Words are the most essential components of every language. Having a rich treasury of the lexicon of any language is a crucial part of any speakers language ability. And English is no exception. Especially, with the advent of Chomskys Minimalism theory, the lexicon of any language is considered to carry the syntactical relationships within sentences i.e. the grammar of any language too. For this reason, a plethora of researches have recently focused their attention on devising effective methods and techniques for teaching and learning vocabulary. Research on the methodology of vocabulary teaching finds that explicit teaching of vocabulary results in better retention than incidental learning from natural text-based input such as book passages or dictionary entries (Folse, 1996). Nevertheless, the cases of addressing and reevaluating the appropriateness and the efficacy of the techniques of intentional vocabulary teaching already in use are surprisingly rare in the TEFL literature. There are several techniques in use in the field, some of which are more recognized and more widely-used while some others are less in use. What follows is an overview to two of the most widely-practiced techniques developed and employed in intentional vocabulary expansion practices in language teaching profession.
Review of Literature
Judd (1978) in a critical article on the traditional approach to vocabulary teaching states that instruction in vocabulary should start as soon as possible. He believes that word use must be considered a vital skill in its own right. On the benefits of such an approach to vocabulary and its teaching he says: "… Students will gain a better communicative competence in the language. This will in turn improve the atmosphere of the ESL classroom in which they must daily function and also help create more successful student performance when they leave the ESL classroom." He concludes: "We in the profession have done a fine job in teaching the ESL student the syntactical rules. It is now time to devote more attention to vocabulary instruction as well…." Discussing the importance of vocabulary knowledge and researches on the field of vocabulary teaching, Min (2007) writes:
Vocabulary knowledge has long been deemed a major determinant influencing English as a second language/English as a foreign language (ESL/EFL) reading comprehension. Given the close relationship between ESL/EFL learners' vocabulary command and their ability to understand English readings, researchers have been searching for ways to effectively enhance students' acquisition and retention of new vocabulary knowledge. Many techniques of direct vocabulary instruction have been examined through such attempts, including glosses, mnemonic devices, and morphological and syntactic analysis…. (p. 79)
Webb (2007) regarding the researches' trend and results on the field states:
Previous research investigating the effects of contextualized and de-contextualized tasks on vocabulary learning have focused on whether or not learners were able to gain knowledge of meaning and form. To date, research has generated little evidence indicating that context facilitates vocabulary learning. De-contextualized tasks tend to be equally or more effective than contextualized tasks at promoting knowledge of meaning and form. However, aspects of knowledge that would seem more likely to be gained through learning from context have rarely been measured…. (p. 68)
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In a research on the effect of type of exercise on vocabulary retention, Folse (2006) starts his comment on the important nature of having adequate vocabulary for L2 learners as: "ESL learners soon discover that their lack of vocabulary knowledge impedes their ability to comprehend or express themselves clearly in English. Research highlights the importance of vocabulary knowledge for second language (L2) learners in reading, speaking, in listening, and writing…"
Discussing the factors affecting the efficacy of written exercises for L2 vocabulary retention, he elaborates:
Two overlapping, important factors in exercise design are attention and noticing. The design of a certain type of exercise might serve to make a particular L2 word more salient by drawing attention to the word, potentially resulting in the student noticing the word. For example, in the common vocabulary exercise sometimes called odd-man out, learners' attention is drawn to individual vocabulary items as they determine the one word that does not belong in the group: steal, avalanche, thief, robbery." He continues: "Likewise, completing a cloze exercise with target words or writing original sentences draws learners' attention to those words. Writing original language with the vocabulary likely produced better vocabulary results because students were pushed to produce output instead of just receiving input or simply filling in blanks…. (p. 286)
Current Practices
Most of the previously introduced techniques, which are widely used in English teaching systems, include one of the two as follows:
1. "Fill-in-the-Blanks" Technique:
In some methods of vocabulary expansion the "Fill-in-the-Blanks" technique (or FIB, for short), also called Gap Filling, is employed to teach new vocabulary items. In this technique
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which is considered a Close Passage practice the learner first faces a passage of a few lines in length, with usually 5 to10 words listed above the passage and an equivalent number of blank spaces inside the text (Folse, 2006). Learner's task is to fill in the blanks with the correct items. Asking the teacher or consulting a dictionary is necessary before the learner can discern the use and the meaning of the new words.
Salient Features:
This technique has some salient features, including that it is:
Active: Learner gets involved in actively searching for the right choice (word) and completing the passage.
Bottom-up Oriented: Learner finds out the full meaning of the text, as well as the sense and the function of the new words only after they have completed the passage.
Discovery-based: Learner gets involved in a process of discovering the right word with the appropriate meaning in order to learn the new items.
Output-based: Learner has to complete the passage, thus using his/her knowledge to produce an item.
Advantages:
The advantage of this method seems to be that it enjoys a problem-solving nature which is an active rather than a passive activity, where the learner plays an active role in the process of a discovery which should be both motivating and mind-challenging, leaving a longer effect on learners mind, and thus causing better retention.
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Disadvantages:
However, the disadvantages seem to be that having to look up every single word in the dictionary is so time taking and energy consuming and probably deterring too, for many learners. Also, the learner might, even after doing the task, remain more or less in doubt as to the correct answers. And if they are given in the Key of the book, there is the probability that the learner, instead of bothering to go thru the entire cumbersome task, refers to the Key to fill in the blanks without going through the necessary and supposedly useful steps of discovering the right choice. On the other hand, the learner could venture the items trying to guess the meanings and functions of the words in which case he will have gone the wrong way of "moving from unknown to known", rather than the other way around.
2. "Bold-in-the-Text" Technique:
In some other methods, the technique, which we wish to call "Bold in the Text" (or BIT, for short) is that there is a passage with a number of words listed above, and the same words used inside the text, in a bold print, in order to attract learner's attention. Usually, after reading the text and learning the meaning and use of the words, there is a fill-in-the blank exercise to check for the successful learning of the items.
Salient Features:
Some of the outstanding features of this technique are that it is:
Passive: Learner has a complete text in hand and does not have to look for the meaning of the word, every thing is ready there and he/she only needs to read the text in order to learn the new words.
Top-down Oriented: Learner faces a complete passage, with a full meaning, and learns the sense and the function of the new words as he/she reads the text.
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Notice-based: The new lexical items attract learner's attention by being printed separately next to or above the passage, as well as within the text, in a bold or italicized font. Thus, they are committed to the memory by being noticed.
Input-based: Learner only receives the information from a text, in the form of inputs.
Advantages:
The advantage seems to be that the learner first witnesses the words used in a cohesive and coherent text and thus gets to grasp their use and function and makes sure as to the correct sense of each one. Too, it is much easier and faster to go thru, than the previously discussed technique.
Disadvantages:
The disadvantage being that it demands only a passive role on the part of the learner and needs to be supplemented by some sort of exercise to compensate for this shortage.
Statement of the Problem
Generally put, the main problem of the field of vocabulary expansion is lack of a scientifically defined and systematically studied strategy. This weakness also represents itself in the field of teaching/learning abstract words, as the concrete items can, and preferably should be taught by use of pictures and images. The problem is that despite the wide spread use of these two kinds of techniques; it seems that they seriously suffer from lack of a scientifically investigated basis.
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Purpose of the Study:
The proposed study aims at comparing the two above-mentioned widely used techniques in terms of their effectiveness in teaching/ learning the meaning and the function of English words.
Research Questions:
The Research Questions can be summarized as the following:
1. Is there any difference between the two techniques of vocabulary expansion (i.e. FIB and BIT) for vocabulary development, i.e., teaching new English words, in terms of their effectiveness?
2. Can any of the two techniques be preferred over the other one?
Methodology
As learning the use and the function of formal English words seems to be too difficult for the beginners and too minute a task for the advanced learners, the participants will be chosen from among intermediate learners.
Participants:
Forty Iranian male EFL learners, aged 14-15, at grade 3 of secondary school studying lessons in middle of book 3 will attend the experiment.
Procedure:
The implementation of the experiment will take place through several stages as follows:
1. The population will undergo two tests:
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a) Test of knowledge of vocabulary to make sure that the final participants have no idea as to the meaning and the function of the to-be-tested words. For this purpose the population will be given excerpts of 3 passages from the book "grade 3" (lower-intermediate level) where appropriate number of supposedly relatively difficult target words has been used. The participants will be asked to circle any of the words unknown to them. The vocabulary items used in the texts for the final examinations will be selected from the items circled commonly by most of the participants at this stage.
b) From among the test takers of the previous stage, 40 who have circled least 35 items as unknown words or phrases will be selected. The reason being that as the final lesson text will contain 20 unknown vocabulary items the test takers should have enough number of unknown items in common in order for us to be able to select at least 20 items from among these circled words or phrases. This stage also functions as the test of homogeneity, based on which a group of 40 participants will be considered homogenized regarding both the overall English proficiency level, as well as knowledge of English vocabulary.
2. The group will be divided into two 20-learner groups.
3. A coherent text of a moderate length of some 200 words will be developed in which 20 of the words or phrases of the previous text which have been reported, (circled) unanimously by all the 40 learners, as unknown items will be used. The text will also be at intermediate level, judged based on its wording, genre, and grammatical structures.
4. Two different versions of the text will be developed: One with the "fill-in-the blank format", the other with "bold-in-the text" format, both described above.
5. Learning session: each version of the text will be given out to each one of the two groups of 20 learners. However, the learners of the FIB group will be given a monolingual Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of English which is an integral part of using this kind of technique. The two groups will take the task simultaneously but in different classes. Both will be asked to go through the texts in the manner explained above (See Current Practices above). As a
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learner should have enough time and comfort to do the readings, they will both be allowed a period of 20 minutes to go thru the texts.
6. Examination session: One week after the first administration, all the 40 learners will sit a test, containing 20 questions in each of which they will need to complete sentences with blank spaces using the same 20 lexical items learned in the learning session.
7. The answer sheets of each of the FIB and the BIT group will be collected and kept for subsequent calculations and analysis.
Data analysis
The answers of each of the FIB and the BIT group on the Examination will be corrected and the scores will be calculated on a 20 grade scale, for each one of the two groups. The average will be calculated for the scores obtained by each group members, including the SD, the mode and the mean of the scores. The obtained data will be entered into SPSS and will be analyzed by implementation of T-Test in order to find any possible significant differences. Eventually, if the results of the FIB group show a significant superiority over the BIT group, it will be considered a possible advantage of the respected technique. By the same token, if the results of the BIT indicate a significant superiority over that of FIB group, that will be regarded as an indicator of the advantage of the BIT technique.
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