Dealing with unfamiliar vocabulary: inferencing and consulting
Objectives:
 Students will develop an awareness of how they approach unfamiliar vocabulary
 Students will see that guessing the meaning of a word is not always successful
 Students will become familiar with and used to using an all English dictionary
 Students will gain practice using new words in more personalized contexts
Materials:
 graphic organizer (appendix A)
 English dictionaries (brought in by both T and Ss)
Lesson Context:
This lesson would be a part of ongoing vocabulary activities in the classroom as the
students read a full-length memoir. The Ss would keep a vocabulary notebook where they
record and define unfamiliar words encountered while reading. The T would periodically
check the notebook for credit, but the format and content of the journals will be left up to
the Ss rather than dictated by the T.
Following is a brief overview of what would be done in preparation for this specific lesson.
Lesson introduction:
Ss will be assigned a chapter in the book they are reading to focus on unfamiliar
vocabulary. They will be given a graphic organizer (Appendix A) to use while they are
reading where they will write down each word as they meet it; and in the coordinating
column what they think the word means. These guesses could be based on any prior lexical
knowledge of the word or contextual clues from the reading.
There will be a short discussion and presentation by the teacher using an example from the
book (see Appendix A) to raise the Ss awareness of what we do when we encounter an
unfamiliar word while reading. A whole class discussion/brainstorm of different strategies
we use when confronted with unfamiliar words in a reading would follow.
In order to keep the S lists manageable, they will be instructed to write down a maximum
of 10 words or phrases. The reading is appropriate for the level of the Ss in this class, so I
don’t see this as an issue.
Rationale:
Lexical inferencing, viewed in relation to L2 reading, involves the learner making
guesses about unknown or unfamiliar words by using either clues from the surrounding
text or by looking at the word itself to try to understand its meaning (Haastrup, 1991, as
cited in Nassaji, 2006, p. 388). Since inferencing has been found to be used widely among
L2 learners, and has been closely linked to “incidental vocabulary learning”, or learning
vocabulary as the reader comes across new words in their texts (Fraser, 1999; Nassaji,
2006; Schmitt,), it seems appropriate to include it in some way in a writing classroom that
uses extensive reading as a part of the writing classroom curriculum. The hard part is
deciding to what extent to address the skill. This can depend on a number of factors, such
as the goals of the class, time constraints, and learner level.
One of the more important factors in deciding whether or not to include a lesson on
inferencing is how practical the skill actually is. Research has shown that using inferencing
as a strategy alone, is not always the best choice. There appears to be a low success rate in
learner’s attempts at guessing word meanings, and students will often confuse the
meanings of unknown words with words they already know (Schmitt, 2008). This suggests
that we should devote explicit attention to teaching word forms when we teach vocabulary;
something we often don’t have the time to do in writing classes. In response this low
success rate in guessing, Schmitt (2008) suggests that we would be better off teaching
inferencing skills explicitly, yet Kuhn and Stahl (1998) found that there wasn’t much of a
difference in teaching inferencing skills and simply giving the students opportunities to
practice guessing from context (as cited in Schmitt, 2008, p. 351). Keeping these views in
mind, we can see why decisions regarding how to address vocabulary in the writing
classroom are probably best left to the teacher to decide.
Though inferencing alone doesn’t appear to be the best way for learners to increase their
vocabulary knowledge, a study by Fraser (1999) implies that when inferencing is used in
combination with other strategies, it can improve vocabulary retention and decrease the
use of ineffective strategies such as simply ignoring the word. The study found that when
the learner both inferred and then “consulted” either another person or a dictionary, their
recall increased by 50% (Fraser, 1999, p. 231). This shows that if students are exposed to
various strategies and encouraged to use them in combination with one another, they could
improve their word recognition skills which would ultimately contribute to making more
successful inferences.
The goal of this lesson then, is to make students aware of the fact that inferring meaning
doesn’t always produce positive results, but by using inferencing in combination with other
strategies, such as asking another person and/or using a dictionary, they can broaden their
own vocabularies and as a result develop better reading, writing, and speaking skills.
Lesson:
Time
5 min.
10 min.
15 min.
Activity
Ss will have their worksheets with them and will get into groups with people
who were assigned the same chapter.
Ss will work together using their list of words and inferred or ‘guessed’
meanings to discuss possible meanings of each word. SS can work together
in pairs and also together as a group. They will most likely have many of the
same words, but in the case that they don’t they will have to ask others in the
group or the T about the word. They should discuss why they think the word
means what they think it does.
After all the words have been discussed Ss will then use an English
dictionary to find the meanings. The meaning should be appropriate to the
context of the reading. Ss will also be expected to come up with a synonym
and antonym for the word. Ss will be instructed to use only English
dictionaries and the T should monitor the use of dictionaries on mobile
10 min.
20 min.
10 min.
devices.
In pairs Ss will choose 2 words and use them in an original sentence that will
be written on their sheet.
Ss will write their words and original sentences on the board. Ss should be
instructed to try to say the meaning of the word in their own words Ss not
presenting will write the words in their vocabulary notebooks.
T will direct the Ss attention to how many words they guessed correctly and
remind them that guessing isn’t always the most effective method to learn
new words in context. T will ask for an example of a correct and an incorrect
guess; each from a different student. The Ss will review the context of the
word by referring to the book and the T will ask the Ss why and how they
inferred what they did about the word.
References:
Fraser, C. A. (1999). Lexical processing strategy use and vocabulary learning through
reading. Studies in second language acquisition, 21(2), 225-241.
Nassaji, H. (2006). The relationship between depth of vocabulary knowledge and L2
learners’ lexical inferencing strategy use and success. The Modern Language Journal,
90(3), 387-401.
Schmitt, N. (2008). Review article: Instructed second language vocabulary learning.
Language teaching research, 12(3), 329-363.
Seal, B. D. (1991). Vocabulary learning and teaching. Teaching English as a second or foreign
language, 2, 296-311.
Word and
page #
jaded (p.206)
What I think the word
means
nervous
Meaning /Synonym/Antonym
Sentence
adj. worn out or wearied from overwork.
syn/bored, ant/fresh
He was jaded from living in Japan for
so many years.