Abstract
Research has suggested an interference effect for words taught in semantic clusters due to the semantic links connecting the words. Thematic clustering of vocabulary is an alternative method of presenting new words to second language (L2) learners. However, what is known about the effects of semantic and thematic clustering has been uncovered through the recruitment of adult learners, with little research conducted with very young learners. Moreover, language textbooks and curriculums for very young learners continue to structure vocabulary semantically. Embedded instruction using storybook contexts has been suggested as a suitable context-based vocabulary teaching technique although knowledge of its effects is limited. To investigate this claim, a quasi-experimental within-subjects design was used to investigate whether embedded instruction could differentially affect very young L2 learners’ learning of new vocabulary taught in either semantic or thematic clusters (N = 38) compared to a control (N = 15). The findings suggest that embedded instruction is beneficial for very young L2 learners’ vocabulary learning regardless of the clustering type. Participants gained and retained over time considerable receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge for both semantic and thematic clustered words, indicating that embedding vocabulary in storybook contexts may reduce the potential for interference between target words in semantic clusters.
Funding source: University of Macau
Award Identifier / Grant number: MYRG2018-00008-FED
-
Research funding: The research reported in this paper was supported by the University of Macau under grant no. MYRG2018-00008-FED.
References
Al Dersi, Zamzam E. M. 2013. The use of short-stories for developing vocabulary of EFL learners. International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies 1(1). 72–86.Search in Google Scholar
AlJabri, Sameer, S. 2005. The effects of semantic and thematic clustering on learning English by Saudi students. Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA: Indiana University of Pennsylvania Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Albaladejo Albaladejo, Sara, Yvette Coyle & Julio R. de Larios. 2018. Songs, stories, and vocabulary acquisition in preschool learners of English as a foreign language. System 76. 116–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.05.002.Search in Google Scholar
Bak, Shinyoung. 2012. The effects of semantic relatedness on EFL vocabulary recall and retention. English Teaching 67(3). 281–305.10.15858/engtea.67.3.201209.281Search in Google Scholar
Bolger, Patrick & Gabriela Zapata. 2011. Semantic categories and context in L2 vocabulary learning. Language Learning 61(2). 614–646. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00624.x.Search in Google Scholar
Butler, Yuko G. 2015. English language education among young learners in East Asia: A review of current research (2004–2014). Language Teaching 48(3). 303–342. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444815000105.Search in Google Scholar
Butler, Yuko G. 2019. Teaching vocabulary to young second- or foreign-language learners. Language Teaching for Young Learners 1(1). 4–33. https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00003.but.Search in Google Scholar
Cameron, Lynne. 2001. Teaching languages to young learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511733109Search in Google Scholar
Carle, Eric. 1969. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. London, England: Puffin Books.Search in Google Scholar
Chou, Mu-Hsuan. 2014. Assessing English vocabulary and enhancing young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ motivation through games, songs, and stories. Education 3-13 42(3). 284–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2012.680899.Search in Google Scholar
Cohen, Jacob. 1988. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences, 2nd edn. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.Search in Google Scholar
Collins, Molly F. 2010. ELL preschoolers’ English vocabulary acquisition from storybook reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 25(1). 84–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2009.07.009.Search in Google Scholar
Coyle, Yvette & Pedro A. Férez Mora. 2018. Learning a second language in pre-school: Using dramatized stories as a teaching resource. Didáctica. Lengua y Literatura 30(0). https://doi.org/10.5209/dida.61955.Search in Google Scholar
Coyne, Michael D., D. Betsy McCoach & Sharon Kapp. 2007. Vocabulary intervention for kindergarten students: Comparing extended instruction to embedded instruction and incidental exposure. Learning Disability Quarterly 30. 74–88.10.2307/30035543Search in Google Scholar
Coyne, Michael D., D. Betsy McCoach, Susan Loftus, Richard ZipoliJr. & Sharon Kapp. 2009. Direct vocabulary instruction in kindergarten: Teaching for breadth versus depth. The Elementary School Journal 110(1). 1–18.10.1086/598840Search in Google Scholar
Er, Sühendan. 2014. Which is the most appropriate strategy for very young language learners? International Journal of Social Sciences and Education 4(4). 829–837.Search in Google Scholar
Erten, İsmail H. & Mustafa Tekin. 2008. Effects on vocabulary acquisition of presenting new words in semantic sets versus semantically unrelated sets. System 36(3). 407–422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2008.02.005.Search in Google Scholar
Finkbeiner, Matthew & Janet Nichol. 2003. Semantic category effects in second language word learning. Applied PsychoLinguistics 24. 369–383.10.1017/S0142716403000195Search in Google Scholar
Gholami, Javad & Sima Khezrlou. 2013. Semantic and thematic list learning of second language vocabulary. The CATESOL Journal 25(1). 151–162.Search in Google Scholar
Hashemi, Mohammad R. & Farah Gowdasiaei. 2005. An attribute-treatment interaction study: Lexical-set versus semantically-unrelated vocabulary instruction. RELC Journal 36(3). 341–361. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688205060054.Search in Google Scholar
Higa, Mansanori. 1963. Interference effects of intralist word relationships in verbal learning. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 2. 170–175.10.1016/S0022-5371(63)80082-1Search in Google Scholar
Hopgood, Tim. 2009. Wow! Said the Owl. London: Macmillan Children’s Books.Search in Google Scholar
Hoshino, Yuko. 2010. The categorical facilitation effects on L2 vocabulary learning in a classroom setting. RELC Journal 41(3). 301–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688210380558.Search in Google Scholar
Hunt, R. Reed & David B. Mitchell. 1982. Independent effects of semantic and nonsemantic distinctiveness. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 8(1). 81–87.10.1037/0278-7393.8.1.81Search in Google Scholar
Ishii, Tomoko. 2014. Semantic connection or visual connection: Investigating the true source of confusion. Language Teaching Research 19(6). 712–722. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168814559799.Search in Google Scholar
Jang, Hee-Jin. 2014. The effects of semantic clustering on EFL young learners’ vocabulary learning. English Teaching 69(3). 25–47.10.15858/engtea.69.3.201409.25Search in Google Scholar
Karabulut, Aslihan & Yesim K. Dollar. 2014. The effects of presenting different types of vocabulary clusters on very young learners’ foreign language learning. Education 3-13 44(3). 255–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2014.904391.Search in Google Scholar
Khosravani, Mahboobeh & Abbas Khorashadyzadeh. 2014. Does semantic clustering of L2 vocabularies affect EFL learners’ critical thinking and vocabulary learning? International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World 6(1). 397–408.Search in Google Scholar
Kujala, Jaakko. 2016. Clustering of vocabulary for different levels of Finnish learners of EFL: A content analysis on textbooks. Jyväskylän, Finland: University of Jyväskylä Unpublished Master’s Thesis.Search in Google Scholar
Leśniewska, Justyna & François Pichette. 2014. Songs vs. stories: Impact of input sources on ESL vocabulary acquisition by preliterate children. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 19(1). 18–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2014.960360.Search in Google Scholar
Lightbrown, Patsy M. & Nina Spada. 1999. How languages are learned, 4th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Mart, Cagri T. 2012. Encouraging young learners to learn English through stories. English Language Teaching 5(5). https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v5n5p101.Search in Google Scholar
Maynard, Katrina L., Paige C. Pullen & Michael D. Coyne. 2010. Teaching vocabulary to first-grade students through repeated shared storybook reading: A comparison of rich and basic instruction to incidental exposure. Literacy Research and Instruction 49(3). 209–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/19388070902943245.Search in Google Scholar
McKeown, Margaret G. & Isabel L. Beck. 2014. Effects of vocabulary instruction on measures of language processing: Comparing two approaches. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 29(4). 520–530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.06.002.Search in Google Scholar
Mirjalili, Forough, Ali A. Jabbari & Mohammad J. Rezai. 2012. The effect of semantic and thematic clustering of words on Iranians vocabulary learning. American International Journal of Contemporary Research 2(2). 214–222.Search in Google Scholar
Mondria, Jan-Arjen & Marijke W. D. Boer. 1991. The effects of contextual richness on the guessability and the retention of words in a foreign Language1. Applied Linguistics 12(3). 249–267. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/12.3.249.Search in Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. Paul & Stuart Webb. 2011. Researching and analyzing vocabulary. Boston, MA: Heinle, Cengage Learning.Search in Google Scholar
Nation, Paul. 2000. Learning vocabulary in lexical sets: Dangers and guidelines. TESOL Journal 9(2). 6–10.10.1002/j.1949-3533.2000.tb00239.xSearch in Google Scholar
Nowbakht, Mohammad. 2015. The comparative effects of presenting new words in semantically related sets vs. semantically unrelated sets on the receptive acquisition of L2 vocabulary items. The Journal of Language Teaching and Learning 1. 68–78.Search in Google Scholar
Papathanasiou, Evagelia. 2009. An investigation of two ways of presenting vocabulary. ELT Journal 63(4). 313–322. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccp014.Search in Google Scholar
Ramezani, Maryam & Parviz Behrouzi. 2013. The effect of semantic clustering on Iranian elementary EFL learners’ vocabulary retention. Researcher 5(11). 76–89.Search in Google Scholar
Reynolds, Barry L. 2020. The effects of nonce words, frequency, contextual richness, and L2 vocabulary knowledge on the incidental acquisition of vocabulary through reading: More than a replication of Zahar etal. (2001) & Tekmen and Daloğlu (2006). International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 58(1). 75–102. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2015-0115.Search in Google Scholar
Reynolds, Barry L. & David Wible. 2014. Frequency in incidental vocabulary acquisition research: An undefined concept and some consequences. TESOL Quarterly 48(4). 843–861.10.1002/tesq.197Search in Google Scholar
Sarioğlu, Mustafa & Özgür Yildirim. 2018. The effects of clustering new words in semantic, thematic or unrelated sets in teaching vocabulary to EFL learners. Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi 18(2). 1064–1085.10.17240/aibuefd.2018..-431475Search in Google Scholar
Savojbolaghchilar, Sanam & Touran Ahour. 2017. The impact of semantic clustering on Iranian EFL advanced learners’ vocabulary retention. Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics 9(Proceedings of the First International Conference on Language Focus). 209–222.Search in Google Scholar
Savojbolaghchilar, Sanam, Zohreh Seifoori & Nasser Ghafoori. 2020. The effect of multiple intelligence-oriented thematic clustering on advanced EFL learners’ vocabulary learning. Journal of Teaching Language Skills 39. 169–201. https://doi.org/10.22099/jtls.2020.38332.2877.Search in Google Scholar
Schmitt, Norbert. 2019. Understanding vocabulary acquisition, instruction, and assessment: A research agenda. Language Teaching 52. 261–274.10.1017/S0261444819000053Search in Google Scholar
Shintani, Natsuko. 2011. A comparative study of the effects of input-based and production-based instruction on vocabulary acquisition by young EFL learners. Language Teaching Research 15(2). 137–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168810388692.Search in Google Scholar
Shiri, Saiede & Ehsan Rezvani. 2017. The impact of presenting semantically related clusters of new words on Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ vocabulary acquisition. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature 6(6). https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.6n.6p.19.Search in Google Scholar
Tinkham, Thomas. 1993. The effect of semantic clustering on the learning of second language vocabulary. System 21(3). 371–380.10.1016/0346-251X(93)90027-ESearch in Google Scholar
Tinkham, Thomas. 1997. The effects of semantic and thematic clustering on the learning of second language vocabulary 1997. Second Language Research 13(2). 138–163.10.1191/026765897672376469Search in Google Scholar
Waring, Robert. 1997. The negative effects of learning words in semantic sets: A replication. System 25(2). 261–274.10.1016/S0346-251X(97)00013-4Search in Google Scholar
Webb, Stuart. 2008. The effects of context on incidental vocabulary learning. Reading in a Foreign Language 20(2). 232–245.Search in Google Scholar
Wilcox, Amanda & Almitra Medina. 2013. Effects of semantic and phonological clustering on L2 vocabulary acquisition among novice learners. System 41(4). 1056–1069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.10.012.Search in Google Scholar
Yeung, Susanna S., Mei-Lee Ng & Ronnel B. King. 2016. English vocabulary instruction through storybook reading for Chinese EFL kindergarteners: Comparing rich, embedded, and incidental approaches. Asian EFL Journal 18. 81–104.Search in Google Scholar
Yeung, Susanna S., Mei-Lee Ng, Shen Qiao & Art Tsang. 2020. Effects of explicit L2 vocabulary instruction on developing kindergarten children’s target and general vocabulary and phonological awareness. Reading and Writing 33. 671–689. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-019-09982-3.Search in Google Scholar
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston