While they are commonly used for test-prep in memorizing of vocabulary, they often lack the context of target terms or the tactile connection in activities from pen-to-paper use.  (Of mobile applications such as Duolingo and Anki)

  – The GoldList Notebook Method: A Study on L2 Vocabulary Learning

Furthermore, vocabulary words thus acquired retain not just their referential meaning but also the syntactic, pragmatic, and even emotional information from their context. (Of vocabulary acquired through reading)

  –  Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Language Learning Outcomes

The word vocabulary has different meanings. According to the Cambridge dictionary, it can refer to the words a person knows or all the words in a language. The Cambridge dictionary also refers to a common vocabulary. Dictionary.com refers to a technical field. Which vocabulary do we test and teach? What is the best way to learn vocabulary?

In essence, vocabulary is knowing a label. We can disagree on labels and this is where semantics and frames (the recognition of) come into play. A great part of vocabulary takes the form of nouns. There are general nouns and more precise nouns. Imagine going to a park and being able to label with precision everything you can point your finger at. If a person is able to do this, this person’s range of vocabulary is vast.

Yet, we do not aim to achieve this level of proficiency – it is unlikely that we are required to have a precise label for everything which can be pointed at. Instead, we aim to develop proficiency sufficient to achieve different purposes, having regard to audience (professionals or lay persons), context (formal or informal) and culture (what is typical practice in the community of the audience).

To achieve purposes, we must know labels – how to label, recognise labels and understand the implications of labels. We must also know how to put words together. The English Syllabus 2020 states that middle and upper primary students need to take an active role in learning new vocabulary items and develop rich vocabulary knowledge by examining (a) how words are formed, (b) how words relate to one another and (c) how words are used in context. The syllabus also states that students need to use words suitable for audience, purpose, context, and culture (PACC).

It is therefore not true that there exists a class of words which represents the pinnacle of language proficiency. Some words do appear status conferring – NFT but it is not true knowing a label is representative of some superior ability.

To demonstrate this, students here experienced a lesson on how PACC affects vocabulary. They were shown two articles on the Metaverse. One was written by a Singaporean doctor and appeared in Today Online. The other was written by a CEO of a tech company in Silicon Valley and appeared in Forbes. The medical doctor’s article was conversational and a typical sentence went: I’d love to see a metaverse that engages one’s other senses, such as that of smell and touch, in a more realistic way and that can also be done at home. The Silicon Valley CEO’s article was technical and written for a different audience. A typical sentence went: The advent of Web 2.0 itself pushed security and privacy beyond what we were prepared for, and user-generated content exploded, creating new paradigms of risk, security, privacy and compliance.

If a hypothetical reader was not aware of the authorship of each of the articles, this hypothetical reader may have concluded that the language ability of one author was better than the other. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, there are few domains as technical as medicine. Consider the medical language used by another doctor in a newly released book, No Mountain Too High: The pain was flaring up over the lumbar 5 nerve root distrubiton (sic), which accounted for the pain in his hip, knee, calf and ankle and fewer oxygen molecules in the lower pressure cause hypoxia… and the worst of the symptoms culminating in cerebral edema. To be sure, medical terminology was used tastefully and only where strictly appropriate and necessary in the very inspiring No Mountain Too High which reads like it belongs in the league of the best travel lit.

Indeed, there are strictures on writing, advocating the use of language which is accessible. All this is to say, when it comes to vocabulary, complex and technical does not mean better. Vocabulary is less about reaching some pinnacle than about knowing when to use which word. Given that a majority of English speakers in the world are not native speakers, exceptional precision may seek to alienate more than connect, especially in a workplace which is hierarchical and performance based.

So, for what purposes would students need vocabulary? As students they would need to pass exams. The multiple-choice questions in Booklet A test knowledge of le mot juste – the exact word for a situation. They would need to communicate with others in a peer-to-peer relationship; here knowing many words to describe many situations would be more useful than knowing many words to describe many degrees of the same concept (precision) –developing a common vocabulary would be useful. They would need to learn technical language specific to their area of tertiary study, industry and workplace – there is no hurry. They may want to read and enjoy literature. A minority may want to write literature. Save for the last two purposes, all of the other purposes may not require exceptional felicity.

Advanced vocabulary may be required to access certain works of literature and to produce literature. Aside from this, vocabulary requirements should be manageable for the most part.

So, what is the best way to learn vocabulary? According to Gu and Johnson (1996), vocabulary learning involves, (a) beliefs, (b) metacognitive regulation, (c) guessing strategies, (d) dictionary strategies, (e) note taking strategies (f) memory strategies and (g) activation strategies.

Gu and Johnson (1996) wanted to test the assumption that Asian students rely more on memory strategies than other strategies and found this was not true of students in their sample (850 students learning English in China).

They found that the best performing students whose vocabulary range was “2.2 standard deviations above the mean and test scores, 1.5 deviations above the mean” were also the ones “who reported the least extracurricular time on learning English”. The students who knew the most words and performed the best on the vocabulary test which was administered for the purpose of the study, spent the least time studying English. However, this was the group which spent the most time reading for fun.

The second-best performing group used a combination of strategies regularly. Those who relied on memorization alone did not do well. The researchers recommended a heavy diet of reading coupled with regular use of strategies for best results.

Words are neither good nor bad.

The Brain Dojo