From Intermediate to Advanced - Taking Vocabulary Skills to the Next Level

From Intermediate to Advanced - Taking Vocabulary Skills to the Next Level by Olga Galperin ETAI, Jerusalem July 14, 2010

Outline • Word Frequency Curve • Vocabulary Size and Coverage • Language Chunks • Teaching Language Chunks • Sample Lesson Demonstration • Conclusion

Word Frequency Curve ,-./"012-345-"67"4"#!"8699617:;13<"013=>?"1@"?=1A-7"47<" ;36B-7"C7596?D"" +!" *%" *!" )!" (!" '!" &!" %!" $!" #!" '" %" $" #" !" !"#$%&'''$ %()$%&'''$ *+)$%&'''$ ,#-$%&'''$ .#-&$%&'''$ A. O’Keeffe, M. McCarthy, R. Carter From Corpus to Classroom, Cambridge University Press, 2007

Vocabulary Size and Coverage Density of Vocab. Size % Coverage Unknown Level Words 2, 000 words 83% 5 Basic 4, 000 words 88% 8 Low Interm. 5-6, 000 words 90% 10 Upper Interm. 9-10, 000 words 95% 20 Advanced In a 500-word text an upper-intermediate student has to look up 50 words. How motivating is this?

Find Someone Who... 1. hopes to make new contacts at the conference 2. thinks conference participants should do their best at reducing their carbon footprint 3. has bumped into an old acquaintance at the conference 4. always takes advantage of discounts on books at the conferences 5. enjoys hands-on workshops 6. agrees there’s a lot to take in at the conference of this magnitude What do the phrases in bold have in common? (handout page 1)

Types of Language Chunks • collocations (make contacts) • idioms (keep abreast of) • phrasal verbs (take in) • ﬁxed expressions (...and the rest of it) • semi-ﬁxed expressions (make the most of their/your/ our time/life/talents; love every minute/second of it)

Recognizing Language Chunks • phonological unity (said fast and all in one go): //make the most of your time// • pragmatic integrity, even if grammatically incomplete know if/whether

Chunks and Single Items From the Top 2,000 '&!!" '%!!" '$!!" '#!!" '!!!" &!!" %!!" $!!" #!!" !" 3"? ." 6" ." " 41 . 8 5 " ,. 3" ." " " 3" *5 " "-1 "*/" > " (3 ,* */" 6. 5 16"3 /+6 0 8. . . .; 34( .6 0( 3(18 4( 601< 5 ." 12- 75 .( 4. ." (- (-* 0 "7 "5 "34 00 ,- " 0 :. 4. + 5 6* 5 )* -"3 69 (" ." "> "34 *> .3 (3 :6 0* +" =* A. O’Keeffe, M. McCarthy, R. Carter From Corpus to Classroom, Cambridge University Press, 2007

The 6,000 to 10,000 word band • Chunks are salient • Chunks become semantically opaque, or idiomatic • Same word can have different frequencies based on its extended meanings compare: chair (table, sofa) vs. chair the meeting

Advanced Level Vocabulary • develops in breadth (linear increase) and depth (sub- senses, relations to other words) • requires understanding familiar words in unfamiliar surroundings (turn left vs. turn colors, turn a proﬁt, take a turn for the worse/better, page-turner)

Why Language Chunks? • create unique partnerships in English clear soup - clean driving record car accident - shipwreck - plane crash turn on/off, hang up please help yourself, catch you later

Why Language Chunks? • help avoid wordier way of expression The policeman told me to pull over. (instead of: The policeman told me to bring my car to the side of the road.) I want to shop around before I decide to buy a new stove. (instead of: I want to go to different stores to compare the prices before... stove).

Why Language Chunks? • promote ﬂuency, • ready for use at any moment without reassembling

Why Language Chunks? • increase comprehension, help anticipate what comes next It went in one ear ...and out the other. They worked from dawn ...to dusk.

Why Language Chunks? • reinforce grammatical structures Would you mind holding the door? On the other hand

Why Language Chunks? • show how things are done and • how thoughts, ideas, emotions are expressed in English break ice small talk bidding wars Do you think money grows on trees? Am I talking to a brick wall?

Why Language Chunks? • help recognize modiﬁed expressions - One seller's loss is another cellar's gain in B.C. - One woman's trash is another woman's treasure - GM Loss is Magna’s gain: Opel is coming to Canada (one man's trash is another man's treasure)

Why Language Chunks? • make feel belong, connected, secure, socially included social phenomena: snowbird, sibling rivalry, trail mix, open house, white collar crime, statutory holiday, pop quiz rituals: spring cleaning, cookie exchange, garage sale, bridal shower, pick-your-own farm everyday objects: Kleenex tissues, Ziploc bag, 3 ring binder, blue bin food: Oreo cookie, Eggs Benedict, chocolate fudge, Nanaimo bar

Teaching Chunks • help notice and record language in chunks • encourage lexical, not structural comparison between L1 and L2 • present thematically, based on phrase meanings (not key words) • explore collocational ﬁelds and phrase boundaries • expose to multiple encounters • teach through texts (stories and passages rather than sentences) by guided discovery, contextual guesswork

Sample Lesson: Slacking at the Ofﬁce • objectives and warm-up • teacher input (presenting target language) • guided and independent practice (from most to least structured) • summary (recapping the experience)

Sample Lesson: “Slacking at the Ofﬁce” Audio

Conclusion • advanced vocabulary is a prerequisite to successful integration into community and workplace • thorough knowledge of language chunks (awareness and ability to use) promotes students to advanced stages of learning English • cultural awareness signiﬁcantly reduces chances of miscommunication • ‘talking the talk’ is an ability to connect with the native speakers of English that is rooted in learner linguistic and cultural competence

www.EnglishGateway.com • over 300 pages of fully printable ESL vocabulary lessons featuring authentic stories, professional audio, vocabulary and cultural enrichment exercises, covering hundreds of idioms, phrasal verbs and collocations • over 40 ESL vocabulary worksheets and lesson plans with teacher notes, based on real life topics • unlimited printing and downloads • new resources added monthly

From Intermediate to Advanced - Taking Vocabulary Skills to the Next Level

by English Gateway Inc. on Jul 15, 2010

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