Vocabulary Level 3 – Package 2 – Grouping strategies 1 – Identifying and selecting vocabulary groups

Learning Outcomes

By the end of VOCABULARY LEVEL 3 you should be able to
✔ study vocabulary independently
✔ use different strategies to expand and record vocabulary

Introduction to Independent Learning

Independent learning gives you more choice about what, when and how fast to study. It also prepares you to learn after university.

In order to study independently you need to be able to set your own aims, choose how you want to study and reflect on the usefulness of studying that you do and on your overall progress.

Since you have chosen to study VOCABULARY LEVEL 3, we can assume that you want to learn more about how to expand and remember words more effectively. This course provides you with some example activities for studying these skills. For most of these exercises, we have suggested an aim. We hope this can guide you in choosing aims for yourself later.

Try these activities and then reflect on their effectiveness in helping you to develop and improve your reading skills. If they are helpful, do some similar exercises later. If they are not successful, you may try different exercises.

Introduction

Learning vocabulary is an essential part of learning a language. The more words you know, the more you will be able to understand what you hear and read and the better you will be able to express yourself when speaking or writing. Besides coping with the vast number and rich variety of words in the English language, the main problems for students are deciding which words to learn and how to recall them.

In this package, we shall look at vocabulary recording strategies which will:

help you to decide which academic words to record (and which not to)

show you how to record new and existing academic vocabulary

expand your academic vocabulary to a more advanced and sophisticated level

After all, according to Bergen Evans,

“many studies have established the fact that there is a high correlation between vocabulary and intelligence and that the ability to increase one's vocabulary throughout life is a sure reflection of intellectual progress.”

But as Bergen was an American lexicographer, a Rhodes Scholar, a Harvard graduate and a Northwestern University> professor of English, this statement is probably not very surprising.

Activity 1 Activity 2 Rating Form

Package 2 – Grouping strategies 1 – Identifying and selecting vocabulary groups

Grouping

Activity 1

In this task you are going to do two vocabulary tests.

1. You will be shown 15 words on your screen for 30 seconds.

2. During this time you cannot write or type anything; just concentrate on remembering as many of the words as you can.

3. After 30 seconds, the words will disappear and a blank screen will appear on which you must type the words you can recall. When you have finished, click on the CHECK TEST 1 button and you can check your score.

4. When you have finished TEST 1, do TEST 2 in the same way and compare your scores.

5. Finally, when you have finished both tests, click on FEEDBACK to compare the answers.

Click on TEST 1

Click on TEST 2

Activity 2

Look at TEST 1 again, and drag and drop the words under the headings in order to group them more effectively.

Click the tabs to show contents.