Lexical Processing in Second Language Learners: Papers and Perspectives in Honour of Paul Meara (Second Language Acquisition) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184769151X ISBN 13: 9781847691514

Verlag: Multilingual Matters, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

This book presents studies from authors at the cutting edge of second language vocabulary research, whose output represents much of the current focus and direction of work in this area. The authors address various aspects of L2 lexical processing and explore different models of acquisition, processing and storage. The studies are linked by the fact that the authors have all belonged to the same dynamic and influential vocabulary acquisition research group led by Paul Meara. Alison Wray provides an overview of how Meara has led this group's research activities in an innovative PhD programme, and John Read and Paul Nation contribute a critical evaluation of Meara's wide-ranging contributions to the field of vocabulary acquisition research. The research studies presented here are relevant and replicable, offering researchers and teachers many valuable and critical insights into lexical processing in second language learners.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Tess Fitzpatrick is a senior lecturer in Applied Linguistics at Swansea University. Her main research interests and publications are in the areas of vocabulary acquisition, storage and retrieval, with a specific focus on word association studies and vocabulary measurement tools. In particular she attempts to challenge the assumptions which often underlie our understanding of the nature of vocabulary knowledge. A qualified and experienced language teacher and teacher trainer, she has also worked on projects exploring extreme language learning methodologies and the role of formulaic sequences in second language use.

Andy Barfield teaches in the Faculty of Law at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan. His research interests include learners' L2 collocation development and learner autonomy in second language education. His book publications include Reconstructing Autonomy in Language Education: Inquiry and innovation (2007; co-edited with S. Brown; Palgrave Macmillan) and Researching Collocations in Another Language: Multiple Interpretations (2009; co-edited with H. Gyllstad; Palgrave Macmillan).

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Lexical Processing in Second Language Learners

Papers and Perspectives in Honour of Paul Meara

By Tess Fitzpatrick, Andy Barfield

Multilingual Matters

Copyright © 2009 Tess Fitzpatrick and Andy Barfield and the authors of individual chapters
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-84769-151-4

Contents

Contributors, 
Preface Alison Wray, 
1 Introduction: Meara's Contribution to Research in L2 Lexical Processing John Read and Paul Nation, 
2 Putting Yes/No Tests in Context John Shillaw, 
3 Tangled Webs ...: Complications in the Exploration of L2 Lexical Networks Clarissa Wilks, 
4 Word Association Profiles in a First and Second Language: Puzzles and Problems Tess Fitzpatrick, 
5 Revisiting Classrooms as Lexical Environments Marlise Horst, 
6 A Close Look at the Use of Pocket Electronic Dictionaries for Receptive and Productive Purposes Hilary Nesi and Atipat Boonmoh, 
7 Repeated L2 Reading With and Without a Dictionary Jim Ronald, 
8 Exploring Productive L2 Collocation Knowledge Andy Barfield, 
9 The Messy Little Details: A Longitudinal Case Study of the Emerging Lexicon Huw Bell, 
10 Meaning-Last Vocabulary Acquisition and Collocational Productivity Brent Wolter, 
11 Acting on a Hunch: Can L1 Reading Instruction Affect L2 Listening Ability? Richard Pemberton, 
12 Taking Stock Andy Barfield and Tess Fitzpatrick, 
References, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

Introduction: Meara's Contribution to Research in L2 Lexical Processing

JOHN READ and PAUL NATION

Introduction

We are delighted to have been invited to contribute to this volume in honour of Paul Meara because we have long admired his work, as a researcher, a teacher and presenter, a writer, a bibliographer and a supervisor of doctoral theses in the field of second language vocabulary studies. Our perspective is that of outsiders, in the sense that we are the only authors in the book who have not worked closely with Paul as colleagues or research students at Swansea. This puts us in a good position to reflect on the wider impact of his scholarship in relation to our own work and the field generally. We will begin with some personal observations and then go on to review some major strands of his research in a more formal way.

Both of us met Paul for the first time at the AILA World Congress of Applied Linguistics in Greece in 1990, but we had been aware of his work for some time before that. Paul Nation remembers how pleased he was to read Paul's review article 'Vocabulary acquisition: A neglected aspect of language learning', which was published in Language Teaching and Linguistics in 1980. At that time, there truly were only a small number of scholars with an interest in L2 vocabulary learning and it was heartening to realise that here was another researcher who was so obviously committed to work in this area. This led to correspondence and a regular exchange of papers, articles and ideas, which has continued to this day. However, for reasons that we will discuss further in a moment, his research and ours have proceeded mostly along separate tracks; Meara and Nation have collaborated only once, on a co-authored article (Nation & Meara, 2002) for Norbert Schmitt's introductory survey of applied linguistics.

After the initial meeting in Greece in 1990, John proceeded straight to London to spend three months on sabbatical, working with Paul at Birkbeck College. This turned out to be a key transition point in Paul's career because he was in his last few months at Birkbeck, having already accepted an intriguing new opportunity to establish a specialised research unit on vocabulary acquisition in what was then the Centre for Applied Language Studies at University College, Swansea. Subsequently, we have both visited him in Swansea and have met him regularly at international conferences. However, we have never been able to entice him to New Zealand. He travels widely in Europe and has an impressive range of collaborations with scholars in his own continent. We know that he also makes trips to Canada, the USA and Japan, but it seems that our part of the world is a hemisphere too far for him. Still, we hope that some day he may visit us and give our students the chance to meet him and hear firsthand one of his stimulating presentations on his research.

It is interesting to note in this regard that the two universities, Swansea and Victoria, which are perhaps the foremost centres in the world for doctoral research in second language vocabulary, are located at opposite ends of the earth. It is stretching the metaphor too far to say that they are poles apart in other respects, but there are certainly differences. The Swansea PhD programme (as described by Alison Wray in the Preface to this volume) is distinctive, if not unique, in its emphasis on distance study and the structured way in which it builds up the candidates' expertise in research methodology, while still giving them the freedom to follow their own interests. The doctoral candidates at Victoria follow a more conventional programme of study, tailored to their individual needs and interests, alongside students working on a variety of other topic areas.

More importantly, there are differences in research orientation. Our work at Victoria grew out of very practical concerns to promote more effective vocabulary learning by students of English as a second or foreign language. In this, we built on the achievements of our mentors at the English Language Institute in Wellington, H.V. George and Helen Barnard, who in turn linked us to the British tradition of vocabulary study represented by giants in the field like Harold Palmer and Michael West. As a result, a great deal of the research effort at Victoria has gone into the development of word lists, vocabulary tests and computer programs to analyse the lexical content of texts – all intended ultimately to be of practical value to teachers and learners. By contrast, the work of Paul and his doctoral students at Swansea is motivated by more theoretical questions about the nature of vocabulary acquisition and the state of the learner's mental lexicon at various stages of development. There is a stronger influence from psychology, seen not only in the research questions, but also in the types of measures and analytical procedures they have used in their experiments. Paul's ongoing interest in theoretical models and computer simulations (of which we will say more later) is further evidence of the impact of psychology on his thinking.

The contrast in approaches has been brought home to Paul Nation on more than one occasion when he has been giving talks in various parts of the world. Members of the audience sometimes ask questions that he struggles to find an answer to, like 'What model of vocabulary storage and learning is this based on?' It usually turns out that the questioner has been in the PhD programme at Swansea. This indicates the distinctive orientation of Paul Meara's work. It also highlights the fact that, after more than 15 years of operation, the Swansea programme has an impressive roll of graduates who are not only challenging inquisitors of other people's research, but also, in many cases, productive researchers in their own right, as can be seen in the contents of this volume.

Paul Meara has noted in the past the lack of continuity in L2 vocabulary research, with many one-off studies where someone had researched an idea and written an article on it, but never followed that up with further research so that the individual studies could be...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Multilingual Matters
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 184769151X
• ISBN 13: 9781847691514
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 196
• Herausgeber: Fitzpatrick Tess, Barfield Andy
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar