The acquisition of an academic vocabulary within a course of study

Abstract

This study documents the acquisition of an academic vocabulary by four students enrolled in an in-service course for teachers. After being informally instructed in the use of eight different vocabulary learning strategies, the informants were regularly interviewed over a thirteen week period. The eight strategies focused upon in this study were using a dictionary, guessing from context, learning a word list, the keyword technique, using word parts, asking others, searching for glosses, and making semantic maps. During the data collection period, the dictionary was identified as a resource contributing to the effectiveness of a number of vocabulary learning strategies and approaches. The dictionary helped to check contextual guesses, make vocabulary cards, and devise keywords. However, poor dictionary resources and a lack of knowledge about how to use them effectively made the acquisition of an academic vocabulary difficult. This study also identified that some strategies were not adopted because they were perceived as time consuming or difficult to implement such as making vocabulary cards, and the keyword technique. A dislike of reading also meant that the indirect approach to learning vocabulary was ineffective for these informants as a strategy for learning an academic vocabulary. The results of this study suggest that if an academic vocabulary is to be learnt within a course of study three conditions need to be met. These are that learners make a commitment to learning, become conversant with a range of strategies they can use on their own, and devise personal plans of action. It also suggests that learning to use a dictionary effectively is time well spent for future learning.