"The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for" (Wittgenstein). When learning something completely new, we connect the unknown term to an already existing part of our knowledge. We can only build new ideas and insights upon an existing conceptual foundation. In the field of statistics, we…

This study investigated the potential of discipline-related television programs as sources for incidental learning of specialized vocabulary used in university lectures and seminars. First, a Medical Spoken Word List (MSWL) of 895 specialized word types was developed from a 556,074-word corpus of medical lectures and seminars based on a mixed…

Several studies have revealed that computer applications offer a vast potential for teaching and learning. Open Educational Resources (OERs) can be especially beneficial to generate innovative abilities in the classroom related to new means of communication and collaboration (Conole and Alevizou, 2010). As regards the teaching of foreign…

Learners in the trades are faced with learning a large amount of technical vocabulary along with the content of their field, but they do not tend to encounter this language outside their courses of study. This technical vocabulary is a core element in their developing knowledge of their trade and their learner identity. This article focuses first…

There is always debate about when, where, and how to introduce students to vocabulary when teaching science. The authors argue that there is not necessarily a singular correct order or right time to introduce new vocabulary to students. Rather, what is important is that we support students in learning the language they need to engage in the…

In a classroom experiment during the first week of an introductory psychology course, randomly assigned students received a pretest and then a brief training on the definitions of general-vocabulary words either related (e.g., "facilitation") or unrelated (e.g., "rendition") to 16 technical terms (e.g., "social…

In an attempt to enhance learners' autonomy and create awareness of their own learning process, keeping a vocabulary notebook can be regarded as one of the most commonly used cognitive strategies. A jargon book, a kind of vocabulary notebook, consists of specialized terms that are used for conveying hidden meanings accepted and understood in a…

The authors suggest using an alternative teaching methodology to impart knowledge regarding information systems phraseology and vocabulary. Specifically, a series of crossword puzzles or scrabbles are used to present information system (IS) terminology to students in an introductory business information systems course. The puzzle terms and answers…

This paper focuses on how the notion of a trajectory of identification can be traced between different timescales and different sets of data that pertain to the student. The development of a specific student's trajectory is traced through his ability to talk-engineering along two different timescales: the entire four years of undergraduate…

Examines the information literacy debate, focusing on the term and its definition. Discusses the term's lack of clarity and confusion with other terms (library skills, library use, and bibliographic instruction), and considers the pros and cons of using an old term, a new term, or information literacy. Recommends using information literacy. (PEN)

Debaters have several poor word-choice and word-formation habits that detract from their ethos as advocates as well as from the clarity of their arguments. In many instances, debaters, to their competitive and educational detriment, employ habitual phrases, questionable redefinitions, and poorly coined new words. Many currently popular debate…

Three experiments assessed the contributions of age-of-acquisition (AoA) and frequency to visual word recognition. Three databases were created from electronic journals in chemistry, psychology and geology in order to identify technical words that are extremely frequent in each discipline but acquired late in life. In Experiment 1, psychologists…

This learning activity package is designed to help apprentices understand some of the different ways in which words can be used to mean different things, depending on where and when one uses the words. It provides examples of words and phrases that are used in the workplace in ways different from the way they are used in regular conversation. Five…