Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T05:51:18.907Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vocabulary knowledge in relation to memory and analysis: An approximate replication of Milton's (2007) study on lexical profiles and learning style

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2013

Paul Booth
Paul Booth*
Affiliation:
Kingston University [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents an approximate replication of Milton's (2007) study on lexical profiles and learning style. Milton investigated the assumption that more frequent words are acquired before less frequent ones. Using a vocabulary recognition test (X-Lex) to measure vocabulary size, Milton found that L2 English group profiles show a linear relationship between greater knowledge of high frequency words and lesser knowledge of low frequency items. The profiles also showed variability in individual profiles. Milton hypothesised that the individual differences in profiles are partly attributable to different approaches to learning, as elicited via language aptitude tests of memory and analysis. Learner profiles that showed a linear relationship with vocabulary frequency scored higher on analysis; learners who had irregular profiles scored higher on memory. The aim of this replication is to confirm whether learning style helps to determine what L2 lexis is learnt. It duplicates the vocabulary size test and the memory and analysis tests. However, the replication uses regression analyses, rather than a single ANOVA, to determine whether memory or analysis contributes to vocabulary knowledge. Moreover, the participants’ L1 backgrounds are mixed, and they are older. The results from this replication do not support Milton's findings, but a post-study supports the notion that at low proficiency there is a relationship between memory and vocabulary size. It is concluded that neither memory nor analysis is related to patterns in lexical profiles, but that memory contributes to vocabulary size.

Type
Replication Studies
Information
Language Teaching , Volume 46 , Issue 3 , July 2013 , pp. 335 - 354
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ben Maad, M. R. (2010). Holistic and analytic processing modes in non-native learners' performance of narrative tasks. System 38, 591–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Booth, P. (2011). The interplay between lexis and learning: A study of second language vocabulary profiles and learning style. Ph.D. dissertation, Kingston University.Google Scholar
Carroll, J. B. (1981). Twenty five years of research on foreign language aptitude. In Diller, K. (ed.), Individual differences and universals in language learning aptitude. Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 83–118.Google Scholar
Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E. & Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning: A systematic and critical review. Learning and Skills Research Centre. www.leerbeleving.nl/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/learning-styles.pdfGoogle Scholar
David, A. (2008). Vocabulary breadth in French L2 learners. The Language Learning Journal 36.2, 167–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Bot, K., Lowie, W. & Verspoor, M. (2007). A Dynamic Systems Theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 10.1, 7–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairclough, M. (2011). Testing the lexical recognition task with Spanish/English bilinguals in the United States. Language Testing 28.2, 273–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, P. (2009). Lexical diversity and native-like selection: The bonus of studying abroad. In Richards, B., Daller, H. M., Malvern, D., Meara, P., Milton, J. & Treffers-Daller, J. (eds.), Vocabulary studies in first and second language acquisition: The interface between theory and application. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 91–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harley, B. & Hart, D. (1997). Language aptitude and second language proficiency in classroom learners of different starting ages. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 19, 370–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrington, M. & Carey, M. (2009). The on-line Yes/No test as a placement tool. System 37, 614–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hindmarsh, R. (1980). Cambridge English lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ijaz, I. H. (1986). Linguistic and cognitive determinants of lexical acquisition in a second language. Language Learning 36, 401–451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinnear, P. R. & Gray, C. D. (2004). SPSS 12 made simple. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Laufer, B. & Nation, I. S. P. (1995). Vocabulary size and use: Lexical richness in L2 written production. Applied Linguistics 16.3, 307–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindqvist, C., Bardel, C. & Gudmundson, A. (2011). Lexical richness in the advanced learner's oral production of French and Italian L2. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 49.3, 221–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackey, W. (1965). Language teaching analysis. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Meara, P. M. (1996). The dimensions of lexical competence. In Brown, G., Malmkjaer, K. & Williams, J. (eds.), Performance and competence in second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 33–53.Google Scholar
Meara, P. M. & Buxton, B. (1987). An alternative to multiple choice vocabulary tests. Language Testing 4, 142–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meara, P. M. & Milton, J. L. (2003a). X_Lex: The Swansea Vocabulary Levels Test. v2.00. Swansea, UK: Lognostics.Google Scholar
Meara, P. M. & Milton, J. L. (2003b). The Swansea Vocabulary Levels Test: The Manual. Newbury, UK: Express Publishing.Google Scholar
Meara, P. M., Milton, J. L. & Lorenzo-Duz, N. (2001). Language aptitude tests. Newbury, UK: Express Publishing.Google Scholar
Milton, J. L. (2007). Lexical profiles, learning styles and the construct validity of lexical size tests. In Daller, H., Milton, J. & Treffers-Daller, J. (eds.), Modelling and assessing vocabulary knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 47–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milton, J. L. & Meara, P. M. (1995). How periods abroad affect vocabulary growth in a foreign language. ITL Review of Applied Linguistics 107/108, 17–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milton, J. L. & Vassiliu, P. (2000). Frequency and the lexis of low level EFL texts. Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, Aristotle University, Greece, 444–455.Google Scholar
Mochida, A. & Harrington, M. (2006). The Yes/No test as a measure of receptive vocabulary knowledge. Language Testing 23.1, 73–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (1984). Vocabulary lists: Words, affixes and stems. English Language Institute, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. New York: Heinle & Heinle.Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmer, H. E. & West, M. (1937). Discussion: Word frequency. Modern Languages 81.3, 136–138.Google Scholar
Robinson, P. (1997). Individual differences and the fundamental similarity of implicit and explicit adult second language learning. Language Learning 47.1, 45–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, P. (2001). Individual differences, cognitive abilities, aptitude complexes and learning conditions in second language acquisition. Second Language Research 17.4, 368–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmitt, N. & Meara, P. M. (1997). Researching vocabulary through a word knowledge framework. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 19.1, 17–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sjöholm, K. (1998). A reappraisal of the role of cross-linguistic and environmental factors in lexical L2 acquisition. In Haastrup, K. & Viberg, Å. (eds.), Perspectives on lexical acquisition in a second language. Lund, Sweden: Lund University Press, 209–237.Google Scholar
Skehan, P. (1986). Cluster analysis and the identification of learner types. In Cook, V. (ed.), Experimental approaches to second language acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 81–94.Google Scholar
Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tight, D. G. (2010). Perceptual learning style matching and L2 vocabulary acquisition. Language Learning 60.4, 792–833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar