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Issues In Educational Research, Vol 19(2), 2009
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Do example sentences work in direct vocabulary learning?

Zhang Baicheng
Chongqing Jiaotong University, China

In the present study of language learning, three presentation modes (varying from providing or not providing example sentences by the teacher and by the students themselves) have been utilised to examine the effectiveness of using example sentences in vocabulary presentation and learning activities. The study is of 58 English majors as the subjects and two tests were performed one hour and one week after the relevant presentations, utilising one of three presentation modes. Supported by the two major findings from data analysis, the study reaches the conclusions that: 1) using example sentences in vocabulary learning promotes learners' vocabulary learning and retention; 2) the ways of using example sentences influences learners' vocabulary learning and retention effects as well. Generally, the effect is better when learners make their own example sentences than when the sentences are randomly provided by the teacher. The conclusions indicate that example sentences do work in direct vocabulary learning in ESL and EFL contexts.

Introduction

In vocabulary teaching and learning in ESL and EFL contexts, two concepts frequently explored are incidental vocabulary acquisition and direct (intentional) vocabulary learning. The former refers to "learners acquiring new words from context without intending to do so", and the latter to "learners acquiring words while intending to do so" (Barcroft, 2004). When vocabulary teaching and learning activities are influenced by communicative approaches, learners are encouraged to acquire second language (L2) vocabulary incidentally by doing extensive reading and inferring word meaning from a context. Many language instructors believe that, "providing incidental encounters with target words is only one method to facilitate vocabulary acquisition" (ibid, p. 237). Some studies have found that incidental vocabulary acquisition via inferring meaning from a context is small, and it is only a complementary activity to intentional vocabulary learning (Nation, 2001). Therefore in EFL contexts where the adequacy of authentic communicative input of a target language makes incidental vocabulary acquisition less effective, it is worthwhile to add intentional (direct) vocabulary teaching and learning activities so that many approaches and methods are explored.

The keyword method "helps to facilitate the linking of a word's form with its meaning" (Hulstijn, 1997), and it has a facilitating role in vocabulary learning (Desrochers et al, 1991; Levin et al, 1992; Ellis & Beaton 1993; Hogben & Lawson, 1994, etc.). However, some researchers argue that the keyword method has attracted little attention because "it can be successfully applied with only a minority of vocabulary items, such as with words referring to objects that can be perceived visually" (Hulstijn 1997).

Defining is another method to teach and learn vocabulary directly. Some studies (Flowerdew, 1992; Ellis 1995; Brett, Rothlein & Hurley, 1996) show that providing simple and clear definitions of the target words is effective for vocabulary learning. Three categories of definitions were introduced (Nation, 2001): formal definition (consisting of the term - the word to be defined, the class it fits into and its defining characteristics), semi-formal definitions (consisting of only the term and the characteristics), and substitution (when a word, word part, phrase or phrases with a similar meaning is used to define the term).

The effectiveness of semantic elaboration on vocabulary teaching and learning has been studied, and researchers find that it is effective for long-term retention (Hague, 1987; Machalias, 1991). Four techniques for semantic elaboration have been summarised in Sökmen (1997): semantic feature analysis, semantic mapping, ordering and pictorial schemata [1].

Systematic instruction plus contextualised reading has been proved effective. Studies have found "positive evidence in support of explicit vocabulary instruction in an ESL setting" (Zimmerman, 1994; Paribakht & Wesche, 1997), and suggest that direct vocabulary instruction accompanied by a moderate amount of reading lead to significant gains in vocabulary knowledge (Coady, 1997).

Computer-assisted vocabulary teaching and learning (CAVTL) is a promising method. Harrington (1994) described a program which explicitly develops and monitors form-based and meaning-based links between words. Hubbard, Coady, Graney, Mokhtari and Magoto (1986) and Cobb (1997) reported studies of computerised programs providing learners with example sentences, or short definition and other information of the target words, and found the programs facilitate vocabulary gains. Thurstun and Candlin (1998) and Schmitt (2000) explored the using of concordances in vocabulary learning, and reported that it was advantageous.

Obviously, the approaches and methods reviewed above contribute to the effectiveness of direct (intentional) vocabulary teaching and learning. What interests us in the present research are the two studies (Hubbard, et al, 1986; Cobb, 1997) using example sentences to present target words. In these two studies, computerised programs were designed, and by presenting learners with example sentences (or short definitions, example sentences and the opportunity to type in a keyword mnemonic), learners were required to fulfill some tasks including choosing the meaning for the target words and identifying a form to fit the example sentences where the target word has been replaced by a blank. The studies conclude that such computerised programs facilitate learners' vocabulary learning.

Based on the two studies reviewed above, we planned to explore the role of example sentences in direct English vocabulary learning. However, instead of using computerised programs, the present study focuses on three traditional presentation modes because they are more typical and widely adopted in the EFL context in China. To be exact, the present study attempts to answer two questions:

  1. Does using example sentences in vocabulary learning influence learners' vocabulary learning and retention?
  2. Do the ways of using example sentences in vocabulary learning influence learners' vocabulary learning and retention?

Methodology

Design

In the present study, the only factor (the independent variable) to be investigated is the vocabulary presentation modes, and the dependent variable is the subjects' performance in the vocabulary tests. The independent variable contains three levels (three types of presentation modes: Presentation Modes I, II and III), and two treatments (two kinds of tests: the short-term memory test and the long-term memory test) are involved in each level. Therefore, the factorial design of the study is 1×3×2 as is shown in Table 1:

Table 1: 1×3×2 Factorial design

FactorLevelsTreatments
Presentation
Modes		1 (Presentation Mode I)1 (the short-term memory test)
2 (the long-term memory test)
2 (Presentation Mode II)1 (the short-term memory test)
2 (the long-term memory test)
3 (Presentation Mode III)1 (the short-term memory test)
2 (the long-term memory test)

Subjects

58 English majors from two universities were invited as the subjects of this study, and all of them were second year students who had been learning English for nearly eight years before the study was conducted.

Experimental material

We carefully selected 100 English words (see Appendix 1) from A selection of GMAT vocabulary (Yu 1999), and then invited 20 Grade 2 English majors (not the subjects) to do the target word identification. Each of them was given a word list containing the 100 words and required to circle the words with which they were familiar. After that, we eliminated all the words circled, and selected 45 from the remainder, and divided them into three groups (see Appendix 2), balancing roughly the learning difficulty of each group by considering spelling, pronunciation and abstractness. Finally, we got the 20 students to learn the three groups of target words (one each day at one-day intervals, taking 20 minutes each day), and to take the short-term memory tests one hour after their learning. We found no significant differences between their vocabulary gains, which indicates that the three groups of words have similar learning difficulty and the results of learning them are comparable.

Experiment implementation

Three presentation modes were adopted in the experiments. In Presentation Mode I, the forms, phonetic symbols, parts of speech and meanings of the target words were presented; Presentation Mode II included the forms, phonetic symbols, parts of speech, meanings of the words, and then the teacher provided an example sentence for each word; Presentation Mode III was the same as Presentation Mode 2 except that the example sentences were made by the subjects themselves rather than provided by the teacher.

The experiments were done during classes over 3 weeks, and all the 58 subjects were made to learn the 3 groups of words (which had been proved to be similar in learning difficulty) using 3 presentation modes, and tested twice.

In the experiments, the target words were presented to the subjects for about twenty minutes, using a certain presentation mode respectively, then the subjects were tested twice, namely the short-term memory test (held one hour after the presentation) and the long-term memory test (performed one week after the presentation). The test paper involved two types of commonly used vocabulary testing forms in China: giving the Chinese equivalent for the English word, and giving the relevant English word according to the Chinese meaning (see Appendix 3).

Marking and scoring the tests

Two forms were involved in the tests. Considering the actual situation of foreign language learning in China, it may be true that the first form (giving the Chinese equivalents to the English words) is more or less easier than the second one (writing down the English words according to their Chinese meanings), so we made some differentiation between these two forms of tests when marking and scoring them. For the first form, 6 points were given to each precise and complete answer, and for the second, 8 points for each correct answer. The full mark was 100.

For those correct but imprecise answers or partially correct answers (with one or two letters misspelt), we subtracted some points from the full mark for each word in accordance with the degree of the mistakes they made. Finally, in dealing with the decimal of the total score of each test paper, we adopted the rounding off method for the convenience of data recording and processing, ie, if the decimal was equal to or larger than 0.5, it was added as one, otherwise, it was ignored.

Table 2: The scoring system of the present study

Forms of testsScore for each
correct answer		Decimal treatment
for total score
1Writing the Chinese equivalents (10 words)6 pointsRounding
off method
2Writing the English words (5 words)8 points

Results

Descriptives of the short-term and long-term memory tests

Table 3: Short-term and long-term memory tests results

Short-term memory testsLong-term memory tests
PMMeanStd. deviationVariancePMMeanStd. deviationVariance
146.3317.731314.3791 25.0812.041144.994
246.1818.458340.7122 28.1317.807317.087
340.3014.722216.7283 33.0311.176124.897
Total44.2717.136293.659Total 28.7414.254203.185
Note: PM = presentation mode

Table 3 shows that the mean vocabulary retention amount of the short-term memory test by using Presentation Mode I is the most (Mean=46.33), the one when using Mode II is a little less (Mean=46.18), and that by using Mode III is the least, (Mean=40.30) which shows that the vocabulary learning and retention effects by utilising the three presentation modes decrease gradually; while in long-term memory tests, when using the three presentation modes, vocabulary learning and retention effects ameliorate progressively: the vocabulary retention amount when utilising presentation mode I is the least (Mean=25.08), the one when adopting Mode III is the most (Mean=33.03), and that by using Mode II lies in the middle (Mean=28.13).

Multiple comparisons of short-term and long-term memory tests

Table 4: Multiple comparisons of short-term and long-term memory tests

PMShort-term memory testsLong-term memory tests
Mean
difference		Std.
error		Sig. Mean
difference		Std.
error		Sig.
12
3
 .15
6.03		3.812
3.812		.999
.258		-3.05
-7.95 *		3.399
2.598		.750
.009
12
3
 -.15
5.88		3.812
3.812		.999
.276		3.05
-4.90		3.399
3.324		.750
.372
12
3
 -6.03
-5.88		3.812
3.812		.258
.276		7.95 *
4.90		2.598
3.324		.009
.372
Note: 1 = PM 1; 2 = PM 2; 3 = PM 3. * The mean difference is significant at the .05 level

As is shown in Table 4, the short-term memory tests results when using the three presentation modes are different, but the degree of the difference between any two tests has not been statistically significant (Sig. > .05); while in the long-term memory tests, the three test scores are variant when utilising the three presentation modes respectively, and the variation degree between tests 1 and 3 reaches a significant level (Sig.=.009, < .05), which reveals the vocabulary learning and retention effect in the long-term memory test when adopting Mode III is much better than that when using Mode I.

Comparisons of the memory fading tendencies of the three modes

From Table 3 we find that a significant difference exists between the short-term and long-term memory tests, which represents the natural memory fading phenomenon of human beings. However, observing the results more closely, we recognised that the degrees of the memory fading vary when using the three presentations. This is shown in the following figure.

Figure 1

Figure 1: Comparison of memory fading tendencies

In this figure, the three lines represent the memory-fading tendencies in using the three Presentation Modes (I, II and III), ie, the fading degrees of the vocabulary retention between the short-term and the long-term memory tests. The figure shows that the memory fading degree by using Mode I is the greatest among the three, and the one by using Mode III is the least. The degree of memorisation reduction by using Mode II sits between the two. The memory-fading tendencies by using the three modes proves the effectiveness of using example sentences in vocabulary learning and retention

Findings and interpretations

Findings

Based on the statistics, the major findings are summarised as follows.
  1. In short-term memory tests, the vocabulary learning and retention effects by utilising the three presentation modes decrease gradually. The mean vocabulary retention amount by using Mode I is the most, and that by using Mode III is the least; while in long-term memory tests, vocabulary learning and retention effects increase progressively: it is the least when utilising Mode I, and the one when adopting Mode III is the most.

  2. In short-term memory tests, the results are different when using the three Modes. The degree of the difference between any two tests, however, has not reached a significant level yet. In long-term memory tests, the variation degree between tests 1 and 3 reaches a significant level, which reveals the vocabulary learning and retention effect in the long-term memory test when adopting Mode III is significantly better than that when using Mode I.

  3. The vocabulary learning and retention effects of the short-term memory tests are significantly better than those of the long-term memory tests, which represents the natural memory fading phenomenon of human beings. However, the degrees of the memory fading by using the three presentation modes vary, thus lead to different memory fading tendencies: the memory fading degree of Mode I is the greatest, the one by using Mode III is the least and the degree of memory fading of Mode II lies between. The differing memory fading tendencies suggest the effectiveness of using example sentences in vocabulary learning and retention.

Preliminary interpretations

The following two aspects contribute to explaining the first finding. To begin with, the three presentation modes vary not only in the items of the target words they include but also the information processing loads they impose on subjects. As has been mentioned in the methodology, in the same period of time in presenting the target words, when using Mode I (without example sentences), the information processing load is minimal, and when using Mode II (teacher provides example sentences), the load is heavier because subjects need to spend some time in noticing the example sentences (processing some extra information) in addition to the basic information presented, while when using Mode III (subjects make the example sentences themselves), the load is surely greatest because the subjects have to spend more time writing example sentences than just observing those provided by their teacher. Obviously, the information processing loads imposed by the three presentation modes increase progressively. In this process, the information processing load increases, but the time used to process the increased information does not increase, therefore, it is quite natural that the effects of the information processing (in the form of test scores) decrease gradually.

According to elaboration theory, providing example sentences is important in vocabulary presentation. On the one hand, while it increases the information processing load, it ensures that learners can effectively elaborate the relevant syntactic information of the target words, and thus the target words can be stored in long-term memory (entering the mental lexicon) more quickly, which leads to a better access to them (for later activation and retrieval). On the other hand, by elaborating syntactic information of the target words, more information and possible paths are available to retrieve the vocabulary information stored.

Furthermore, writing example sentences encourages learners to achieve their intentional elaborating behavior, and the realisation of this actually enhances the elaboration effects, and thereby the degree of the vocabulary information processing is deepened, which leads to a more effective retention (storage) of the vocabulary information and a lower rate of memory-fading. Therefore, the vocabulary learning and retention effect is better than that without producing example sentences.

As for the second finding, we offer our preliminary interpretations as follows.

First, memory-fading naturally occurs as time passes. After the input (new information) has been received, it is stored in the short-term memory temporarily to be forgotten or processed further to enter the long-term memory, and in this process, information loss happens at various speeds according to different degrees of processing (elaboration).

The test scores decrease gradually in turn as the information processing loads increase, which is natural because increasing the information processing load is actually increasing a human being's cognitive effort. Increasing cognitive effort probably leads to the increase of learning difficulty, and may lead to poorer vocabulary learning and retention effects due to the probable decrease of internalising vocabulary learning in the new language. To be exact, the cognitive effort needed for learning and memorising the target words by using Mode III is much greater than that devoted to the task when using Mode I and Mode II, that is, the subjects need to pay greater effort for the vocabulary learning when required to write their own example sentences, and comparing with this, some extra but not much cognitive effort is needed for the learning activity when using Mode II with the example sentences provided by the teacher.

Then, as we know, memory fading occurs as time goes by, and the rate of the fading varies due to the information processing depth, the effectiveness of elaboration and some other factors. By using Mode III, subjects are required to make their own authentic example sentences, which needs more cognitive effort given for the vocabulary learning activity and this leads to much deeper information processing and more effective elaboration. Therefore a much more solid memorisation effect was achieved, and this ensures the slightest amount of memory fading among the three, thus the best vocabulary retention in the long-term memory tests can be achieved. Compared with other modes with little or no elaboration, we predict that the longer the time passes, the greater (more significant) the retention difference of the learning activities will be.

Conclusions

Based on the two findings and preliminary interpretations, we are able to summarise the conclusions of the study:
  1. Using example sentences in vocabulary learning promotes learners' vocabulary learning and retention. When utilising the presentation modes which involve providing example sentences, although learners' vocabulary learning and retention effects in the short-term memory tests decrease gradually due to the increase of the information processing load, the long-term memory effects of the target words increase progressively as a result of effective elaboration and the deepened information processing, which suggests the effectiveness of using example sentences in reducing memory-fading degree.

  2. The ways of using example sentences influence vocabulary learning and retention effects. The effect is probably better when students write their own authentic example sentences than when the example sentences are randomly provided by their teacher. However, we do not deny the possibility that effective presentation and elaboration effects can be achieved if the teacher carefully selects good example sentences which are also closely related to students' experiences, because what is important is not who provides elaboration, but whether or not the information to be elaborated restricts the materials to be recalled. Anyway, learners' own elaborations are usually more effective since they are uniquely processed in accordance with their own knowledge structure (schema).
Supported by these two points, we are confident to say that example sentences do work in direct vocabulary learning in ESL and EFL contexts.

The present study has some implications in vocabulary teaching and learning practice, which makes us believe that incidental vocabulary acquisition and direct (intentional) vocabulary teaching and learning are complementary activities, and the latter seems to be more important (at least in some stages of English learning) in EFL contexts. In direct vocabulary teaching and learning, many approaches and methods can be adopted, and the current study provides evidence for using example sentences in vocabulary learning, and emphasises that example sentences should be included as an essential component in direct vocabulary teaching and learning. To be exact, the study may shed some light on vocabulary pedagogy in EFL contexts:

  1. The example sentence is vital in vocabulary teaching and learning. By utilising example sentences, learners can be freed from the vocabulary learning methods focusing on simple and mechanical repetition and rote memorisation, and thereby their learning interest can be aroused, confidence enhanced, and then the learning efficiency can be promoted.

  2. Using example sentences in vocabulary teaching and learning leads to better information processing (elaboration) and slows down the rate of memory fading. As long as we manage to utilise example sentences effectively (no matter if they are provided by the teacher, extracted from other resources, or made by learners themselves), we are more likely to help learners achieve more effective elaboration, deepen the depth of information processing, strengthen their memorisation and ultimately improve vocabulary learning efficiency.

Limitations of the study

To begin with, this research actually uses a quasi-experimental design. There is not a control group whose test scores can be used to compare with the results of the experimental group. We have selected the same group of subjects and three groups of experimental materials (words). The comparisons are actually done among the subjects' test scores after learning three groups of words rather than comparing the learning effects between the experimental group(s) and the control group after learning the same group of words but utilising different presentation modes. Though the difficulty in learning the three groups of words was tested to be similar before the experiments, it is still more or less different, and therefore it may probably influence the comparability of the results by using the three types of presentation modes. A more ideal design will be that assigning three groups of subjects with similar proficiency on which experiments can be carried out with the same experimental material by utilising three types of vocabulary presentation modes.

Then, the assignment of the subjects is also a limitation. The 58 subjects have not been selected through true randomisation, and 32 of them have just been selected from one class since it is almost impossible to select a certain number of subjects from different classes or randomise the assignment of subjects to different experimental groups, which would need to reorganise classes and thus may probably disturb the ongoing programs and the teaching and learning order of the school.

Notes

  1. pictorial schemata: a semantic strategy - creating different types of grids or diagrams to encourage lexical ordering which, according to Sökmen, can "help students distinguish the differences between similar words and set up memory traces of the specific occurrence". Scales or clines, Venn diagrams, and tree diagrams are some typical examples.

References

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Brett, A., Rothlein, L. & Hurley, M. (1996). Vocabulary acquisition from listening to stories and explanations of target words. The Elementary School Journal, 96, 415-422.

Carter, R. & M. McCarthy. (1988). Developments in the teaching of vocabulary: 1945 to the present day. In R. Carter & McCarthy, M. (Eds.), Vocabulary and language teaching. New York: Longman Group UK Limited.

Coady, J. (1997). L2 vocabulary acquisition. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds), Second language vocabulary acquisition. Cambridge: CUP.

Cobb, T. (1997). Is there any measurable learning from hands-on concordancing? System, 25, 301-315.

Desrochers, A., DeRoy Wieland, L., & Cote, M. (1991). Instructional effects in the use of the mnemonic keyword method for learning German nouns and their grammatical gender. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 5, 19-36.

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Ellis, R. (1995). Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meaning. Applied Linguistics, 16, 409-441.

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Hogben, D. & Lawson, M. J. (1994). Keyword and multiple elaboration strategies for vocabulary acquisition in foreign language learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 19, 367-376.

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Appendix 1: Target words identification

100 English words are listed as follows. Circle the words you know or you think you have ever met somewhere, please. Thank you!

perishtweedcrematesuccumbsprawl
hagglespongesmirkcookery impersonate
groommobflushgrinder maid
jubilantpretextcertifygreasy potter
preachpotentcoralupheaval minimize
surpassfluentvitalityconverge javelin
impetusforciblejettyscarcity outpatient
scrawloutliveunrollconserve pier
trifleslipperexcavatedisarray inexorable
cringeencasesuffocatepouch prolong
gnawglintmessymellow glacier
ariddredgedrencharchaic exalted
creepyexpatriatelunaticjaunty kudos
frothmanicureointmenttreble havoc
slackenfrolicexpedientprelude diabetic
hassleslitlanguishincongruous judicious
mandatoryornatehoaxmanifest ordinance
siblingpetaldirectorateprimate succinct
triviamaliciouslukewarmlyrical incredulous
snipekneadhijackfresco extrovert

Appendix 2: Experimental material of the study

Group 1

Appendix 2 Group 1

Group 2

Appendix 2 Group 2

Group 3

Appendix 2 Group 3

Appendix 3: Vocabulary test papers

Test paper 1

Fill in the blanks with the Chinese equivalent of each English word or the English word of each Chinese one.

Appendix 3 Test paper 1

Test paper 2

Fill in the blanks with the Chinese equivalent of each English word or the English word of each Chinese one.

Appendix 3 Test paper 2

Test paper 3

Fill in the blanks with the Chinese equivalent of each English word or the English word of each Chinese one.

Appendix 3 Test paper 3

Author: Zhang Baicheng is an associate professor of English and Vice Director in English Language Department, School of Foreign Languages, Chongqing Jiaotong University, China. His research interests include second language acquisition, corpus linguistics and foreign language teaching. Email: zhangbc@cqjtu.edu.cn

Please cite as: Zhang, B. (2009). Do example sentences work in direct vocabulary learning? Issues In Educational Research, 19(2), 175-189. http://www.iier.org.au/iier19/zhang.html

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