vocabulary

a listing of the words used in some enterprise a language user's knowledge of words the system of techniques or symbols serving as a means of expression (as in arts or crafts)

"he introduced a wide vocabulary of techniques"

A vocabulary is a set of words known to a person or other entity, or that are part of a specific language.The vocabulary of a person is defined either as the set of all words that are understood by that person or the set of all words likely to be used by that person when constructing new sentences. So "curse" is a regular part of the vocabulary of native English speakers but "imprecate" is not, even though the two words are synonyms. The richness of a person's vocabulary is popularly thought to be a reflection of their intelligence or level of education. Accordingly, many standardized tests, such as the SAT, have questions that test vocabulary.Increasing the size of one's vocabulary, also called ''vocabulary building,'' is generally considered to be an important part of both learning a language and improving one's skills in a language in which one is already proficient. Hence schoolchildren are often taught new words, colloquially referred to as ''vocab words'' or just ''vocab,'' as a part of a particular unit or lesson. Similarly, many adults find vocabulary building to be a fun and educational activity, as evidenced in the popularity of "word-a-day" services such as mailing lists and desktop calendars.The word "vocabulary" is also used figuratively for qualities or techniques distinctive to a particular style, especially an architecturearchitectural style.

Capacity - Jean Aitchison gives the capacity of the vocabulary of college graduates with bachelor of education degrees as a "guestimate" of at least 50,000, where a ''word'' is defined as a dictionary entry, ''i.e.'', ''sing, sings, sang, sung'' count as one entry ''sing''.The vocabulary of an average native English languageEnglish speaker has been estimated at around 30,000.

Access time - According to Jean Aitchison the time to recognize a word may be less than 200ms after onset; in many cases the word is already recognized before it has even ended. (Shadowing and lexical decision tasks were used to determine this number)

References - Aitchison, Jean: ''Words in the Mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon''. 3rd edition (1st edition 1987). Oxford and New York: Basil Blackwell, 2003. 314 pages.

See also -

Glossary

Grammar

Jargon

Latin verbs with English derivatives

Latin nouns with English derivatives

Lexicon

Part of speech

Slang

Technical terminology

Term

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Threads of Reading
Site features information about the teaching of reading, links to great reading resource sites and the work of author, Karen Tankersley
http://www.threadsofreading.com/

Learn Greek Online
Learn how to speak modern Greek online with our easy to follow lessons. Complete Greek grammar lessons, vocabulary, dialogues, flash cards and word games with audio.
http://www.ilearngreek.com/

English Study Direct
EFL, ESL, ELT, TESOL, EAP resources including journals, tests, e-learning & courses e.g. IELTS, TOEFL academic writing
http://www.englishstudydirect.com/

Pennington Publishing
essay writing, spelling-vocabulary,and grammar-mechanics lessons to differentiate instruction
http://www.penningtonpublishing.com/

Vocabulary.com
Vocabulary puzzles and games.
http://www.vocabulary.com/

Syndicate.com
Recreational and educational word puzzles.
http://syndicate.com/

Activities for ESL Students
Free quizzes and activities for students. A project of The Internet TESL Journal.
http://a4esl.org/

Voycabulary
Online dictionary and thesaurus web linking lookup reference tool. (Turns each word on a web page into a link to the translation in the respective dictionary). Includes dictionary, thesaurus, medical dictionary, acronym dictionary, English to Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Welsh and vice versa.
http://www.voycabulary.com/

Vocabulary Training Exercises
Take a pop quiz in French, German, or Spanish, similar to working with flash cards. You can also quiz yourself in specialized subjects.
http://www.vokabel.com/