This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Tang, E. Articles by Nesi, H. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Teaching vocabulary in two Chinese classrooms: schoolchildren’s exposure to English words in Hong Kong and Guangzhou

City University of Hong Kong

Hilary Nesi

Centre for English Language Teacher Education, University of Warwick, H.J.Nesi{at}warwick.ac.uk

In this paper the lexical environment of secondary school English language classrooms in Hong Kong and Guangzhou are compared. Teacher output for one week of first-form lessons was recorded in two representative schools. Lexical richness in terms of type-token ratio and word-type frequency was measured, the words that were explicitly taught were identified and categorized according to whether the teaching was planned or unplanned, and the teaching treatments accorded to these words were examined. The lexical richness of teacher output was found to be greater in the Hong Kong classroom than in the Guangzhou classroom. In the Guangzhou classroom more words were explicitly taught, but learners were exposed to far fewer word types for incidental acquisition. In both classrooms, more unplanned than planned words were explicitly taught. Teachers tended to teach planned words through multiple treatments, with various kinds of input, both modified and unmodified, in different stages of the lesson. They provided almost no opportunities, however, for modified (negotiated) output on the part of the learners, despite the fact that the syllabuses in both Hong Kong and Guangzhou are described as ‘communicative’.

Language Teaching Research, Vol. 7, No. 1, 65-97 (2003)
DOI: 10.1191/1362168803lr113oa


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. Schmitt Review article: Instructed second language vocabulary learning Language Teaching Research, July 1, 2008; 12(3): 329 - 363. [Abstract] [PDF]