Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition Strategies
二语词汇习得策略
[摘 要] 词汇是构成语言的基本单位，词汇习得在语言学习中占有重要地位。
英国著名语言学家D.A. Wilkins (1972) 说过：“没有语法，人们不能表达很多东西；而没有词汇，人们则无法表达任何东西。”这就说明了词汇在学习中的重要性。本文旨在分析二语词汇习得策略并应用于不同水平的学习者。学习者根据自己的水平选择正确的习得方法和策略学习词汇，从而提高学习效率和习得效果。
关键字： 二语词汇习得 词汇习得策略 元认知策略 认知策略
Abstract
Vocabulary is the basic unit of a language. Language acquisition plays an important role in language learning. Famous linguistics D. A. Wilkins said, “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed (Lewis, 1993:16).” It speaks volumes for the importance of vocabulary in language learning. This paper aims to analysis the second language acquisition strategies and applies to different levels of learners. According to the different levels, the learners should choose the proper methods and strategies to promote learning efficiency and acquisition effect.
Key words: Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition； Vocabulary
Acquisition Strategies； Metacognitive strategy； Cognitive strategy
Introduction
With economic globalization and multi-polarization of the world, especially the population of the internet, English becomes more and more important, because it is considered as the tool for absorbing and communicating information. As we all known, vocabulary acquisition is one of the most noticed-question of the second language learners. “Vocabulary” appears in the area of linguists’ study. Nowadays, researchers still can not give a complete and reasonable definition of vocabulary. Since 1970s, the second language vocabulary acquisition research has gradually become the hot point and important subject in the second language vocabulary acquisition research area. These researches aim to discuss the efficiency vocabulary memory strategies to promote the memory skills and vocabulary levels. Then how to acquire vocabulary become popular among the researchers. Wenden &Rubin (1987), O’Malley& Chamot (1990) refer to the content of vocabulary acquisition strategies; Rubin (1987) and Oxford (1990) classify the memory strategy to the direct cognitive strategies. Especially, CohenAphek (1981), Porte (1988), O’Malley (1990), Vann (90), Cohen (1990), etc made a basic searching of vocabulary acquisition. In a word, there are various opinions in how to acquire vocabulary. Firstly, it talks about the importance of vocabulary. Secondly, what does it mean to “acquire” a word? This paper mainly aims to the detail analysis of the vocabulary acquisition from three aspects：Meta-cognitive Strategy; Cognitive Strategy and Social or Affective Strategy. Especially, it highlights the effect of the context and rending to vocabulary acquisition. This paper talks about the applications of the vocabulary acquisition strategies. And it puts forward some problems and difficulties of vocabulary acquisition. This paper also discusses the influencing factors to the acquisition. It includes the mother tongue, age, language contact, logical thinking ability, identity degree, and academic motivation .
The purpose of this paper is to rise the awareness of English learners that the importance of vocabulary in language learning and the vocabulary acquisition strategies can not be neglected, and each strategies is deeply rooted in its language. Through the analysis of the theory of study, the paper tries to draw the learner’s attention to the strategies of the second language vocabulary acquisition and using the vocabulary in communication. In order to improve the acquisition efficiency, some strategies put into practice are introduced.
The first presents the importance of vocabulary, some basic concepts of vocabulary and vocabulary learning, the second part tells what does it mean to know a word, the third part deals with the theory of vocabulary acquisition and presents the factors and differences influencing the vocabulary acquisition. The fourth part is detailed discussion of vocabulary acquisition strategies in different levels of learners. The last part is conclusion.
Literature review
1. The importance of vocabulary
As the first time, when we go to school and our English teacher will tell us that vocabulary is of great importance in learning English. After several years, we understand words gradually, especially when we study in high school. If we know a little about vocabulary, we may have poor English. That is because the listening, speaking, reading and writing show the necessary of learning vocabulary.
Many researchers agree that lexis is at least as important as structure, because it is using wrong words and not wrong grammar that usually breaks down communication. Mistakes in lexis much more often lead to misunderstanding and may be less generously tolerated outside classroom than mistakes in syntax. (Carter, 1987). As Stephen Krashen remarked, “When students travel, they don’t carry grammar books, they carry dictionaries.
A significant role of vocabulary in both teaching and learning processes was first stated by Stephen Krashen in The Natural Approach (1985):
“Vocabulary is basic for communication. If acquirers do not recognize the meaning of the key words used by those who address them they will be unable to participate in the conversation.”
Words are basic tools in human communication; therefore they determine the main part of people’s life-relationships between people and associations with the surrounding world that people live in. The larger one’s vocabulary, the easier it is to express one’s thoughts and feelings.
In real communication, correctly and idiomatically used vocabulary can even decrease some structural inaccuracy and grammar errors. (Zhang Jiying, 2002). So learners should enrich and expand their knowledge of words as much as possible in order to communicate effectively in a foreign language.
2. What does it mean to “know” a word?
Knowing a word is not a simple phenomenon. In fact, it is quite complex and goes far beyond the word’s meaning and pronunciation. (Zhang Jiying, 2002). Richards (1976) think knowing a word means also knowing the frequency of words and their likely collocates; being aware of the functional and situation limitations that apply; knowledge of the “syntactic behavior”; derivational forms and word class; associative and connotative knowledge; semantic value-breaking down words into minimal units as with componential analysis (see Katz&Fodor1963or Leech1974); knowing the other (possible) meaning associated. Nagy and Scott (2000) identify several dimensions that describe the complexity of what it means to know a word. First, word knowledge is incremental, which means that readers need to have many exposures to a word in different contexts before they “know” it. Second, word knowledge is multidimensional. This is because many words have multiple meanings and serve different functions in different function in different sentences, texts, and even conversations. Third, word knowledge is interrelated in that knowledge of one word connects knowledge of other words.
What all of this means is that “knowing” a word is a matter of degree rather than an all-or-nothing proposition (Beck&Mckeown, 1991; Nagy&Scott, 2000). The degree of knowing a word are reflected in the precision with which we use a word, how quickly we understand a word, and how well we understand and use words in different modes and different purpose.
The memory strategy, cognitive strategy, social strategy and metacognitve strategy are used more frequently than the affective strategy and compensative strategy.
Conclusion
This paper has attempted to provide some theories of second language vocabulary acquisition and some strategies. Such as metacognitive strategy, cognitive strategy, and social strategy. However, this paper also put forward some microcosmic strategy. As a matter of fact, vocabulary acquisition should combine the context. In addition, this paper hasn’t mentioned that culture is also an important factor in vocabulary acquisition. In the study of second language vocabulary acquisition, we should pay attention to the process and the acquiring results. This paper focuses on the study of the second language vocabulary acquisition strategies.
Bibliography
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[7] 吴霞，王蔷.非英语专业本科生词汇水平研究. 外语教学与研究，1998(1). [15] 张纪英.英语词汇学教学与研究[M]. 武汉：华中科技大学出版社,2007. [16] 朱厚敏. 英语词汇学习策略研究[M] 长春：吉林大学出版社，2009.
中国期刊网啊
或者用百度里的英语找，应该有很多
这个是我前段时间交的论文 看看吧
A word is a minimal free form of language which has a given sound and meaning and syntactic function. There is no logical or intrisinc connection between a sound and what it refers to. The relation between sound and meaning is almost always arbitrary or conventional. The same language can use the same sound to mean different things and the different languages use different sounds to refer to the same thing.
The written form of English is not an acurate representation of the spoken form.There are different causes of the differences between sounds and forms in the English language. First, the English alphabet was adopted from the Romans, which does not employ the system of one single letter to stand for one sound. Second, the early scribes deliberately changed spelling of words to make a line even or for easier recogniton. Third, dictionaries help to fix the spelling of words. Forth, English has borrowed many words from other languages, which may not have been assimilated .
All the words in a language are termed as vocabulary. However, vocabulary can also be used to refer to all the words in a book, or in a particular historical period of time, or in a dialet, or in a particular discipline, or even to all the words that a person possesses. Words can be classified into the basic word stock and nonbasic word stock by use frequence, into content words and functional words by notion and into native words and borrowed words by origin. The basic word stock included five characteristics, for example, all national character, stability, productivity, polysemy, and collocability. The borrowed words included four features, the first one is denizens, it is the early borrowed words which have been assimilated and conformed to the English way of pronounciation and spelling. The second one is aliens, it is the borrowed words which have retained the foreign way of pronounciation or spelling and have not been assimilated into the English language. Next one is translation-loans, it means the words and expressions which are formed from the existing English materials, but modelled on the patterns of another language. The last one is semantic loans. It means that words which have not been borrowed with reference to the form, but to the meanings. Native words are limited in number, but this form is the core of the English language. In the learning process of english vocabulary, students must follow the law of Second Language Acquisition, the master and flexibility in the use of a variety of vocabulary learning strategies. It can be divided into glossary strategy, the contect of strategy, semantic strategy and finishing strategies.
First, glossary strategy. Usually, one is in alphabetical order of English words and the other is out of the Chinese meaning of these words. For example, equivalent words and synonyms. Some scholars believe that, it can be quickly and effectively learn a lot of vocabulary through the glossary policies. However, Gaims and Redman pointed out that through the memory glossary of terms will be hindered by a full vocabulary in mind to address the systematic and organized, so the loss of an effective long-term memory of the foundation. Language Master Professor Gui Shichun said that glossary strategy is time-consuming and laborious. Second, contect strategy. The strategy language learners attaining the word through the information which the environmental provided in the context, thes remember the word. Now, context strategy is more popular vocabulary learning strategy, it can not only expand the vocabulary, but also allows students to understand the purpose of language and cultural knowledge. However, channell believed that accented and syllable awareness plays a wery improtant role for the vocabulary learners. In order to understand the vocabulary better, the way of learn new words should make the learners absorb them accurately. Third, semantic strategy. This theory was first put forward by German scholar J.Tries. the core of the type of this theory is express the relationship between the species concept of words. According to this theory, the words can be combined one semantic field under a common concept. Last, finishing strategy. It refers to the learning materials through an in-depth and detailed analysis, processing, and understand the deep meaning of its internal memory and promote a strategy. Pi liansheng also mentioned in his book that elaborative strategy refers to the learning materials for fine processing activities, through the material on the increase in memory-related information to meet the new materials of learning and memory. For example, to make inferences or so that it formed with other concepts, such as aims to extract knowledge of the search for new ways to build the knowledge to provide additional information. The key of finishing strategy is linked the experience and vocabulary in the learners’ mind, to take full advantage of existing experience to learn word on a deep level of processing, rationalize, meaningful and then to understand , learners have mastered the mother knowledge or the foreign language knowledge, the vivid image and many other related knowledge can be used as the experience. The most common strategy is finishing association. Association also can be divided into affix association, association contrast, the relationship between association, close to association and so on.. On psychology, people believed that association reflects the link between the objective things. It occupied an important position in the promotion of human memory, imagination, thinking and other psychological activities. When use the association to study the vocabulary, to establish the interdependence of the knowledge structure in the mind, thus overcoming frogotten and enhance memory. For example, affix association. When study the affix “tion”, the learners can be associated the vocabulary with –tion, corporation, administration, competition, congratulation, description and so on. The learners can be know a rapidly expanding vocabulary. Krashen in the book “Input Hypothesis” mentioned that only accept the comprehensible, language acquisition will be generated. Finishing strategy can create the link between the abstract and concrete materials, so that learners should make the goal of memory into understandable words. This information processing followed the Krashen's "input assumptions” and it is an effective strategy for learning english vocabulary.
