The Role of Reading in Vocabulary Learning

Question

It is often said that you learn new words by reading a lot. How is this possible? It is true that we notice and attend to words as we move through texts, even if only for very short periods of time. Some studies have showed that students learn 5-15 per cent of the new words encountered in the reading (without checking them up in a dictionary). In other words, if you read about 30 minutes a day, you will learn 1,000 to 3,000 new words a year. Do you believe this?  Is extensive reading just enough to learn a wide vocabulary? What experiences have you had concerning learning vocabulary?? It seems to me that learners should try to learn words more explicitly too, in other words by collecting them in their note books, using vocabulary cards, doing separate exercises.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

It is often said that you learn new words by reading a lot. How is this possible? Something magical happens. It is true that we notice and attend to words as we move through texts, even if only for very short periods of time. Some studies have showed that students learn 5-15 per cent of the new words encountered in the reading (without checking them up in a dictionary). In other words, if you read about 30 minutes a day, you will learn 1,000 to 3,000 new words a year. Do you believe this? It seems plausible. Is extensive reading just enough to learn a wide vocabulary? For the purposes of understanding what you're reading, it probably is 90% of it. I do have to use a dictionary for the other 10% -- when context just isn't enough to narrow down the meaning of a word precisely enough to be sure without the dictionary. What experiences have you had concerning learning vocabulary?? I've learned a lot of vocabulary by reading. It seems to me that learners should try to learn words more explicitly too, in other words by collecting them in their note books, using vocabulary cards, doing separate exercises. Vocabulary cards have helped me, but I prefer to use them to learn common phrases rather than single words. Repetitive spoken exercises are probably necessary to develop fluency in speaking, and most useful for that purpose.

CJ

Natybrazil · Answer

I can tell you that have improved my vocabulary a lot by reading. I'm not a native speaker of English. I read unabridged books, though. Lots of words I can grasp the meaning by understanding the context. Other words, the ones that do not prevent you from understanding the context, I look up in the dictionary and take notes. I write down the meaning of that particular word and some examples. There is something that I have observed: every person has their own choices of words that are repeated over and over when writing and speaking. Thus, if you read books of the same author in a row, you will notice that lots of words are repeated several times. Through repetition we learn and internalize new vocabulary.

The Role of Reading in Vocabulary Learning

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