Paraphrase exercises using general basic words to assimilate meaning¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

These strategic-competence exercises give learners a set of very general words (do, get, make, thing used for, a sort of) and ask them to paraphrase unit vocabulary with them, then quiz partners and answer questions about a technical passage using their basic words. Robinson links the activity to Faerch and Kasper's achievement strategies of substitution, paraphrase and circumlocution, which let learners compensate for inadequate resources by assimilating unfamiliar meanings into familiar units.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Learners need a fund of general vocabulary in which explanations can be expressed, and practice recognising glossing techniques and asking questions when an explanation is not given

Constraints¶

• Reformulation tactics can also exert interpersonal power over an interlocutor, as Thomas's (1985) examples show, so strategic use depends on the relationship between participants

Target Learners¶

• ESP students coping with semi-technical vocabulary, e.g. pre-medical and engineering students

Target Learning Goals¶

• strategic competence in paraphrase and substitution
• establishing meaning in unforeseen contexts

Related Strategies¶

• Word-net exercises linking lexical knowledge to grammatical awareness
• Word-set exercises for contextualising vocabulary via imagined possible worlds

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Robinson, Peter J. (1988). Procedural and Declarative Knowledge in Vocabulary Learning: Communication and the Language Learner's Lexicon. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual TESOL Convention, Chicago. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED296585