English Vocabulary in Use – Michael McCarthy

by on 01/04/10 at 12:00 am

According to Michael McCarthy:

  • There are about 2,000 words which are more constant than all the other words and they are much more involved in creating constructions and combinations. (basic nouns,verbs, adjectives, adverbs, basic action verbs);
  • There are words that only occur in conversation: ‘right, okay, you see, I mean, you know), which are the core of spoken communication;
  • If we look at newspaper texts, novels, we can infer that an educated native speakers knows about something between 20-30,000 words. But it varies how many words are active or passive;
  • The notion of difficult vocabulary depends on a number of factors. 1. How similar is my language to the language I’m learning. 2. The context and how clear the context in which the word is inserted.
  • Some people learn new words because they like the sound of it, they relate to them and they learn them very quickly.
  • Our own experience influences the way we learn new words.
  • Reading is a good way to learn/attain new vocabulary, because when you are reading you have time to reflect, to use the dictionary.
  • We need to be careful with lower levels learners,because a text with too many new words may be demotivating and the reader will not be able to guess the meaning of words and set a context. They will simply reject the text.
  • At lower levels, mechanistic strategies like making word lists, memorizing translations may be helpful;
  • As learners become more advanced, they have the ability to create connections, to forge new networks in the brain, relating the input, the new words with words they already know, making a kind of a map, organizing vocabulary.
  • Most research shows that in a typical lesson, for active, productive use, you can’t really learn more than 10 or 12 new words.

Michael Mc Carthy is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Nottinghan. His publications with Cambrigde University Press include: Exploring Grammar in Context, with Rebecca Hughes and Ronald Carter, several titles in the English in Use series with Felicity O’Dell, etc. His most recent publication is Issue in Applied Linguistics.

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One Response to “English Vocabulary in Use – Michael McCarthy”

  1. Sydney teaching event | lingogo teachers

    Sep 21st, 2011

    [...] second part was the legendary Michael McCarthy, the author of English Language in Use and many other treasures. He was a great speaker and spoke [...]

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