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- Bergström, Denise, et al.
(författare)
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Recycled or just frequent?: A corpus-based analysis of recycling in Swedish EFL materials
- 2022
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The importance of word frequency for vocabulary development is generally agreed on (e.g., Ellis, 2002; Webb, 2014): the more frequently learners encounter a lexical item, the more likely they are to acquire it. As a result, it has been argued that it is beneficial for language learning if vocabulary input is structured in a way that ensures repeated encounters with target vocabulary. In the foreign language classroom, where the language input is limited, it can be difficult for the individual teacher to ensure that learners are encountering target words frequently enough (cf. Schmitt, 2019). Teaching materials can thus play a valuable role in the language classroom by being the source of structured vocabulary input, where target vocabulary is systematically recycled. Studies have evaluated teaching materials and their function as learning tools by investigating the amount of recycling in the books, using either the raw frequency of words or a type-token ratio. However, given that some words are inherently more frequent in the language, figures representing the extent of recycling may be misleading, as the recycled items may be words already known to the target students. This paper presents a corpus-based textbook analysis where recycling is investigated numerically and the nature of the recycled items is also considered, that is, how frequent the recycled items are in general discourse. The corpus encompasses the texts from five series of intermediate EFL materials used in Swedish secondary schools (years 7–9). Lemmas occurring ten or more times were considered frequently recycled and thus possible to learn from the exposure. As the target students are intermediate learners, particular attention was paid to the amount of recycled mid-frequency vocabulary (cf. Schmitt & Schmitt, 2014) in the materials.The results indicate that although a considerable proportion of the lexical input is recycled ten or more times in the materials, the vast majority of the recycled items are high-frequency words, which students are likely to already know. Considering the target students, this means that the recycling figures cannot be considered favorable for vocabulary development. It thus appears that investigations of the recurrence of words may have to be complemented with analyses of their frequency profile to understand the vocabulary learning opportunities in language learning materials.
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- Kokkola, Lydia, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
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Improving learning outcomes in the Swedish school system
- 2018
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Ingår i: Addressing Societal Challenges. - Luleå : Luleå University of Technology. - 9789177900610 - 9789177900733 ; , s. 53-70
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The lack lustre performance of Swedish compulsory schoolsover the past few decades does not need to define its future.As this report will show, the main challenges facing the Swedisheducation system do not stem from a lack of resources.The effective implementation of research based innovationsand improvements in organization could tackle many of thesystemic weaknesses in the education system, thereby ensuringa brighter future. By addressing existing difficulties in theteaching and delivery of the curriculum and ensuring pupilswho are at risk are able to flourish, learning outcomes will beimproved. This, in turn, will reduce inequality, thereby improvingthe life-opportunities of young people and maintaining thehigh standard of living enjoyed in Sweden.
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- Nordlund, Marie
(författare)
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Aktivitet: The Importance of Frames in Meaning Extension
- 2009
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Konferensbidrag (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Semantic change through mappings between different domains is a common feature of language. These mappings are usually one-way, directed from concrete domains to more abstract ones (Sweetser 1987). There is "a general tendency to borrow concepts and vocabulary from the more accessible physical and social world to refer to the less accessible worlds of reasoning, emotion, and conversational structure" (Sweetser 1984: 26). It is well known that perception verbs such as see readily lend themselves to metaphorical extensions into the cognitive domain, but also verbs expressing possession, acquisition, and object manipulation can be used for such mappings. Hough maintains that "many words in the semantic field of cognition have been transferred from a physical application, often reflecting well-established metaphors such as physical possession as mental possession" (2004: 140). Likewise, Gronemeyer argues that the use of get in the meaning of 'understand' "show[s] the well-known extension from the domain of possession to the domain of mental understanding" (1999: 4). Within cognitive linguistics, frames are considered to be fundamental to the way humans organise their knowledge and understand and reason about experiences (Lakoff & Turner 1989; Barsalou 1992). Situated in "the cognitive unconscious" (Lakoff & Johnson 1999: 116), they are used automatically and without effort. According to Fillmore, "a frame represents the particular organization of knowledge which stands as a prerequisite to our ability to understand the meanings of the associated words" (1985: 224). Frames express the totality of knowledge that language users have about a verb. This knowledge includes information regarding the semantics and the syntax of the verb as well as background knowledge of the contexts in which the verb is generally used and how its usages are affected by rules and regulations sanctioned or introduced by society. Frames provide a mental framework for the action, process, state or event depicted by the verb and assist in the interpretation of words, concepts and sentences. Hence, the background knowledge contained in frames co-operates with the context at hand to select the most appropriate interpretation of an utterance. This paper presents an analysis the verbs acquire, buy, gather and grasp (Nordlund 2008). They are all concrete verbs that can be used in an extended way to express that something is understood, learnt, etc. The analysis is based on the hypothesis that the complexity of the frame of a verb determines how easily the verb may be extended into the mental domain. The results of this study demonstrate that physically concrete verbs are more frequently used as a source for a vocabulary expressing mental processes and cognition than verbs tied to more complex frames. It has been shown that frames exert a considerable influence on the circumstances, contextual or otherwise, under which the verb can be appropriately put to use. In other words, the complexity of the frame has a determining effect on how easily the verb is extended to mental usages.References Barsalou, Lawrence W. (1992) Frames, concepts, and conceptual fields. In Lehrer, Adrienne & Eva Feder Kittay (eds), Frames, Fields, and Contrasts: New Essays in Semantic and Lexical Organization. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 21-74. Fillmore, Charles J. (1985) Frames and the semantics of understanding. Quaderni di Semantica, 6 (2), 222-254. Gronemeyer, Claire. (1999) On deriving complex polysemy: the grammaticalization of get. English Language and Linguistics 3 (1), 1-39. Hough, Carole. (2004) New light on the verb "understand". In Kay, Christian J., Carole Hough & Irene Wotherspoon (eds), New Perspectives on English Historical Linguistics. Selected papers from 12 ICEHL, Glasgow, 21-26 August 2002. Volume II: Lexis and transmission. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 139-149. Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson. (1999) Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought. New York: Basic Books. Lakoff, George & Mark Turner. (1989) More than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. Nordlund, Marie. (2008) From Physical to Mental Acquisition: A Corpus-Based Study of Verbs. Ph.D. dissertation, Luleå University of Technology. Sweetser, Eve E. (1984) Semantic Structure and Semantic Change: A Cognitive Linguistic Study of Modality, Perception, Speech Acts, and Logical Relations. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley. Sweetser, Eve E. (1987) Metaphorical models of thought and speech: A comparison of historical directions and metaphorical mappings in the two domains. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society 13, 446-459. Emneord: Linguistics, semantics, frames
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- Bergström, Denise, et al.
(författare)
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Are students given equal opportunities to develop vocabulary knowledge? Swedish EFL teaching materials from a lexical perspective
- 2023
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Ingår i: National Forum for English Studies, 26-28 April 2023. - Västerås : Mälardalen University.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- English proficiency is a core skill for Swedish students today, as is visible in the curriculum for compulsory school where it is stated that school has a responsibility for ensuring that each student can “communicate in English, both in the spoken and written language” (Skolverket,2022, p. 13, our translation). To reach English language proficiency a substantial knowledge of vocabulary, both in terms of size and depth (Nation, 2022), is necessary. Vocabulary is, however, not prominent in the syllabus for English in Swedish compulsory school and studies have indicated that Swedish EFL teachers do not prioritize vocabulary instruction (Bergström et al., 2022). It has also been found that vocabulary learning is facilitated by systematicity and structure (Schmitt, 2019). The teaching material used in the classroom can be of support in reaching this structure in vocabulary learning, if it provides well-planned input. We have carried out a number of analyses of the vocabulary learning opportunities provided in Swedish EFL teaching materials for compulsory school. Taken together, the results indicate that thereis a lack of systematic approach to vocabulary in textbooks throughout compulsory school. Combined with the vague writings in the curriculum, this questions the support given to students in this respect. In this paper, we report on the compiled research findings and discuss the implications for equal opportunities in Swedish schools. We also present future directions for lexical analyses of teaching materials, informed by advances in linguistic research. References:Bergström, D., Norberg, C., & Nordlund, M. (2022). “Words are picked up along the way” –Swedish EFL teachers’ conceptualizations of vocabulary knowledge and learning. Language Awareness, 31(4), 393–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2021.1893326Nation, I. S. P. (2022). Learning vocabulary in another language (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.Schmitt, N. (2019). Understanding vocabulary acquisition, instruction, and assessment: Aresearch agenda. Language Teaching, 52(2), 261–274. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444819000053Skolverket. (2022). Läroplan för grundskolan, förskoleklassen och fritidshemmet 2022 [Curriculum for the compulsory school, preschool class and the recreation centre 2022].Skolverket.
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