Three Internet Tricks for Great Vocabulary

Randall Rightmire

UCSB ESL/Linguistics

SBCC ESL

rightmire@linguistics.ucsb.edu

rightmire@sbcc.edu

Los Padres CATESOL Fall 2008 Conference

October 11, 2008

Abstract: Do you wish your students could stop writing “excellently” essays and start writing “excellent” ones? Would you like them to spend less time “making” their homework and more time “doing” it? This workshop will introduce collocations and word formation, two ideas that can be applied in intermediate to advanced ESL grammar, vocabulary, or writing classes. We will investigate Internet-based tools students can use to solve collocation and word form problems; we will discuss how to apply the tools to different levels and assignments of different types.

• What are word forms?

intend ~ intended ~ intending ~ intent ~ intention ~ intentional ~ intentionally

Derived word forms: according to a rule

(intend > intended, intending; intentional > intentionally)

Inflectional word forms: not predictable; memorized; new coinages, nonce words

(intent ~ intention ~ intentional)

• Examples of word form errors

Having the same products as your idols gives them a boost of confident and allows them to think like their idol does. (Student writing)

• Looking at the derived forms at the end of a dictionary entry

Example: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deep

headword: deep

— deep·ly adverb

— deep·ness noun

— in deep water : in difficulty or distress

• Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary with a wildcard search to search for word forms

Example: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deep*

• Limitations? Depth, e.g

· What are word partnerships?

Collocations:

visibly shaken; play a major role

Selection restrictions:

she said (not: said me) that she loved me

Verb + noun partnerships:

do (not: make) homework; make (not: do) a mistake

Verb/noun/adjective + preposition partnerships:

engaged to, in (not: engaged with)

Verb + verb partnerships:

enjoy dancing (not: to dance)

· Examples of collocation errors

Once hearing the name “American”, the first word that comes in mind of foreign people is “fat”. (Student writing)

Word forms: Strategies for students

1. Identify word form questions in writing
2. Merriam-Webster wildcard search
3. Guess at word form expressions and get a Google count

Word forms: lesson plan ideas for teachers

1. Word form matrix
2. Cloze exercises
3. Paraphrase cloze
4. Identify word form errors in students’ writing

Collocations (“word partnerships”): Strategies for students

1. Identify collocations questions in writing
2. Search for example sentences among search engine results

Example: What is the correct preposition to put after “perspectives”?

Examples: “living standard” and “diversity of culture” and “grown in an incredible speed”

3. Guess at word partnerships and get a Google count

Example: count the number of “hits” (search results) for “comes in mind” vs. “comes on mind” vs. “comes to mind” (all in quotes)

4. Google an entire phrase or sentence without quotes

Example: she said me that she loved me

Example: first word that comes in mind

5. Search for concordance results

Collocations: lesson plan ideas for teachers

1. Cloze exercise
2. Identify errors in students’ writing
3. Collect errors from students’ writing for a class worksheet

Links to example student worksheets & self-paced tutorials

• Example: Word Forms Lesson with Internet Tricks 1 & 2

• Example: Word Forms Lesson with Paraphrasing Strategies (1)

• Example: Word Forms Lesson with Paraphrasing Strategies (2)

• Example: Word Forms Lesson with reading cloze (part 1 of 2)

• Example: Word Forms Lesson with reading cloze (part 2 of 2)

• Example: Word Forms Worksheet

• Example: Word Partnerships

• Example: Word Partnerships (2)

• Example: Word Partnerships (3)

• Example: Word Partnerships (4)