Developing Vocabulary in ESL Contexts at Tertiary Level in Sri Lanka

7/28/2019 Developing Vocabulary in ESL Contexts at Tertiary Level in Sri Lanka

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Widyalankara, R. C. (2012). The Judicious Integration of L1 in ESL Learning Contexts:

A Sri Lankan Perspective. LAP publications. Amazon: ISBN-10: 3848434849

Chapter 5

Pedagogical implications

5.1 Scaffolding the findings of the main research and pre research tasks to pedagogy

The primary concern of this component of the chapter is to present a pedagogical format for

developing vocabulary systematically in the target population, the undergraduates of the Faculty

of Arts who register for ELTU courses, based on the findings of the pilot studies, reviewed

literature and the findings of the main research component. This pedagogical procedure

incorporates the judicious integration of L1 (Sinhala) at two specific levels: provision of glosses

to enhance text comprehension, introducing the phonetic alphabet and instruction on dictionary

consultation for pronunciation through the large corpus of English loan words which are used by

the Sinhala speech community. Findings of the pilot studies reveal that the low and intermediate

level ESL learners in the target population possess very poor inferring skills and weak dictionary

skills

Findings of the main study reveal that not only the low level learners but also the intermediate

learners benefit from the provision of L1 glosses during reading comprehension. The summaryof the Chi Square Test for Dependency too indicates that the performance of low and

intermediate proficiency ESL learners at text comprehension is dependent on the provision of

glosses for difficult lexical items. Summary of the findings of the Mann Whitney Test for

Median Comparison identifies that the provision of English meanings, for low and intermediate

proficiency learners, results in a performance equivalent to the provision of no meanings. Both

proficiency groups out performed when subjected to the Sinhala gloss conditions (Appendix H,

Instrument 3). However there is a caveat to bear in mind at this juncture. The strategy followed

in instrument 3, where Sinhala gloss conditions were provided, bypassed the decoding, lemma

and lexeme levels of lexical processing during meaning identification when testing performance

at text comprehension. Thus the learners were provided a boot strapping to semantic level

activation of L1 meaning without the need for mapping orthography to phonemes and lemma and

lexeme level analysis. Thus it is suggested that this bypass, which is a required limitation of the

test instrument, should be assuaged at the pedagogical level. This will necessitate extensive work


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on mapping orthography to phonetics if success is to be achieved in lexical acquisition under non

experimental conditions.

Another caveat to bear in mind is the assumption that the 179 words high frequency words in the

200 word instrument were comprehensible to all the test takers across the three proficiency

levels. This assumption was proved wrong as most of the low and intermediate learners

identified many high frequency words within the instrument as difficult to understand. Thus the

format for vocabulary development will initially attempt to address these problematic areas

before learners are required to learn vocabulary through reading. This gains accord from

Calderon et al (2005) who highlight the requirement for systematic vocabulary instruction before

implicit vocabulary learning commences through reading. They state that it is typical forlearners who are in the process of learning English to have limited second language vocabulary,

an obstacle that adversely affects their reading comprehension. Paribakht and Wesche (1997)

too propose that systematic vocabulary instruction in addition to learning through reading is a

successful approach to vocabulary acquisition. Thus before the learners are exposed to learning

vocabulary through reading this study suggests that they should be provided explicit teaching of

vocabulary to acquire the 2000 high frequency words to the point of automatic receptive and

productive activation.

Furthermore Lightbown and Spada (1999:169) caution that vocabulary instruction is successful

only if methods are appropriate to the learners age, interests and learning styles. Thus this

approach takes into account the cognitive (process of acquiring knowledge through reasoning or

by intuition) and the metacognitive (strategies of knowledge acquisition regulating, directing,

monitoring and evaluating ones own learning) maturity of the learners who are undergraduates

with a mean age of 23 years.

The goals of a vocabulary component of a language course according to Nation (2001: 380) are

to increase usable vocabulary size and for learners to gain control of large vocabulary coping,

and learning strategies. Thus the goal of the vocabulary component in this study is to achieve

student autonomy in lexical comprehension through strategy development. Such autonomy will

provide the target population, the low and intermediate proficiency undergraduate ESL learners,

with an escape source from the beginners paradox Coady (1997). Coady defines this paradox

as a vicious cycle in which limited lexical knowledge discourages reading and, simultaneously,

a lack of reading restricts vocabulary growth. The escape source suggested consists of a


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classroom plan for the first

frame is one year equating 1

week.. The academic year co

evaluations - oral and listenin

that vocabulary learning is a

least for 10 minutes during

sessions with distributed pra

systematic approach, this stu

vocabulary (Figure 5)by Hu

Figure 5 - A frameSource: Alan

The broad lexical goals of the

1. Developing vo

2. Consolidating

3. Building fluen

year undergraduates who register for ELT

00 contact hours, consisting of 25 weeks

sists of 30 weeks and 5 weeks are set aside

g tests, written paper. This classroom plan i

continuous and incremental process which

each 1 hour lesson. Recommendation of

ctice comes from Baddeley (1998). Aimi

y uses an adaptation of a framework for d

t & Beglar (2005).

ork for developing EFL reading vocabulHunt and David Beglar (2005).

above framework according to Hunt & Begl

cabulary breadth.

and elaborating vocabulary knowledge

y with known vocabulary.

courses and its time

f teaching, 4 hrs. per

for the preparation for

based on the premise

has to be addressed at

short frequent study

ng to conceptualize a

veloping EFL reading

ry.

ar (ibid) are:


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The goal of this study as mentioned is to achieve student autonomy in lexical comprehension

through strategy development which will borrow the above as its broad lexical goals. The

objectives of this vocabulary teaching/learning component are to provide the learners the ability

to:

1. Formulate strategies for learning the decontextualized 2000 high frequency words in one

of the following: General Service List (West, 1953) / British National Corpus

(http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/Brown Corpus (Frances and Kucera, 1982).

2. Analyze patterns of spelling, sound symbol correspondence by utilizing loan words

within a list to introduce the International Phonetic Alphabet (the dictionary version)

leading to enhancing pronunciation skills.3. Upgrade dictionary skills to consulting monolingual English-English dictionaries for

meaning, pronunciation and context.

4. Take responsibility of learning new vocabulary. Identify a personal plan for increasing

depth and breadth of vocabulary.

5. Comprehend meanings of high frequency words during reading with the provision of

bilingualized glosses for infrequent words.

6. Extend the literal knowledge to other associative meanings through semantic maps.

7. Infer the meanings of low frequency lexis during reading.

8. Gain entry to and progress along the receptive-productive continuum in the vocabulary

acquisition process while achieving learner autonomy in explicit vocabulary learning.

The timeframe is set down taking advantage of the maturity of the learners and introduce two

phases through which the learners progress during the first semester. The following pedagogical

procedure introduces the two phases:

Phase 1 - Explicit vocabulary instruction through a compilation of 230 loan words1

(content and

experience) from the 2000 high frequency word list (Brown Corpus, 1982). Attention is drawn to

the fact that the acoustic reduplication of the pronunciation of loan words when produced during

Sinhala speech provides instant access to the mental lexicon of a learner facilitating the

pronunciation of most of the words.

1The Sinhala language borrows a large corpus of English lexical items in the form of loan words which are

extensively used by its speech community. Acoustically, the pronunciation is very often identical.


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Phase 2 - Explicit vocabulary learning, utilizing the reading passages in the lesson material,

during text comprehension through the provision of bilingualized glosses.

These two phases will be covered as parallel sessions during the first semester. The main

research area of the study through its findings revealed the benefits of the provision of glosses.

As the study recommends judicious integration of L1, the provision of glosses in the research

instrument is upgraded to bilingualized instead of L1 or L2 glosses in isolation which were

utilized at the main research stage. Recall literature on lexical knowledge as a control based

functional continuum (Henrikson, 1996) which progresses from a partial precise knowledge

continuum through depth of knowledge continuum to a receptive productive continuum. Phase 1,

it is suggested, will upgrade lexical knowledge of the 230 loan words selected out of the 2000high frequency words from a partial precise continuum and enable the learners to upgrade the

loan words to the receptive/productive continuum. These 230 loan words as soon their

pronunciation is activated will access the mental lexicon of the learner for semantic values. For

this process to occur the study visualizes the following framework which commences with

explicit instruction on the learning burden of a lexical item. Learning burden of a word according

to Nation (2005) is what needs to be taught in a word. The detection of the learning burden

commences with the identification is the word a loan word in L1? and proceeds through

explicit instruction on the following aspects of the 230 loan words in the high frequency word

list: sound symbol correspondence, pronunciation of the word, phonemic transcription of the

orthography, spelling patterns.

Phase 1 Phase 2

5.2- Explicit lexical instruction

Current research (Bogaards, 2001; Coady & Huckinson, 1997; Hunt & Beglar, 1998; Koda, K.

2007; Sokman, 1997; Wang, M., Perfetti, C. A., & Liu, Y. 2004) places significant emphasis on

explicit teaching of vocabulary. Theorists state explicit instruction is time efficient (Chung &

Nation, 2003), it is suitable for low proficiency learners as they can easily understand explicit

Explicit vocabulary

instruction 230 loan

words from the 2000

high frequency words

Explicit vocabulary learning of low frequency words

through bilingualized glosses in reading passages

provided in the lesson material for text comprehension.


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word meaning (Ellis, 1997), and to deal with the problems of implicit vocabulary teaching and

learning, prior exposure to explicit vocabulary learning techniques is beneficial (Ziegler &

Goswami, 2006).

5.2.1 Phase I - De-contextualized high frequency word instruction

Many theorists have argued for de-contextualized explicit word instruction and Beaton,

Grunberg and Ellis (1995) after a ten year follow-up study of retention of vocabulary using the

key word method state de-contextualized learning is proven to have a consistently positive

influence on retention and lexical acquisition. Furthermore the target population who are adult

ESL learners have already developed a conceptual and semantic system which links to their firstlanguage they can easily understand explicit word meaning (Ellis, 1997). But the number of

decontextualized words in English, if gauged by the number of words in a large dictionary

(Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Websters Third International Dictionary, 1963), is so

large that Nation and Waring (2003) state that attempting to learn all the words is far beyond the

reaches of ESL learners. They further state that a small number of words in English occur very

frequently and these lists of high frequency words can be freely accessed through web sites.

5.2.1.1 - High frequency words

The General Service List (West, 1953) has a list of 2000 high frequency words obtained from a

corpus of 5,000,000 words, The Teachers Word Book of 30,000 words (Thorndike and Lorge,

1944) provides the first 2000 high frequency words which could be used by teachers of English.

This list has been obtained from a corpus of 18,000,000 words. This study utilizes the most

recent compilation of frequency words - Brown Corpus (Frances and Kucera, 1982, 1,015,945

words) and its 2000 Most Common Word List to make explicit instruction of decontextualized

vocabulary feasible. Learning of the high frequency words is important as objective 3 of this

pedagogical framework is to upgrade dictionary skills to consulting monolingual English-English

dictionaries for meaning and context. For this to become viable fluency in the 2000 high

frequency words is the basic requirement. Nation ( 1997) states though there is no set number

of words learners need to know to make use of a monolingual dictionary a basic vocabulary of

2000 words or more is required to understand definitions in a second language. The seventh

objective of creating the ability to infer the meanings of low frequency lexis through reading too


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needs the automatic activation of, at least, the 2000most frequent words. According to Coady &

Huckin (1997) the high-frequency words should be learned as quickly as possible to the point of

automaticizing, because after learning the basic high-frequency words learners can more easily

increase their vocabulary size through reading, especially in the case of low-frequency words.

Nation and Waring (2003) agree, suggesting that if learners know these words they will know a

very large proportion of the running words of a written text. Francis and Kucera (1982)

examined the vocabulary size needed for text coverage using a corpus of over 1,000,000 running

words taken from 500 texts which had an approximate word count of 2000 words. Table 42

summarizes their findings.

Table 42: Vocabulary size required for text coverage

These findings indicate that a learner with a knowledge store of the 2000 high frequency words

is capable of covering 80% of a text. Nation and Waring (2003) state that the learners need to

know the 2000 high frequency words of the language and this should be given high priority in

vocabulary teaching and caution that there is little sense in focusing on other vocabulary until

these are learned. Thus the reviewed literature justifies the underlying principle of using de-

contextualized word instructionutilizing a 2000 high frequency word list asthe first phase of the

pedagogical format of this study.

Addressing the question whether the ESL learners of the present study can cover a 2000

high frequency word learning endeavour, I wish to site the findings of Milton and

Meara(1995). Using the Eurocentre Vocabulary Size Test they examined the vocabulary

learning capabilities of 53 European adult ESL learner participants. The findings show

that a significant growth of vocabulary can occur in an ESL environment. The average

growth in vocabulary per person approached a rate of 2500 words per year over the six

Vocabulary size Text coverage

1000 72.0%

2000 79.7%

3000 84.0%

4000 86.8%


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months of the vocabulary learning programme. This provides feasibility statistics for the

learning of the 2000 high frequency words by the low and intermediate learners of the

present study. Furthermore the following criteria will make the learning of the high

frequency words easier.

A supplementary list of function words - High-frequency words contain a large number

of function words (such as prepositions, conjunctions, or articles) that have little semantic

content of its own and chiefly indicates a grammatical relationship. Linguists usually

draw a distinction betweencontent words, those words whose meaning is best described

in a dictionary and which belong in open sets so that new ones can freely be added to the

language, and function words, words with little inherent meaning but with importantroles in the grammar of a language (Higgins, 2002). This supplementary list of function

words will not beincludedwithin the de-contextualized high frequency word instruction.

But this supplementary list is used to recap grammar instruction at school level.

A multitude of English lexical items in the high frequency word list are used as loan

words in the learners L1 discourse.

5.2.1.2 Function words

These lexical items according to Sawicki (1985) are the most difficult to learn and consist of

articles, prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs, adjectives and pronouns. This study suggests that

these grammar parts should be introduced through grammar components within the lesson

material as it recognizes that decontextualized instruction for sight words, though feasible, has

neither theoretical nor empirical recognition. Function words due to their usage patterns will

require a different approach to facilitate acquisition and the research area for this study is text

comprehension where lexis is given priority over grammar. Discussing the outcomes of an

introspective and retrospective study of 10 undergraduates from a variety of L1 backgrounds

where a think aloud data collection method was used Paribakht and Wesche (1999) state that

function words occur with high frequency and it is likely that most are already somewhat

familiar at least in form to L2 learners. Thus learners do not identify them as unknown. They

further state that the preponderance of content words identified as unknown is notable, which

justifies the priority given to content words in this pedagogical component of the study.

Furthermore school curricula have already given recognition to the importance of these grammar


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components by their inclusion. Thus pedagogical approaches to function word instruction will

not be discussed though the study considers their inclusion in the material as vital. As a remedial

measure it is suggested that the learners should be given the complete list of 320 function wordsin alphabetical order to recap grammar components learned (Source:

http://www.answers.com/function%20word%20list, Appendix A).

5.2.1.3 Content and experience words

Sawicki (ibid) claims that these words can be seen, touched or experienced and

decontextualization will not hamper meaning creation. Out of a corpus of the 2000 most frequent

words from the Brown Corpus (Francis and Kucera, 1982) the study ascertained that 235 wordswere loan words (Appendix B) in the L1 (Sinhala) of the target population. Thus the study

suggests that explicit teaching should commence with the process of moving these loan words

along the partial precise continuum, through depth of knowledge instruction towards the

receptive productive continuum.

5.2.1.4 Loan words

In an ESL context many first languages borrow a lot from English. Most of these borrowings are

lexical items. This is true in the linguistic context described in this study where the L1 of the

learner population is Sinhala. The extent of the influence of English loan words on Sinhala is

discussed by Premawardana (2003). According to Premawardana the existing morphological

structure of Sinhala has undergone change due to English loan words, particularly, the addition

of /ek/ one as a singular making for nouns borrowed from English. This extensive usage of

loan words with the addition of /ek/ in Sinhala discourse is conveyed by the fact that 8/10 (table

43) words identified in the first ten loan words obtained from the high frequency word list are

examples for the above usage.


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Table 43: Loan words from English +/ek/ used in Sinhala discourse

The other two words in the list (Table 44) fall into the loan word category as an extended usage

administration building /ek/ and by a common usage Good afternoon which is borrowed for

convenience rather than any lexical inadequacy of Sinhala.

Table 44: Other usages

This unique feature in the L1 of the learners can be used judiciously to accelerate the learning of

the high frequency word list. Encouraging learners to notice borrowings and to use loan words

to help the learning is a very effective vocabulary expansion strategy. This involves deliberately

exploring L1 and L2 relationships (Nation, 2003). But evidence from the test battery used in the

main research of the study reveals that though these loan words are used in L1 communication

Loan word Addition of /ek/ one as a singular making for the noun

Academy Academy /ek/

account account /ek/

action action /ek/

activity activity /ek/

address address /ek/

affair affair /ek/

agency agency /ek/

agreement agreement /ek/

administration administration building /ek/

afternoon Good afternoon


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the lack of sophistication in mapping orthography to sound results in the loan word going

uncomprehended by a majority of low and intermediate level learners (Table 45).

Table 45: Performance at identifying L1 equivalent of a loan word

The test battery requested test takers to write the L1 meaning of the loan word enzyme and thepoor performance indicates that explicit instruction on mapping orthography to phonemes is one

of the main pedagogical requisites for vocabulary learning. It is suggested that such phonemic

awareness should be created initially through loan words within the high-frequency list as their

pronunciation is already established in the L1 mental lexicon of the learners. For example the

pronunciation of academic (Table 46)is identical whether it is in the learners L1 or L2.

Table 46: Loan words with identical pronunciation

Thus the adult learners, posses a highly developed L1 mental lexicon for the borrowed loan

words from English with efficient storage and retrieval facilities. Mental lexicon according to

McCarthy (1990) is a store of words, their meanings and associations. It is like a dictionary, a

thesaurus, an encyclopedia, a library, a computer and a net. The information in the mental

lexicon of a person is always being updated and new words are added, new connections are made

to existing words. Thus what loan words provide is not only word knowledge but a

simultaneous activation of pronunciation (albeit in their L1) too will occur in the learners mental

lexicon. Capitalizing on this pedagogy should utilize the activated pronunciation of loan words

2Can be realized as /kdmk/too.

Loan

word

Correct mapping of orthography to sound as a %

Low proficiency learners Intermediate proficiency learners

Enzyme 5% 29%

Lexical item Sinhala pronunciation English pronunciation

academic /kdmk/2 /kdmk/


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which are considered as existing in the L1 mental lexicon to facilitate instruction on mapping

orthography to phonemes in the learners L2 English. Figure 6 produces a framework for short

listing lemma for explicit vocabulary instruction.

Figure 6: A framework for short listing lemma for explicit

vocabulary instruction

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1Example - General English, Volume 1. G.C. E. Advanced level classes (1999)

Adjectives Language study (p.44)

Adverbs Activity 2 (p. 9)

Prepositions Language study (p. 55)

5.2.2- Class plan for Phase 1 - explicit instruction on high frequency loan words

Once the loan words are short listed the study suggests the following class plan which

commences with 5 hours of instruction on mapping orthography to phonemes which comprises

of recapping previous phonetic instruction, introducing the Key to phonetic symbols and leads

to the final compilation of Vocabulary Record Books I (loan words) and II (Function words).

Pick loan words

(n=235, Appendix M)

1445 non

loan words

Recap school grammar instruction1

Decontextualized high frequency word list (n = 2000)

Brown corpus - www.edict.com.hk/lexiconindex/frequencylists/words2000.htm

Provision of 320 function words.

(Higgins, 2002; Appendix N)

Identification and categorization of

content and experience words (n = 1680)


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Table 47: Class plan for Phase I - explicit instruction on decontextualized

high frequency word list (235 loanwords)

5.2.2.1 Instruction on mapping orthography to phonemes 235 loan words

This study suggests that exposure to the phonetic symbols - as they are represented in English-

English dictionaries frequently used by learners - is a much needed explicit instruction at

undergraduate level. Experience states that the majority of learners rarely consult pronunciation

as their exposure to the phonetic symbols is non existent or minimal. Educating the on phonetic

transcription might be construed as an arduous task but most of the non standard usages, it is

suggested, can be rectified through exposure to the English phonetic system as given in a

dictionary.

Semester I approximate total time allotment 50 lessons of 1 hr. each

exposure to Key to Phonetic Symbols. Instruction on mapping orthography to

phonemes 5 hrs.

Explicit vocabulary instruction through loan words (Appendix M) contained in

decontextualized word lists (10 minutes per 1 hour lesson).

Vocabulary Record Book I

235 loan words (content and experience) from the 2000 high frequency word list

(Brown Corpus, Appendix M) in 11 handouts containing approximately 20

words each. The students are required to record phonetic transcription, L2

meaning and a context for the given meaning of the loan word.

Vocabulary Record Book II

320 function words (Higgins, 2002; Appendix N) given as one hand out for

compilation of individual Vocabulary Record Book II which requires recording

of pronunciation, L2 meaning (if feasible) and a context for usage.Oral practice of pronunciation

Identify pronunciation differences in L1 and L2 usages

Notice correct pronunciation for problem areas. Consult mono lingual English

dictionary for pronunciation, L2 meaning and L2 context. Record


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Figure 7: Mapping orthography to phonemes - 230 loan words

Re-capping pronunciation instruction - (General English, 1999: 104-108)

e. g. :- Problems for Sri Lankan learners of English (p.104)

1. The confusion and overuse of the sounds p/f, s/ sh, o/aw

2. The inserting of /i/ in front of words beginning with /sk/, /st/, /sp/

5.2.2.2 Introducing phonetic symbols found in a dictionary which are not

represented by letters of the English alphabet

Consonants

Exercise I Consult an English English dictionary and write the phonetic transcription

Sound Word Phonetic transcription

sing, finger

j yes, yellow

Re-cap pronunciation

Introduce phonetic symbols which are not represented by letters of the English

Broaden exposure to Key to phonetic symbols in an English English dictionary

Attempt phonetic transcription of loan words. Awareness creation on Spelling and sound

Consult an English English dictionary for clarification of phonetic

Note down contexts provided in a dictionary for high frequency content loan words


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c

It is suggested that the transc

be substituted by / /. This sy

Attention to the symbolic

confusion and overuse of thes Vowels

The transcription /aw/ which

short and long sounds // an

their confusion with /o/ and o

of ESL (Fernando, 1978; Gu

/:/ are new sounds to the s

sounds is difficult for second

L2 pronunciation once L1

ability to distinguish new sou

Sound

she, crash

check, church

just, large

ription /sh/ which was introduced in General

bol should be compared with the symbol /s

ifference will create awareness which is

e sounds

was introduced in General English (1999) sh

/:/ . These two symbols should be given

veruse are identified as a problematic areas

esekera, 2005; Kandiah, 1981). This is due

eakers of Sinhala and according to linguist

language learners. Sebastian-Galles et al (2

phonology is already internalized can re

ds that appear in the L2.

Word Phonetic transcription

cup, luck

arm, father

cat, black

away, cinema

turn, learn

hot, rock

call, ball

English (1999) should

and its pronunciation.

needed to avoid the

ould be elevated to the

extensive attention as

or Sri Lankan learners

o the fact that // and

s, assimilation of new

05) state that learning

uce an individuals


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Table 48: Student handout 1 sample of the first 10 loan words of Vocabulary

Record Book I

Use an English- English dictionary to fill the following. The first word is done for you.

* substituted for academic as academy too is a loanword in Sinhala

5.2.2.5 Spelling and sound symbol correspondences

Though good readers process orthography in a highly automaticized, accurate manner theory on

low level learners, who can be identified as poor readers, state that they are slow in processing

orthography (Foorman et al., 2000; Stanovich, 1998). Thus theorists and researchers (Carver,2000; Rayner et al., 2002) claim that explicit teaching of spelling and sound symbol

correspondences can contribute to vocabulary learning and also generate fluency in reading. One

form of orthographic processing involves explicit emphasis on spelling. Mathes and Torgesen

(2000), and Stanovich, (1998) suggest explicit instruction on spelling is particularly important to

low level L2 readers. Recall literature on the irregularities of the English spelling system (Tables

26, 27, 28) and how they allow the same letter to represent more than one sound or the same

Loan wordPhonetic

transcription

meaning in L2 L2 Context from dictionary

academy* /kdm/

account

action

activity

address

administration

affair

afternoon

agency

agreement


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Table 49: Suffixation for a loan word

(Stem) Derivative Meaning

A sample context formed by

learners

academy

/kdm/

Academic

/kdmk/ (adj.)

(n.)

Time when teaching is done

Teacher of a university

The academic year is over.

She is a well known

academic

5.3 Phase 2 - Exposure to texts with bilingualized glosses

During the first semester parallel to Phase 1(decontextualized vocabulary instruction on 240 loan

words) Phase 2 will expose the learners to texts with bilingualized glosses. According to Nation

& Waring (2003) with a vocabulary size of 2000 words a learner knows 80% of the words in a

text which means that 1 word in every 5 (approximately 2 words in every line) are unknown. Na

& Nation (1985) through research reveal that this ratio of unknown words is not sufficient to

allow reasonably successful guessing of the meaning of unknown words which are low

frequency words. Thus this study suggests that during semester I the reading passages included

in the material should be provided with bilingualized glosses for the low frequency words which

the learners encounter during reading. Theory on vocabulary acquisition state that introducing

lexis in partially de-contextualized or fully contextualized settings is a combination which is

conducive to acquisition (Zimmerman, 1997). Prince (1996) claims that vocabulary retention is

enhanced when learners temporarily isolate words from their context and deliberatively process

them. This thesis in its main research statistically evaluated the benefits of partial de-

contextualization of low frequency words along with a fully contextualized setting for high

frequency words. Gloss conditions were provided for the partially de-contextualization lowfrequency words. These gloss conditions in the test battery consisted of two separate independent

variables: Sinhala glosses and English glosses. For the weaker learners the research revealed the

SG condition was the most beneficial while EG condition did not increase performance. But at

pedagogical level, where judicious integration of L1 is the premise, intuition states that gloss

conditions provided in lesson material for texts should embody bilingualized lexical information.

Each head word should be given L1 and L2 glosses and an L2 sentence example using the head


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word in a different context. These provisions will increase the number of lexical items in passive

vocabulary or denote an incremental shift in the partial precise continuum. But the vocabulary

knowledge gained through the provision of bilingualized glosses will be pedagogically restrictive

as it only provides one literal meaning to a word in a given context. If the word contains multi

meanings the knowledge of the meanings other than the one in context will be denied.

5.3.1 Elaboration of lexis

To elaborate the meaning of the newly learned lexis the teacher should create opportunities for

understanding recently learned words in new contexts, or organize exercises that provide new

collocations and associations (Hunt & Beglar, 1998). For example the following conceptmapping provides new collocations and associations for the word fat which occurred in the test

battery of the main research (Appendix F) and glossed the literal meaning lipid. The suggested

bilingualized gloss would be as follows:

1. fat/s /ft/ n.- lipids - Vegetable fats are healthier than animal fats.

2. fat /ft/ adj. - large in size (-tter, -ttest)If you eat too much chocolate you will get fat.

The introduction of the second meaning of the base form which is a frequently used word will

activate world knowledge through the L1 mental lexicon of the learners. Capitalizing on this

activation a rich array of semantic associations in the form of antonyms and synonyms and

gradation could be introduced through a semantic network. Thus pedagogy should activate

associative lexis in L2 which are considered as existing in the L1 mental lexicon. This is

suggested as effective teaching of vocabulary entails not only the presentation of new words, but

also the elaboration and development of the meaning of old and new vocabulary.

Figure 8: Elaborating known vocabulary through concept mapping

Fat-

Large in

size

Chubby

plump, stout

Overweight -

Most

neutral

usageSkinny, gaunt

Under

weight-Most

neutral

usage

Anton mS non m

emaciated not healthy Obese not healthy

Slender, slim


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5.4 Implicit lexical learning strategies

The class plan for semester II given below moves from explicit instruction on lexis to implicit

lexical acquisition strategies which need fine tuning such as inferring skills. The poor Mean

scores on measures of English inferring skills of the target population (Table 17) justify the need

for such fine tuning. The development of inferring skills will be done through reading texts

without glosses.

Table 50: Classroom plan for the second semester of the first year

Semester II (Approximate time frame 10 mins. during 50 1hr. lessons)

Compilation of the balance 1412 high frequency

words in Vocabulary Record Book II

Reading texts without glosses

for low frequency words

30 learners in the class are given a list of 50

words each for completing entries on

pronunciation, L2 meaning, dictionary context

for one or multiple meanings. Lists are checked

for progress and acuracy. The record book

should be done using Microsoft Word other than

pronunciation which should be done manually.

The list of each learner should be completed

within the first 3 weeks of semester II.

Inferring the meaning.

Compiling the encountered

low frequency vocabulary

items in Vocabulary Record

Book III.

Compilation of all 30 lists into one vocabulary

component. Learners requested to obtain

photocopies of the compiled collective work

titled Vocabulary Record Book II.

completing entries on

pronunciation, L2 meaning,

dictionary context for one or

multiple meanings

Oral practice of pronunciation. Identify differences in L1 and L2 usages. Notice

correct pronunciation for problem areas

Extended reading for fluency development along with broadening the corpus of

Vocabulary Record Book III


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5.4.1 Developing inferring skills

According to Nation (1990) after the high frequency words are learned the next focus for the

learners is on helping the learners develop strategies to comprehend and learn the low frequency

words. But as the ESL learners of this study are undergraduates with a very limited time

allocated for ESL instruction helping the learners develop strategies to comprehend and learn

the low frequency words in the form of developing inferring skills commences along with the

compilation of vocabulary record book III. Here the study makes note that Nation (ibid) further

state that because of the very poor coverage low frequency words give, it is not worth spending

class time on actually teaching these words. But class time should be spent on inferring the

meaning of the low frequency words which occur in texts given in the material, such ascomprehension passages, from context. But Carver (2000) cautions us that ESL learners can

tolerate a small proportion of unknown words in a text without disruption of comprehension and

can infer meanings of these words from sufficiently rich contexts. However if the proportion of

unknown words is too high comprehension is disrupted. Thus texts for developing inferring

skills should be carefully selected so that they will be of an appropriate difficulty level (Hu &

Nation, 2003). Current pedagogy places high importance on strategic development of inferring

skills (Clark & Nation, 1980; Fraser, 1999; Hunt & Beglar, 2005; Nassaji, 2003; Nation, 2005;

Nation & Waring, 2003). Thus the texts used in the material during semester II should be graded

according to the number of low frequency words in the content. The low frequency words should

be in bold and after inferring the meaning clarifying the meaning, consolidating pronunciation

and obtaining other meanings and their contexts through dictionary consultation should follow.

Fraser (1999) supports the use of a dictionary during classroom activity as there is a need to

focus on efficient and effective use of dictionary while reading and suggests that teachers should

reevaluate the minimal use accorded to dictionary use in class. Laufer & Hadar (1997) state that

learners should practice using all the information in an entry before making conclusions about

the meaning of a word and according to Tang (1997) learners need to practice reevaluation of

their incorrect inferences so that they do not retain them. Classroom activities should include oral

practice of pronunciation, identifying differences in L1 and L2 usages, noticing correct

pronunciation for problem areas as they accelerate consolidation. It would benefit the learners if

these lessons too could include concept mapping for elaborate processing of at least one low

frequency lexical item. All the above have been summarized by clues into a six step inductive


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instructional procedure modified from Clark & Nation (1980) and Nation (2001: 257). This study

proposes that the procedure has abundant merits for its target population whose inferring skills

are very low.

1. Identify the unknown part of the word.

2. Search for clues in the immediate context. This prevents hasty guesses

based on word form.

3. Assess both L1 and L2 inferences and explain reasons for the choice. This promotes

self inquiry and understanding of inferential strategies.

4. Confirm the part of speech in the learners inference, compare it to the unknown word

and attempt to substitute it into the original context.5. To reduce the probability of erroneous guesses the learners should confirm their

inferences by consulting a dictionary.

6. When learners make incorrect guesses they need to reevaluate the contextual clues in

order to become aware of any misrepresentation

This study suggests that inferring skills should not stop at successful inferring of the meaning of

the word. It should work through elaboration, consolidation and recording for future consultation

as it will aid retention and recall. Furthermore extended reading should be included in the

curriculum and the allotment of marks for discussion of a text (characterization, development of

plot, and thematic value to the learner) at evaluation level of the speech component would create

the necessary motivation.

5.4.2 Extensive reading

Hunt & Beglar (2005) identifying the merits of extensive reading state in extensive reading

learners select and read large amounts of material that interest them and that are within their

level of assisted comprehension. Material for extensive reading can be obtained from the

Extensive Reading Pages website at http://www.extensivereading.net/index.html . This online

source provides a range of material which suits learners at different levels of proficiency. This

study suggests that fiction and newspapers too provide ample sources for extended reading. It

further suggests that learners should be encouraged to include new lexis encountered during

extensive reading in their vocabulary Record Book IV.


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5.4.2.1 Fiction

Material for extended reading for ESL learners is rarely available in university libraries. The

classic fiction available serves the literary needs of the undergraduates of the Department of

English. A study by Hirsh & Nation (1992) identifies novels written for teenagers as a good

source for ESL learners extended reading. They are unabridged and the topics are considered to

be interesting to the ESL undergraduate. The writers use simple vocabulary and because it is a

continuous novel by one writer the vocabulary is very often repeated. The following table

indicates that the density of unknown words is also less than in a formal text.

Table51: Density of unknown words in novels for teenagers

Source:Table 2 Vocabulary size and coverage in novels for teenagers

Hirsh & Nation (1992) cited in Nation and Waring (2003)

As the vocabulary size of the learners is expected to reach the 2000 word threshold by the middle

of the second semester extended reading in the form of fiction could be introduced during the

second semester. Furthermore extensive reading, according to Nation & Waring (2003), will

enhance word knowledge and the learners get a lot of exposure to the most frequent and useful

words. It is suggested that the resource centre of the ELTU should store novels which could be

used for extended reading and make borrowing and reading at least 5 novels compulsory during

the second semester. Recapping and evaluation of at least two texts could be included in the oral

test at the end of the semester and allocation of 5/20 marks is recommended.

5.4.2.2 Newspapers

Another source of material for extended reading is newspapers. Newspapers especially the

weekend papers provide material which will interest a varied proficiency level of ESL learners.

Ranging from formal/ literary articles which are suited for high proficiency learners to

supplements which target young readers the weekend papers are a rich source of ESL material.

Vocabulary size % coverage Density of unknown words

2000 words 90% 1 in every 10

2000 words + proper nouns 93.7% 1 in every 16

2600 words 96% 1 in every 25

5000 words 98.5% 1 in every 67


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provision of L1 glosses significantly accelerated text comprehension. But as judicious integration

of L1 is the main premise of the thesis the pedagogical procedures in this chapter sited research

to argue that the provision of glosses should be upgraded to bilingualized glosses. The rationale

further included a framework which explicit instruction on the 2000 high frequency words and

this commenced with instruction on the 240 loan words short listed. The second instance of

judicious integration of L1 occurred during the selection of the 240 loan words borrowed from

English and used in Sinhala discourse to introduce phonetic transcription. As the pronunciation

of most words in this list of loan words is already acquired through their use in Sinhala discourse

it was argued that exposure to the phonetic alphabet found at dictionary should be handled

through phonetic translation of these words using dictionary consultation. Once pronunciation ofa word is established the possibility of elaboration through creating morphological awareness

and other modes such as concept mapping too were explored.

The fundamental reason for a massive pedagogical workload being handled within a short

time span is that the school ESL curricula has not been, to large extent, able to fulfill the

vocabulary requirements of most learners during the 10 years of ESL instruction. A

plausible explanation for this should be found through an evaluation of how lexical

development is handled at school level especially during the span of grade 3 11. It is

suggested that teachers at school level should place a high priority on research to identify

a rationale for improving the vocabulary component of the material used from grade 3-

11. These areas of research could include the following.

The main research which identified the effect of the provision of L1 glosses in text

comprehension could be reduplicated at school level to ascertain the benefits of such a

procedure for low and intermediate level learners.

Feasibility of introducing and consolidating the 2000 high frequency word list through a

framework such as the procedure suggested in this study at school level during a limited

time frame (for example from grade 7- 9).

Investigate the possibility of introducing the phonetic alphabet of English (the dictionary

version) through the short listed loan words from the 2000 high frequency word list.

Maintaining a vocabulary record book, according to literature, is a very effective strategy

for increasing the breadth and depth of vocabulary in an ESL learner. Research is needed

to identify the suitable age group for introducing methods of maintaining a personal


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vocabulary record book. It is suggested that maintaining a personal vocabulary record

book should be included as early as possible into the ESL curricula.

If, through research, school curricula accommodates the learning burden of the 2000 high

frequency words ELTU curricula can utilize the valuable instruction time saved for introducing

the vocabulary needed for academic discourse. Nation (2000) states that if a learner is an

undergraduate there is a clear need for general academic vocabulary. This can be found in the

836 word list called the University Word List (UWL). UWL consists of words that are not in the

2000 high frequency list but which are frequent of a wide range in academic texts. Wide rangemeans that the words occur not just in one discipline but occurs within a wide range of

disciplines. An alternative source is the Academic Word List (Coxhead, 2000) which account

for 10% of the running words in academic texts.

In summation as this thesis explores the benefits of utilizing the high L1 literacy of the learners

and its judicious integration in the ESL classroom it is imperative for the teachers of ESL to

adhere to the following.

Do not conceive learners through a deficit perspective.

Try to avoid the use of deficit labels.

View them in terms of their strengths.

Remember that ESL learners are fluent users and makers of

meaning within their L1 context (Franklin & Thompson, 1994).

Thus they have a well developed mental lexicon in L1.

Understand that learners may react more positively to the demands of L2 if they

experience acceptance and valuing of L1.

Documents

Developing Vocabulary in ESL Contexts at Tertiary Level in Sri Lanka