Knowledge-based Vocabulary Lists / Barry O'Sullivan, Karen Dunn, Norbert Schmitt, Laurence Anthony, Benjamin Kremmel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schmitt, Norbert, Author.

Dunn, Karen, Author.

Kremmel, Benjamin, Author.

O'Sullivan, Barry, Author.

Series:

British Council Monographs on Modern Language Testing

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English language--Study and teaching--Foreign speakers.

English language.

Second language acquisition.

Vocabulary--Study and teaching.

Vocabulary.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (302 p.)

Place of Publication:

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2024]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

In teaching second language (L2) vocabulary, it is useful to have a way of prioritizing words to teach from among the multitude available. Word frequency, i.e. how often various words appear in written and spoken discourse, has typically been used to inform the emphasis taken. This volume explores the need for word lists based on direct tests of learner knowledge to inform L2 pedagogy. The Knowledge-based Vocabulary Lists (KVL) are introduced, and a description of the theoretical and practical basis for their development is given, highlighting pedagogical and assessment situations in which it is beneficial to know whether learners are likely to be able produce and correctly spell the words they know. A focus on L2 learners of English from Chinese, German, and Spanish L1 backgrounds resulted in three ranked lists of English-language word knowledge. The comparative probability of learners from these language backgrounds knowing each word are presented, and the correspondence with existing information about word frequency, word acquisition sequence, and word difficulty is explored. The value of the KVL is discussed in terms of providing one of the few evidence-based descriptions of L2 form-recall vocabulary knowledge available to teachers and researchers.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

CHAPTER 1 THE NEED FOR KNOWLEDGE-BASED VOCABULARY LISTS (KVL)

CHAPTER 2 CREATING A LIST OF LEMMAS TO TEST

CHAPTER 3 DEVELOPING THE VOCABULARY TEST

CHAPTER 4 PILOTING THE ONLINE TEST

CHAPTER 5 WRITING AND REVISING THE TEST ITEMS, DEVELOPING THE ONLINE TEST, AND MAIN DATA COLLECTION

CHAPTER 6 ANALYSIS AND RANKING OF LEMMAS

CHAPTER 7 COMPARISON OF THE KVL WITH FREQUENCY LISTS

CHAPTER 8 EFFECTS OF COGNATENESS ON KVL RANKINGS

CHAPTER 9 COMPARISON OF THE KVL WITH ALTERNATIVE LISTS

CHAPTER 10 ACCESSING AND USING THE KVL

CHAPTER 11 FURTHER RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

APPENDIX 1 INSTRUCTIONS TO THE ITEM WRITERS

APPENDIX 2 LIST OF OFFENSIVE WORDS REMOVED

APPENDIX 3 SCREENSHOTS FROM THE VOCABULARY CHALLENGE WEBSITE

APPENDIX 4 TECHNICAL EXPLANATION OF THE GENERAL LINEAR MIXED MODEL (GLMM) RANKINGS

APPENDIX 5 TECHNICAL EXPLANATION OF THE PRECISION OF THE GLMM RANKINGS

APPENDIX 6 PATTERNS OF INCORRECT/MISSING SPANISH RESPONSES TO HIGHERFREQUENCY TARGET LEMMAS AND COMPARISON WITH GERMAN AND CHINESE RESPONSES TO THE SAME LEMMAS

APPENDIX 7 PATTERNS OF INCORRECT/MISSING GERMAN RESPONSES TO HIGHERFREQUENCY TARGET LEMMAS

APPENDIX 8 PATTERNS OF INCORRECT/MISSING CHINESE RESPONSES TO HIGHERFREQUENCY TARGET LEMMAS

APPENDIX 9 LEMMAS FOR WHICH THE SPANISH TEST PROMPT WAS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ENGLISH TEST ANSWER (COGNATE)

APPENDIX 10 LEMMAS FOR WHICH THE GERMAN TEST PROMPT WAS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ENGLISH TEST ANSWER (COGNATE)

APPENDIX 11 COMPARISON OF THE 114 WORDS KNOWN BY ALL RESPONDENTS IN BRYSBAERT ET AL. (2020) WITH KVL RESULTS

APPENDIX 12 BEST-KNOWN 30 LEMMAS ON THE SPANISH-KVL

APPENDIX 13 BEST-KNOWN 30 LEMMAS ON THE GERMAN-KVL

APPENDIX 14 BEST-KNOWN 30 LEMMAS ON THE CHINESE-KVL

APPENDIX 15 SAMPLE OF THE KVL-SPANISHTECHNICAL SPREADSHEET

REFERENCES

INDEX

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 20. Mar 2025)

ISBN:

9781800504158

1800504152