Rate of vocabulary learning (was Re: flashcard player)

[Bill Poser]

Sean,

Yes, I'm aware of all those factors, but I'm hoping that people have numbers
for a variety of situations from which one can extrapolate, albeit crudely.
And I'm interested in the whole sequence: sure, in Kindergarten one may not
be able to expect kids to learn a lot of words, but what happens as they go
on?

This kind of information must be available at least for older-fashioned
international language classes where there is a series of textbooks each of
which contains the vocabulary for that year.

Bill

On Sat, May 28, 2011 at 8:47 PM, <seanbc at iprimus.com.au> wrote:

> Hi Bill
>
> The acquisition rate will depend on a number of factors. Key ones are as
> follows: number of hours of instruction per week; whether the target
> language
> is learnt out of context as a foreign language, or in context through
> immersion;
> whether the program was taught using systematic planning using best LOTE
> pedagogy and developmentally appropriate for the learner cohort or whether
> it was more ad hoc and vocabulary focussed. It's important to remember that
> language acquisition is not so much about simple accumulation of vocabulary
> as about processing that vocabulary through language use. At the end of a
> kindergarten/pre-primary year if learnt as a foreign language I would
> expect
> students to be able to listen and respond (not necessarily orally) to a
> range
> of teacher greetings and classroom instructions, to be able to sing a few
> songs in the target language, play some interactive games using target
> language
> vocabulary,and understand something about the context of that language
> through
> understandings of the target culture. I would not bother counting words at
> this stage, but focus more on their engagement with the language and
> enjoyment
> of the process of learning it. But yes, the earlier they start the better.
>
>
> Sean Bruce-Cullen
>
>
>
>
> >-- Original Message --
> >Date: Sat, 28 May 2011 13:19:09 -0700
> >From: Bill Poser <billposer2 at gmail.com>
> >Subject: Rate of vocabulary learning (was Re: flashcard player)
> >To: rnlist <r-n-l-d at unimelb.edu.au>
> >
> >
> >On a tangential topic, does anyone have information on the rate at which
> >children can be expected to learn vocabulary in second language classes?
> >I'm
> >especially interested in situations where classes start in Kindergarten
> or
> >the beginning of primary school. At the end of the first year, how many
> >words is it reasonable to expect the children to have learned? How many
> at
> >the end of the second year, etc.? I understand that there are issues with
> >what counts as a word and that one expects variation from language to
> >language and situation to situation, but I'd still like to see figures.
> This
> >kind of information must exist since in at least some places there are
> lists
> >of what to examine and curricula specific enough to list the vocabulary
> that
> >is taught, but I have found it very hard to obtain this kind of
> information.
> >Thanks.
> >
> >Bill
>
>
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