Exploring Vocabulary with Young L1 Learners: the Contribution of a Corpus

Abstract

While there have been many studies of the initial acquisition of L1 vocabulary in infancy, comparatively little research has been conducted on young L1 vocabulary learners in the school context. Of this research, very little demonstrates the influence of developments in corpus linguistic analysis and description. Literature in this field is instead dominated by studies of learners of additional languages, and, consequently, most research findings concern learners in the secondary or tertiary phases of education, leaving the primary learner somewhat neglected. This chapter therefore discusses, with particular reference to young learners of English as a first language, some key themes that emerge from the literature on lexis and on vocabulary learning, and then reports on a study conducted in two primary (elementary) school classrooms with monolingual speakers of English aged between eight and ten years. The study investigated ways in which a corpus can be used in this context: by teachers to supplement their intuitions about vocabulary and to prepare teaching materials and opportunities; and by pupils, as a resource for exploring the wider lexico-grammatical behaviour of the vocabulary items they encounter.