Dr. Charles Browne, Professor of Applied LinguisticsDirector, EFL Teacher Education ProgramMeiji Gakuin University; Tokyo, Japanbrowne@ltr.meijigakuin.ac.jp

Outline of Presentation

1. Some basic findings of corpus linguistics

1. Introduction to problems faced by Japanese EFL learners related to vocabulary

2. Introduction to online tools for identifying and teaching vocabulary from authentic videos

Some Opening Questions:

1. How many words do you think there are in the English Language?

1,000,000 (Stanford research group, 2008) 350,000 (Oxford English Dictionary)

2. How many words does a typical native speaker know?

20,0000 (Goulden, Nation, Read, 2000)

Words % known # known Researcher

1 7% 97/100 West(53), Nation(90)

10 25% 3/4 West(53), Nation(90)

100 50% 1/2 West(53), Nation(90)

1000 75% 1/4 West(53), Engles(68)

2000 81% 1/7 West(53), Nation(90)

5000 95% 1/20 Hirsch & Nation(92)

8000 98% 1/50 Laufer (92), Coady(93)

350,000 100% 100/100 Oxford English Dictionary

The Importance of “Frequency”

Coverage within the BNC for high frequency words

(Leech, Rayson, & Wilson, 2001)

Problem 1:

EFL learners don’t know enough high frequency

words…

How many words do L2 learners know? Minimum 5000 words needed for

independent learning

Country Vocab. Size

Hours of Instruction

Reference

Japan (University) 2000-2300 800-1200 Shillaw (95), Barrow (99)

China (English Majors) 4000 1800-2400 Laufer (99)

Indonesia (University) 1220 900 Nurweni & Read (99)

Oman (University) 2000 1350 Hort et al (98)

Israel (HS graduates) 3500 1500 Laufer (98)

France (HS students) 1000 400 Arnaud et al (85)

Greece (age 15, HS) 1680 660 Milton & Meara (98)

Germany (age 15, HS) 1200 400 Milton & Meara (98)

When reading or listening to a text, students will of course will not know

many words…

What percentage of words do you think must be known for them to be able to read easily?

50% ?

75% ?

85% ?

95% ?

75% Coverage 1000 high frequency words

…another possible problem with _____ _____ is how to _____ learner _____ although research suggests that _____ are a very _____ way to learn new words (Leitner, 1972, Mondria, 1994, Nation, 1990, 2001), students may lose interest if _____ are the _____ _____ of doing _____ _____. There is a _____ _____ in the _____ classroom of using games with a _____ purpose to increase and _____ learner _____ (Ersoz , 2000, Uberman 1988, Wright, Betteridge & Buckby, 1984), as well as lower the learner _____ _____ (Asher, 1965, 1977, Dulay, Krashen & Burt, 1982)

[ 19 missing words ]

85% Coverage 2000 high frequency words

…another possible problem with _____ _____ is how to _____ learner _____ although research suggests that _____ are a very efficient way to learn new words (Leitner, 1972, Mondria, 1994, Nation, 1990, 2001), students may lose interest if _____ are the _____ method of doing _____ _____. There is a rich tradition in the _____ classroom of using games with a communicative purpose to increase and maintain learner _____ (Ersoz , 2000, Uberman 1988, Wright, Betteridge & Buckby, 1984), as well as lower the learner _____ _____ (Asher, 1965, 1977, Dulay, Krashen & Burt, 1982)

[ 13 missing words ]

95% Coverage 5000 high frequency words

…another possible problem with vocabulary _____ is how to sustain learner motivation although research suggests that _____ are a very efficient way to learn new words (Leitner, 1972, Mondria, 1994, Nation, 1990, 2001), students may lose interest if _____ are the sole method of doing vocabulary review. There is a rich tradition in the _____ classroom of using games with a communicative purpose to increase and maintain learner motivation (Ersoz , 2000, Uberman 1988, Wright, Betteridge & Buckby, 1984), as well as lower the learner affective filter (Asher, 1965, 1977, Dulay, Krashen & Burt, 1982)

[ 4 missing words ]

Vocabulary Thresholds:

• Below 80%, reading comprehension is almost impossible (Hu & Nation, 2001)

• 95% coverage is the point at which learners can read without the help of dictionaries (Laufer, 1989)

• 98% coverage is the point at which learners can “read for pleasure” (Nation, 2003)

Problem 2:

Reading and Listening materials in Japan (i.e.

INPUT) are too difficult…

Vocabulary & Readability: How do Japanese schools measure up?

Junior High:

• Teaches first 1000 words fairly well

• Readability of texts seems good - short passages, easy vocabulary, lots of pictures to support texts

Senior High:

• Focus changes dramatically to teaching of low frequency words

• Many, many words from 1000-2000 are never taught…

• Readability of texts is actually MORE difficult than unsimplified native speaker texts!

The Compleat Lexical Tutorwww.lextutor.ca

Vocab Profile: Online Vocabulary Analysis Tool

www.lextutor.ca

Typical Graded Reader Results (1200 word level)

85% expected for 2000 words

98.9%

Typical Yomiuri Newspaper Article

85% expected for 2000 words

87.4%

Harry Potter Chapter 2 85% expected for 2000 words

94.1%

Typical Time Magazine Article 85% expected for 2000 words

80.9%

Japanese High School Textbook (Spectrum Unit 16)

85% expected for 2000 words

76.8%

Summary of Vocab-Profile Results for Various Texts

Are Japanese students reading the right vocabulary? (Browne, 1996, 1998)

Text Coverage from 2000 High Frequency Words

Spectrum 71%

Milestone 78%

Unicorn 79%

Unsimplified Native Texts 85%

Are universities testing the right vocabulary? (Kikuchi, 2006, Browne & Kikuchi,

2008)

Text of Entrance Examinations for:

% Coverage from 2000 High Frequency Words

Keio Univ. 69%

Sophia Univ. 72%

Waseda Univ. 72%

Kyoto Univ. 77%

Nagoya Univ. 68%

Tokyo Univ. 80%

25123

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Frequency

350,000

5,000

EFL Vocabulary Learning in Japan…

chaos

permission

andof

the

exasperate

digress

chaos

permission

andof

the

abstain

emigrate

torment

The Negative Effect of “Test English”

PROBLEM: Students NEED to learn the first 5000 words of English to use English in the real word…

But entrance exams and high school textbooks force students to memorize hundreds of low-frequency words…

RESULT? High school students can’t deal with real world English because they don’t know hundreds of the most important high frequency words…

sum

bid

ace

HFW2,289

2,566

4,441

14,641

23,371

25,537

42,024

84,168

Solution Number One:

COMPREHNSIBLE INPUT

authentic and motivating listening and reading materials

Graded Materials - Reading

• Cambridge

• Oxford• Penguin

• etc…

How to Grade Reading Materials

http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/

How to Grade Reading Materials

http://www.lextutor.ca

Graded Materials - Listening

(recorded version of graded readers)

Graded Materials - Listening

(found materials on the internet)

Graded Materials - Listening

(found materials on the internet)

Graded Authentic Videos

Graded Authentic Videos

How can an “authentic” video be graded?....

Stage 1: Teacher intuition

Stage 2: Readability Formulas

Stage 3: Readability Formulas informed by vocabulary frequency

Readability Formulas(Flesch-Kincaid)

Readability Formulas(Flesch-Kincaid)

Readability Formulas(Flesch-Kincaid)

Readability Formulas(Flesch-Kincaid)

Readability Formulas(Flesch-Kincaid)

Solution Number Two:

KEYWORD IDENTIFICATION

identifying the most important words to learn in a video

How to Identify Keywords

http://www.lextutor.ca/

How to Identify Keywords

http://www.lextutor.ca/

How to Identify Keywords

http://www.lextutor.ca/

Key Words for Dracula…

How to Identify Keywords

http://www.lextutor.ca/

How to Identify Keywords

http://www.lextutor.ca/

Key Words for Obama’s Education Speech...

Solution Number Three:

COMPREHENION SUPPORT

Scaffolding tools to help learners deal with videos above their

level

100%

0%

Video Captioning(Google auto-captioning for YouTube videos…)

100%

0%

Video Captioning(Google auto-captioning for YouTube videos…)

100%

0%

“Keyword” Captioning(“Automaticity” – decreasing cognitive load by deleting

less important/known vocabulary )

100%

0%

Bilingual Captioning

Select difficulty level of videos you want

Click on video you want to study

100%

0%

Bilingual Captioning

Transcripts available for pre-listening study

Key vocabulary words selected for study by corpus analysis

100%

0%

Bilingual Captioning

Captioning in English, plus one of five 2nd languages,

Transcripts can be hidden by pushing these buttons

100%

0%

Clickable HTML dictionaries

Definitions written based on the meanings given in the videos

Click on any word in the transcript to get definitional info:

• definition• part of speech• sample sentence• pronunciation

100%

0%

Speed Control for Speech

Encourages learners to listen multiple times until they can catch the meaning

Push this button to slow the speed of speech

Solution Number Four:

KEYWORD LEARNING

In-context, spaced-repetition vocabulary learning system

100%

Short-term memory loss

50%

0%

Time

100%

0%

The Forgetting Curve Ebbinhaus (1885), Leitner (1972), Pimsleur (1967), Mondria, (1994)

Repeated viewings foster long-term retention

Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory

Based on the research of Ebbinghaus, Pimsleur, Leitner, and Mondria, electronic flashcards automatically repeat each new word at spaced time intervals, and until the learner achieves long-term, instant-recall ability.

Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory

Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory

Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory

Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory

Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory

Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory

Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory

Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory

Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory

Spaced Repetition is the science of long-term memory

Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of

videos

(1) Select a video category to study

Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of

videos

(2) Go to the vocabulary application, then click on the list of words from the category you want to study

Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of

videos

(3) Study the words as a list, or just pick a word to learn it in all the different contexts it occurs in the database

Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of

videos

(4) All clips in the database which contain your keyword are played in context, in succession. You can listen only or record your voice and compare to the native speaker

Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of

videos

(5) Study your words in QUIZ mode to work on definitions in context, listening and CLOZE type activities

Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of

videos

Quiz mode is based on Ebbbinghaus, Leitner and Pimsleur’s “spaced-repetition” approach

Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of

videos

First, the meaning and context of 2-3 new words are introduced via video flashcards

Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of

videos

Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of

videos

Vocabulary Flashcards: by corpus analysis of

videos

Thank you !

For a copy of this Powerpoint, please contact:

Dr. Charles Browne, Professor of Applied LinguisticsChair, EFL Teacher Training ProgramMeiji Gakuin University, Dept. of Englishbrowne@ltr.meijigakuin.ac.jp

Graded Listening(recorded version of graded readers)

Graded Listening(recorded version of graded readers)

Clickable HTML dictionary