The Impacts of Presenting New Words in Semantically-Related Sets on Vocabulary Learning

Oct 15, 2026

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This paper investigates how presenting new vocabulary in semantically-related (SR) sets affects vocabulary learning. In total, 38 Grade 2 students participate across four lessons using the same target words. The experimental group learns the words in SR sets, while the control group learns words from the same SR sets in separate lessons. Independent-samples T-tests compare performance in English-Chinese translation tasks.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

1. Introduction

1.1 Importance of the Problem

1.2 Theoretical Background

1.3 Related Studies

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015 Australian International Academic Centre, Australia | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | Flourishing Creativity & Literacy | | | The Impacts of Presenting New Words in SemanticallyRelated Sets on Vocabulary Learning Xingrong Wang School of English, Tianjin Foreign Studies University No. 117 MachangRoad, Hexi District, Tianjin 300204, China [E-mail: wangingod@163.com](E-mail: wangingod@163.com) Doi:10 .7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.111 URL: [http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.111](http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.111) Received: 03/07/2015 Accepted: 08/09/2015 Abstract This paper mainly explores the impacts of presenting new words in semantically-related (SR) sets on vocabulary learning. 38 students from two classes of Grade 2 in Taiyuan Foreign Language School (Senior High School Section) participate in the whole process. The same vocabulary items unknown to all students are taught to them in 4 lessons. The difference between the experimental group and control group is that words are taught in SR sets in the former and in the latter words belonging to the same SR sets are taught in different lessons. Independent Samples T-test is employed to see if there would be a significant difference between the two groups’performance in the English-Chinese translation tests of those words. The result shows that there doesn’t exit a significant difference between the two groups in SHT test, but in the LT test two weeks later, SU group performs significantly better than SR group. The research findings may provide some enlightenment for foreign language researchers. Keywords: Semantically-related (SR) sets, Senior high school students, Semantic field theory, Interference theory 1. Introduction 1. 1 Importance of the Problem Vocabulary learning is important in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) . As the famous linguist Wilkins once said,“Without grammar, very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed”(1972, p. 111) . Then there comes a question: As vocabulary learning is of such great importance, which way should teachers adopt to present vocabulary items so as to best benefit the learning? Presenting vocabulary in SR sets could be seen in many EFL textbooks (Pu 2004, p. 3) . Some vocabulary books also put words of a certain category together to facilitate memorizing (e.g. TOEFL Vocabulary Classified) . Besides, many writers suggest teaching words in SR sets and have their justifications (Nation, 2000, p. 6) . Although many theorists and practitioners endorse this way of presenting vocabulary, there is not enough empirical evidence to support this position. In recent years, many researchers found that presenting vocabulary in SU sets led to the best outcome of students, while a minority of them found the contrary was better. However, some of these studies used artificial words rather than words from a natural second language. And some provided different words to the experimental and control groups. Besides, few studies in this area have taken senior high school students as subjects; therefore, in the present study, whose purpose is similar to the previous ones, 38 senior high school students were chosen as the subjects and the same new English words were presented to both groups in different manners. 1.2 Theoretical Background Semantic field theory is based on an assumption that the vocabulary of a language consists of many interrelating networks of relations between words, not of a long random list of words. These interrelating networks are semantic fields (Channell, 1981, p. 117) . It was psycholinguists who established the concept of semantic field (AlShaikhi, 2011, p. 17) and it was J. Trier, a German Scholar, who brought the semantic field theory to its puberty in the 1930s (Guo, 2010, p. 51) . According to Trier’s theory, vocabulary in a language is semantically r

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

To explore the impacts of presenting new words in semantically-related (SR) sets on vocabulary learning and compare learning outcomes across groups.

How were the experimental and control groups different?

The experimental group learned vocabulary in SR sets within four lessons, while the control group learned words belonging to the same SR sets in different lessons.

What did the results show about translation test performance?

No significant difference was found for the SHT test, but in the LT test two weeks later the SU group performed significantly better than the SR group.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Terk