Four stages for turning "known" into "usable"
| Stage | What you can do | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Understand | You know the meaning when you see it | Check the meaning from the English |
| 2 Recall | You can bring up the word without a hint | Recall it from Japanese or a situation |
| 3 Use | You can use it naturally in a sentence | Make a sentence with words it often goes with |
| 4 Retain | You can use it on another day and another topic | Reuse it after time has passed |
"Understanding" and "using" are different skills
Schmitt's research and Webb's research treat knowledge that lets you understand a word when you see or hear it as separate from knowledge that lets you bring a word out and use it yourself.
For example, you see the word abundant and know it means "plentiful".
That is important knowledge.
But whether abundant comes to mind by itself when you want to write "this region has abundant natural resources" is a separate matter.
Beyond that, can you use it in a natural combination such as abundant resources?
Can you write it in a grammatically correct form?Can you use it within your own ideas?
Only once you get that far does it become easy to use in real writing.
When you have learned a word but cannot use it, memorisation has not necessarily failed.
You may still be at the stage of understanding it when you see it, without enough practice in bringing it out yourself.
Five reasons words do not become usable
1.Practice is only seeing English and answering in Japanese
In a word list you often check the meaning from the English, as in abundant → plentiful, which helps reading. In English writing, however, you need the reverse: recalling abundant from a situation where you want to say "plentiful", and putting it into a sentence.
So when you review a word list, sometimes look only at the Japanese or the meaning and try to say the English word.
It is fine if the answer does not come at once.
The time spent trying to recall plays a different role from simply looking it over.
2.You learn a word on its own
If you learn a word on its own, it is easy to be unsure how to use it in a sentence.
For example, you learn significant only as "important".
You can understand the meaning with just that.
In writing, though, there are words that often go with it, such as significant difference, significant increase and significant impact. Learning short combinations gives you more clues for putting it into a sentence than learning one word alone. For a new word, keep not just the meaning but the words it often goes with and a short example sentence you could use yourself.
You do not have to memorise a long sentence from a textbook as it is.
A short sentence you might actually say is easier to bring back later.
3.You read example sentences but do not make your own
When you see an example sentence, you feel you understand how to use the word.
But reading and making are different.
Rice and Tokowicz's review of second-language vocabulary learning also sets out studies that combine not just simple repetition but practice in recalling and activities where learners produce answers themselves.
If you have learned the word reluctant, for example, do not stop at reading an example sentence.
Write as far as "I was reluctant to..."
and continue with your own experience.
"I was reluctant to join the club at first."
The next day, use it in a different situation.
"My brother was reluctant to ask for help."
Using the same word in slightly different sentences lets you check not only its meaning but how it behaves in a sentence.
4.Using difficult words has become the goal
In English writing, people sometimes force in difficult words they have just learned to show off their vocabulary.
When you force in a difficult word, the meaning may be close but not fit the context, the words it goes with may sound unnatural, or the grammar may fall apart.
Look first at whether you used a word that fits what you want to say correctly, rather than whether you used a difficult word.
Increasing usable vocabulary does not mean replacing everything with difficult words.
It means being able to choose the words you need to match what you want to say.
5.You use a word once and stop
Using a new word once in a sentence does not mean it will come to you easily the next day.
As Rice and Tokowicz's review also covers, if you want a word to become usable vocabulary, build in several rounds of recalling it, with some time in between.
Do not stop after one use: make one sentence today, another the next day without looking at the word, and use it again on a different topic a few days later, recalling it with time in between.
Rather than redoing the whole word list from the beginning, repeating a small number, such as using the 10 words you learned recently three times this week, makes it easier to check whether you can use them.
Four steps to turn words into usable words
| Stage | What to do | Point |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Understand on sight | First get to the point where you understand the meaning | Check pronunciation, part of speech and the rough meaning |
| 2. Recall without looking | See only the Japanese, a definition or a situation and recall the English word | Think for a few seconds before looking at the answer |
| 3. Use in a short sentence | Make a sentence yourself | Simple is fine at first. Use it correctly before making it difficult |
| 4. Use again in another situation | The next day or a few days later, use the same word on a different topic | Do not memorise the same example; take just the word and put it in a new sentence |
To grow vocabulary in writing, start with paraphrasing
In free writing, it can be hard to suddenly recall a new word.
So at first, try rephrasing a simple sentence you wrote yourself.
If you wrote "The problem is very important," think about whether you can replace very important with another expression such as significant. After rephrasing, though, check that it fits the context, that the meaning has not changed and that the words it goes with are natural.
This practice connects sentences you can already write with new vocabulary.
To use words in conversation, make a sentence in 30 seconds
In conversation, you do not have time to open a dictionary and think slowly.
So for words you want to use in conversation, you need practice bringing them out in a short time.
For practice, pick one word and, within 30 seconds, make one sentence about yourself, then one about school, then another about the news or a general topic.
The sentences do not have to be perfect. The point is to increase how often you bring the word out yourself.
Three things Petra Tutors looks at
When Petra Tutors sees a concern like "they know the words but cannot use them", we check three things.
We look at whether your child understands the meaning on sight, whether they can recall the word without a hint, and whether they can use it naturally in their own sentence.
If the first is fine but they stop at the second, we increase practice in bringing words out.
If the second is fine but they stop at the third, we check how to use the word through short combinations and example sentences.
The practice needed changes depending on where they stop.
Before adding more word lists, looking at which stage the words they currently know are at makes it easier to decide what to study next.
A one-week check for turning words into usable vocabulary
Summary: after learning a word, add practice in bringing it out
Learning meanings from a word list is necessary.
But it does not follow that words will automatically come out in English writing or conversation.
In the end, do not stop at understanding a word when you see it. Check that you can recall it without looking, use it in a short sentence and use it again in another situation.
In this order, you gradually turn known words into usable vocabulary.
We chose this theme because the concern that your child does well on vocabulary tests but keeps using the same simple words in writing cannot be explained by the amount memorised alone.
If you cannot tell at which stage learned words stop being usable, Petra Tutors can also work it out with you while looking at English writing and conversation.
Before adding 100 new words, check whether you can use the 10 words you already know in your own writing.
References
- Schmitt, N. (2019). Understanding vocabulary acquisition, instruction, and assessment: A research agenda. Language Teaching.
- Webb, S. (2005). Receptive and Productive Vocabulary Learning: The Effects of Reading and Writing on Word Knowledge. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 33-52.
- Rice, C. A., & Tokowicz, N. (2020). A Review of Laboratory Studies of Adult Second Language Vocabulary Training. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 42(2), 439-470.
