Different approaches to recognition of lexical (vocabulary) complexity

CHAPTER II. NON-STANDARD FORMS OF THE LESSON AT THE MIDDLE STAGE OF EDUCATION.
2.1 Features of teaching vocabulary
Until recently, grammar and phonetics were often studied in parallel with vocabulary and independently of it. One of the important progressive principles of modern methodology is the organic connection of vocabulary with grammar and phonetics. Just as it is impossible to learn vocabulary without simultaneously studying the grammatical form of a word and its pronunciation, so it is also impossible to study grammar and phonetics in general, without taking into account those specific words to which the studied rules of grammar and phonetics should apply.
Finally, no matter how important the grammatical forms of a word are, knowing a large number of words to express different thoughts will be more important than knowing the same number of grammatical forms and constructions; for example, knowing 50 words and 5 grammatical structures, you can build more sentences than if you know 5 words and 50 structures.
From what has been said, one should not conclude that in any case vocabulary is more important than grammar and phonetics. The number of words is very important for the ability to express different thoughts, but not so important for mastering the specifics of the language being studied, for mastering its models.
Almost all authors concerning the issues of teaching vocabulary note the specific difficulties of lexical material.
When teaching the functional features of vocabulary, difficulties arise associated with memorizing the volume of word meanings, which in most cases does not coincide with the native language, the polysemy of words, the nature of the compatibility of some words with others, as well as the use of the word in specific situations of communication.
The complexity common to all languages ​​lies in the fact that the same concept is often expressed by lexical means that differ in semantic structure.
A characteristic feature of the Russian language is polysemy and homonymy. Difficulty is also presented by such phenomena when the noun of semantically close words is represented by a word of English origin, and the adjective is a borrowing from Latin or French.
Of particular difficulty are phraseological units - stable phrases of different types, the meaning of which is independent of the meaning of their components.
G. Palmer draws attention to the difficulty of learning short words that are difficult to differentiate by ear and are poorly remembered, and to the relatively easy assimilation of words denoting objects, actions, qualities. He also notes the advantage of concrete words over abstract ones .
Ch. Freese, when identifying the typological features of vocabulary, proceeds from its function in a sentence and from compatibility. Based on these criteria, he distinguishes four types of words: a) service words; b) substitute words; c) words expressing the presence or absence of negation; d) words symbolizing objects, actions, qualities. The first two types are, according to C. Freese, the most difficult in terms of productive assimilation [3].
Let us turn to the initial stage (I-V classes). The studied vocabulary refers to a productive vocabulary, i.e. these are the lexical units that students must instantly retrieve from memory to designate the concepts they need and correctly reproduce them in loud speech in compliance with all norms of use - pronunciation, association, grammatical (and spelling for writing).
At the initial stage, independent reading of the text containing new words should be excluded. These texts are presented by the teacher, and students perceive them by ear and try to guess the meaning of what the teacher says based on clarity. Then the productive vocabulary is, as it were, “isolated” from the context and fixed in oral form.
A certain part of the vocabulary is introduced without relying on the text, but also in context. Visualization, gestures and facial expressions help to reveal the meaning of new words, since most of them are specific.
New words should be worked on both in context and in isolation, since the contextual meaning of a word is not always the main one.
At advanced stages, a new word should be introduced with mandatory combinations, the selection of which within the framework of training minimums should be a priority. It is important to take into account the characteristic lexical connections in words belonging to the same subject-thematic group.
The question of the nature of familiarization with productive and receptive vocabulary is solved differently and comes down mainly to two alternatives: 1) there should be no differences in the process of familiarization with new productive/receptive vocabulary, they appear only in exercises at the stage of consolidation; 2) depending on the nature of mastering the material, both familiarization with it and consolidation should be built differently.
The first way is justified by the fact that since the productive dictionary of schoolchildren, being at the same time their receptive dictionary, tends to be reduced due to the transition to the receptive one, then at the familiarization stage, as many landmarks and informative features as possible should be created to consolidate words in memory.
Supporters of the second way put forward the following requirements for working on productive vocabulary:
1) each meaning of the word should be interpreted as an independent educational unit;
2) when familiarizing, great attention should be paid to the compatibility and structure of words, synonymous and antonymic oppositions, as well as the volume of their meanings;
3) familiarization with new vocabulary should be based on sounding speech (simultaneous visual supports of a very different nature are possible);
4) during the presentation of words, it is necessary to set the prediction of their meanings.
To explain the receptive vocabulary, the following features are characteristic:
1) the explanation of words should go from the language form to the concepts that it conveys;
2) for each new word, different meanings are reported, fixed in the lexical minimum;
3) for the correct and quick recognition of a word in the text (or by ear), its informative features are reported: the presence of synonyms, word formation, a possible contextual environment;
4) familiarization with new vocabulary can be based on both printed and spoken text;
5) when getting acquainted with the vocabulary, it is necessary to set the recognition of words.
In our opinion, it is also necessary to take into account the age characteristics of students when teaching the lexical side of the language. So, at the middle stage of teaching a foreign language, students change their attitude to the subject being studied. Studies show that external factors are determined in the structure of motivation. G.V. Rogova and others single out narrow personal motives (activities for the sake of evaluation or other personal gain); negative motives associated with the student's awareness of the troubles that await him if he does not conscientiously fulfill his educational duties. And since the core of interest is internal motives (communicative-cognitive, emanating from the very activity of mastering a foreign language), interest in the subject is reduced [11].
This suggests that the desire to learn a foreign language does not in itself provide positive motivation. It should be supported by the interest of students in the implementation of educational activities. Therefore, we can single out another difficulty in teaching vocabulary - to keep students interested in the subject.