International Conference on Social Science, Education Management and Sports Education (SSEMSE 2015)

Effective Strategies for Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition

Yanqing SUN
School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Beijing Wuzi University, Beijing, China

ABSTRACT: This paper mainly introduces the concept of vocabulary knowledge and explores the strategies
of improving second language vocabulary acquisition from the perspectives of learners and educators. It
includes the concepts of vocabulary knowledge, the combination of intentional learning and incidental
learning, and the influence of output activities on vocabulary [Link] concept of vocabulary
knowledge in second language vocabulary acquisition is not only reflected in the number of words, but also in
terms of quality;vocabulary acquisition should be the combination of intentional learning and incidental
learning; learners should have the opportunity to use the language, and thus the output of the language plays
an important role in language acquisition.
KEYWORD: Vocabulary knowledge; intentional learning; incidental learning; output activities.

1 INTRODUCTION word meaning, and then goes deep into the language
domain, collocation, and other grammatical features
In Linguistics in Language Teaching, Wilkins of learning. How to definite the mastery of
discusses the importance of vocabulary in vocabulary, Cronbach (1942:204) gives a reasonable
communication, “Without grammar, little can be and accurate definition. He explains, “What is called
conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can be ‘understanding a word’,” he says, “to understand a
conveyed. (Wilkins, 1972: 80).”Vocabulary is the word” refers to the learner’s ability to identify and
basic material of language. Without vocabulary, understand the vocabulary in the following five
people cannot communicate freely. The mastery of kinds of behavior:
vocabulary impacts the development of listening, 1) Classification of target word (being able to
speaking, reading and writing. The formation and define the target word)
development of students’ language ability cannot be 2) Use of the target word (select the target word
separated from the accumulation of vocabulary. for the appropriate usage)
Therefore, the issue of improving the effect of 3) Width of the target word knowledge (can tell
second language vocabulary acquisition has become different meanings of target word)
an important research subject. 4) Exact knowledge of the target word (can use
exactly the target word in all possible occasions)
5) Associative meaning of the target word (can
2 CONCEPT OF VOCABULARY creatively use the target words)
KNOWLEDGE Accordingly, vocabulary acquisition is by no
means a simple process. Fries summarizes the
The concept of vocabulary knowledge in second reasons of oversimplifying the problem of
language vocabulary acquisition is not only reflected vocabulary in foreign language teaching in three
in the number of words, but also in terms of quality. aspects: 1 Believing that vocabulary in different
The way of enlarging learners’ vocabulary without languages have accurate corresponding word; 2
considering the application of vocabulary knowledge Thinking that a word has only one meaning; 3
is invalid. Thinking that every word has a basic meaning or the
“Vocabulary acquisition is the recitation of words real meaning. Other meanings are metaphorical
and the increase of vocabulary”, a majority of people meanings or do not conform to common usage
hold this idea. In fact, vocabulary acquisition is (Stern, 1983: 45).
based on the mastery of pronunciation, spelling, and

© 2015. The authors - Published by Atlantis Press 1881

 The specific context of learning can help us to Reading is one of the main ways on vocabulary
understand and use the words accurately. We should acquisition for second language learners.
not only grasp the concept of lexical meaning, but Vocabulary sourced from listening and speaking is
also be familiar with its connotation meaning and fleeting. In reading, learners can have sufficient time
cultural significance of the information conveyed. to pay attention to the context, speculation, and can
Furthermore, the vocabulary is not isolated. It will be confirmed by the dictionary. Confirmation by
have certain relations with other words, as dictionary is a valuable cognitive strategy for
synonyms, antonyms, and derivatives. As a result, vocabulary acquisition. The combination of
vocabulary learning should be divergent, with the speculation and looking up the dictionary can
mastery of relative vocabulary, and with the produce 50% of memory (Ellis 1994, 1995 et. al).
collocation of the common words. It is important to Those frequently used vocabulary, which can affect
note the interpretation of the teachers on the reading comprehension, will get more attention. A
meaning of the vocabulary. Target language should word in the context of repeated multiple chapters
be used to avoid the semantic error from the would naturally stimulate the formation, activation
explanation of the mother language. and deepens the impression in the brain. The key
Vocabulary acquisition is a gradual process. words for the statement even affect comprehension
Researchers concluded the five stages of vocabulary of discourse. In order to eliminate obstacles to
knowledge development (put forward by Paribakht reading, the readers will have a strong will to make
& Wesche in 1993, improved by Wesche and sense of the words. In addition, learning vocabulary
Paribakht in 1996): in the context of the chapter will helps learners to
1) I’ve never seen the word; fully understand the semantics and learn to use.
2) I’ve seen it before, but I don’t know the Learning on the basis of understanding helps
meaning of the word; vocabulary from short-term memory to long-term
3) I’ve seen the word, I think the meaning of the memory to finally become a member of the mastery
word is...; (give a synonym or translate the word) vocabulary. The different chapters provide a variety
4) I know the word. The meaning of the word is of materials and colorful background to increase the
______; (give a synonym or translate the word) interest in vocabulary acquisition, not so boring as
5) I use the word to make a sentence. simple recitation of words.
Thus it can be seen that vocabulary acquisition is In incidental vocabulary acquisition, the external
a process of development from identification to use. and internal factors influence the effect of the
reading and vocabulary acquisition. External factors
include chapters’ context, reading tasks, reading
3 THE COMBINATION OF INTENTIONAL environment, and reading time; internal factors refer
LEARNING AND INCIDENTAL LEARNING to individual differences in language learners, such
ON VOCABULARY ACQUISITION as vocabulary knowledge, learning strategies, and
learning motivation.
There are two ways to learn a language. One is The difference between intentional learning and
intentional learning and another is incidental incidental learning lies in the different attention. In
learning. Intentional learning language usually refers the former, teachers usually give the intention to
to reciting word purposefully, practicing grammar students on vocabulary. In the latter occasion,
and reading drills. Incidental learning refers to learners focus on understanding the meaning of the
language learning in reading, listening, speaking and chapter, and spontaneously pay attention to new
film appreciation activities inadvertently. words and learn new words.
Vocabulary acquisition should be the combination of Now that the intentional learning and incidental
intentional learning and incidental learning. vocabulary learning can help learners to improve
Intentional learning is certainly effective, but it vocabulary knowledge, then choosing the teaching
can’t reach the requirement of a large number of vocabulary and arranging the reading task is
vocabulary accumulations. Incidental learning can particularly critical.
be complement, especially reading. How can we
effectively learn vocabulary from short-term
memory to long-term memory? Cognitive 4 INFLUENCE OF OUTPUT ACTIVITIES ON
psychology researchers from the perspective of VOCABULARY ACQUISITION
psychological linguistics and cognitive linguistics
confirmed that the learners’ reading on various The activities of seeing and hearing are imported,
chapters mainly accumulates vocabulary acquisition. and speaking and writing belong to the output
Linguists also believe that most of the second activities. In the experiments, Ellis and He (1999)
language vocabulary is accidentally learned in the found that the test result on vocabulary recognition
reading process. and vocabulary output for the students attending
output activities is much higher than the students
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attending imported activities. Swain proposed them to express and by giving appropriate
language output hypothesis that language input is correction. The teachers should also be careful for
necessary, but not sufficient condition for achieving not damaging the continuity of the communicative
language acquisition. To achieve a higher level of atmosphere and communication. Output written
foreign language learners, comprehensible input exercises can be done by arranging writing tasks.
alone is not enough. Learners also need In vocabulary acquisition, the learners’ attention
comprehensible output. Students need to be required should be increased. Learners pay attention to the
to make full use of existing language resources to words to conduct effective information processing.
think for the language to be output and to make it Learner’s output activities not only convey meaning,
more appropriate, more accurate and easier to but also integrate language form project into the path
understand. Swain’s output hypothesis points out for intermediary language system. The reasonable
that second language acquisition must have two-way allocation of attention resources during cognitive
communication activities. Simple language input on activity is the prerequisite of the output. In order to
language acquisition is insufficient, learners should improve the effect of output activity, teachers should
have the opportunity to use the language, and thus design output tasks and projects in advance. In the
the output of the language plays an important role in process of output activity, some forms of incidental
language acquisition. learning ways guide the learners to learn in the full
For classroom instruction on vocabulary, teachers attention of the project. This incidental learning
should fully realize the importance of output ways can help the learner’s learning efficiency. For
activities in vocabulary acquisition. For some example, students must use specified vocabulary in
common core vocabulary, students are required to repeating text or in writing exercises.
understand the words. At the same time, teachers
should also require students to learn how to use
properly in conversation and writing. To achieve this 5 CONCLUSION
goal, we can’t just stop at understanding based on
input activities, we should also ask the students to In summary, the second language vocabulary is
carry out some output t activities of the target words. related to the overall level of language for the
The main reason for the inappropriate use of learners. In order to improve the effect of vocabulary
vocabulary is in the lack of language training. acquisition, the learners should understand the
Teachers exercise language input in the classroom concept of vocabulary first and pay attention to the
and give the students few chance to practice. In this acquisition strategy, then combine the intentional
way, the teachers’ feedback on students’ mistakes learning and incidental learning in vocabulary
are also very casual. Can the words be correctly and acquisition. According to the influence of output
accurately used after understanding the meaning of activities on vocabulary acquisition, teachers should
words? We found that in the process of teaching it is arrange the learning tasks in teaching to train the
obviously not so simple. In oral and written practice students in oral and written expression for the
the following inappropriateness often occurs, such as improving of communication skills.
speech, type of writing, context, collocation, and
expressive habits. That is to say, the output activities
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