OnBoostingtheStudyofActiveWordsThroughSemantic—association

【Abstract】As a component of language proficiency， lexical ability is essential to language learners， and a flurry of scholarly work in the last several decades has confirmed its importance to the academic world as well as language teaching （e.g. Coady & Huckin 1997， Nation 1990， 2001， Schimit & McCarthy 1997， Singleton 1999 etc.）. This paper aims to illustrate that it is feasible to use semantic-association method to boost the study of active words by raising language learners consciousness and activating the associative networks of vocabulary in learners mental lexicon. Based on the rationale that vocabulary of a language is an organized network of sense-relations， this paper designs a series of classroom activities aiming at activating peoples mental lexicon and producing more varied and advanced vocabulary in their writing. In this paper， chapter one introduces the definition and description of passive words and active words. Following chapter one， chapter two focuses the theory and its application in teaching. And in the last chapter， several classroom activities are designed to improve the active use of vocabulary.

【Key words】passive words； active words； semantic-association

1. Passive words and Active Words

Almost everyone has met words that can be understood perfectly well in a text， but fail to be remembered when used productively. This phenomenon may largely result from the distinction of active/passive words or receptive/productive words （hereafter R & P）. Although there remains a lack of clarity over definition of the notions of R & P， many scholars manage to explain R&P from various aspects.

Nation （2001： 24） describes R&P as pedagogic conceptions：

Receptive carries the idea that we receive language input from others through listening and reading and try to comprehend it， productive that we produce language forms by speaking and writing to convey messages to others.

In his opinion， passive vocabulary use involves the cognitive process of perceiving a word form and retrieving its meaning； while active word use involves that of wanting to express a meaning orally or in the written form and of retrieving and producing the appropriate spoken or written word form.

Melka （1997： 85） describes R&P based on the rationale that lexical knowledge is a continuum consisting of several levels of knowledge：

Certain degrees of knowledge could be labeled as ‘higher degrees of familiarity， close to productive knowledge， but at which point receptive knowledge can be converted into productive knowledge is clearly not easy to answer.endprint

According to Melka， we should say that vocabulary acquisition is a movement from a receptive to productive mastery， representing increasing degrees of knowledge or familiarity with a word.

All in all， it can be said that active vocabulary is what you can come up with and use in writing or speaking， while passive vocabulary is what you can recognize when heard or seen but cannot recall when it is appropriate for you to use it.

2. The Theory of Semantic Field and Its Application to English Vocabulary Teaching

Semantic approach or word association networks-is an effective way to activate students existing mental lexicon and to transform the passive words into active use. Semantic field is a term referring to the phenomenon that vocabulary is an integrated system， and can be divided into semantically related sets or fields. Words in each semantic field define one another. Words do not exist in isolation. They form different semantic fields， such as an ‘animal field which contains all kinds of words that denote animals， or a ‘cooking field which includes various words related to cooking， and so on. Words that belong to the same semantic class are in the same semantic field. Let us look at some more examples of semantic fields：

（1） vehicle： car， Jorry， truck， coach， van， motor—scooter

（2） building： factory， hospital， house， church

（3） vegetable： spinach， cauliflower， cabbage， pepper， onion， tomato， cucumber

According to the theory of semantic field， the meaning of a word is decided by its relationships with other words in the same semantic field. There are various kinds of such sense relationships， for example， synonymy， antonymy， hyponymy， and part/whole.

2.1 Synonymy

Synonymy refers to the relationship of similarity or identity in meaning. Synonyms are the words which have the same or very nearly the same essential meaning. Examples of synonyms are the pairs broad—wide， hide—conceal， almost—nearly， cab—taxi.

2.2 Antonymy

Two forms with opposite meanings are called antonyms，and commonly used examples are the pairs： quick—slow， big—small， long—short， rich—poor.

Antonyms are usually divided into two main types， the “gradable” and the “non-gradable”. Gradable antonyms， such as the pair big—small， can be used in comparative constructions like bigger than—smaller than. Also， the negative of one member of the gradable pair does not necessarily imply the other. With non-gradable antonyms， also called “complementary pairs”， comparative constructions are not normally used （the expressions deader or more dead sound strange）， and the negative of one member does imply the other.endprint

2.3 Hyponymy

Hyponymy refers to the relationship of semantic inclusion. Words with more specific meaning or narrower meaning are hyponyms， while words with more inclusive or general meanings are superordinate terms. Two hyponyms sharing the same one superordinate are called “co-hyponyms”. For example， “flower” is the superordinate of “tulip”， “violet” and “rose”， which are the co-hyponyms of “flower”.

2.4 Part/whole relationship

When a word， which refers to one thing， is a part of another word， these two words are in part-whole semantic field. This kind of semantic field are divided into two categories. One is in-order relation. For example， in the semantic field “year”， there are January， February， March， etc. The other is out-of-order relation， that is， in this kind of semantic fields， words neednt be arranged in certain order.

3. Semantic Network Activities

As is known， it is not easy to move passive words into active use. Laufer （1995） suggests that one cause of this may be a lack of knowledge and suitable activities to push receptive and productive knowledge into active use.

Below are three activities designed to boost the study of active words.

3.1 Activity 1— Modified Reading Materials

Explanation： Modification of reading materials is done by finding suitable vocabulary to replace less frequent words or finding advanced words to replace low-level or basic words.

Purpose： Modified reading texts can be used to establish previously learned vocabulary by repeated use， so students can consolidate the vocabulary within the same semantic field by repeating the concerned vocabulary.

Procedure

1） Teachers choose an authentic text with the similar topic to the composition to be written in the writing course.

2） Teachers try to hunt for suitable words to replace less frequent words or finding advanced words to replace low-level or basic words.

3） Reading materials are delivered to students at least one or two days before the writing course.

4） Students are required to read the text and pay attention to the substituted words.

5） Students fall into several groups in writing class to discuss and choose the suitable words to use in their compositions.

6） During the process of writing， teachers try to enhance students awareness of the use of words they have collected in the text.

3.2 Activity 2 — Using Word Categories

Explanation： Vocabulary is not an unstructured， random collection of words but an organized semantic network， so each given word is included in its specific semantic domain. This idea can facilitate students retrieval and production of words by activities of collecting words in the same semantic field. The further evaluation among classmates will help consolidate the words.endprint

Procedure：

1） Teachers prepare the jumbled words in a paper as a handout delivered to students.

2） Teachers ask students in groups or pairs to put the jumbled words into the boxes marked with different categories.

3） Teachers check the students work and encourage students further association of words in the same semantic domain.

4） Teachers suggest students use of the words in the same category in writing.

5） After finishing writing a composition， students are asked to exchange their compositions with their partners.

6） Teachers ask students to check the composition and discuss with the partner about whether suitable words are used in contexts and whether there are some other synonyms or hyponyms to substitute the present words.

7） Students are asked to give constructive advice to each other about the use of words and make corrections.

Sample： Supposing the topic is about Sports ， the following table may illustrate this activity.

E.g.1 The language of sports

Sports Categories

Location Teams Equipment Scoring In charge

Soccer Ground

Pitch

Stadium 11 players Ball

Boots

Strip

Goal posts Goals

Draw

1-0（one nil）

2-2（two all） Referee

Two linesmen

Tennis Court Singles

Doubles

Mixed doubles Racket

Balls

Net 15-0（fifteen-love）

Points

Game/set Umpire

Line-judges

3.3 Activity 3 — Word Domain

Explanation： Word Domain activity means that teachers bring forward a concept and having students call up familiar words related to the concept.

Purpose： This activity can prepare students to add new words in the form of a word domain to their lexical networks， and then help students store the words in long-term memory and finally put the words into their own use.

Procedure：

1） Teachers choose a theme or concept connected with the composition to be written.

2） Teachers write the key words on the blackboard and ask students to brainstorm the words related to the key words.

3） Teachers write all the words down on the blackboard and ask students to categorize words by degree.

4） Teachers encourage students use of the words in their writing.

Sample： Supposing students are going to write about a Horrible Experience， then the focus word might be afraid. The following figure may illustrate this activity （from Nation： 1994）.endprint

E.g.2

Less-------------------------------------------More

WORRIED AFRAID TERRIFIED

worried afraid terrified

nervous scared horrified

tense frightened panic-stricken

uneasy fearful scared stiff

Conclusion

Being a crucial part of a language， vocabulary lays the foundation of a language， carries meanings intended by people， and guarantees the possibility of proper communication. It is admitted that only by putting passive words into active use， does the language learner truly master the vocabulary of that language. And through the classroom activities designed in this paper， semantic-association method is effectively applied to boost the active use of words by raising language learners consciousness and activating the associative networks of vocabulary in learners mental lexicon.

References：

[1]Adolph，S.，& Schmitt，N.2003.Lexical coverage of spoken discourse.Applied Linguistics，24，pp.425-438.

[2]Laufer，B.& Nation，P.1999.A vocabulary-size test of controlled productive ability.Language Testing，16，pp.33-51.

[3]Laufer，B.&Nation，P.1995.Vocabulary size and use：lexical richness in L2 written production.Applied Linguistics，16，pp.307-322.

[4]Laufer，B.& Paribakht，T.S.1998.The relationship between Passive and Active Effects of Language Learning Context.Language Learning，48，pp.365-391.

[5]McCarthy，M.1995.Vocabulary.Oxford：Oxford University press.

[6]Melka，F.1997.Respective vs.productive aspects of vocabulary.In Schmitt，N.& McCarthy，M.（Ed.），Vocabulary：Description，Acquisition and Pedagogy：Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.pp.84-102.

[7]Nation，I.S.P.2001.Learning vocabulary in another language.London：Cambridge University.

[8]Nation，I.S.P.（Ed.）1994.New Ways in Teaching Vocabulary.Alexandria：TESOL，Inc.

作者簡介：黄修远（1989.9-），女，汉族，湖北随州人，硕士，助教，研究方向：外国语言及应用语言学。endprint