Historical trends in SL

1HistoricaltrendsinsecondlanguagevocabularyinstructionCherylBoydZimmermanIntroductionVocabularyiscentraltolanguageandofcriticalimportancetothetypicallanguagelearner.Nevertheless,theteachingandlearningofvocabularyhavebeenundervaluedinthefieldofsecondlanguageacquisition(SLA)throughoutitsvaryingstagesanduptothepresentday.SLAresearchersandteachershavetypicallyprioritizedsyntaxandphonologyas"moreseriouscandidatesfortheorizing"{Richards,1976,p.77),morecentraltolinguistictheory,andmorecriticaltolanguagepedagogy.Thischapterwillseektoshowhowvocabularyhasbeenviewed,researched,andpresentedthroughoutthehistoryofSLA.Thepurposeofthissurveyistobuildabetterunderstandingofthepastandtoindicatelikelydevelopmentsinlexicalpedagogyinthefuture.TheGrammarTranslationMethodTheGrammarTranslationMethodwasfirstintroducedtoteachmodernlanguagesinpublicschoolsinPrussiaattheendoftheeighteenthcentury.Theprimarygoalsofthismethodweretopreparestudentstoreadandwriteclassicalmaterialsandtopassstandardizedexams(Howatt,1984;Rivers,1981).LikecoursesinclassicalLatinandGreek,thismethodusedclassicalliteraturechosenforitsintellectualcontentasmaterials;itwastypicallyassumedthatmoststudentswouldneveractuallyusethetargetlanguagebutwouldprofitfromthementalexercise.Studentswereprovideddetailedexplanationsofgrammarintheirnativelanguages,paradigmstomemorize,andbilingualvocabularyliststolearn;thesepreparedthemfortheregulartaskoftranslatinglongpassagesoftheclassics.AlthoughthenamesoftheGrammarTranslationmaterialstypicallyincludedtheadjective"practical"(e.g.,ThePracticalGuideoftheGermanLanguagebyT.H.Weisse),thewordwasnotusedtomeanusefulaswewoulduseittoday.Rather,itreferredtotheimportanceofpractice(Howatt,1984):Lessonstypicallyconsistedofareadingselection,twoorthreelongcolumnsofnewvocabularyitemswithnative-languageequivalents,andatest(Rivers,1981}.Languageskillwasjudgedaccordingtoone'sabilitytoanalyzethesyntacticstructure,primarilytoconjugateverbs.Itfollows,then,thatstudentsusingtheGrammarTranslationMethodstudiedliterarylanguagesamplesthatusedprimarilyarchaicstructuresandobsoletevocabulary.Studentswereexposedtoawideliteraryvocabulary(Rivers,1981}thatwasselectedaccordingtoitsabilitytoillustrategrammaticalrules,anddirectvocabularyinstructionwasincludedonlywhenawordillustratedagrammaticalrule(Kelly,1969}.Whenvocabularydifficultieswereaddressedatall,theirexplanationsdependedlargelyonetymology.LatinandGreekrootsor"primitives"wereconsidered"themostaccuratecourtofappealonwordmeanings";theabilitytouseetymologywasrespectedas"onewayofdiscoveringtruth"(Kelly,1969,p.30}.Theteachingofvocabularywasbasedondefinitionandetymologythroughoutthenineteenthcentury,atleastinpartbecauseoftheprevalentbeliefthattheconnectionbetweenetymonandderivativeshouldbeprotectivelypreservedtoavoiddegenerationofthelanguage.Bilingualwordlists(vocabularies},usedasinstructionalaidsratherthanasreference,wereorganizedaccordingtosemanticfieldsandhadbeenanormalpartofgrammarsandreaderssincethemid-seventeenthcentury.DuringtheperiodofGrammarTranslationmethodology,bilingualdictionariesbecamecommonasreferencetools(Kelly,1969}.Asmorewasunderstoodaboutlanguagefamiliesandthenaturalprocessoflanguagechangeinthetwentiethcentury,scholarsbegantoemphasizethedangersofcognates,butthischangeinperspectivewasgradual.TheGrammarTranslationMethodwasusedwellintothetwentiethcenturyastheprimarymethodforforeignlanguageinstructioninEuropeandtheUnitedStates,butithadreceivedchallengesandcriticismformanyyears.Inthemid-1800s,theprimaryobjectiontothemethodwastheneglectofrealistic,orallanguage.Thisobjectionhadimplicationsfortheroleofvocabularyinlanguageinstruction.Forexample,theFrenchmanFrançoisGouinemphasizedtheacquisitionofspecificterms,especiallyofactionwords...thatcouldbephysicallyperformedastheywereused...Withinthesesituations,studentswouldactoutverydetailedsequencesofappropriateactionsinrelationtoobjects,statingaloudexactlywhattheyweredoingwithwhat.(Rivers,1983,p.116)Heintroducedwordsinsemanticfieldsintheinterestofteachingaverb'scollocationsalongwiththeverb,alwaysemphasizingthat"generaltermsare...termsofluxury,whichthelanguagecanuponnecessitydowithout"(Gouin,1892,inRivers,1983,p.116).AnotherchallengecamefromThomasPrendergast,whoobjectedtoarchaicvocabularylists;inhis1864manual,TheMasteryofLanguages,or,theArtofSpeakingForeignTonguesIdiomatically,helistedthemostcommonEnglishwords,basedentirelyonhisintuitivejudgment.Thisefforttorankvocabularyaccordingtofrequencywasseenasoneofmanyfleetingandrebelliousmethodsthatfailedtoperformwhatitpromisedandconsequently"didn'tsignificantlyinfluencelanguageteaching"(Sweet,1899/1964,p.2).Nevertheless,Prendergast'sjudgmentsweredeemedsurprisinglyaccuratewhencomparedtothelistscompiledsystematicallybyThorndikeandLorgein1944:ofatotalof214words,82%ofPrendergast'swordswereamongthefirst500mostfrequentwordsonthelistofThorndike-Lorge(Howatt,1984).Prendergast'slistwasanimportantinnovationbecauseitcameatatimewhensimplicityandeverydaylanguagewerescornedandbeforeitwasnormaltothinkintermsofcommonwords.TheReformMovementAsalreadyseen,althoughGrammarTranslationdominatedlanguageteachingaslateasthe1920s,ithadbeenchallengedonmanyfronts.Inthe1880sitschallengershadenoughconsensusandtheintellectualleadershiptheyneededfromlinguistssuchasHenrySweetinEnglandtoestablishtheReformMovement.SweetinsistedthatpreviousreactionsagainstGrammarTranslationhadfailedbecausetheywere"basedonaninsufficientknowledgeofthescienceoflanguageandbecausethey[were]one-sided"(Sweet,1899/1964,p.3).TheReformersemphasizedtheprimacyofspokenlanguageandphonetictraining.Fluencytookonanewmeaning:theabilitytoaccuratelypronounceaconnectedpassageandtomaintainassociationsbetweenastreamofspeechandthereferentsintheoutsideworld.ThecurriculumdevelopedbySweetisconsideredrepresentativeofthetime(Howatt,1984).HissystembeganwiththeMechanicalStage,wherestudentsstudiedphoneticsandtranscription,continuedtotheGrammaticalStage,wheretheystudiedgrammarandverybasicvocabulary,andthentotheIdiomaticStage,wheretheypursuedvocabularyingreaterdepth.Stagesfourandfive(LiteraryandArchaic)consistedofthestudyofphilologyandwerereservedforuniversity-levelwork.Sweet'slessonswerebasedoncarefullycontrolledspokenlanguageinwhichlistsofseparatedwordsandisolatedsentenceswereavoided;onlyafterthoroughstudyofthecompletetextshouldgrammarpointsorvocabularyitemsbeisolatedforinstructionalpurposes.Althoughlanguageismadeupofwords,wedonotspeakinwords,butinsentences.Fromapractical,aswellasascientific,pointofview,thesentenceistheunitoflanguage,nottheword.Fromapurelyphoneticpointofviewwordsdonotexist.(Sweet,1899/1964,p.97)PerhapstheReformers'mostsignificantdeparturefromthepastintheareaofvocabularyinstructionwasthatwordscametobeassociatedwithrealityratherthanwithotherwordsandsyntacticpatterns.Tothisend,vocabularywasselectedaccordingtoitssimplicityandusefulness.Sweetbegantodiscussthepossibilityofdevelopingvocabularylistsbasedonstatisticalmeasures,thoughtheyweredevelopedintuitivelybyconsensusuntilthe1920s(Kelly,1969).Sweetbelievedthatpracticalwordssuchashouseholditemsandarticlesofclothingwerenotonlyimportanttoknow,butalsoappropriately"dullandcommonplace";hewarnedthatstudentsmightbedistractedfromlearningbyinterestingmaterials(Howatt,1984,p.187).TheDirectMethodTheDirectMethod,thebestknownofseveral"natural"methodsintroducedtowardtheendofthenineteenthcentury,benefitedfromthedebatethatensuedduringtheReformMovement,thoughitwasn'tconsideredgroundedinlinguistictheorybySweetandotherintellectualleaders(Richards&Rodgers,1986).Itsnamecamefromthepriorityofrelatingmeaningdirectlywiththetargetlanguagewithoutthestepoftranslation.DevelopedintheUnitedStatesbySauveurandmadefamousbyBerlitz,theDirectMethodstatedthatinteractionwasattheheartofnaturallanguageacquisition.Itsproponentsusedthetargetlanguageasthelanguageofinstructioninsmall,intensiveclassesconsistingofcarefullygradedprogressionsofquestionandanswerexchanges.Everydayvocabularyandsentenceswereused.Readingwastaughtthroughoutthecourseandwas"developedthroughpracticewithspeaking"(Larsen-Freeman,1986).CriticismsagainsttheDirectMethodincludeditsover-simplificationofthesimilaritiesbetweenL1andL2anditslackofconsiderationofthepracticallogisticsofthepublicclassroom(Richards&Rodgers,1986).InSauveur's1874teacher'smanual,AnIntroductiontotheTeachingofLivingLanguageswithoutGrammarorDictionary,heproposedtwoprinciplesoflanguageteachingthatdictatedvocabularyselectionandinstruction.Thefirstprinciplewasthatteacherswereonlytoask"earnestquestions"thatelicitedanswersinwhichtheteacherhadgenuineinterest.Second,questionsneededtobeconnectedtooneanotherin"suchamannerthatonemaygiverisetoanother"toprovidethelearnerswiththeopportunitiestolearnfromcontext(Howatt,1984,p.201).Thevocabularywassimpleandfamiliar:thefirstfewlessonsoftheBerlitzEnglishcourse,forexample,werebasedonobjectsintheclassroom,clothing,andpartsofthebody,followedbytobeandcommonadjectives(big,small,thin,thick,etc.)(Howatt,1984,p.206).Concretevocabularywasexplainedwithlabeledpicturesanddemonstration,whileabstractvocabularywastaughtthroughtheassociatingofideas(Rivers,1983;Richards&Rodgers,1986).Chartsandpictureswereusedduringthisperiod,firstintheclassroomandtheninlanguagetextbooks.Objectswerealsousedtodemonstratemeaning,andthetermrealiaorrealienappearstohavebeenadoptedatthistime(Kelly,1969).ManytraditionalistsneveradjustedtotheDirectMethodandcriticizeditforbeingtrivial.ItneverwasadoptedintheordinaryschoolsofAmericaorEurope,butgainedanextensivefollowingthroughprivatelanguagefacilitiessuchastheBerlitzSchools(Howatt,1984).TheReadingMethod/SituationalLanguageTeachingThe1920sand1930ssawthebirthoftheReadingMethodintheUnitedStatesandSituationalLanguageTeachinginGreatBritain.TheReadingMethodwasaimedprimarilyatthedevelopmentofreadingskills,aresponseinparttothe1929Colemanreport,whichcitedseriousdeficienciesintheforeignlanguagereadingskillsofAmericanstudents(Rivers,1981).Similarly,inGreatBritain,MichaelWeststressedtheneedtofacilitatereadingskillbyimprovingvocabularyskills.BeginningwithhisthesisatOxfordin1927andcontinuingformorethanfortyyears,hecriticizeddirectmethodologistsforstressingtheimportanceofspeechwithoutprovidingguidelinesforselectingcontent:ThePrimarythinginlearningalanguageistheacquisitionofavocabulary,andpracticeinusingit(whichisthesamethingas'acquiring').Theproblemiswhatvocabulary;andnoneofthese'moderntextbooksincommonuseinEnglishschools'haveattemptedtosolvetheproblem.(West,1930,p.514)Hestatedthatforeignlanguagelearnersdidnothaveevenabasicthousand-wordvocabularyafterthreeyearsofstudy,forthreereasons:(1)theirtimewasspentonactivitiesthatwerenothelpingthemspeakthelanguage;(2)theywerelearningwordsthatwerenotusefultothem;and(3)theywerenot"fullymastering"thewordstheywerelearning(West,1930,p.511).West'srecommendationwastouseword-frequencylistsasthebasisfortheselectionandorderofvocabularyinstudentmaterials.In1930herecommendedtheuseofThorndike'sword-frequencylist;in1953WestpublishedAGeneralServiceListofEnglishWords.Eventhoughthislistisold(theheadwordshavenotchangedsince1936),itisstillconsideredthemostwidelyusedofhigh-frequencywordlists.Infact,publishersandexaminingboardsstillquoteWest's1953listdespitetheexistenceofmoreupdatedlistscompiledwiththehelpofcomputertechnology(Meara,1980).Atthesametime,BritishlinguistsH.E.PalmerandA.S.Hornby,consideredleadersoftheSituationalLanguageTeachingmovement,wereinfluentialbothintheUnitedStatesandinGreatBritain;theirinitialaimwastodevelopamorescientificfoundationfortheoralmethodsmadepopularbydirectmethodologists.Theybelievedlanguageshouldbetaughtbypracticingbasicstructuresinmeaningfulsituation-basedactivities;speechwasthebasisandstructurethatmadespeechpossible.IntheirreactiontotheungradedspeechimposeduponlearnersintheDirectMethod,PalmerandHornbystressedselection,gradation,andpresentationoflanguagestructures(Richards&Rodgers,1986,p.33).Manylanguageprogramswerepublishedduringthisperiod,reflectingtheperceivedneedforsystematicgradationoflanguageinlanguagecourses(Faucett,1933;Ogden,1930;Palmer,1916,1921,1924).Forthefirsttime,vocabularywasconsideredoneofthemostimportantaspectsofsecondlanguagelearningandaprioritywasplacedondevelopingascientificandrationalbasisforselectingthevocabularycontentoflanguagecourses.ThecombinedresearchofPalmerandMichaelWestledtothedevelopmentofprinciplesonvocabularycontrol;theirattemptstointroduceascientificbasisforvocabularyselectionwerethefirsteffortstoestablishprinciplesofsyllabusdesigninlanguageteaching(Richards&Rodgers,1990).Theaudio-lingualmethodTheaudio-lingualmethod(orthestructuralapproach,asitwascalledbyitsfounders)wasdevelopedbyAmericanstructurallinguistsduringWorldWarII,whengovernmentalandinstitutionalsupportwasavailablefortheteachingofforeignlanguages.PerceivedbyfounderCharlesFriesasanewapproachtopedagogicalgrammarratherthanasmerelyanewmethod,theaudio-lingualmethodwasoriginallyusedintheEnglishLanguageInstituteattheUniversityofMichigan.Fries's1945TeachingandLearningEnglishasaForeignLanguagedescribedthenewapproachasapracticalinterpretationofthe"principlesofmodernlinguisticscience"(Fries,1945,p.v).Thisapproachsuggestedthatmostproblemsexperiencedbyforeignlanguagelearnersconcerntheconflictofdifferentstructuralsystems.Withgrammaror"structure"asitsstartingpointandthebeliefthatlanguagelearningisaprocessofhabitformation,theaudio-lingualmethodpaidsystematicattentiontopronunciationandintensiveoraldrillingofbasicsentencepatterns.Studentsweretaughtgrammaticalpointsthroughexamplesanddrillsratherthanthroughanalysisandmemorizationofrules.Thecourse,asproposedbyFries,consistedofthreemonthsofintensivestudyoftheessentialsofEnglishstructure.Withthemajorobjectoflanguageteachingbeingtheacquisitionofstructuralpatterns,vocabularyitemswereselectedaccordingtotheirsimplicityandfamiliarity.Newwordswereintroducedthroughthedrills,butonlyenoughwordstomakethedrillspossible(Larsen-Freeman,1986).Theassumptionseemedtobethatthestructuralframescouldbe"fleshedoutwithwordsatalaterstagewhenstudentsweremorecertainoftheirlexicalneedsinparticularsituations"(Rivers,1983,p.118).InFries's1945text,heintroducedthechapteronvocabularylearningbyquotingEdwardSapir:"Thelinguisticstudentshouldnevermakethemistakeofidentifyingalanguagewithitsdictionary"(Fries,1945,p.38).Friessuspectedthatlanguagelearnersoversimplifiedtheroleofisolatedwords.Heattributedtheoversimplificationofvocabularyissuestothreefalseassumptionsaboutthenatureoflanguage.First,itisfalselyassumedthatwordshaveexactequivalentsindifferentlanguages;Friesarguedthattheonlywordsthatconveyexactlythesamemeaningfromonelanguagetoanotherarehighlytechnicalwords.Second,itisassumedthatawordisasinglemeaningunit;infact,FriespointedoutthatEnglishwordsusuallyhavefromfifteentotwentymeanings.Thethirdfalseassumptionisthateachwordhasa"basic"or"real"meaningandthatallothermeaningsareeitherfigurativeorillegitimate.Friesspentaconsiderableamountoftimeinthisintroductorydocumentarguingagainstthesefalseassumptionsandillustratingthefactthatwordsarelinguisticforms:"symbolsthatderivetheirwholecontentandtheirlimitationsofmeaningfromthesituationsinwhichtheyareused"(Fries,1945,p.43).Itwasthussuggestedduringthisperiodthatlearningtoomuchvocabularyearlyinthelanguagelearningprocessgivesstudentsafalsesenseofsecurity.WilgaRiversreflectsthisviewinTeachingForeignLanguageSkills,firstpublishedin1968:Excessivevocabularylearningearlyinthecoursegivesstudentstheimpressionthatthemostimportantthingaboutlearningalanguageisaccumulatingnew;wordsasequivalentsforconceptswhichtheycanalreadyexpressintheirnativelanguages.Theyoftenfailtorealizethatmeaningisexpressedingroupsofwordsandincombinationsoflanguagesegments,andthatthemeaningofanindividualwordisusuallydifficulttodeterminewhenitisseparatedfromacontextofotherwordsandphrases.Traditionalvocabularylistsrarelyprovidecontextsofthistype.Studentsarethusunpreparedtousethewordstheyhavelearnedasisolatedunitsinanyapproximationtoauthenticcommunication.(Rivers,1968/1981,p.254)Shewentontorecommendpracticewithmorphologicalvariationsandsyntacticstructuresusingwell-knownvocabularysothatstudentswouldnotbedistractedfromconcentrationonthetargetstructures.Sherecommendedthatnewvocabularybeintroducedfirstinhigh-interestoralactivitiesandthatwordsbereusedextensivelyinordertoaidlong-termretention.Aswillbeseenshortly,Riversalteredthisviewinlaterpublications.FreemanTwaddell,acolleagueofFries,echoedFries'sconcernthatlanguagelearnersoftenovervaluewordknowledgeandequateitwithknowledgeofthelanguage;hesuggestedthatteachersandtheoreticianshavereactedagainstlearners'exaggerationoftheroleofvocabularybydowngradingitandhaveconsequentlyoveremphasizedtheroleofgrammar(1980).Theramificationsofthisviewhavebeenseenincurriculumandteachingmaterialsthattreatlexicalitemsasthemeansbywhichtoillustrategrammaticaltopicsratherthanasitemswithcommunicativevalueinthemselves.Twaddellnotesthattheresultisthat,unlikeL1childrenwhohavemorewordsthantheycanexpressinsentences,adultlearnershave"aninfantilevocabularyandanadultmentality"(Twaddell,1980,p.442).Hisrecommendationforaddressingthisproblemisnottoabandontheprimacyofgrammaticalstructuresintheprocessofteachingalanguage,butrathertoteachskillsofcompensation:"guessingwordmeaningsandtoleratingvagueness."CommunicativelanguageteachingAmajortransitioninlinguistictheorywastriggeredbythepublicationofNoamChomsky'sSyntacticStructuresin1957.Thisworkintroducedtheassumptionthatlanguageisrepresentedinthespeaker'smentalgrammarbyanabstractsetofrulesthatismostclearlyreflectedinaspeaker'sunconsciousintuitionsaboutlanguage,andleastreflectedinhisorherconsciousbeliefsandstatementsabouttheuseoflanguage(Chomsky,1965).Chomskymaintainedthatlanguageexistedintheindividualquiteapartfromcommunicatingneeds,andlabeledtheinternalized(unconscious)mentalgrammarofalanguagecompetence,andtheactualuseofitperformance.Atthesametime,though,hepaidlittleattentiontothenatureoflanguageuseinrealcommunication.Hisworkwasarevolutionaryreminderofthecreativityoflanguageandachallengetothebehavioristviewoflanguageasasetofhabits.InreactionagainsttheChomskyannotionofanautonomouslinguisticcompetence,DellHymesintroducedtheconceptofcommunicativecompetence,which,whilenotrejectingChomsky'smodel,gavegreateremphasistothesociolinguisticandpragmaticfactorsgoverningeffectivelanguageuse.Communicativecompetenceisdefinedastheinternalizedknowledgeofthesituationalappropriatenessoflanguage(Hymes,1972).Anessentialinsightthatemergedfromthisperiodisthatcommunicativecompetenceincorporateslinguisticcompetenceinthesenseoflinguisticcreativityandthatlanguagelearningisquitedifferentfromthepreviouslyheldmodelofhabitformation.Theresultwasacompletechangeinthedirectionforlanguageinstruction;thefocusinlanguageteachingchangedtocommunicativeproficiencyratherthanthecommandofstructures.Thisshifthasbeenmanifestedincommunicativelanguageteaching,abroadtermusedtorefertomanyspecificmethods.Ingeneral,communicativelanguageteachingstrivesto"makecommunicativecompetencethegoaloflanguageteachingandtodevelopproceduresfortheteachingofthefourlanguageskillsthatacknowledgetheinterdependenceoflanguageandcommunication(Richards&Rodgers,1990,p.66).Communicativemethodshavethecommongoalsofbringinglanguagelearnersintoclosercontactwiththetargetlanguage(Stern,1981)andofpromotingfluencyoveraccuracy.Riversdescribedherperceptionofthisshiftin1983whenshereferredtotheinsufficiencyoftheskill-gettingpracticesoftheaudio-lingualmethodsalonewithouttheskill-usingopportunitiesofrealcommunication:Onefailureinthepasthasbeeninoursatisfactionwithstudentswhoperformedwellinpseudo-communication.Wehavetendedtoassumethattherewouldthenbeautomatictransfertoperformanceininteraction(bothinthereceptionandexpressionofmessages).(Rivers,1983,p.43)Intheargumentforfluencyoveraccuracy,Rivershasexhortedlanguageeducatorstopaymoreattentiontowords,consideringcarefullyhowtohelplearnerscommunicatemean