OnCognitionofEnglishVocabularyandStrategiesofAcquisition

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1、论英语词汇认知及习得策略On Cognition of English Vocabulary and Strategies of AcquisitionContentsAbstract.1Key words.1I. Introduction .2II. Problems and Perspectives.22.1 Definition of Vocabulary.22.2 Problems.3III. Analysis of Problems.33.1 Pressure of Practice Misguides the Learning Activity .33.2 Lacking of C

2、ontextual Background .43.3 Lacking of Reading Activities .43.4 Wrong Notion on the Content of Learning Vocabulary.43.4.1 Form: Pronunciation and Spelling . .43.4.2 Grammar .53.4.3 Collocation.53.4.4 Aspects of Meaning (1).53.4.5 Aspects of Meaning (2).53.4.6 Translation.6IV. Measurements.64.1 Learni

3、ng strategies.64.1.1 Through Word Formation or Derivation.64.1.2 Through Word Association.74.1.3 Through Contextual Guessing by Reading Between the Lines. .84.1.4 Other Learning Strategies .84.2 Learning Vocabulary by Means of Pragmatic Knowledge.104.3 Learning Vocabulary by Means of Psychological K

4、nowledge.124.4 Learning Vocabulary by Means of Phonetic Knowledge .124.5 Learning Vocabulary by Means of Morphological Knowledge.134.6 Learning Vocabulary by Means of Semantic Knowledge.13V. Conclusion.14References .14On Cognition of English Vocabulary and Strategies of Acquisition摘 要：随着我们进入21世纪，词汇学

5、习取得了更加重要的位置，甚至达到了有些人所说的中心地位。但许多英语学习者盲目认为英语学习就是一个简单的词汇累加过程，这种错误认识导致他们忽视语篇背景对词汇学习的作用。作者认为，词汇的习得，具有更广泛的内容；词汇学习脱离不了语言背景，具有一定的规律性。词汇的建构特征以及词汇间的关系（形似、意似、音同或同一个词的不同形式等）均可作为记忆与巩固词汇的方法；另一方面，词汇的使用（听、说、读、写、译）又是一个从频度上理解与巩固词汇的过程。本文从词汇研究的重要性入手，探究词汇学习困难的现实根源及对词汇学习存在的错误认识，进而提出一些行之有效的学习策略和对策，强调词汇知识的掌握和运用以及频度对词汇学习具有重

6、要的作用。关键词： 词汇习得 学习策略 记忆 认知 频度Abstract: As we enter the 21st century, acquisition of vocabulary has assumed a more important role, and as some would argue, it has assumed the central role in learning a second language but many English learners consider that the learning process is only a process of ac

7、cumulation of vocabulary to a certain amount, which leads to a neglect of contextual background function in English learning. In the authors opinion, vocabulary learning has a wider content than it seems, the learning process cannot avoid contextual background and the learning itself has its own law

8、. The building features of vocabulary and the relationships between words (with similar meaning or form, same pronunciation and different forms of one word ) can be used to memorize and consolidate vocabulary, on the other hand, the process of outputting vocabulary ( listening, speaking, reading, wr

9、iting and translating ) is a process of understanding and reinforcing vocabulary through frequent encountering.Key words: vocabulary acquisition learning strategy memorize cognition frequencyI. IntroductionAs we enter the 21st century, acquisition of vocabulary has assumed a more important role, and

10、 as some would argue, it has assumed the central role in learning a second language (Lewis, 1993). Actually, if the structure makes up the skeleton of a language, it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh. The ability to manipulate grammatical structure does not have any potentia

11、lity for expressing meaning unless words are used. Through researches scholars have found that lexical problems frequently interfere with communication: communication breaks down when people do not use the right words. Wilskin used to say: “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocab

12、ulary, nothing can be conveyed.” (1972, cited in Geng Shimei, 2002). Also, according to McCarthy, no matter how well the learners learn grammar, no matter how successfully the sound of second language are mastered, without words to express a wider range of meaning, communication in a second language

13、 just cannot happen in any meaningful way. Thus, our utterance must take meanings that that we wish to express, and we need to have a store of words that we can select from when we wish to express these meanings. In many language classes, even top teachers have devoted much time to vocabulary teachi

14、ng, however, the results are disappointing. How to help learners to enlarge their vocabulary is always a great issue that English teachers and scholars are faced with. On the other hand, learners have a strong desire to improve their English level in order to make them more adaptable when they step

15、into this competitive society after graduation. However, most English learners are faced with a great difficulty in learning vocabulary though they do spend a lot of time and energy on it. This paper will analyze the problems in learning vocabulary, then overview some general vocabulary learning str

16、ategies and will come up with a scientific approach.II. Problems and perspectives2.1 Definition of vocabularyVocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language. Sometimes you cannot call a word “vocabulary”, because a new item of vocabulary may be more than one single

17、word: for example, post office and mother-in law, which are made up of two or three words but express a single idea. There are also multi-word idioms such as call it a day, where the meaning of the phrase cannot be deduced from an analysis of the component words. A useful convention is to cover all

18、such cases by talking about vocabulary items rather than words.2.2 Problems Vocabulary is by far the most sizable and unmanageable component in the learning of language, whether foreign language or ones mother tongue. No language acquisition can take place without the acquisition of lexis. Vocabular

19、y, the building material of language, together with pronunciation and grammar, constitutes the three essentials of the language. Whether one gets the effective means of learning vocabulary decides the quality of learning English, if he gets some effective ones, he can get a large amount of words whi

20、ch can be used to do reading, speaking, listening, writing and translating.Many surveys show that most English learners feel that English words are difficult to learn, hard to memorize and easy to forget. They know the meaning of a word in one passage, but in other one, maybe they cant; they are abl

21、e to read and write a word, but they can not use it correctly in writing. The insufficient vocabulary learning considerably hinders their mastering of the five skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating.Therefore, to probe into the vocabulary learning methods and to come up with

22、 a scientific approach to help English learners learn words easily and quickly has been, and always be, the focus of language teaching to ensure learners of the mastery of the five skills.III. Analysis of Problems3.1 Pressure of practice misguides the learning activityAccording to the English teachi

23、ng curriculum, the prescribed recognition vocabulary for sophomores is 4000, among which the active vocabulary should amount to 2300, but for juniors major in English, is 7000-9000, and they have to be able to use 4000-5000 correctly and appropriately. We all know that college students have to atten

24、d many English exams in college or after graduation, such as CET4, CET6, TEM4, TEM8, GMAT, TOEFL, GRE, PETS and so on. The basis or foundation of each exam is a certain amount of words, CET4, 4000; CET6, 6000-7000; for TEM8, the words amount required is 8000-13000. No sizable enough vocabulary, no p

25、ass of exams.College students, with low efficiency of English learning, has many difficulties in enlarging their vocabulary, so they think memorizing the vocabulary book of a certain kind of exam is the most direct and effective manner, so you will not be surprised when finding many English learners

26、 reading vocabulary books. This kind of method often come to low efficiency of learning, because they get some separated words without contextual background, they just get their meanings and spellings, so it is easy to forget or even confuse with each other.3.2 Lack of contextual backgroundJust like

27、 what learners do to learn words through reading vocabulary books, what the learners learned is isolated words, like bricks, but the purpose of learning is to communicate, or to get information, they have to put words in a certain way to convey a certain meaning, to some extent, we can say learners

28、have to be able to build walls with single bricks.We learn English as a second language, we have no such an atmosphere as in English-speaking countries. It is not difficult to find that the language acquisition law from our learning of Chinese, atmosphere of language is very important. We have to re

29、cognize the fact that the lack of language atmosphere, in such a condition, the reading activity overweighs everything in learning process, for reading is a kind of getting, or inputting, so we cant overlook the function of contextual background. So the learning process cant avoid contextual backgro

30、und, in which words convey maybe different but specific meanings. Learners can comprehend words better, and they can well memorize those words.3.3 Lack of reading activitiesThe acquisition and using of language knowledge, in fact, is a process of storing, retrieving, and using information. The learn

31、ing activity is based on memory. According to the nature of cognition, frequency can promote the efficiency of memorizing. The root of easy forgetting and confusing is that many learners focus on learning a large amount of single words, while spend less time doing reading activity, so they lose a go

32、od opportunity to encounter words learned before.3.4 Wrong notion on the content of learning vocabularyMany English learners think that the feature of words is made up of form, and meaning, in fact, words have more features.3.4.1 Form: pronunciation and spellingThe learner has to know what a word so

33、unds like (its pronunciation) and what it looks like (its spelling). These are very obvious characteristics. 3.4.2 GrammarA word may have an unpredictable change of form in certain grammatical contexts. When learning a new verb, for example, we should learn its past form, if this is irregular, and w

34、e also know that if it is transitive or intransitive. Similarly, if we encounter a noun, we should note its plural form or mind that it has no plural at all, for example, information is of this kind. The most important part in this section is some verb form following some certain words, take enjoy f

35、or example, when using it , if you want to convey like doing something, the following verb should be verb-ing. Grammar emphasizes the form changes and grammatically using way of one word. Knowing just the base form doesnt equal knowing the word.3.4.3 CollocationThis feature stresses the usage of wor

36、ds, when we use the word focus, the right collocation is focus on something, not focus to something, we can say throw a ball, but toss a coin. This is the core in English learning; one can manipulate a language correctly if he is able to bear words collocation in his mind. To acquaint many different

37、 and genuine collocations is to make a communication more effective and clearer.3.4.4 Aspects of meaning (1): denotation, connotation, appropriatenessDenotation is the primary meaning of a word used in real world, and often it is the given meaning in a dictionary. For example, dog refers to a kind o

38、f animal, so we can say this is the denotation meaning of the word dog.Connotation is the less obvious component of meaning of a word, associated with some positive or negative feelings it evokes, which may not be indicated in a dictionary definition. The word dog, for example, has positive connotat

39、ion of friendship and loyalty in Britain, but in Arabic areas, has a negative meaning of dirt and inferiority.Appropriateness is a more subtle aspect of meaning, it cares about whether a particular word is the appropriate one to use in a certain context or not.3.4.5 Aspects of meaning (2): meaning r

40、elationshipsHow the meaning of one word relates to the meaning of others can be useful for language learning. There are various relationships; here are just some main ones:1) Synonyms Words that mean the same, or nearly the same; for example, bright, clever, smart may serve as synonyms of intelligen

41、t. This relationship is useful in vocabulary learning, one can explain one word with its synonyms, it can be a process of reviewing, which is helpful to consolidate words gained before.2) AntonymsWords that mean the opposite; rich is an antonym of poor .Knowing antonyms of a word can also help to en

42、large ones vocabulary efficiently.3) HyponymsWords that serve as specific examples of a general concept; dog, cat, wolf are hyponyms of animal. In other words, general concepts have many detailed or specific concepts, in this situation; specific concepts are called hyponyms of the general concepts.4

43、) Co-hyponyms or co-ordinatesTake the above example again, dog, cat ,wolf , each of them represents a certain idea, and each of them is a hyponym of animal, so animal covers those three, which are independent with each other. Obviously they belong to the same level; they are co-hyponyms or co-ordina

44、tes.5) Super ordinatesThe general concept is super ordinate of specific one animal is a super ordinate of dog, or cat, or wolf.3.4.6 TranslationWords or expressions in learners mother tongue may be equivalent in meaning to the counterpart in a language they learn. So one can make use of their simila

45、rities in their translation to remember them.IV. Measurements4.1 Learning strategiesThe are some well-working strategies regarded by most of linguistists.4.1.1 Through Word Formation or DerivationVocabulary items, whether one word or multi-word, can often be broken down into smaller units which can

46、be used to research the construction of a word, or how the word formed. There are many different ways of forming words, some get different meanings through adding prefixes or suffixes to old words, but mostly many prefixes and suffixes have their own meaning, for example, the prefix pre- means befor

47、e, coin a term, prewar, means before war, if learners know it, it can help them guess the meaning of words like pre-reading, other common prefixes and suffixes like sub-(below), un-(not), -able(form adjectives, means something can be ).Word formation or derivation is a productive process of forming

48、new words from base words according to how they are being used in a sentence, such as:1) using regular or irregular inflections, for example, Adding s or es to form pluralsAdding s, -ing, or ed to form regular verb tenses. Adding er, est for comparative and superlative forms.Special attention and pr

49、actice should be given to irregular inflections such as irregular verbs (teach, taught) and irregular adjective inflections (bad, worse, worst).It is important to get the knowledge of forming words, because we can analyze how a difficult or new word comes out, and the how the meaning changes. Identi

50、fying related forms of the word to different parts of speech (example, an apology, to apologize, apologetic, apologetically).The word psychologist can be divided into three parts, psycho-, -ology and ist, psyche means soul, spirit, -ology means a field of science, and the last part ist means people

51、specializing in some science field, when we put three meanings together, the meaning of psychologist will be obvious.2) Adding another word to make a compound wordFor example, hardship, honeymoon, and drugstore. We can analyze this kind of words through analyzing their components.For example, when w

52、e memorize the word doughnut, we will find the word is made up of two words-dough and nut, this word seemed difficult is divided into two simple words this way, one word dough means 生面团 in Chinese, the other word nut means 坚果 in Chinese, so we can perceive this compound word doughnut indicates a kin

53、d of thing that is hard and made of dough, it should mean油炸圈 in Chinese. We can get this word quickly and easily in mind. 3) Adding affixes to construct different words with different meanings: through the addition of prefixes, e.g., true-untrue, through the addition of suffixes, e.g., happy-happine

54、ss.4.1.2 Through Word AssociationNo word stands alone; each has friends and neighbors. Unfamiliar vocabulary is always related to words learners already know. This kind of strategy is also working by using the relationships between words meaning, such as synonymy and antonymy.This strategy stresses

55、learning vocabulary by distinguishing form-like words and associating meaningrelated words. It means when we see a word, we can think of words that seem like it or mean the same, it is a process of consolidating vocabulary. For example, the words latitude, altitude and longitude seem like each other

56、, when we meet each of them, we think of the other two words, so the meaning of each word will impress deeply, and no confusion.This strategy concentrates on learning vocabulary in clusters of words.4.1.3 Through Contextual Guessing by Reading Between the LinesLearners notice that in most language-

57、learning situations they will encounter vocabulary they do not know. However, they do not need to know every word. They can discover the meaning of a strange word by analyzing the context in which a word is used.4.1.4 Other Learning Strategies1) determination strategiesIf learners do not know a word

58、, they must discover its meaning by guessing from their structural knowledge of the language, guessing from context, using reference materials, or asking someone else, they also can get hints about meaning from its root or affixes.2) social strategiesBesides the initial discovery of a word, group wo

59、rk can be used to learn or practise vocabulary (Nation, 1977). Dansereau (1988) lists some of the benefits various researchers have got from cooperative group learning: it promotes active processing of information and cross modeling or imitation; cooperative learning can prepare learners for team ac

60、tivities outside the classroom; and because there are less instructor intervention, learners have more time to actually use and manipulate language freely.If input is a key element in language acquisition ( Krashen, 1982), then it would seem that interacting with native speakers would be an excellen

61、t way to gain vocabulary. Milton and Meara (1995) found that one group of nonnative speakers enrolled in a British university averaged vocabulary gains of 1,325 words per six months, compared to an average 275 word gain previously in their home countries.3) memory strategiesMost memory strategies in

62、volve relating the word to be retained with some previously learned knowledge, using some form of imagery, or grouping. Memory strategies work by using some well-known principles of psychology, they help individuals learn faster and recall better because they aid the integration of new material into

63、 existing cognitive units and because they provide retrieval cues.4) picture/ imageryNew words can be learned by studying them with pictures of their meaning instead of their definitions. Learners can create their own mental images of a words meaning. Imagery has been shown to be more effective than mere repetition for reading passages (Steingart and Glock, 1979) and sentences (Saltzand Donnenwerth-Nolan, 1981), suggesting it could well be mo