Content uploaded by Barry Lee Reynolds
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Barry Lee Reynolds on Nov 25, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
Barry Lee Reynolds, Ph.D.
University of Macau, Faculty of Education
Modeling Taiwanese adolescent learners’ English
vocabulary acquisition and retention
1
2
Outline
•Word Lists
–List Compiler Considerations
–Effects of Word List Publication
•English Language Education in Taiwan
–Vocabulary Learning
–Senior High School Textbook Compilation
–High Stakes University Entrance Examinations
–Taiw a n Hig h S cho ol R eferen ce Word List Co nst ruc t io n
–Taiw a n Hig h S cho ol R eferen ce Word List Us e
•Other Variables Affecting Vocabulary Acquisition and Retention
•Research Questions
•Participants
•Instrument and Procedures
•Results
–Descriptive Statistics
–Correlations
–Multiple Regression
•Discussion
•References
3
List Compiler Considerations
(1)
•List compilers should consider:
–Contextual issues (targeted learners)
–Objective issues (more general vocabulary issues)
•Contextual issues
–Specialized or academic vocabulary?
–Language proficiency? (low, mid, high frequency
words)
–Ability to associate inflected and derived word
forms (Nation, 2016; Reynolds & Wible, 2014)
4
List Compiler Considerations
(2)
•Objective Issues
–Frequency
–Function Words / Acronyms / Homonyms
/ Polysemes / Proper Nouns / Multiword
Patterns
•Decisions made by reference word list
compilers can have a positive or
negative effect on language learning
5
Effects of Reference Word List
Publication
•Publication of reference word lists affect:
–Educational policy
–Curriculum design/adoption
–Materials designers/development
–Language teachers’ instructional practice
–Language assessments/high stakes examinations
–Language learners
•More extreme effects if backed by
government institutions (Nation, 2016)
6
English Language Education in
Taiwan
•Prior to 2001, taught from the first year of junior
high school –Grade 7 to Grade 12 (Chern, 2002)
•In 2001, starting from Grade 5 (Chern, 2002; Su,
2006)
•In 2005, starting from Grade 3 (Chang, 2006; Hsieh,
2012)
•English is taught according to curriculum guidelines
with the goal of gradual development of language
proficiency and communicative language skills
(Chern, 2002; MOE, 2008a, 2008b)
•Reality is students want to pass exams (Chung &
Huang, 2010) and they focus on ”cram schooling” to
accomplish this (Chung, 2013) 7
Vocabulary Learning and Taiwanese Senior High
School Textbook Complication
•Depending on the type of textbooks
selected for learners, they will be
taught either 3,600 or 4,000 words
(MOE, 2008b)
•Teaching 4,000 word s sti ll leaves a 500-
deficient of what is recommended by
Ministry of Education curriculum
guidelines (MOE, 2008b)
•Curriculum guidelines do not specify
which specific words should be learned8
High Stakes University Entrance
Examinations in Taiwan
•Scholastics Aptitude English Test
–More general –a screening test
–Designed based on Ministry of Education curriculum
guidelines
–Covers first two years of senior high school
–Should master the first four levels of the Reference Word
List
•Department Required English Test
–More specific –specific departments
–Designed based on Ministry of Education curriculum
guidelines
–Covers all three years of senior high school
–Should master all six levels of the Reference Word List
9
(CEEC, 2002,
2010a, 2010b,
2011a, 2011b,
2014a, 2014b)
10
Taiwan Reference Word List
Construction
•2 Years for Development
•Research Team
–3 Professors
–1 Senior High School Teacher
–4 Research Assistants
•35 References
–2 junior high and 3 senior high school English textbooks
–5 elementary school language arts textbooks used in the USA
–21 English language vocabulary lists developed in the UK, USA,
Canada, Japan, Mainland China, and Taiwan
•Selection Criteria for Inclusion and Ranking
–Frequency
–American and Chinese cultural background
–Rules for word formation
–The life experiences of Taiwanese senior high school students 11
Taiwan Reference Word List
Usage
•6 levels
–4,320 in first four levels
•Scholastics Aptitude English Test development/preparation
–6,480 in all six levels
•Department Required English Test development/preparation
•Unclear whether words on the list represent word types, lemmas, or
families
•Homonyms appear to have been treated as different words
•Reference Word List is marketed as “unofficial” but used “officially”
•Reference Word List contents is “assumed” valid
–An indicator of previous vocabulary knowledge (Huang & Liou, 2007)
–Usefulness of digital learning environment (Sun, Huang, & Liu, 2011)
–Evaluate second language writing (Yang, 2012)
–Scrutinize leaners’ vocabulary knowledge (Chen, 2006; Ho, 2011; Huang,
2014)
12
Other Variables Affecting Vocabulary
Acquisition and Retention
•Frequency
–Lemma frequency attested in the British National Corpus
•Polysemy
–Related but different meanings reported in WordNet
•Part of Speech
–Noun, Verb, Adjective
•Word Length
–Phonemes
•Word Family
–Nation’s (2012) British National Corpus word
family list
13
Research Questions
•Does the RWL affect Taiwanese non-
English majors’ vocabulary acquisition
and retention?
•Does frequency, RWL inclusion, RWL
level, polysemy, part of speech, word
length, or word family best predict the
vocabulary acquisition and retention of
Taiwanese non-English majors?
14
Participants
•First and second year students (n=566)
at a national junior college majoring in
accounting and finance
•Age M=16.5 years
•English learning M=9.5 years
•Mandarin Chinese as L1
15
Instrument and Procedures
•140 multiple choice item Vocabulary Size Test (Nation & Beglar,
2007)
•50 minutes during their English class was given to complete the
Vocabulary Size Test
•Each Vocabulary Size Test item was coded for the investigated
variables (Frequency, RWL Inclusion, RWL Level, Polysemy, Part
of Speech, Word Length, Word Family)
•Item Facility was calculated for each of the 140 questions
16
Sample Vocabulary Size Test
Question (Bilingual Version)
Descriptive Statistics
•Reliability of the Vocabulary Size Test results was
high
–Cronbach alpha of .816
•Participants’ vocabulary sizes ranged from 2,100 to
9,300
–Mean=5,627 (SD=1,128)
–Median 5,700
–Mode 5,800
•In terms of vocabulary size, the participants have
met Taiwan ministry of education requirements—
however, what they have learned may not
necessarily be useful
17
Correlation Results
RWL Level (r=-.660; p<.001; r2=.436) large effect
RWL Inclusion (r=.458; p<.001; r2 =.210) medium effect
Polysemy (r=.394; p<.001; r2 =.115) medium effect
Frequency (4=.291; p<.001; r2 =.085) small/medium effect
Phonemes (r=-.190; p<.05; r2 =.036) small effect 18
Multiple Regression Results
•Sequential regressions were run to examine the effects of the
individual explanatory variables on the Vocabulary Size Test
Item Facility
–Frequency, RWL Inclusion, RWL Level, Polysemy, Noun,
Phonemes, Word Family, Verb
–An 8 explanatory variable sequential regression accounted for
50% of the variance in participants’ scores on the Vocabulary Size
Test
•Frequency, RWL Inclusion, RWL Level, Noun accounted
statistically for additional variance in the data and therefore
their addition helped constitute a better model at predicting
Vocabulary Size Test Item Facility
–RWL Level and RWL Inclusion added the most explanatory power
to the model
19
Answering Research
Questions
•Does the RWL affect Taiwanese non-English majors’
vocabulary acquisition and retention?
–Yes , high frequency nouns that appear on a l ow level of the
Taiwan reference word l ist are more likel y to have been
learned and retained by Taiwanese non-English majors.
•Does frequency, RWL inclusion, RWL level, polysemy,
part of speech, word length, or word family best
predict the vocabulary acquisition and retention of
Taiwanese non-English majors?
–Out of the variables investigated, RWL inclusion best
predicts the vocabulary acquisition and retention of
Taiwanese non -English majors.
20
Discussion
•English for academic purposes was not considered
when constructing the reference word list
–University students in Taiwan are expected to read and
comprehend academic English in textbooks yet this list
does not aim to help these students
•The reference word list does not clearly indicate how
words with multiple senses were handled
–Homonyms and homographs should be considered as
separate words (Nation & Parent, 2016)
–Polysemes can be considered as the same word (Nation &
Parent, 2016)
21
Discussion
•The reference word list had a washback effect on
Taiwanese learners’ vocabulary acquisition
•Learners received more exposure to words on the
list, especially words on lower levels
•Are the words learners are being exposed to, taught,
and learning represent the words they need for
language use?
–We cannot answer this question
–There is a mismatch between the number of words
recommended by the Ministry of Education and the
number of words on this list
–Word list construction was not adequately detailed
22
Discussion
•A revised Reference Word List should be
commissioned by the Taiwan Ministry of
Education that encourages convergence with
curriculum guidelines, high stakes
examinations, and teaching/learning
practices
•To create a s uitable refe renc e word l ist,
words can be extracted from a corpus
compiled of relevant texts by taking into
consideration frequency, range, dispersion,
and any number of relevant contextual
issues (Nation & Sorell, 2016) 23
References
Chang, W. C. (2006). English language education in Taiwan: A comprehensive survey. Educational Resources and Research, 69, 129-144.
Chen, C. C. (2006). The effects of cultural familiarity in planned reading on college freshmen's incidental vocabulary learning (Unpublished master’s thesis). National Taiwan
Normal University, Taipei City.
Chern, C. L. (2002). English language teaching in Taiwan today. Asia Pacific Journal of Education,22(2), 97-105.
Chung, I. F. (2013). Crammed to learn English: What are learners’ motivation and approach? The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher,22(4), 585-592.
Chung, I. F., & Huang, Y. C. (2010). The implementation of communicative language teaching: An investigation of students’ viewpoints. The Asia-Pacific Education
Researcher,18(1), 67-78.
College Entrance Examination Center. (2002). Reference word list for senior high English education. Retrieved from http://www.ceec.edu.tw/Research2/Default.aspx
College Entrance Examination Center. (2010a). Principles for the design of the Department Required English Test. Retrieved from
http://www.ceec.edu.tw/AppointExam/AppointExamInfo.htm
College Entrance Examination Center. (2010b). Principles for the design of the Scholastic Aptitude English Test. Retrieved from
http://www.ceec.edu.tw/AbilityExam/AbilityExamInfo.htm
College Entrance Examination Center. (2011a). Specifications for the Department Required English Test. Retrieved from
http://www.ceec.edu.tw/AppointExam/AppointExamInfo.htm
College Entrance Examination Center. (2011b). Specifications for the Scholastic Aptitude English Test. Retrieved from http://www.ceec.edu.tw/AbilityExam/AbilityExamInfo.htm
College Entrance Examination Center. (2014a). A detailed profile of the Department Required Test. Retrieved from
http://www.ceec.edu.tw/AppointExam/AppointExamProfile.htm
College Entrance Examination Center. (2014b). A detailed profile of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Retrieved from http://www.ceec.edu.tw/AbilityExam/AbilityExamProfile.htm
Ho, M. J. (2011). The correlation of the depth of learners’ vocabulary knowledge and their reading comprehension (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from
http://handle.ncl.edu.tw/11296/ndltd/65197964313960021768
Hsieh, Y. L. (2012). An investigation of university EFL teachers’ perceptions of changes in their freshmen’s English language ability: A case study in Taiwan (Master’s thesis).
Retrieved from http://handle.ncl.edu.tw/11296/ndltd/51359875425889220283
Huang, C. C. (2014). Cross-linguistic near-synonym errors by high school students in Taiwan (Unpublished master’s thesis). National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei City.
Huang, H. T., & Liou, H. C. (2007). Vocabulary learning in an automated graded reading program. Language Learning & Technology,11(3), 64-82.
Minist ry of Edu cation. ( 2008a). Grade 1-9 curriculum guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.k12ea.gov.tw/ap/sid17_law.aspx
Minist ry of Edu cation. ( 2008b). Curriculum guidelines for senior high school English education. Retrieved from http://www.k12ea.gov.tw/ap/download_view.aspx?sn=e4fde167-
fc32-485b-8296-996f58fe3303
Nation, I.S.P. (2012). The BNC/COCA word family lists. Retrieved from http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/about/staff/paul-nation
Nation, I.S.P. (2016). Making and Using Word List s for Lan guage Lear ning and Testing. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Nation, I. S. P., & Beglar, D. (2007). A vocabulary size test. The Language Teacher, 31(7), 9-13.
Nation, I.S.P., & Parent, K. (2016). Homoforms and polysemes. In I.S.P. Nation (Ed.) Making and Using Wo rd Lists for Langua ge Learni ng and Te sting (pp. 41-53).
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Nation, I.S.P., & Sorell, K. (2016). Corpus selection and design. In I.S.P. Nation (Ed.) Making an d Using Wor d Lists for La nguage Lea rning and Testing (pp. 95-105).
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Reynolds, B. L., & Wible, D. (2014). Frequency in incidental vocabulary acquisition research: An undefined concept and some consequences. TESOL Quarterly, 48(4), 843-861.
doi:10.1002/tesq.197
Su, Y. C. (2006). EFL teachers’ perceptions of English language policy at the elementary level in Taiwan. Educational Studies,32(3), 265-283.
Sun, K. T., Huang, Y. M., & Liu, M. C. (2011). A WordNet-based near-synonyms and similar-looking word learning system. Journal of Educational Technology & Society,14(1), 121-
134.
Yang, W. (2012). What makes essays outstanding? A corpus-based analysis of lexical devices used in test-orientated compositions. Issues in Writing,19(2), 1-24.
24
Thank You!
Questions?
This work was supported by University of Macau Start-Up Research Grant
[Grant Number: SRG2016-00079-FED].
Email : BarryReynolds@umac.mo
Website : www.umac.mo/fed/staff/BarryReynolds
Reynolds, B.L., Shih, Y.-C., & Wu, W.-H. (2018). Modeling Taiwanese
adolescent learners’ English vocabulary acquisition and retention: The
washback effect of the College Entrance Examination Center’s reference
word List. English for Specific Purposes, 52, 47-59.
doi:10.1016/j.esp.2018.08.001 25
