Conditions for learning

A substantial and growing amount of research on learning and vocabulary learning in particular provides
useful guidelines for the psychological conditions that need to occur to enhance vocabulary learning.

- NOTICING
- RETRIEVING
- ELABORATING
-

NOTICING - involves paying attention to a word as a language feature. In materials design noticing
is encouraged by using typographical features such as putting the word in italics or bold type, by
defining the word orally, or in the text, or in a glossary, by noting the word on the board or in a list
at the beginning of the text, by pre-teaching, by getting the learners to note it down, or by getting
the learners to look it up in a dictionary.

I know that you are all familiar with glossary. It is an alphabetical list of terms or words found
in or relating to a specific subject, text, or dialect, with explanations and it is also called a
brief dictionary. Why? Because just like dictionary the important words or terms is written
in the glossary with a brief explanation. In that way we will be able to easily notice those
words since it is written in bold letters. Another example is when we are making a
reviewer. We tend to highlight or write the words that we want to memorize in a capital
letter or italicize the text to make it easier for us to look for it.

- Barcroft’s (2006) research- shows, we learn what we focus on, and typographical enhancements
tend to bring about small improvements in knowledge of word form
- Just like what I have said earlier about the typing or writing the words in italic or bold letters
could help us to improve our vocabulary
- . (Laufer and Hulstijn, 2001)- The further one moves from noticing to retrieval, to varied use,
and to elaboration, the better learning is likely to be.
It means that we can learn better if we start from noticing or recognizing the word and then
proceed to retrieval and try to elaborate it for better understanding.

- Once a word has been noticed and some memory trace of it remains, it is then possible to use
retrieval as a way of strengthening and establishing the learning. Retrieval can be receptive or
productive and involves recalling the meaning or part of the meaning of a form when the
spoken or written form is met (receptive retrieval), or recalling the spoken or written form in
order to express a meaning (productive retrieval). Retrieval does not occur if the form and the
meaning are both visible to the learner.
- (Joe, Nation and Newton, 1996). Retrieval considered as the basis of the production of the
output
- In materials design, retrieval is encouraged through meaning focused use of the four skills of
listening, speaking, reading and writing, through allowing learners time to retrieve, and through
activities like retelling, role-play or problem-solving where input
-

It is said here that retrieval can be receptive and productive, so what do you think is the macro skills
that is associated with receptive retrieval ?
receptive retrieval – Listening, Reading

productive retrieval – Speaking, Writing

why do you think productive skills referred to as the active skills and the receptive skills
as the passive skills?

- It is because in productive skills you are the one who compose or construct your
own sentences using the word then try to speak it out or write it down so that you
could be able to recall its meaning, while in receptive you don't need to form
sentences yourself. You just have listen or read then try to make sense of what is
being said or written down.

After Noticing we must retrieve those word. When we say RETRIEVING- w e try to remember or
recall the meaning of those words because we sometimes forget what we memorized after a day.
Have you also experienced that?

For example, in our computers sometimes we retrieve information from a computer by just
typing keywords specified in a user's query, so just like us we try to get back the
meaning of those words from our memory by remembering some keywords or recalling
how those words were written. During exam when we want to review mas gusto ng iba sa
aten na tayo mismo ang magsusulat it is because mas narerecognize or naaalala naten
yung sinusulat nten. But if you already know the word or if it is visible to you then
retrieval is not necessarily needed.

ELABORATING.

Elaborating is a more effective process than retrieval because it involves retrieval but enriches the
memory for an item as well as strengthening it. Examples of elaboration include meeting a known word
in listening or reading where it is used in a way that stretches its meaning for the learner (receptive
generative use), using a known word in contexts that the learner has not used it in before (productive
generative use), using mnemonic tricks like the keyword technique, or having rich instruction on the
word which involves giving attention to several aspects of what is involved in knowing a word.

In receptive generative use, you recognize the word by how frequently it appears in a
sentence you are listening to or reading, whereas in productive generative use, you use a
known word in a different context to expound its meaning.

(Pressley, 1977) - The keyword technique involves finding an L1 word (the keyword) that sounds like the
beginning or all of the L2 word and then making an interactive image that combines the meanings of the
L1 keyword with the meaning of the L2 word that is being learned. To learn the English word funds, a
Thai learner might use the Thai keyword fun which means teeth and then create an image of someone
sinking their teeth into a bundle of money.
It says here that we can use our L1 or mother tongue as a keyword if it is sounds like the beginning of
L2 word by combining images to form its literal meaning. For example, nga here is the word funds, in
Thailand the word FUN means teeth and since FUNDS is the word that we want to recognize, we can
then combine the image of a teeth into a bundle of money.

But still we must remember that Good vocabulary materials design involves designing activities where
the conditions for learning just like that have the best chance of occurring with vocabulary at the
appropriate level for the learner.

Nation and Webb (2011, Chapter 1) describe a system of technique feature analysis which can be used
to predict the likely effectiveness of a wide range of vocabulary learning activities. This system has the
major headings of motivation, noticing, retrieval, generation and retention.

With other reporters, Let us now look at a range of ways in which vocabulary materials design can be
done across the four strands of meaning focused input, meaning focused output, language focused
learning and fluency development.