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Word
Meaning Expansion and its Application in Teaching Vocabulary
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When taking on a new class
each academic year, I habitually ask my students what they expect to learn in my course. Vocabulary
is among their numerous answers. One of the headaches of Chinese students in acquiring
English vocabulary is the phenomenon of polysemy, words having more than one meaning. This
feature cannot be effectively treated through translation or explanation. Translation
attempts to provide an L1 equivalent but falls short in addressing a word's manifold
meanings, collocations, and usages. It fosters the idea that there is a simple one-to-one
relationship between the two languages when in reality, this is not the case. Explanation
or paraphrasing can be clumsy, failing to make meaning explicit and understandable.
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It is out of economy that polysemy exists in
language. "By reusing words in patterns of repetition and combination, it is possible
to get along with a number much smaller than the totality of meanings that we have to come
up with in a lifetime" (Bolinger and Sears 1981:120).
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Word meaning can be expanded by means of analogy
and metaphor. Lakoff and Johnson argue that human beings think and talk metaphorically.
They apply words and phrases to new concepts or objects to extend lexical meaning.
Metaphor is a norm of communicating, not an exception (1980).
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Sweetser sees word-meaning as frequently prototype-based with abstract domains of meaning
deriving their vocabulary from the concrete rather than vice versa (1990:18). In simple
words, a polysemous word usually has a core meaning and all the other meanings come from
it by means of metaphor. I have observed that word-meaning expansion works like a ripple,
which starts from a center and extends outward. The center or the core may denote a
physical entity in the material world with a rather clear focus. Then it is extended to
refer to other physical entities which it resembles. Finally, its meaning may be broadened
to abstract ideas by metaphor.
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Using the word leaf , its meaning
expansion can be shown with a ripple diagram.
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LEAF a usually green, thin, and flat
piece of a plant attached to a stem
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The core meaning of leaf is the thin and flat structure on the stem of a plant.
From that comes the next layer of usage referring to anything that resembles a plant leaf,
such as pages of a book, pieces of metal, or the folds of a table. From the meaning of a
page of a book, it is extended to mean a period of a person's life, which is often
recorded in a book. Hence, there are phrases like "turn over a new leaf," or
"take a leaf out of somebody's book."
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But the meanings of a word will often radiate
from the center along several lines by focusing on different features of the original
object. Accordingly, the diagram can be modified by the inclusion of spokes to indicate
different meaning expansion routes. The following diagram more clearly indicates the link
between the abstract and the concrete source.
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LEAF : a thin and flat piece (of a plant)
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The word 'foot' gives another illustration of the idea:
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FOOT the lower part of a human leg that
is in direct contact with the ground
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From the diagram with spokes, we can see that the four expanded meaning areas of the word
are related to the original core, but they have developed along different routes: One is
based on location; another on length; another on function; and yet another on shape.
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The simple drawing can aid understanding and
memory supplementing a verbal explanation that may capture only the most salient meaning
of the word.
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At the beginning, the teacher helps the students
become aware of the following facts:
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- The majority of the English words have more than one meaning. (Let students glance
through a few pages of a dictionary.)
- The meanings of a word are often related. There is almost always a core meaning with all
the other meanings coming from it. (Examine the meanings of one familiar word in a
dictionary.)
- Imagination and association are techniques to link the meanings together.
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When explaining the last two points, the teacher
introduces the three-layer diagram and works with the students in drawing detailed
diagrams for a few words.
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With words of different parts of speech,
different treatment is called for. When illustrating the meanings of a noun, a simple
drawing is helpful. Here is an example.
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COVER: the thing laid over something to
provide protection (e.g., a manhole cover)
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To illustrate a verb, it is difficult to make use of drawings, but it is possible to use
actions, which can serve the purpose as well.
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PROBE: to search or examine the depth (of
a wound)
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TRIM: to make (a tree) neat by cutting or decorating
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Meanings of an adjective can also be
illustrated:
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RED: of the color of blood
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BRIGHT: sending off light/shining
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Sometimes, because of differences in cultures and ways of perception, L2 learners have
difficulty in understanding the meanings of a word. This happens most frequently with
idiomatic expressions. Under such circumstances, the ripple diagram can link the original
denotation and its metaphorical extension. Comprehension and retention will be made much
easier for the learner.
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BE LEFT TO ONE'S OWN DEVICES
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DEVICE: a tool or piece of equipment
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Without the diagram, it is hard to see the relationship between the original meaning of device
and the meaning in the idiom. With the help of the diagram, we can see more clearly its
relationship to the core meaning-it is like a drop splashed out from the main expansion
route.
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Diagramming can show the history or the culture
or a word. For example, Chinese students find the word "doom" difficult to
understand, because they are not familiar with the concept. The following diagram giving
its etymology will help them remember its meanings and usages.
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In actual teaching, diagramming can be made simpler. Once students are familiar with the
concepts and the technique, the teacher only needs to activate their imagination by noting
what the core meaning is and showing that the present meaning is either an inner or outer
layer extension of the core.
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This technique of vocabulary comprehension can
be incorporated into different stages of reading: Before-reading to wipe out possible
obstacles; while-reading to aid comprehension; after-reading to reinforce the words
learned.
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Students can also be instructed to work out
diagrams of useful but difficult words individually (with the help of a dictionary) or in
groups. In fulfilling such an exercise, students are forced to use available resources and
to think for themselves. Research shows that mental activity has a powerful effect on
memory. There is a tight relationship between "cognitive depth" and retention
(Carter and McCarthy 1988:65).
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From my teaching experience, I see several
benefits in using the three-layer diagram in vocabulary teaching.
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- It teaches students a powerful strategy in vocabulary comprehension, retention, and
production. They learn how to make associations and to use their imaginations in the
learning process.
- It gives the students an understanding of a word. The diagramming can illustrate not
only many meanings of a word, but also the links between those meanings. With care in
selection, it can also demonstrate collocations and idiomatic usage. Through the links
provided in a diagram, students will more easily understand an abstract or alien concept.
- It is helpful in fostering target-culture awareness. Metaphorical thinking and language
use are universal, but the actual associations are culture-specific. In diagramming the
links between the meanings of a word, the teacher is also leading students to look at the
world in the same way that native speakers do. This is especially true of collocations,
set expressions, and idioms.
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There isn't one best method to teach vocabulary.
There are several helpful approaches one may use to acquire and enrich vocabulary, and the
ripple diagram is surely one of them.
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Mu
Fengying teaches integrated skills to English majors at Xuzhou Teachers College in
Jiangsu, China. |
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Return
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- Bollinger, D. and D. A. Sears. 1981. Aspects of languages. 3rd. ed. New York: Harcourt
Brace Jovanvich, Inc.
- Carter, R. and M. McCarthy. 1988. Vocabulary and language teaching. London: Longman.
- Lakoff, G. and M. Johnson. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: Chicago University
Press.
- Sweetser, E. E. 1990. From etymology to pragmatics: Metaphorical and cultural aspects of
semantic structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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