How Young Learners "Know a Word": Vocabulary Acquisition Guide

Introduction

No one is able to predict the exact moment at which young learners will acquire knowledge, but this "ah-ha" moment is familiar to most experienced teachers who recognize when the learning connection has been successfully made. These processes are particularly evident in the acquisition of vocabulary, as word after word is learned and used appropriately in context and tense. Some educators, though, may not be familiar with this moment of acquisition or may not recognize what is involved in helping young learners "know a word." To help fill this gap, this paper explains and exemplifies what is involved in "knowing a word," and examines some of the ways in which teachers can help learners acquire the appropriate knowledge. A summary of the research and important findings is presented in the conclusion.

What It Means to Know a Word

Many of the authorities who have weighed in on what it means to "know a word" describe words in affectionate terms — as being like "old friends" who, once acquired, stand ready to assist learners for the rest of their lives. Alas, there is far more involved in truly "knowing a word" than learning how to pronounce it and what its formal definition means. In this regard, Miller emphasizes that "a person who knows a word knows much more than its meaning and pronunciation. The contexts in which a word can be used to express a particular meaning are a critical component of word knowledge" (1999, p. 1).

For native speakers, word acquisition and application appear to be relatively intuitive processes that facilitate vocabulary development. After all, native speakers are immersed in an ongoing environmental dynamic that provides important contextual clues and references to help young learners understand what a word means. Miller notes that "the ability to exploit context in order to determine meaning and resolve potential ambiguities is not a uniquely linguistic ability, but it is dramatically illustrated in the ease with which native speakers are able to identify the intended meanings of common polysemous words" (1999, p. 1). Because words frequently have more than one meaning — and in some cases multiple meanings that differ and overlap in subtle ways — knowing a word for second-language learners can be a particularly challenging enterprise.

According to Kamil, Mosenthal, and Pearson (1996), there are several aspects of word knowledge that must be taken into account when attempting to identify the processes by which young learners grow their vocabularies through word acquisition. The key aspects of word knowledge complexity identified by vocabulary researchers include the following:

Five Dimensions of Word Knowledge Complexity

A brief description of these five aspects of word knowledge complexity is provided below.

Incrementality. Word learning is incremental — it takes place in many steps. Children's knowledge of word meanings is often initially incomplete but, over time, gradually approximates adult understanding. The incremental nature of word learning has sometimes been expressed in terms of a linear scale with several points: (a) never saw it before; (b) heard it but doesn't know what it means; (c) recognizes it in context as having something to do with a concept; (d) knows it well; and, more recently, (e) can use this word in a sentence. An incremental view of word learning helps explain how a great deal of vocabulary knowledge can be gained incidentally from context, even when individual encounters with words in context are not particularly informative.

Multidimensionality. For some purposes, it may be useful to conceptualize word knowledge in terms of a continuum ranging from "none" to "complete." However, it has long been recognized that word knowledge consists of multiple dimensions that cannot be fully captured by a simple linear scale.

Polysemy. Words often have more than one meaning, and the more frequent a word is in the language, the more meanings it is likely to have. The simple fact that a word can have two or more unrelated meanings adds substantial cognitive complexity to the task of using a dictionary. Even more troublesome, at least to the theoretician, is the fact that the multiple meanings of words range from being completely unrelated to being so close that the shade of meaning separating them may exist only in the mind of a compulsive lexicographer.

Interrelatedness. Words are often taught and tested as if they were essentially isolated units of knowledge. Such practice is clearly inconsistent with a constructivist understanding of knowledge that emphasizes the importance of linking what is learned to familiar words and concepts. How well a person knows the meaning of whale, for example, depends in part on their understanding of mammal. A person who already knows the words hot, cold, and cool has already acquired some of the components of the word warm, even if they have not yet encountered that word.

Heterogeneity. Another type of complexity in word knowledge is the fact that what it means to know a word depends on what kind of word one is talking about. Knowing function words such as the or if is quite different from knowing technical terms such as hypotenuse or ion. The fact that the different dimensions of word knowledge are at least partially independent of each other also means that the same word can require different types of learning from different students, depending on what they already know about that word (Kamil et al., 1996, p. 273).

While there is a virtual consensus among vocabulary researchers that knowing a definition is an essential ingredient in "knowing" a word, many authorities emphasize that the word acquisition process involves far more than just knowing what a word means. It also requires the ability of young learners to apply this knowledge in real-world settings. As Kamil and his associates emphasize, "It is important to recognize that only a small proportion of words that students learn can be covered in explicit vocabulary instruction, and an even more basic point: that knowing a word cannot be identified with knowing a definition. That is, knowing a word means being able to do things with it" (1996, p. 273).

The mental processes involved in applying word knowledge in real-world settings are far more complex than many observers might believe. As Kamil et al. observe, applying word knowledge means being able "to recognize it in connected speech or in print, to access its meaning, to pronounce it — and to be able to do these things within a fraction of a second. None of these processes is anything like remembering a verbal definition. In most cases, knowing a word is more like knowing how to use a tool than it is like being able to state a fact" (1996, p. 273). The tool analogy is particularly relevant with respect to word acquisition for young learners, who can apply this knowledge to the demands of real-world applications in all their variety — just as people who learn to use a screwdriver or hammer know how to use these tools in various settings. As Kamil and his associates phrase it, "Word knowledge is applied knowledge: a person who knows a word can recognize it, and use it, in novel contexts, and uses knowledge of the word, in combination with other types of knowledge, to construct a meaning for a text" (1996, p. 273).

Conclusion

The research showed that word knowledge is commonly defined along a continuum that includes several distinct aspects: incrementality, multidimensionality, polysemy, interrelatedness, and heterogeneity. Therefore, knowing a word is not an all-or-nothing proposition, and educators should recognize that students acquire understanding of words in an incremental fashion that evolves to the point where they are able to apply words in real-world settings in meaningful ways.

The research also showed that it is important for educators to regularly assess student progress in word acquisition by applying relevant metrics — such as their ability to recognize and generate critical attributes, sense and infer relationships between concepts and their own backgrounds, recognize and apply concepts to a variety of contexts, and generate unique contexts for targeted concepts.

In the final analysis, knowing a word is akin to knowing how to use a tool such as a Swiss army pocketknife — it can be pulled out when needed and used for a wide array of purposes depending on the contextual requirements of the unique situation at hand. This level of "knowing," however, does not simply appear without effort. It requires an ongoing commitment on the part of both educators and students to understand the vagaries of meaning that are typically associated with words in any modern language.

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