Emerging Technologies: From Memory Palaces to Spacing Algorithms: Approaches to Second-Language Vocabulary Learning (Report‪)‬

An essential element of language learning is building one's personal store of words and expressions, a necessary component to improving competency in all areas of communication. In classroom settings, introductory textbooks provide a controlled set of new vocabulary items unit by unit, usually introduced first in dialogs and then gathered together in a list at the end of the chapter. While teachers urge students to learn new words in context, through dialogs or reading, many ignore the advice and focus on learning from lists, one column in the target language (L2), the other in the student's native language (L1). Flash cards continue to be a popular method of working with vocabulary, typically with the L2 and L1 on opposite sides. Today electronic texts and dedicated software programs provide considerable help in increasing vocabulary through reading (or listening) and in learning a targeted set of words or expressions. Glosses in L1 or L2 are often available, as may be multimedia annotations in the form of graphics, audio, or even video clips. Links to electronic dictionaries or to other on-line resources are also common. There has been considerable experimentation on the part of CALL (computer assisted language learning) practitioners with different kinds and combinations of glosses and other comprehension and vocabulary study aids. While many studies have analyzed the results of these projects, there has been less attention paid to programs which are dedicated, not to incidental vocabulary learning through reading, but to the intentional study of sets of vocabulary. This is an area of SLA (second language acquisition) that has been out of fashion, as the sense of rote learning it evokes is out of step with the model of communicative language learning, fostering as it does the idea of language as something mechanical and fixed. Yet, in this area, some interesting and innovative work is being done which goes well beyond simplistic electronic flash cards. In fact, integrating sophisticated tools for dedicated vocabulary study into on-line environments for language learning offers an important resource for serious, long-term language learning. VOCABULARY STUDY THROUGH READING