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Vocabulary project: Analysis of vocabulary Lena Shvidko Ling 675 Fall 2010 . The need: . Name of the class: Reading Foundations A at the English Language Center
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Vocabulary project: Analysis of vocabulary Lena Shvidko Ling 675 Fall 2010
The need: • Name of the class: Reading Foundations A at the English Language Center • Ethno-linguistic make-up of the students:16 students from the following countries:Mexico, Taiwan, Venezuela, Japan, Korea, Columbia, Honduras, Chile, Guatemala, and China. • Skill levels of the students: Low beginning • What English: Foundations A track is focused on building the language skills and knowledge necessary for basic interpersonal communication. • Texts: 9 narrative texts (register: fiction, length: 30-60 pages) Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Leather S. “Just Like a Movie” Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Lobel A. “Days With Frog and Toad” Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Lobel A. “Frog and Toad All Year” Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Lobel A. “Frog and Toad Are Friends” Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
London J “The Call of the Wild” Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Nesbit E. “The Railway Children” Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Prowse P. “Help” Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Verne J. “Round the World in Eighty Days” Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Vicary T. “Mary, Queen of Scots” Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
General readability Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Coverage WORD LIST TOKENS/% TYPES/% FAMILIES one 38896/84.84 1136/48.67 615 two 2239/ 4.88 319/13.67 233 three 871/ 1.90 118/ 5.06 97 not in the lists 3843/ 8.38 761/32.60 ????? Total 45849 2334 945 Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Specialized words inventory • Most of the items are names of people, countries, and places. • Almost no evidence of derivational and inflectional relationship. • Very low proportion of Greek and Latin based words. Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Frequent phrases inventory “Call of the Wild” (3 phrases) • on the ground • a thousand dollars • again and again • around his neck • in front of • in the north • away from the • in the snow • pulled the rope • a long rest • barked at him • behind the sledge • down the river • in the middle • into the woods • like this new • stopped next to • very happy with • were afraid of “Help” (3 phrases) • i looked at • angry with me • second half of • closed the door • finish the book • i got up • i sat down • i want to • in the kitchen • looked at me • we're going to • went into the • at the table • go to work • lots of rich Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Teaching tool • Bingo activity for words not in list • Example: “Toad and Frog Are Friends”, “Toad and Frog All Year”, and “Days With Toad And Frog”. Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Rationale for using this activity: • 1) The specialized words in these books (just like in other books of the course) are concrete and visual and thus can be effectively learned by the means of images. • 2) The selected activity has multiple variations that allows learners to activate several types of word knowledge (i.e. meaning, use in the context, pronunciation, and spelling). • 3) The activity by its nature is targeted towards the lower level of learners. Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Bingo grids Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Sentences with the words: • They walked back to the large meadow. • Today you look very green even for a frog. • They sat on the riverbank. • He put his bathing suit back in the closet. • He wrote a letter and put in the mailbox. • It was a perfect day to run a kite in the sky. • He had wide red pants on. • The little dragonfly was sitting on the flower. • It was dark outside, so he took a lantern with him. • The snake was friendly and not dangerous. • Toad sent you a letter. • He received a gift from the crow. • The turtle did not think it was funny. • The green lizard was hardly to see in the grass. • He found an old horn in the attic. • Two snails were sitting nearby. Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary
Thank you! Ling 675: Analysis of vocabulary