Whether you are a teacher or a learner, you know what vocabulary lists are. I’m a polyglot of 7 languages and a foreign language teacher. To be honest, I used to hate them. But then I realized that they can be helpful in learning a foreign language. Of course, it depends on how learners organize them and what they use the vocabulary lists for. This topic is important and there are both advantages and disadvantages.
Efficient and inefficient vocabulary lists
I believe that there are two kinds of vocabulary lists: the ones that work, and the ones that scare you. For example, at school, in English lessons, we were obliged to have a separate notebook with vocabulary. There were three columns: a word, transcription, and translation. I still remember my frustration with those useless lists. We had to write the words in alphabetical order every lesson. It took lots of time to write them, and we never used them. Can you imagine that we had never ever used them?
While I was studying at a university, I was also learning Spanish and improving my German at a private language school. There, I realized that vocabulary lists could be done in different ways and be an efficient component of learning a foreign language. They helped me a lot! No doubt, I kept making vocabulary lists while I was learning Hungarian in Budapest and Turkish. However, I compose my vocabulary lists in a totally different way than at school.
Learning in context
When I come across an unknown word, I write it down by hand and note the pronunciation peculiarities if needed. Moreover, I write the unknown word along with the sentence or a colocation.
I find those lists beneficial, as they help me memorize new words and collocations better. In addition, I love color coding because it helps me memorize new information faster. Often, I make sentences with unknown words.
I would like to emphasize that I am not saying that using only vocabulary lists will help you learn a foreign language. No. But I strongly believe that it helps learn new words.
Vocabulary lists in course books
Many coursebooks have vocabulary lists. I teach 3 foreign languages: English, Spanish, and German. And in almost all course books you can find vocabulary lists.
Examples:
A German workbook — Tangram Aktuell – 2 (A2)
As you can see, there are lists of vocabulary at the end of each unit. They are grouped into nouns with definite articles in singular, nouns in plural, verbs, adjectives, and other words.
If you know German, one of the most challenging aspects is learning definite articles with nouns and nouns in plural. Of course, there are rules, but there are millions of exceptions. That is why, instead of looking up definite articles for this or that noun in dictionaries, it is time-consuming. Such lists save time.
A coursebook in English — Enterprise 4 (B1)
Here the words are in alphabetical order and grouped by units.
I can’t see much use for them. However, I suggest my students use them when they write essays, at the end of each unit. The purpose is to use as many new words as possible. Having the list at hand will save time.
A coursebook in Spanish — Nuevo Ven 2 (B1)
Here, the words are in alphabetical order. They are not grouped, and you can see the translations in German, English, French, Italian, and Portuguese.
I never use these lists with my students.
Disadvantages
Firstly, there is no context. We memorize new words better in contexts that are from our real life. Whereas, we tend to memorize new words worse if they are about a Peter who lives on an island, for example.
Secondly, reading the same vocabulary list over and over again can become boring and exhausting, especially if students are not making any progress with their language skills right away. In addition, there is no context which is important.
Furthermore, a lack of motivation is what makes learning words in isolation less motivating than learning within a meaningful context.
I have asked my colleagues on social media and LinkedIn what they think about vocabulary lists (pros and cons). Here are some of their answers:
LinkedIn:
Just today I had a student who had to memorize a vocabulary list so I taught her a link chain memory technique. Essentially, she created a story using those vocabulary words! We added images and actions to make it a holistic experience. We also used other mnemonics, visualization techniques, and rhyming to solidify the memory. I suppose then, my opinion is that a boring irrelevant vocabulary list is extremely difficult to memorize. However, when you use brain-friendly techniques it can absolutely be an effective way to expand your vocabulary!
Using vocabulary lists is fine for keeping track of what you have learned and need to study. But it should not be the primary or only way to learn vocabulary. Learning vocabulary should be done in context using sentences and stories containing real examples of the vocabulary in use.
Pro: Gives a sense of achievement.
Con: Could become overwhelming to even look at as it spans across pages over time.
Instagram:
englishvitaminz (Nika, from Brazil)
- + easily adaptable to diverse paper/ digital exercises.
- + help scaffold reading and listening + provide language for speaking.
- – compromise noticing function during listening and reading.
- – take away learner autonomy for choosing what’s relevant.
andrianova.english (from Ukraine)
+ yes, it works well for revision after a unit. If you have the right approach, for example, categorizing. Then, it is effective.
olya_petruk_teacher (from Ukraine)
- + if it’s a key vocabulary taken out from the text, the video – makes sense
- + good for revision activities (synonyms, opposites, word formation
- – not effective without context due to the lack of associations built
- – if it’s a list with translation – same, lack of context = difficult to remember and therefore use later in speech.
Final thoughts:
Vocabulary lists are important and can be fun with the right organization and approach.
What do you think about vocabulary lists?
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