CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.2. Vocabulary
2.2.1. Vocabulary knowledge
Vocabulary refers to the knowledge of words as well as the meaning of words.
Vocabulary knowledge is more than just citing the definition of a word. It requires that the reader use the word appropriately based upon a given context. Vocabulary knowledge is important because readers must be flexible in applying appropriate meaning to the word(s) based upon the context in which it is used. A reader with limited understanding of a word in a passage may not be able to grasp the intended meaning.
Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. As Steven Stahl (2005) puts it, "Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world." Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fully mastered; it is something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime. Instruction in vocabulary involves far more than looking up words in a dictionary and using the words in a sentence.
Vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words and intentionally through explicit instruction in specific words and word-learning strategies. According to Michael Graves (2000), there are four components of an effective vocabulary program:
1. wide or extensive independent reading to expand word knowledge
2. instruction in specific words to enhance comprehension of texts containing those words
3. instruction in independent word-learning strategies, and
4. word consciousness and word-play activities to motivate and enhance learning
skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) are essential for communication with people who do not share a first language. Moreover, vocabulary knowledge is fundamental to learners’ comprehension and production in the four skills. As Schmitt and Meara (1997) maintain, “there has been a growing realization that total language proficiency consists of much more than just grammatical competence” (p. 18). Hai- peng and Li-jing (2007) believe that “without adequate vocabulary knowledge, a second language learner’s conversational fluency and reading comprehension will meet difficulties” (p.55). They suggest that multimedia environment and vocabulary teaching are impressive techniques to develop learners’ vocabulary as well as English level. Recently, a number of studies have proposed the advantages of language learning using multimedia components such as visual text, audio files, graphics and videos as well as learners’ lexical knowledge, vocabulary gain and retention (Al- Seghayer, 2001; Chun & Plass, 1997; Ehsani & Knodt, 1998; Kim & Gilman, 2008;
Mayer & Moreno, 2002).
2.2.2. Vocabulary retention
Vocabulary retention has been defined as “the ability to recall or remember things after an interval of time. In language teaching, retention of what has been taught (e.g.
grammar rules and vocabulary) may depend on the quality of teaching, the interest of the learners, or the meaningfulness of the materials” (Richards & Schmidt, 2002, p.
457). As it is obvious in the domain of vocabulary learning, the problem is not just in learning second language words; but rather in remembering them. Bahrick (1984) states that how well people remember something depends on how deeply they process it. Therefore, various procedures have been recommended to facilitate vocabulary retention. Concentration on features of the new word and its textual environment is supposed to facilitate retention. Learning in a context depends on repeating, recycling, and re-presenting vocabularies as well as re-noticing them by the learner. It has been suggested (Haastrup, 1989; Modria & Wit-de Boer, 1991; Xialong, 1988, as cited in Hedge, 2000) that retention is related to the condition in which the meaning is inferred and the more analysis involved, the better the retention. There is, yet, another aspect to
That is, retention depends in some way on the amount of mental and emotional energy used in processing a word and readers have developed certain strategies that could assist emotional and mental processing such as meta-cognitive strategies. Critical reading strategies might be another series of strategies that can boost the level of mental and emotional involvement of the learners with the word meaning because readers try to analyze the author’s values and beliefs and evaluate them against their own. Schouten-Van Parreren (1989), concentrating on reading with the primary goal of vocabulary acquisition, argues that a combination of three actions of inferring, verifying, and analyzing the meaning of each new word is very effective for this purpose. She defines guessing as inferencing meaning of an unknown word from the context. The second action, which is the action of verifying the guess, is looking up words in a dictionary. The third action according to Schouten-Van Parreren comprises the recognition of the relationship between new words and already known words in the target language or the mother tongue. In spite of the fact that learners are recommended to learn words through reading texts, retention should not be confused with comprehension. Learning the word’s meaning implies more than comprehending it in a particular text during a reading activity. The meaning of a word has to be retained in the long-term memory. As stated by Haycraft (1978), the words which are related to each other can be easily retained, because using the meaning of words together with the whole meaning of the sentences in which they are embedded is the deepest level of processing and ensures the best retention. To fulfill this aim, effective strategies have been developed to facilitate learning by actively involving the learner in conscious efforts and deep mental processing through reading to remember new words. Mohammed (2009:16) defines vocabulary retention as “the ability to keep the acquired vocabulary and retrieve it after a period of time to use it in different language contexts." Thornbury (2002:23) indicates that learning is remembering, the learner needs not only to learn a lot of words, but to remember them. In the context of word learning, a deeper level of processing means a stronger connection between the word form and its meaning (Craik & Tulving, 1975). For long-term recall, the successful learner not only can analyze and rehearse the new word and its meanings, but also can
meaning. This elaboration probably increases the chances that the word and its meaning will be available for use at a later time (Lawson & Hogben 1996 :104).