arguably, the most difficult aspect. Yet, lexical acquisition is a fascinating process that has attracted considerable interest from fields such as second language acquisition (SLA) and psycholinguistics. Still, much is still to be done.

The overall goal of this course is to promote understanding of lexical learning and research, including how to test for lexical knowledge. The topics that will be covered in some detail include the following:

• The different aspects involved in knowing a word (form, meaning, and use; receptive and productive knowledge).

• Issues affecting lexical learning (e.g. participants proficiency, input or output, number of repetitions). Relevant theories, models, or hypotheses will be discussed.

• Research design 1: General aspects of research design will be introduced.

• Research design 2: Aspects of research design that are more specific to vocabulary studies will be discussed in some depth. These include vocabulary testing.

• Critical analysis of research. Seminal works will be presented and critically analysed. These should include earlier studies (the 70s-90s) and those which are more contemporary.

• Learners will create their own research design. This may be a real design (e.g. to be used in their MA thesis) or an imagined one. Ideas will be discussed in pairs or groups, and feedback will be provided.

Irrespective of the topic covered, examples from real (landmark) studies will be provided (analysed and criticised) as often as possible. The goal is to make it clear to learners how the theoretical aspects underlying vocabulary learning and research are applied in real empirical studies.

1) Introductory literature (e.g., handbooks, edited books):

Nation, I. S. P., & Webb, S. (2011) Researching and analysing vocabulary. Boston: Heinle Cengage Learning.

Nation, I. S. P. (2013) Learning vocabulary in another language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Perry, F. L. (2011). Research in applied linguistics: Becoming a discerning consumer (3rd ed.). New York, United States: Routledge.

Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary: a vocabulary research manual. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.

Webb, S (Ed.) (2019). The Routledge handbook of vocabulary studies. New York, United States: Routledge. (A few chapters of this book are recommended below).

2) Additional literature (e.g. reviews of literature, seminal research papers):

Laufer, B., & Goldstein, Z. (2004). Testing vocabulary knowledge: Size, strength, and computer adaptiveness. Language Learning, 54(3), 399-436.

Laufer, B., & Hulstijn, J. H. (2001). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: The construct of task-induced involvement. Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 1-26.

Otwinowska, A., Foryś,-Nogala, M., Kobosko, W., & Szewczyk, J. M. (2020). Learning Orthographic Cognates and Non-Cognates in the Classroom: Does Awareness of Cross-Linguistic Similarity Matter. Language Learning, 70(3), 685-731. DOI: 10.1111/lang.12390.

Otwinowska, A., & Szewczyk, J. M. (2019). The more similar the better? Factors in learning cognates, false cognates and non-cognate words. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22(8), 974-991.

Pellicer-Sánchez, A., & Schmitt, N. (2010). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from an authentic novel: do things fall apart? Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(1), 31-55.

Peters, E. (2019). Factors affecting the learning of single-word items. In S. Webb (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of vocabulary studies (pp. 125-142). New York: Routledge.

Puimège, E., & Peters, E. (2019). Learner’s English vocabulary knowledge prior to formal instruction: The role of word-related and learner-related variables. Language Learning, 69(4), 943-977.

Rice, C. A., & Tokowicz, N. (2020). State of the scholarship: A review of laboratory studies of adult second language vocabulary training. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 42, 439-470.

Schmitt, N. (2008). Review article: Instructed second language vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 12(3), 329-363.

Silva, B., Kutyłowska, K. & Otwinowska, A. (2021). Learning academic words through writing sentences and compositions: Any signs of an increase in cognitive load? Language Teaching Research, 1-33. DOI: 10.1177/13621688211020421.

Spätgen, T., & Schoonen, R. (2019). Single, but not unrelated: Key issues in researching single-word items. In S. Webb (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of vocabulary studies (pp. 5111-528). New York: Routledge.

Waring, R., & Takaki, M. (2003). At what rate do learners learn and retain new vocabulary from reading a graded reader? Reading in a Foreign Language, 15(2), 130-163. Retrieved from http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/October2003/waring/waring.pdf

Webb, S. (2007). The effects of repetition on vocabulary knowledge. Applied Linguistics, 28 (1), 46-65.

Webb, S. (2019). Incidental vocabulary learning. In S. Webb (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of vocabulary studies (pp. 225-239). New York: Routledge.

Knowledge:

Participants will:

• Understand what it means to know a word.

• Become familiar with many aspects that affect lexical learning (and therefore teaching).

• Learn how to control for and measure many of the aspects that affect word learning.

• Have a basic understanding of research design in general.

• Have a deeper understanding of vocabulary research design.

• Learn how to critically analyse research design and findings.

• Learn how to design their own study.

Skills:

Participants will:

• Be able to better understand how to assess lexical knowledge (in teaching practice and research).

• Be able to assess the lexical learning potential of various tasks.

• Be able to measure and control for the participant- and word-related variables that may affect empirical results.

• Be able to design their own study assessing lexical learning/knowledge.

• Be able to understand better the design of empirical research.

Transferable knowledge/skills:

Participants:

• Will be better positioned to understand research design.

• Will become more familiar with how they (or their students/research participants) learn words and with many of the aspects underlying lexical learning.

• May become better able to design effective lexical-learning tasks.

• Will be able to design more rigorous research.

Social competencies:

• Listening to others

• Exchanging opinions

• Working in pairs and groups

• Providing and understanding constructive criticism

Education at language level B2+

Attendance: 3 absences are allowed.

The final grade is the average of the following:

1) Mid-semester test: This should include theoretical aspects related to word knowledge and research design.

2) Project presentation: Learners will present and provide the rationale for their study design (see “full description”).

In case the participant receives an unsatisfactory grade, a third form of assessment will be administered. This may take the form of a final test or a second project presentation.

The form and criteria of the assessment may change depending on the current epidemic situation. Equivalent credit conditions will be established in consultation with the course participants and in accordance with the guidelines in force at the University of Warsaw.