I. Introduction - What is a Lexical Foundation?
Words and phrases are the basic building blocks of a language. You can
often use words and phrases to get your point across in a foreign
language even before you learn the grammar rules for that language.
At the same time, a good working base of vocabulary or lexical knowledge
also makes it easier to master grammar and other aspects of language. It
is much easier to understand and master the rules governi ng adjectives,
for example, if you already know an assortment of descriptive words.
Thus, the words and phrases you learn become the lexical foundation on
which you can base the rest of your language learning.
So how do you build a good lexical foundation? One way is to use Before
You Know It, an exciting language program from Transparent Language.
II. How Does Before You Know It Help You Build a Lexical Foundation?
Transparent Language created Before You Know It with the methodology
of building a lexical foundation as its guiding principle.
Before You Know It was designed to do one thing very well - teach
vocabulary words and phrases. The program uses a four-step process
based on virtual flash cards to accomplish this goal in the fastest way
possible.
Every card presents a foreign language word or phrase, its English
translation, its foreign pronunciation, and often an associated picture.
Each step in Before You Know It's learning process presents the flash
cards in a unique way, so that language learners can move from
recognizing foreign terms to producing them on their own. Throughout,
the program uses a proprietary algorithm that automatically tracks a
learner's progress and present the less well known terms with greater
frequency, so that learners can focus their energy and attention where it is
most needed.
With Before You Know It, new words and phrases are repeated soon after
their initial appearance and at spaced intervals thereafter to cement them
in the learner's memory. This repetition is important, because initial word
knowledge is fragile; if a new word is not seen again soon, the memory of
it is often lost. In fact, research has shown that it often takes between 5-16
exposures to 'learn' an average word. Before You Know It provides
learners with this kind of exposure, letting them see the target language
words and phrases in different forms so that they can build not only
recognition of the word and phrases but also the ability to produce the
foreign language terms.
III. Conclusion
Although learning a foreign language can seem like a daunting task, the
methodology used in Before You Know It can make the process easier,
faster, and more effective. If you start your language learning by building
a solid lexical foundation of vocabulary words and p hrases, you will be in a
better position to successfully acquire your target language.
Bibliography
Baracroft, J. Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition: A Lexical Input
Processing Approach, Foreign Language Annals Vol. 37 No. 2
ELTNews The website for English Teachers in Japan
http://www.eltnews.com/features/thinktank/036_mm.shtml
Lewis, M. 1993. The Lexical Approach: The State of ELT and a Way Forward.
LTP
Segler, T., Pain, H., and Sorace, A. Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition
and Learning Strategies in ICALL Environments
http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/s9808690/finalpaper2.pdf
Waring, R. Basic Principles and Practice in Vocabulary Instruction, The
Language Teacher 2002
Back to Press page
