Summary of Is it Possible to Learn Enough Vocabulary from Extensive Reading?

00:00:00 - 00:50:00

The video discusses the idea that vocabulary can be learned from extensive reading, and provides tips on how to effectively teach vocabulary to students. It also discusses the benefits of speed reading and how it can help learners increase their speed and fluency in reading.

• 00:00:00 The speaker discusses the argument between Tom Cobb and Stephen Krashen about whether it is possible to learn enough vocabulary from extensive reading. Cobb argues that it is not possible, while Krashen argues that it is. He separates the argument into two parts, the difficulty difficulty issue and the quantity quantity issue. He argues that the difficulty issue should be put aside and that quantity is the only issue at stake.
• 00:05:00 This research suggests that reading can contribute to Vocabulary Retrieval, but that repetition and the number of times a word is met are important factors in vocabulary relearning. The study also suggests that the use of graded readers can help improve vocabulary retention.
• 00:10:00 The video discusses the idea that in order to learn a large vocabulary, one should read extensively, preferably using a fast reading speed. It suggests that to learn the fifth 1,000 words of English, one would need to read for about half an hour per day.
• 00:15:00 This video discusses how much vocabulary a person can learn from reading extensively each day, and how this amount of reading can be increased over time. It also discusses how to effectively teach vocabulary to students, noting that it is easier if the teacher does not have to refer to a paper to remember how many repetitions of a word the student has read.
• 00:20:00 This speaker discusses the idea that vocabulary can be learned from extensive reading, citing research that has yet to be pulled together properly. They go on to say that one reason why this is true is because of Zipf's law and REE, or the ratio of unknown words to known words. They also mention that if a learner only knows 2,000 words of English, there will be one unknown word in every eight words. Finally, they discuss a text they chose, Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini. This text has a vocabulary of around 100,000 words, and would contain 3,441 unknown words for a learner with a vocabulary of 2,000 words.
• 00:25:00 Reading simplified texts is a punishment in the United States, but it is possible to learn a lot of vocabulary from extensive reading. Table three compares how many words a learner needs to read to meet various levels of input. A learner needs to read two million words to meet the 90% coverage of words in a graded reader, but six thousand words is enough to meet the 80% coverage in a simplified text. Movies and novels provide the best opportunity to meet words, with novels providing almost two-thirds of the words a learner needs. Mid-frequency readers, which are books that have been adapted for learners with a vocabulary size of 4,000 words, 6,000 words, or 8,000 words, help learners meet the majority of words in a novel or movie.
• 00:30:00 The author of the video provides a tutorial on how to adapt texts for students with limited vocabulary. He explains that the goal is to have a 50/50 mixture of factual and fiction texts, and that he has adapted Origin of Species by Darwin to the 3mm academic wordless level.
• 00:35:00 The author discusses the benefits of using extensive reading to improve students' vocabulary. They recommend that teachers introduce this method in elementary school, and then gradually move it to middle and high school.
• 00:40:00 The video discusses the benefits of speed reading, and provides an example of a targeted speed reading course offered by Sonya Millett Milt le TT Sonya. This course can help learners increase their speed and fluency in reading.
• 00:45:00 The speaker explains that the goal of learning vocabulary is to reach 9,000 words per year. He points out that if you only learn through reading, you will only hit this goal halfway. He describes other ways to learn vocabulary, such as listening and speaking, and how these methods should be deliberate in order to maximize learning.
• 00:50:00 This speaker discusses the importance of reading with comprehension in order to increase speed. They mention recent research that shows small increases in comprehension when fluency is measured alongside speed.