A look at: "Effects on vocabulary acquisition of presenting new words in semantic sets versus semantically unrelated sets" By Ismail Hakkı Erten and Mustafa Tekin
The conclusion of this article surprised me, but only because it differed with what I remember about the first few years of L2 instruction. The writers conclude that new words should not be presented in semantic sets because it confuses the learner. Rather, they should be presented in unrelated sets of words, so the learner's limited short term memory can concentrate on the new words as individuals instead of trying to remember the differences between them. Again, this was a surprising conclusion, only because I can remember so many vocab lists that contained similar words. I suppose the teacher thought it would be best to show us these similar words together so as not to be confused, but I see now that it was counterproductive.
So many, many lists!
ReplyDeleteResearch indicates more distinct vocabulary ( un filet = a net) from stories, as with this article, or personal vocabulary - words the students choose to learn themselves - are more likely to be remembered. The Kelley, Lesaux article starts with the words in context and then plays with them, so multiple exposure happens. They did have a list, but it was short and not a semantic group, like 50 animals.