Word Knowledge Depth Task

Students take one word they have studied and map the full dimensions of what it means to know a word — collocates, grammar patterns, register, related forms, connotation — revealing gaps in shallow knowledge.

Procedure

1. Students select one word they believe they know well, or the teacher assigns a high-value word from recent texts.
2. Students fill in a structured template for that word:
   • Definition in their own words (no dictionary yet)
   • Three collocations with example sentences
   • Grammar: what follows it? (noun / gerund / infinitive / that-clause)
   • Register: formal, neutral, or informal?
   • Related word forms (noun, verb, adjective, adverb)
   • One word it is often confused with, and how to tell them apart
   • A sentence from a text they have read that uses the word
3. Students compare with a partner and fill in each other's gaps.
4. Check against a learner dictionary. Update with any missing information.
5. Students record the completed entry in their vocabulary notebooks.

Tips

• Nation (2001) identifies at least 18 dimensions of word knowledge. This task targets 7 of the most teachable. Presenting the full taxonomy once at the start of a course shows students why a simple definition is never enough.
• Reserve this for genuinely high-value words: high-frequency, polysemous, widely collocating. A word like account (noun and verb, five common collocations, formal and neutral registers) rewards depth treatment far more than a rare synonym.
• After the first session, students can run this as self-directed homework; the template becomes a permanent notebook fixture and a habit for independent vocabulary learning.