ELIF GENÇSEZEN SAVAŞ

Should vocabulary instruction be integrated or isolated?

OutlineRecall of isolated and integrated

vocabulary instructionsOur studyResults of the studyDiscussionRecommendationLimitation

PURPOSEto elaborate on which type of FFI (Form

Focused Instruction) (isolated or integrated) is more effective for learning new vocabulary through reading.

to investigate the effectiveness of integrated and isolated vocabulary teaching

Types of form-focused instruction

In a reading lesson, form-focused instruction can be done in two ways:

integrated vocabulary instructionisolated vocabulary instruction

Integrated FFILearners first engage in meaning; then

explore some linguistic features

Occasional shift of attention to form

Linguistic features are explored in contexts

Isolated FFIPrimary attention to form

Most attention to form

Pre-selected in the syllabus

Forms are taught in isolation

Form-focus Instruction andReceptive & Productive

We assume that integrated vocabulary instruction develops receptive skills as students are not given enough time to use the words and produce sentences. They interpret the new words as a comprehensive aid.

As isolated vocabulary instruction provides learners additional time and opportunities for productive use, it offers greater depth of vocabulary learning. Therefore, it promotes better productive skills.

DEPEND (v)To need someone

or sth in order to happen.

dependence (n)dependent X

independent (adj)

Whether or not we go to Spain for our holiday depends on the cost.

Sentence production tasks taught and assigned

Our studyFive teachers prepared presentations for each

unit in Reading Explorer Intro.Some words-especially difficult ones- were

taught as isolated, while others as integrated. Target words were graded according to their

difficulties and frequency of their usage by these five instructors

The most difficult and also the least often used words were chosen.

Two tests were prepared for both isolated and integrated taught words as receptive and productive.

Our study

95 words were taught as isolated and 31 of them were asked in the test

135 words were taught as integrated and 31 of them were asked in the test

Tests were distributed to these five classes70 students answered the questions

The Test What meaning does this word

form signal?1. This new drug could be an important step

against cancer.A) The act of lifting one foot and putting it

down on a different part of ground.B) A stage in a process.C) One of the surfaces that you walk on when

you go up or down stairs.

Isolated- receptive

The Test What word form can be used to

express this meaning?Whole(n):

…………………………………………………….

Indeed(adv): ……………………………………………………

Integrated - productive

Analysis of the dataWe collected the tests from the students.We divided the tests into two groups as

isolated and integrated.At the first step, each of us checked one

group’s answers.As a second step, we changed the tests

and checked for the second time.

Analysis of the data

We prepared a chart to record the results.There were 8 parts in each of the tests. We recorded the correct answers for each

part.Finally, we got the total number of correct

answers as receptive and productive

ISOLATED   RECEPTIVE     TOTALPRODUCTIVE       TOTAL

  A (4) C(5) E (3) G (3) 230 B (4) D (5) F (4) H (3) 452

STUDENT 1  3 2 0  2 1 3 1 

  1  2 0 0  4 2 2 1 

  1  1 0 0  1 3 3 0 

  3  4 4 1  1 2 4 0 

  3  3 0 0  1 1 3 0 

  1  2 0 0  0 2 2 0 

  2  3 0 1  3 0 1 0 

  2  4 0 1  3 2 2 2 

Results of The StudyThe type of vocabulary instruction

Isolated VI

The number of words taught in class

95

The number of words tested in tests

31

The type of the questions receptive productive

The number of questions in test type

15 16

The total of questions / the total of correct answer

1050 /330 1120 /452

Percentage 31 % 40 %

Isolated VIreceptive:31% productive:40%promoted productive vocabulary skills more

than receptive skillshelped students gain more detailed

knowledge of words (as they were better at word formation questions)

Results of the StudyThe type of vocabulary instruction

Integrated VI

The number of words taught in class

135

The number of words tested in tests

31

The type of the questions receptive productive

The number of questions in test type

15 16

The total of questions / the total of correct answer

1050 /501 1212 /253

Percentage 47 % 23 %

Integrated VIReceptive: 47 % productive: 23 %

resulted in better usage of receptive skills than productive ones.

Students were limited in the word-recognition level as they didn’t have the opportunity to practice the new learned words.

Discussion

Webb 2005Those producing a word in a sentence-production task acquired greater word knowledge than those doing the reading task.

The greater gains achieved in the isolated FFI than in the integrated FFI is thanks to these different types of processing tasks such asSentence production

Processing a word in tasks and using in a sentence may also help learners to understand morphosyntactic features of words.

Webb, 2005

Why not Integrated VI

.

RecommendationTo help students gain the most out of

vocabulary learning, instructional conditions that provide opportunities for a maximum amount of processing of the words should be arranged.

Language teachers need to invest their time in designing relevant vocabulary activities that can initiate students to interact and negotiate meaning.

RecommendationVocabulary instruction can be adapted to

the needs of the class.In integrated FFI,

They may reduce planning timeThey may not require additional materialThey can align instruction more closely to the

participants’ learning needs

RecommendationIn isolated FFI,

Teachers may help learners focus attention on vocabulary learning

They can teach more aspects of knowing a wordPronunciationSynonymsAntonymsLexicogrammatical featuresSpecific meaningCollocation etc…

Limitation

The tests were given at the end of the semester, so this may be a factor in the low success of the students’ test scores.

THANK YOU