An essay is usually a short piece of writing. It is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can be literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author.
The definition of an essay is vague, overlapping with those of an article and a short story. Almost all modern essays are written in prose, but works in verse have been dubbed essays (e.g. Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man). While brevity usually defines an essay, voluminous works like John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Thomas Malthus's An Essay on the Principle of Population provide counterexamples.
It is very difficult to define the genre into which essays fall. Aldous Huxley, a leading essayist, gives guidance on the subject:
Like the novel, the essay is a literary
Abstract
This article will examine the reasons why it is important both linguistically and psychologically to build a vocabulary quickly when learning a foreign language. The article asserts that very little can be achieved or learned in a foreign language with a small vocabulary and that by building a sizable vocabulary quite quickly one can soon be able to function adequately. You may also wish to look at http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/files/95/feb/meara.html Introduction It is obvious that in order to learn a foreign language one needs to learn many many words. But how many? Educated English native speakers have a vocabulary of about 20,000-25,000 word families (A 'word family' refers to a group of words that share the same basic meaning e.g. create, creation, creating, created, creative etc), foreign learners of English need far fewer[1].The speaking vocabulary is usually said to be half of the reading and writing vocabulary. Foreign learners of English only need about 3000-5000 word families to be quite competent in speaking and listening to English. This is great news for learners of English because their task is much easier than that of native speakers! One of the reasons for this seemingly small number is the nature of words and the frequency with which they appear in a language. Not all words are equal because some words such as time, the, come, make, and so on are very common whereas others such as parasol, bombastic and edifice are relatively rare and not met everyday. It therefore seems clear that these frequent words should be among the first words to learn because they will be met most often and will be needed frequently in speech or writing. Thus the pay off for learning them is higher than for an average rare word. These words are often called a General Service Vocabulary because these words are found in many kinds of situations and domains. This is a vocabulary of about 2000 word families. The best list (although it is a bit dated is Michael West's 1954 list called the General Service Word List.) These General Service words are found a very very wide range of contexts such as in the medical world, in novels, in scientific reports, on web pages, in daily conversation, in politics and so on. Because these words appear in so many contexts they are extremely useful to almost all learners. Thus they are called "General Service" words. It has to be remembered of course that each of these topic areas just mentioned has its own specialist or technical vocabulary, for example the words embolism and gastroenteritis and so on appear in medicine, hydrogen and thermodynamics appear in science and engineering, and interferometer appears in astronomy. The case for a General Service vocabulary Some teachers insist that their learners should only be taught the words that those learners need (e.g. we should teach medical words to doctors) and to teach them words they do not need or do not want to learn is a waste of time. Quite so. But some of these teachers are not aware that there is a general service vocabulary that is common to ALL the domains. That is, these general service words are the bones on which the meat of the technical vocabulary hangs. Imagine a doctor knowing hundreds of medical words and not knowing get, give, time, break, the and some! Let's be clear about this. From a frequency of input point of view the technical vocabulary does not really start to be a big factor until after the 1500-2000 words of general service vocabulary. In other words in ALL domains the general service vocabulary is more common than the technical words for the first several hundred words at least. Thus teaching doctors only medical words will not allow them to read medical texts because they do not know the General Service words which supports their specialist vocabulary. Moreover the argument that says that we should teach the words learners needs assumes we know what words they want to learn and assumes we know their individual interests. It is very rare indeed that all the learners in one class are focused entirely and only on one domain and that they will only ever need only the vocabulary from one domain. In any group of learners there will be variations in interest between the learners even if they are ostensibly studying the same domain. This implies that in order to best cover most of the learners, that they all need to learn a general service vocabulary in addition to their specialist interests. Moreover, those learners who want to specialize only in one domain will have to deal with their L2 vocabulary outside their domain in conferences, when traveling, when meeting people and so on. There is no rationale case against a general service vocabulary for the vast vast majority of learners.
However, it would be misleading to assume that a few hundred words of General Service vocabulary would be enough. This is because there are limits on what one can do with a certain vocabulary. The following schedule lays out a rough picture of what foreign language learners can and cannot do with a certain vocabulary. Abstract
This article will examine the reasons why it is important both linguistically and psychologically to build a vocabulary quickly when learning a foreign language. The article asserts that very little can be achieved or learned in a foreign language with a small vocabulary and that by building a sizable vocabulary quite quickly one can soon be able to function adequately. You may also wish to look at http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/files/95/feb/meara.html Introduction It is obvious that in order to learn a foreign language one needs to learn many many words. But how many? Educated English native speakers have a vocabulary of about 20,000-25,000 word families (A 'word family' refers to a group of words that share the same basic meaning e.g. create, creation, creating, created, creative etc), foreign learners of English need far fewer[1].The speaking vocabulary is usually said to be half of the reading and writing vocabulary. Foreign learners of English only need about 3000-5000 word families to be quite competent in speaking and listening to English. This is great news for learners of English because their task is much easier than that of native speakers! One of the reasons for this seemingly small number is the nature of words and the frequency with which they appear in a language. Not all words are equal because some words such as time, the, come, make, and so on are very common whereas others such as parasol, bombastic and edifice are relatively rare and not met everyday. It therefore seems clear that these frequent words should be among the first words to learn because they will be met most often and will be needed frequently in speech or writing. Thus the pay off for learning them is higher than for an average rare word. These words are often called a General Service Vocabulary because these words are found in many kinds of situations and domains. This is a vocabulary of about 2000 word families. The best list (although it is a bit dated is Michael West's 1954 list called the General Service Word List.) These General Service words are found a very very wide range of contexts such as in the medical world, in novels, in scientific reports, on web pages, in daily conversation, in politics and so on. Because these words appear in so many contexts they are extremely useful to almost all learners. Thus they are called "General Service" words. It has to be remembered of course that each of these topic areas just mentioned has its own specialist or technical vocabulary, for example the words embolism and gastroenteritis and so on appear in medicine, hydrogen and thermodynamics appear in science and engineering, and interferometer appears in astronomy. The case for a General Service vocabulary Some teachers insist that their learners should only be taught the words that those learners need (e.g. we should teach medical words to doctors) and to teach them words they do not need or do not want to learn is a waste of time. Quite so. But some of these teachers are not aware that there is a general service vocabulary that is common to ALL the domains. That is, these general service words are the bones on which the meat of the technical vocabulary hangs. Imagine a doctor knowing hundreds of medical words and not knowing get, give, time, break, the and some! Let's be clear about this. From a frequency of input point of view the technical vocabulary does not really start to be a big factor until after the 1500-2000 words of general service vocabulary. In other words in ALL domains the general service vocabulary is more common than the technical words for the first several hundred words at least. Thus teaching doctors only medical words will not allow them to read medical texts because they do not know the General Service words which supports their specialist vocabulary. Moreover the argument that says that we should teach the words learners needs assumes we know what words they want to learn and assumes we know their individual interests. It is very rare indeed that all the learners in one class are focused entirely and only on one domain and that they will only ever need only the vocabulary from one domain. In any group of learners there will be variations in interest between the learners even if they are ostensibly studying the same domain. This implies that in order to best cover most of the learners, that they all need to learn a general service vocabulary in addition to their specialist interests. Moreover, those learners who want to specialize only in one domain will have to deal with their L2 vocabulary outside their domain in conferences, when traveling, when meeting people and so on. There is no rationale case against a general service vocabulary for the vast vast majority of learners.
However, it would be misleading to assume that a few hundred words of General Service vocabulary would be enough. This is because there are limits on what one can do with a certain vocabulary. The following schedule lays out a rough picture of what foreign language learners can and cannot do with a certain vocabulary. Abstract
This article will examine the reasons why it is important both linguistically and psychologically to build a vocabulary quickly when learning a foreign language. The article asserts that very little can be achieved or learned in a foreign language with a small vocabulary and that by building a sizable vocabulary quite quickly one can soon be able to function adequately. You may also wish to look at http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/files/95/feb/meara.html Introduction It is obvious that in order to learn a foreign language one needs to learn many many words. But how many? Educated English native speakers have a vocabulary of about 20,000-25,000 word families (A 'word family' refers to a group of words that share the same basic meaning e.g. create, creation, creating, created, creative etc), foreign learners of English need far fewer[1].The speaking vocabulary is usually said to be half of the reading and writing vocabulary. Foreign learners of English only need about 3000-5000 word families to be quite competent in speaking and listening to English. This is great news for learners of English because their task is much easier than that of native speakers! One of the reasons for this seemingly small number is the nature of words and the frequency with which they appear in a language. Not all words are equal because some words such as time, the, come, make, and so on are very common whereas others such as parasol, bombastic and edifice are relatively rare and not met everyday. It therefore seems clear that these frequent words should be among the first words to learn because they will be met most often and will be needed frequently in speech or writing. Thus the pay off for learning them is higher than for an average rare word. These words are often called a General Service Vocabulary because these words are found in many kinds of situations and domains. This is a vocabulary of about 2000 word families. The best list (although it is a bit dated is Michael West's 1954 list called the General Service Word List.) These General Service words are found a very very wide range of contexts such as in the medical world, in novels, in scientific reports, on web pages, in daily conversation, in politics and so on. Because these words appear in so many contexts they are extremely useful to almost all learners. Thus they are called "General Service" words. It has to be remembered of course that each of these topic areas just mentioned has its own specialist or technical vocabulary, for example the words embolism and gastroenteritis and so on appear in medicine, hydrogen and thermodynamics appear in science and engineering, and interferometer appears in astronomy. The case for a General Service vocabulary Some teachers insist that their learners should only be taught the words that those learners need (e.g. we should teach medical words to doctors) and to teach them words they do not need or do not want to learn is a waste of time. Quite so. But some of these teachers are not aware that there is a general service vocabulary that is common to ALL the domains. That is, these general service words are the bones on which the meat of the technical vocabulary hangs. Imagine a doctor knowing hundreds of medical words and not knowing get, give, time, break, the and some! Let's be clear about this. From a frequency of input point of view the technical vocabulary does not really start to be a big factor until after the 1500-2000 words of general service vocabulary. In other words in ALL domains the general service vocabulary is more common than the technical words for the first several hundred words at least. Thus teaching doctors only medical words will not allow them to read medical texts because they do not know the General Service words which supports their specialist vocabulary. Moreover the argument that says that we should teach the words learners needs assumes we know what words they want to learn and assumes we know their individual interests. It is very rare indeed that all the learners in one class are focused entirely and only on one domain and that they will only ever need only the vocabulary from one domain. In any group of learners there will be variations in interest between the learners even if they are ostensibly studying the same domain. This implies that in order to best cover most of the learners, that they all need to learn a general service vocabulary in addition to their specialist interests. Moreover, those learners who want to specialize only in one domain will have to deal with their L2 vocabulary outside their domain in conferences, when traveling, when meeting people and so on. There is no rationale case against a general service vocabulary for the vast vast majority of learners.
However, it would be misleading to assume that a few hundred words of General Service vocabulary would be enough. This is because there are limits on what one can do with a certain vocabulary. The following schedule lays out a rough picture of what foreign language learners can and cannot do with a certain vocabulary.

Abstract
This article will examine the reasons why it is important both linguistically and psychologically to build a vocabulary quickly when learning a foreign language. The article asserts that very little can be achieved or learned in a foreign language with a small vocabulary and that by building a sizable vocabulary quite quickly one can soon be able to function adequately. You may also wish to look at http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/files/95/feb/meara.html Introduction It is obvious that in order to learn a foreign language one needs to learn many many words. But how many? Educated English native speakers have a vocabulary of about 20,000-25,000 word families (A 'word family' refers to a group of words that share the same basic meaning e.g. create, creation, creating, created, creative etc), foreign learners of English need far fewer[1].The speaking vocabulary is usually said to be half of the reading and writing vocabulary. Foreign learners of English only need about 3000-5000 word families to be quite competent in speaking and listening to English. This is great news for learners of English because their task is much easier than that of native speakers! One of the reasons for this seemingly small number is the nature of words and the frequency with which they appear in a language. Not all words are equal because some words such as time, the, come, make, and so on are very common whereas others such as parasol, bombastic and edifice are relatively rare and not met everyday. It therefore seems clear that these frequent words should be among the first words to learn because they will be met most often and will be needed frequently in speech or writing. Thus the pay off for learning them is higher than for an average rare word. These words are often called a General Service Vocabulary because these words are found in many kinds of situations and domains. This is a vocabulary of about 2000 word families. The best list (although it is a bit dated is Michael West's 1954 list called the General Service Word List.) These General Service words are found a very very wide range of contexts such as in the medical world, in novels, in scientific reports, on web pages, in daily conversation, in politics and so on. Because these words appear in so many contexts they are extremely useful to almost all learners. Thus they are called "General Service" words. It has to be remembered of course that each of these topic areas just mentioned has its own specialist or technical vocabulary, for example the words embolism and gastroenteritis and so on appear in medicine, hydrogen and thermodynamics appear in science and engineering, and interferometer appears in astronomy. The case for a General Service vocabulary Some teachers insist that their learners should only be taught the words that those learners need (e.g. we should teach medical words to doctors) and to teach them words they do not need or do not want to learn is a waste of time. Quite so. But some of these teachers are not aware that there is a general service vocabulary that is common to ALL the domains. That is, these general service words are the bones on which the meat of the technical vocabulary hangs. Imagine a doctor knowing hundreds of medical words and not knowing get, give, time, break, the and some! Let's be clear about this. From a frequency of input point of view the technical vocabulary does not really start to be a big factor until after the 1500-2000 words of general service vocabulary. In other words in ALL domains the general service vocabulary is more common than the technical words for the first several hundred words at least. Thus teaching doctors only medical words will not allow them to read medical texts because they do not know the General Service words which supports their specialist vocabulary. Moreover the argument that says that we should teach the words learners needs assumes we know what words they want to learn and assumes we know their individual interests. It is very rare indeed that all the learners in one class are focused entirely and only on one domain and that they will only ever need only the vocabulary from one domain. In any group of learners there will be variations in interest between the learners even if they are ostensibly studying the same domain. This implies that in order to best cover most of the learners, that they all need to learn a general service vocabulary in addition to their specialist interests. Moreover, those learners who want to specialize only in one domain will have to deal with their L2 vocabulary outside their domain in conferences, when traveling, when meeting people and so on. There is no rationale case against a general service vocabulary for the vast vast majority of learners.
However, it would be misleading to assume that a few hundred words of General Service vocabulary would be enough. This is because there are limits on what one can do with a certain vocabulary. The following schedule lays out a rough picture of what foreign language learners can and cannot do with a certain vocabulary. Abstract
This article will examine the reasons why it is important both linguistically and psychologically to build a vocabulary quickly when learning a foreign language. The article asserts that very little can be achieved or learned in a foreign language with a small vocabulary and that by building a sizable vocabulary quite quickly one can soon be able to function adequately. You may also wish to look at http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/files/95/feb/meara.html Introduction It is obvious that in order to learn a foreign language one needs to learn many many words. But how many? Educated English native speakers have a vocabulary of about 20,000-25,000 word families (A 'word family' refers to a group of words that share the same basic meaning e.g. create, creation, creating, created, creative etc), foreign learners of English need far fewer[1].The speaking vocabulary is usually said to be half of the reading and writing vocabulary. Foreign learners of English only need about 3000-5000 word families to be quite competent in speaking and listening to English. This is great news for learners of English because their task is much easier than that of native speakers! One of the reasons for this seemingly small number is the nature of words and the frequency with which they appear in a language. Not all words are equal because some words such as time, the, come, make, and so on are very common whereas others such as parasol, bombastic and edifice are relatively rare and not met everyday. It therefore seems clear that these frequent words should be among the first words to learn because they will be met most often and will be needed frequently in speech or writing. Thus the pay off for learning them is higher than for an average rare word. These words are often called a General Service Vocabulary because these words are found in many kinds of situations and domains. This is a vocabulary of about 2000 word families. The best list (although it is a bit dated is Michael West's 1954 list called the General Service Word List.) These General Service words are found a very very wide range of contexts such as in the medical world, in novels, in scientific reports, on web pages, in daily conversation, in politics and so on. Because these words appear in so many contexts they are extremely useful to almost all learners. Thus they are called "General Service" words. It has to be remembered of course that each of these topic areas just mentioned has its own specialist or technical vocabulary, for example the words embolism and gastroenteritis and so on appear in medicine, hydrogen and thermodynamics appear in science and engineering, and interferometer appears in astronomy. The case for a General Service vocabulary Some teachers insist that their learners should only be taught the words that those learners need (e.g. we should teach medical words to doctors) and to teach them words they do not need or do not want to learn is a waste of time. Quite so. But some of these teachers are not aware that there is a general service vocabulary that is common to ALL the domains. That is, these general service words are the bones on which the meat of the technical vocabulary hangs. Imagine a doctor knowing hundreds of medical words and not knowing get, give, time, break, the and some! Let's be clear about this. From a frequency of input point of view the technical vocabulary does not really start to be a big factor until after the 1500-2000 words of general service vocabulary. In other words in ALL domains the general service vocabulary is more common than the technical words for the first several hundred words at least. Thus teaching doctors only medical words will not allow them to read medical texts because they do not know the General Service words which supports their specialist vocabulary. Moreover the argument that says that we should teach the words learners needs assumes we know what words they want to learn and assumes we know their individual interests. It is very rare indeed that all the learners in one class are focused entirely and only on one domain and that they will only ever need only the vocabulary from one domain. In any group of learners there will be variations in interest between the learners even if they are ostensibly studying the same domain. This implies that in order to best cover most of the learners, that they all need to learn a general service vocabulary in addition to their specialist interests. Moreover, those learners who want to specialize only in one domain will have to deal with their L2 vocabulary outside their domain in conferences, when traveling, when meeting people and so on. There is no rationale case against a general service vocabulary for the vast vast majority of learners.
However, it would be misleading to assume that a few hundred words of General Service vocabulary would be enough. This is because there are limits on what one can do with a certain vocabulary. The following schedule lays out a rough picture of what foreign language learners can and cannot do with a certain vocabulary.