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Slide 1: The Colour of Words Steve Neufeld
Slide 2: How essential is common?
Slide 3: Lexis How essential is common? • Can’t these common words just be ‘picked’ up because they are common? • Is there any benefit in systematically learning the most common words in English? The Colour of Words Pearson/Longman Conference May 2008 3
Slide 4: The vocabulary explosion learning vocabulary as a child
Slide 5: Lexis Vocabulary ‘explosion’ • children begin learning only 1-2 words a week • at around 14 months, children experience an acceleration in word learning. The Colour of Words Pearson/Longman Conference May 2008 5
Slide 6: Lexis Vocabulary ‘explosion’ The Colour of Words Pearson/Longman Conference May 2008 6
Slide 7: Lexis Mathematical model • Words are learned in parallel – children can build partial representations for many words at the same time The Colour of Words • Words vary in difficulty. – there are relatively few easy words, and a greater number of moderate or difficult ones. Pearson/Longman Conference May 2008 7
Slide 8: Bob McMurray – Science 8/3/2007 Lexis The Colour of Words Pearson/Longman Conference May 2008 8
Slide 9: Vocabulary explosion in L2?
Slide 10: Lexis Vocabulary explosion in L2? • BNL2709 pilot projects • Freshman university students • Oxford Bookworms level test • Yes/No vocabulary test (2K, 5K and 10K) The Colour of Words Pearson/Longman Conference May 2008 10
Slide 11: Vocabulary explosion in L2 Oxford Bookworm Stage placement Lexis 6 5 4 The Colour of Words Series1 3 2 1 0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Words known (YES/NO - adjusted for guessing) Pearson/Longman Conference May 2008 11
Slide 12: Vocabulary explosion in L2 Oxford Bookworm Stage placement Lexis 6 5 4 The Colour of Words Series1 3 2 1 0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Words known (YES/NO - adjusted for guessing) Pearson/Longman Conference May 2008 12
Slide 13: Vocabulary explosion in L2 Oxford Bookworm Stage placement Lexis 6 5 4 The Colour of Words Series1 3 2 1 0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Words known (YES/NO - adjusted for guessing) Pearson/Longman Conference May 2008 13
Slide 14: Vocabulary explosion in L2 Oxford Bookworm Stage placement Lexis 6 5 4 The Colour of Words Series1 3 2 1 0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Words known (YES/NO - adjusted for guessing) Pearson/Longman Conference May 2008 14
Slide 15: Vocabulary explosion in L2 Oxford Bookworm Stage placement Lexis 6 5 4 Series1 3 Vocabulary explosion The Colour of Words 2 1 0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Words known (YES/NO - adjusted for guessing) Pearson/Longman Conference May 2008 15