tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714045366168902489.post9077347059330634980..comments2024-02-06T07:49:22.830-08:00Comments on Evidence Based EFL: Is guessing from context a load of XXXXXX?mallingualhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13278408615407649532noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714045366168902489.post-75112546492077662292017-03-15T22:25:43.196-07:002017-03-15T22:25:43.196-07:00Thanks for the article. I should have read just at...Thanks for the article. I should have read just at the beginning of my career:)Volkanhttp://www.photocopiables.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714045366168902489.post-20516289301332022412017-02-19T06:00:22.834-08:002017-02-19T06:00:22.834-08:00I don't think context is unhelpful per se. Jus...I don't think context is unhelpful per se. Just not as helpful as some would suggest. I think having definitions of words could be useful before they read. I suppose it depends on what you're actually trying to do in the lesson?mallingualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13278408615407649532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714045366168902489.post-80712847396677171642017-02-06T04:15:25.907-08:002017-02-06T04:15:25.907-08:00Thanks for this great piece. As a novice ESL Teach...Thanks for this great piece. As a novice ESL Teacher this piece is eye opening. <br />I love teaching new vocabulary and until reading your piece I believed that context can be very helpful in understanding new words.<br />Do you think it would be helpful to give students definitions of words before they read a text and while they read have them try and match the definitions to words they don't understand?<br />Thanks! C.R.PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714045366168902489.post-31585541278973580062014-04-13T13:44:42.301-07:002014-04-13T13:44:42.301-07:00How come you didn't X out the first name in Fu...How come you didn't X out the first name in Fukkink and de Glopper? Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01610519607688454912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714045366168902489.post-56585927611813980702013-07-11T12:19:05.093-07:002013-07-11T12:19:05.093-07:00Thanks for the comment and I'm REALLY sorry, b...Thanks for the comment and I'm REALLY sorry, but I missed it for months! I don't know how that happened!<br /><br />I think you're right that in order to sort out if this is useful we have to know what exactly it is we are talking about. It has a lot of names, -guessing, inferring, guessing from context etc etc, I'm never quite sure people mean the same things.<br /><br />Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. mallingualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13278408615407649532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714045366168902489.post-88857996803095386792013-07-11T12:16:46.050-07:002013-07-11T12:16:46.050-07:00Hi Vicki!
Thanks for the post. 'preteaching vo...Hi Vicki!<br />Thanks for the post. 'preteaching vocabulary' IS very interesting isn't it? I hadn't even thought about it. I know Swan had a beef with comprehension questions after a text. I think he said "what are the point of these questions"mallingualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13278408615407649532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714045366168902489.post-59071637650966578212013-07-04T05:52:27.785-07:002013-07-04T05:52:27.785-07:00Oh, another great article. (I'm having a great...Oh, another great article. (I'm having a great time catching up on this blog) A rather different topic but another one I have a beef with is 'preteaching vocabulary' where you see uncontextualised words listed in a teachers book with the instruction that they should be pre-taught. How I wonder. If you have a perfectly good example coming up in a text where the words appear in context, might it not make more sense to simply gloss them? Vickihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02772090685676196504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714045366168902489.post-78785881437457958972013-02-27T01:39:19.888-08:002013-02-27T01:39:19.888-08:00hi!
thanks for the comment.
I absolutely agree t...hi!<br /><br />thanks for the comment.<br /><br />I absolutely agree that reading and reenforcing words they "sort of know" is very useful. This must help to strenghten connections in their brains. Guessing though...as something to "teach" or as a viable strategy is another story.mallingualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13278408615407649532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714045366168902489.post-33948417657836747272013-02-26T14:43:16.719-08:002013-02-26T14:43:16.719-08:00Some interesting observations and arguments here, ...Some interesting observations and arguments here, and a topic all teachers ought to be engaging with! I think to get to the heart of the matter, there needs to be an explicit account of what it is we mean by "context" (as opposed to co-text in your Homes and white cop examples) and also a discussion of WHY we would want to help our students develop this strategy. The latter question really shouldn't, in my opinion, be answered by saying we want our students to guess the correct meanings of words, but we want them to be able to construct better meanings from the text. Many studies in this area measure the student's guess against the denotative meaning of the word, but as efficient readers, we all add a little to the meaning of a word each time we use it (unless it's a highly technical term). My first point: language and context are related in such a way that one has a direct influence on the other, and vice versa. This "dialectic" relation, again IMHO, screams out for language teachers to be teaching language in context and context of language use at every opportunity. And supporting our students in their efforts to work with unknown words in texts in context is one good way to achieve this. See my post at http://auselt.com/2013/02/22/an-introduction-to-systemic-functional-grammar/ for a little more on this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714045366168902489.post-78977314344437913202013-02-25T23:33:29.774-08:002013-02-25T23:33:29.774-08:00Very funny and another well-argued position.
Whi...Very funny and another well-argued position. <br /><br />While I agree that guessing completely unknown words from context is impossible in many cases, I have perceived value in getting learners to infer connotations of lexis they sort-of know from context.<br /><br />And as you say, students do enjoy it, and if this leads to them justifying answers, discussion, and eventually teacher clarification/learning new lexis, then I can't say it bothers me much. This is especially true if the teacher would have otherwise taught the words without any clear context or example.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com