Project · Concept-based vocabulary learning
Word360 (全景单词): Nation's model of word knowledge, SCOBA, and concept-based language teaching
The idea
Word360 reframes vocabulary learning as concept development. It is the first approach to unite Nation's model of word knowledge (form, meaning, and use) with SCOBA and concept-based language teaching.
Why vocabulary depth needs a concept
Learners often treat knowing a word as knowing its translation. In Nation's framework, however, word knowledge spans spoken and written form, word parts, meaning, concepts and associations, grammatical patterns, collocations, and constraints on use. Word360 presents this framework to learners as a scientific concept in the Vygotskian sense, so that it becomes a tool they can use to analyze any new word rather than a list of facts to memorize.
Design principles
- Form, meaning, and use are organized as one scientific concept of word knowledge, and schematic orientation guides learners through each dimension so that they construct understanding rather than memorize definitions.
- Mediation is built into every stage of the learning cycle. Learners first articulate what they already know about a word, then receive graduated, targeted support as they use it in sentences of their own.
- Learning is grounded in authentic corpus examples, and practice and word recommendations adapt to each learner's developing knowledge.
- Learning processes are recorded over time, which supports research on concept development and on how learners engage with AI mediation.
Yuwei Xia led the pedagogical design of Word360, which was developed in collaboration with a technical partner. The tool is affiliated with her dissertation research.
Research
Xia, Y. (2027). From memorizing to knowing: A concept-based tool for developing vocabulary depth and learner agency. Paper accepted for presentation at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference, Atlanta.
The paper traces seven learners' development toward more systematic, self-regulated vocabulary learning as they worked with the concept of word knowledge.
Xia, Y. (2026). Concept-based vocabulary notebooks: Developing scientific concepts of vocabulary knowledge among Chinese EFL learners. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference, Chicago.