Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-12T23:15:45.907Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Understanding vocabulary acquisition, instruction, and assessment: A research agenda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2019

Norbert Schmitt
Norbert Schmitt*
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
*
E-mail: norbert.schmitt@nottingham.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper suggests six areas of vocabulary research which the author believes would be fruitful for future research. They include (1) developing a practical model of vocabulary acquisition, (2) understanding how vocabulary knowledge develops from receptive to productive mastery, (3) getting lexical teaching/learning principles into vocabulary and language textbooks, (4) exploring extramural language exposure and how it can best facilitate vocabulary acquisition, (5) developing more informative measures of vocabulary knowledge, and (6) measuring fluency as part of vocabulary competence. Nine tasks are suggested for how to research these six research directions, with advice on research design and how to set about carrying out the tasks.

Type
Thinking Allowed
Information
Language Teaching , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 261 - 274
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brown, D. (2010). What aspects of vocabulary knowledge do textbooks give attention to? Language Teaching Research, 15(1), 83–97.10.1177/1362168810383345Google Scholar
Chen, C., & Truscott, J. (2010). The effects of repetition and L1 lexicalization on incidental vocabulary acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 31(5), 693–713.10.1093/applin/amq031Google Scholar
Cobb, T. (2007). Computing the vocabulary demands of L2 reading. Language Learning & Technology, 11(3), 38–63.Google Scholar
Daller, H., Milton, J., & Treffers-Daller, J. (2007). Modelling and assessing vocabulary knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511667268Google Scholar
De Wilde, V., & Eyckmans, J. (2017). Game on! Young learners’ incidental language learning of English prior to instruction. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 7(4), 673–694.10.14746/ssllt.2017.7.4.6Google Scholar
Elgort, I. (2011). Deliberate learning and vocabulary acquisition in a second language. Language Learning, 61(2), 367–413.10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00613.xGoogle Scholar
Ellis, N. C. (2002). Frequency effects in language processing: A review with implications for theories of implicit and explicit language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24, 143–188.10.1017/S0272263102002024Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (2009). Editorial. Language Teaching Research, 13(4), 333–335.10.1177/1362168809341501Google Scholar
Fan, M. (2000). How big is the gap and how to narrow it? An investigation into the active and passive vocabulary knowledge of L2 learners. RELC Journal, 31(2), 105–119.10.1177/003368820003100205Google Scholar
Fukkink, R. G., Hulstijn, J., & Simis, A. (2005). Does training in second-language word recognition skills affect reading comprehension? An experimental study. Modern Language Journal, 89, 54–75.10.1111/j.0026-7902.2005.00265.xGoogle Scholar
Garnier, M., & Schmitt, N. (2016). Picking up polysemous phrasal verbs: How many do learners know and what facilitates this knowledge? System, 59, 29–44.10.1016/j.system.2016.04.004Google Scholar
González-Fernández, B., & Schmitt, N. (2015). How much collocation knowledge do L2 learners have? The effects of frequency and amount of exposure. ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 166, 94–126.10.1075/itl.166.1.03ferGoogle Scholar
González-Fernández, B. (2018). A theory of vocabulary acquisition: How do second language learners acquire the different types of word knowledge? Ph.D. thesis, University of Nottingham.Google Scholar
González-Fernández, B., & Schmitt, N. (Advance View, 2019). Word knowledge: Exploring the relationships and order of acquisition of vocabulary knowledge components. Applied Linguistics.10.1093/applin/amy057Google Scholar
Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gyllstad, H., Vilkaite, L., & Schmitt, N. (2015). Assessing vocabulary size through multiple -choice formats: Issues with guessing and sampling rates. ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 166, 276–303.10.1075/itl.166.2.04gylGoogle Scholar
Hatch, E., & Brown, C. (1995). Vocabulary, semantics, and language education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hsu, W. (2009). College English textbooks for general purposes: A corpus-based analysis of lexical coverage. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 6(1), 42–62.Google Scholar
Hunt, A., & Beglar, D. (1998). Current research and practice in teaching vocabulary. The Language Teacher, 22(1), 7–11. http://jalt-publications.org/tlt/articles/1914-current-research-and-practice-teaching-vocabulary.Google Scholar
Jensen, S. H. (2016). Gaming as an English language learning resource among young children in Denmark. CALICO Journal, 34(1), 1–19.10.1558/cj.29519Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E. (1994). Category interference in translation and picture naming: Evidence for asymmetric connections between bilingual memory representations. Journal of Memory and Language, 33, 149–174.10.1006/jmla.1994.1008Google Scholar
Kuppens, A. H. (2010). Incidental foreign language acquisition from media exposure. Learning, Media and Technology, 35(1), 65–85.10.1080/17439880903561876Google Scholar
Laufer, B. (1997). What's in a word that makes it hard or easy? Intralexical factors affecting the difficulty of vocabulary acquisition. In Schmitt, N. & McCarthy, M. (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition, and pedagogy (pp. 140–155). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Laufer, B. (2000). Task effect on instructed vocabulary learning: The hypothesis of ‘involvement’. Selected papers from AILA ’99 Tokyo, pp. 47–62. Tokyo: Waseda University Press.Google Scholar
Laufer, B. (2005). Focus on form in second language vocabulary learning. EUROSLA Yearbook, 5, 223–250.10.1075/eurosla.5.11lauGoogle Scholar
Laufer, B., & Aviad-Levitzky, T. (2017). What type of vocabulary knowledge predicts reading comprehension: Word meaning recall or word meaning recognition? Modern Language Journal, 101(4), 729–741.Google Scholar
Laufer, B., & Goldstein, Z. (2004). Testing vocabulary knowledge: Size, strength, and computer adaptiveness. Language Learning, 54(3), 399–436.10.1111/j.0023-8333.2004.00260.xGoogle Scholar
Lefever, S. (2010). English skills of young learners in Iceland: ‘I started talking English when I was 4 years old. It just bang… just fall into me.’ Ráðstefnurit Netlu – Menntakvika, Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands.Google Scholar
Lindgren, E., & Muñoz, C. (2013). The influence of exposure, parents, and linguistic distance on young European learners' foreign language comprehension. International Journal of Multilingualism, 10(1), 105–129.10.1080/14790718.2012.679275Google Scholar
Macis, M., & Schmitt, N. (2017). Not just ‘Small Potatoes’: Knowledge of the idiomatic meanings of collocations. Language Teaching Research, 21(3), 321–340.10.1177/1362168816645957Google Scholar
Matsuoka, W., & Hirsh, D. (2010). Vocabulary learning through reading: Does an ELT course book provide good opportunities? Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(1), 56–70.Google Scholar
Meara, P. (1983). Vocabulary in a second language, vol. 1. Specialised bibliography 3. London: CILT.Google Scholar
Meara, P. (1997). Towards a new approach to modelling vocabulary acquisition. In Schmitt, N. & McCarthy, M. (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition, and pedagogy (pp. 109–121). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Meara, P., & Miralpeix, I. (2017). Tools for researching vocabulary. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Melka, F. (1997). Receptive vs. productive aspects of vocabulary. In Schmitt, N. & McCarthy, M. (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition, and pedagogy (pp. 84–102). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Miller, K. S., Lindgren, E., & Sullivan, K. P. H. (2008). The psycholinguistic dimension in second language writing: Opportunities for research and pedagogy using computer keystroke logging. TESOL Quarterly, 42(3), 433–454.10.1002/j.1545-7249.2008.tb00140.xGoogle Scholar
Miller, M., & Hegelheimer, V. (2006). The SIMs meet ESL. Incorporating authentic computer simulation games into the language classroom. Interactive Technology & Smart Education, 3(4), 311–328.10.1108/17415650680000070Google Scholar
Nation, P. (2018). Keeping it practical and keeping it simple. Language Teaching, 51(1), 138–146.10.1017/S0261444817000349Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (2013). Learning vocabulary in another language (2nd edn.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139858656Google Scholar
Nattinger, J. R., & DeCarrico, J. S. (1992). Lexical phrases and language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Otwinowska, A., & Szewczyk, J. M. (2017). The more similar the better? Factors in learning cognates, false cognates and non-cognate words. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2017.1325834.Google Scholar
Pellicer-Sánchez, A. (2015). Developing automaticity and speed of lexical access: The effects of incidental and explicit teaching approaches. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 2(2), 1–15.10.1080/23247797.2015.1104029Google Scholar
Pellicer-Sánchez, A. (2016). Incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition from and while reading: An eye-tracking study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 38, 97–130.10.1017/S0272263115000224Google Scholar
Peters, E. (2018). The effect of out-of-class exposure to English language media on learners’ vocabulary knowledge. ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 169(1), 141–167.10.1075/itl.00010.petGoogle Scholar
Porte, G. (2012). Introduction. In Porte, G. (Ed.), Replication research in applied linguistics (pp. 1–18). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ranalli, J. (2008). Learning English with THE SIMS: Exploiting authentic computer simulation games for L2 learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 21(5), 441–455.10.1080/09588220802447859Google Scholar
Read, J. (2000). Assessing vocabulary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511732942Google Scholar
Schmitt, N. (1998). Tracking the incremental acquisition of second language vocabulary: A longitudinal study. Language Learning, 48(2), 281–317.10.1111/1467-9922.00042Google Scholar
Schmitt, N. (2008). Instructed second language vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 12(3), 329–363.10.1177/1362168808089921Google Scholar
Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching Vocabulary. Basingstoke: Palgrave.10.1057/9780230293977Google Scholar
Schmitt, N. (2014). Size and depth of vocabulary knowledge: What the research shows. Language Learning, 64(4), 913–951.10.1111/lang.12077Google Scholar
Schmitt, N., & Schmitt, D. (2014). A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching. Language Teaching, 47(4), 484–503.10.1017/S0261444812000018Google Scholar
Schmitt, N., Nation, P., & Kremmel, B. (2019). Moving the field of vocabulary assessment forward: The need for more rigorous test development and validation. Language Teaching.Google Scholar
Schmitt, N., O'Sullivan, B., Anthony, L., Dunn, K., & Kremmel, B. (forthcoming). The Knowledge-based Vocabulary List (KVL).Google Scholar
Snellings, P., van Gelderen, A., & de Glopper, K. (2002). Lexical retrieval: An aspect of fluent second language production that can be enhanced. Language Learning, 52(4), 723–54.10.1111/1467-9922.00202Google Scholar
Sylvén, L. K., & Sundqvist, P. (2012). Gaming as extramural English L2 learning and L2 proficiency among young learners. ReCALL, 24(3), 302–321.10.1017/S095834401200016XGoogle Scholar
Webb, S. (2005). Receptive and productive vocabulary learning: The effects of reading and writing on word knowledge. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 33–52.10.1017/S0272263105050023Google Scholar