Effective Strategies for Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition

This paper mainly introduces the concept of vocabulary knowledge and explores the strategies of improving second language vocabulary acquisition from the perspectives of learners and educators. It includes the concepts of vocabulary knowledge, the combination of intentional learning and incidental learning, and the influence of output activities on vocabulary acquisition.The concept of vocabulary knowledge in second language vocabulary acquisition is not only reflected in the number of words, but also in terms of quality;vocabulary acquisition should be the combination of intentional learning and incidental learning; learners should have the opportunity to use the language, and thus the output of the language plays an important role in language acquisition. KEYWORD: Vocabulary knowledge; intentional learning; incidental learning; output activities. International Conference on Social Science, Education Management and Sports Education (SSEMSE 2015) © 2015. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 1881 The specific context of learning can help us to understand and use the words accurately. We should not only grasp the concept of lexical meaning, but also be familiar with its connotation meaning and cultural significance of the information conveyed. Furthermore, the vocabulary is not isolated. It will have certain relations with other words, as synonyms, antonyms, and derivatives. As a result, vocabulary learning should be divergent, with the mastery of relative vocabulary, and with the collocation of the common words. It is important to note the interpretation of the teachers on the meaning of the vocabulary. Target language should be used to avoid the semantic error from the explanation of the mother language. Vocabulary acquisition is a gradual process. Researchers concluded the five stages of vocabulary knowledge development (put forward by Paribakht & Wesche in 1993, improved by Wesche and Paribakht in 1996): 1) I’ve never seen the word; 2) I’ve seen it before, but I don’t know the meaning of the word; 3) I’ve seen the word, I think the meaning of the word is...; (give a synonym or translate the word) 4) I know the word. The meaning of the word is ______; (give a synonym or translate the word) 5) I use the word to make a sentence. Thus it can be seen that vocabulary acquisition is a process of development from identification to use. 3 THE COMBINATION OF INTENTIONAL LEARNING AND INCIDENTAL LEARNING ON VOCABULARY ACQUISITION There are two ways to learn a language. One is intentional learning and another is incidental learning. Intentional learning language usually refers to reciting word purposefully, practicing grammar and reading drills. Incidental learning refers to language learning in reading, listening, speaking and film appreciation activities inadvertently. Vocabulary acquisition should be the combination of intentional learning and incidental learning. Intentional learning is certainly effective, but it can’t reach the requirement of a large number of vocabulary accumulations. Incidental learning can be complement, especially reading. How can we effectively learn vocabulary from short-term memory to long-term memory? Cognitive psychology researchers from the perspective of psychological linguistics and cognitive linguistics confirmed that the learners’ reading on various chapters mainly accumulates vocabulary acquisition. Linguists also believe that most of the second language vocabulary is accidentally learned in the reading process. Reading is one of the main ways on vocabulary acquisition for second language learners. Vocabulary sourced from listening and speaking is fleeting. In reading, learners can have sufficient time to pay attention to the context, speculation, and can be confirmed by the dictionary. Confirmation by dictionary is a valuable cognitive strategy for vocabulary acquisition. The combination of speculation and looking up the dictionary can produce 50% of memory (Ellis 1994, 1995 et. al). Those frequently used vocabulary, which can affect reading comprehension, will get more attention. A word in the context of repeated multiple chapters would naturally stimulate the formation, activation and deepens the impression in the brain. The key words for the statement even affect comprehension of discourse. In order to eliminate obstacles to reading, the readers will have a strong will to make sense of the words. In addition, learning vocabulary in the context of the chapter will helps learners to fully understand the semantics and learn to use. Learning on the basis of understanding helps vocabulary from short-term memory to long-term memory to finally become a member of the mastery vocabulary. The different chapters provide a variety of materials and colorful background to increase the interest in vocabulary acquisition, not so boring as simple recitation of words. In incidental vocabulary acquisition, the external and internal factors influence the effect of the reading and vocabulary acquisition. External factors include chapters’ context, reading tasks, reading environment, and reading time; internal factors refer to individual differences in language learners, such as vocabulary knowledge, learning strategies, and learning motivation. The difference between intentional learning and incidental learning lies in the different attention. In the former, teachers usually give the intention to students on vocabulary. In the latter occasion, learners focus on understanding the meaning of the chapter, and spontaneously pay attention to new words and learn new words. Now that the intentional learning and incidental vocabulary learning can help learners to improve vocabulary knowledge, then choosing the teaching vocabulary and arranging the reading task is particularly critical. 4 INFLUENCE OF OUTPUT ACTIVITIES ON VOCABULARY ACQUISITION The activities of seeing and hearing are imported, and speaking and writing belong to the output activities. In the experiments, Ellis and He (1999) found that the test result on vocabulary recognition and vocabulary output for the students attending output activities is much higher than the students