Premium Essay

Vocabulary Development in Efl Learners

In: English and Literature

Submitted By supatranuch
Words 4301
Pages 18
Annotated Bibliography on Vocabulary Development in EFL Learners
Supatranut Singhanuwananon 5506040111

Vocabulary Development in EFL Learners: Optimizing Lexical Competence
Vocabulary teaching and learning in English language teaching (ELT) had been long considered unimportant until the light started to gleam gradually on the field in the 1980s to the 1990s (Nation, 2011; Henriksen, 1999). It has become widely known that slow vocabulary development blocks learners’ ability to comprehend L2 content through reading and listening (August, Carlo, Dressler, and Snow, 2005). Studies also show that because EFL learners have very much fewer productive vocabulary than receptive vocabulary, they often encounter difficulties in language production (Zhong, 2011). As an EFL learner myself, I have experienced such problems as well. Oftentimes, my vocabulary limitations interfere with my communication in L2. Therefore, it kindles my personal interest in studies of L2 vocabulary development.
Because vocabulary has become one of the key elements in ELT and ELL, through decades, many research have been conducted to identify how vocabulary is learned and developed, and what factors that impede or boost learners’ lexical competence. Hence, this study attempts to respond to the research questions as follow:
1. What are existing vocabulary learning strategies that EFL learners use?
2. What are factors that affect vocabulary development in EFL learners?
3. What are effective vocabulary learning strategies for EFL learners? The findings suggested that EFL learners learn L2 vocabulary through multifarious strategies such as making a personal word list, guessing from contexts, and using word cards. From the results, these different strategies, however, vary in learning effectiveness. The studies also revealed that more than single factors impact on learners’ lexical competence. For

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Importance Of Reading In Literature

...reading in the EFL curricula is a challenging task that requires to be rigorously thought of by senior teachers of English, at the Department of Letters and English Language-MUBs, in virtue of its incontrovertible role in enhancing and paving the way for students’ literacy development. Teachers would be first attuned to learners’ problems in reading through a series of reading activities at the beginning of the year, and then develop an appropriate reading curriculum to remedy these problems. In like manner, EFL teachers are also required to set up a reading program wherein it targets...

Words: 1313 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Essay On Writing Skills

...Language is a way of expressing ideas and gives us the extraordinary ability to describe the contents of our thoughts. Familiarity with ways that help us to learn a language is very important. In the process of learning a Language many skills work together to create a link between a speaker and interlocutors. These skills generally taught and assessed in terms of the ‘four basic language skills, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. All language learners will need to develop their skills in each of these sections. Although all four language skills are crucial for improving learners’ language competence in a second language, purpose of this study is focus on writing skills. According to Cumming (1998,p.61), “the word "writing"...

Words: 1137 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Vocabulary: Advanced Teaching Methodology

...TESOL Program Instructor: Nguyen Thu Huong, Ph.D. Class: 2016-B Name: Doan Thi Sam  FINAL PAPER Vocabulary is a crucial part of language that it is unattainable for a language system to achieve without them. Language structure is considered “the skeleton of the language,” it agreed that vocabulary is “the vital organs and flesh” (Harmer, 1991). So learning a language is to learn its vocabulary first. The acquisition of vocabulary is the central task for second language acquisition, and the language learners’ vocabulary competence takes a prestigious effect...

Words: 1720 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

The Definition Of Vocabulary In English Language

...Definition of Vocabulary It is important to define the term vocabulary because it is the basic foundation in any language and through reviewing the literature, the researcher found the following definitions that share some similarities. Hornby (2000) in Oxford Advanced Learner‘s Dictionary of Current English states that vocabulary is all the words that someone knows or uses, the words that are typically used when talking about particular subject or a list of words with the explanation of their meanings in a book for learning foreign language. Saputra (2007) gives a comprehensive definition of vocabulary and describes it as all the words that are used in a language, have meanings and Also, the American Heritage Dictionary (2010) defines vocabulary...

Words: 1619 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Reading

...Extensive Reading: Why? and How? Timothy Bell timothy [at] hsc.kuniv.edu.kw Kuwait University ------------------------------------------------- Abstract An extensive reading program was established for elementary level language learners at the British Council Language Center in Sanaa, Yemen. Research evidence for the use of such programs in EFL/ESL contexts is presented, emphasizing the benefits of this type of input for students' English language learning and skills development. Practical advice is then offered to teachers worldwide on ways to encourage learners to engage in a focused and motivating reading program with the potential to lead students along a path to independence and resourcefulness in their reading and language learning. ------------------------------------------------- Introduction: The Reading Program An extensive reading program was established at the British Council Language Center in Sanaa, Yemen. An elementary level class of government employees (age range 17-42) was exposed to a regime of graded readers, which was integrated into normal classroom teaching. Students followed a class reader, had access to a class library of graded readers, and had classes in the British Council library, which gave them access to a collection of 2000 titles. Questionnaires were used to examine students' reading interests, habits and attitudes, both prior to, and following the program. The class library contained 141 titles in the published readers of some major publishers...

Words: 3076 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Learning English

...2002 - 12:00 This article is about the British Council's Young Learners Centre in Paris and how they use children's literature in their teaching of English   * The role of stories and storytelling in language teaching * Selecting story books * Pupil responses * Personal and professional development of teachers * Other support materials * Books referred to in this article   The role of stories and storytelling in language teaching Once upon a time and not so very long ago in the capital city of France, a teaching centre for little children and not so little children was opened. One little child and then two and then three and then many, many more came along. And so our story unfolds ….. There was a little red hen, a meerkat in trouble, a brown bear, a black elephant and a white elephant, a very hungry caterpillar, Spot the dog, a clever tortoise, a big, roaring, yellow, whiskery lion, a kangaroo from Woolloomooloo and many more. These are just some of the colourful characters from children's literature who have helped children aged 5 - 10 attending holiday classes at the British Council's Young Learners Centre in Paris learn English. These weekly courses take place each afternoon for two hours. The educational value of using stories and the technique of storytelling has always been undisputed throughout the world. Now more and more English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers of young learners are using carefully selected stories from the world of children's...

Words: 9557 - Pages: 39

Premium Essay

Culture Teaching Questionnaire

...teachers often focus on teaching of grammar, vocabulary and forms and norms of written communication. One of the respondents advocated that they are “unable to speak and behave native speakers”. They viewed obstacle to communication is insufficient understanding of English culture. However, a keen interest was seen among learners who thought that cultural knowledge could enlarge their perspective of the outside world. In response to the another question: “What do you think is important in culture teaching?”, the following were the most frequent answers: cultural differences, festivals and holidays, peoples’ way of life, sports, music, customs, etiquette, society, education, food, body language and values. When answering the last question “In what ways you would like to learn about foreign culture?”, Most of the students mentioned that they like extensive reading, watching English movies, listening to music, reading stories, role-playing, and personal contact with native speakers. The responses to the questions indicate that the present state of culture teaching and learning is not satisfactory. However, the students had a positive attitude towards culture learning. They were found interested in learning how English-speaking people live, what their customs are and in what ways foreign cultures are...

Words: 1059 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Textbook Evaluation

...Introduction The learners and teachers of English and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) textbooks are three major inter-related elements in the process of present day education. Hutchinson, 1994 cited in (Evaluating an EFL textbook - A new English Course) states that, “The textbook is an almost universal element of ELT teaching”. Therefore, a textbook can be mentioned as a useful instrument which serves as a guide or an instructional manual for studying a particular subject. Against the common belief that students are the key in this direction, many scholars hold the view that textbooks are the heart of education with regard to the fact that both teachers and students are to a large extent dependent on the books (Sarem, S. N., Hamidi, H., Mahmoudie, R., 2013).Therefore, it is clear that a textbook facilitates the teaching and learning process and thus, is helpful both for the teacher and the students. Textbooks are compiled and developed because they are the most convenient means of providing the structure that the teaching-learning system requires. Textbooks are a good solution to overcome the weaknesses in teaching materials. Ansary and Babaii (2002) cited in (An Evaluation of English Language Textbook 'Say it in English' for first year intermediate Grade in South Arabia, 2012) state that, “Although the textbook is not the only tool for the teaching and learning process, it is still of a significant impact for achieving the language learning objectives...

Words: 5865 - Pages: 24

Premium Essay

Importance Of Learning Vocabulary

...especially learning vocabulary. One of the most important elements of language is vocabulary; there has been a considerable interest in vocabulary studies. By learning vocabulary foreign learners can improve their knowledge and proficiency in second language. Over the last years so many researchers, for example (Folse, 2006; Huang, 2007; Min, 2008; Shen, 2010; Vidal, 2011; Mohebbi, 2013; Charkova, 2014), tried to discuss the different sides and the role of vocabulary learning, that is why so many useful strategies have been indicated in their findings. As we know vocabulary always plays a great role in learning English as a foreign language, especially for the students in universities, because it is a suitable time for them to improve their English skillfulness. The trend of linguistic theory play great role in the improvement of language education. Vocabulary acquisition was neglected...

Words: 1032 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Content Based Instruction

...Content-Based Instruction (CBI) is a significant approach in language education (Brinton, Snow, & Wesche, 1989). CBI is designed to provide second-language learners instruction in content and language. Historically, the word content has changed its meaning in language teaching. Content used to refer to the methods of grammar-translation, audio-lingual methodology and vocabulary or sound patterns in dialog form. Recently, content is interpreted as the use of subject matter as a vehicle for second or foreign language teaching/learning. * | Benefits of content based instruction 1. Learners are exposed to a considerable amount of language through stimulating content. Learners explore interesting content & are engaged in appropriate language-dependant activities. Learning language becomes automatic. 2. CBI supports contextualized learning; learners are taught useful language that is embedded within relevant discourse contexts rather than as isolated language fragments. Hence students make greater connections with the language & what they already know. 3. Complex information is delivered through real life context for the students to grasp well & leads to intrinsic motivation. 4. In CBI information is reiterated by strategically delivering information at right time & situation compelling the students to learn out of passion. 5. Greater flexibility & adaptability in the curriculum can be deployed as per the students interest. Comparison to other...

Words: 2800 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

The Impact of Immediate Grammatical Error Correction in Senior English Majors’ Accuracy at Hebron University

...at Hebron University Abstract This study aims at investigating the effects of grammatical error correction on EFL learners’ accuracy. Twenty-two males and females senior students were chosen randomly to respond to a questionnaire investigating their beliefs about immediate grammatical error correction. Therefore, this study was conducted in order to answer this question: what is the effect of grammatical error feedback on students’ accuracy? Results related to the questionnaire that was delivered to the participants proved that immediate error correction enhances and has a positive effect on their accuracy. Introduction Accuracy, in its simple view, is the ability to produce grammatical correct sentences (Gower et al. 1995). Since its vital role in acquiring the English language in Palestine, grammar should seize a wide distance in EFL classrooms and should be taught either inductively or deductively. Nevertheless, the process of teaching and learning does not guarantee that all learners are expected to produce grammatical sentences, so the role of the teachers, here, is to respond and give immediate feedback. The erroneous utterances may interfere with the intelligibility of what is said. When the feedback provided during a conversational interaction, the acquisition process is facilitated (Rahimi & Dastjerdi 2012) and the direct treatment of errors helps learners learn better. The feedback and correction of errors are parts of the process of learning and teaching....

Words: 3743 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Importance Of Reading Comprehension

...Statement of the Problem Being proficient in a foreign language needs mastering its four skills: speaking, listening, writing and reading. The latter is extremely important in language learning since written words enable the language learner to have access to all kinds of information and knowledge. In order to better understand what an EFL learner reads, s/he has to make use of a number of reading strategies namely: prediction, Prior Knowledge, summarizing, skimming, scanning. Most of second year literary-stream students at “Al akhawain Kird” Secondary school in El-Oued in Algeria fail in comprehending what they read in the classroom setting and this may be directly linked to their lack of awareness of using the appropriate reading...

Words: 1042 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Its a Medical Miracle

...Perception of STPM students towards learning English as second language. Contents Background 2 Statement of the Problem 4 Purpose of the Study 5 Literature Review 5 Theoretical Framework : Strategy learning of Language 5 Motivation control 7 Cognition 8 The Research Questions 9 Motivation for the Research 10 Methodology 10 Research Design 10 Population and Sample 11 Instrumentation 12 Data Collection and Procedure 13 References 14 Background English is one legacy of more than a century worth of British colonial rule in Malaysia. It stands as most important foreign language in Malaysia and used extensively for all aspects of daily life, from handling business transactions until producing written advertisement jingles. English language plays a vital role in binding together a multicultural nation made up three unambiguous races which is Malays, Chinese and Indians. These groups differ in appearance and mother tongue that relies on shared language to communicate outside of their ethnic group. Despite its history, Malaysia has recently seen a sharp decline in English language proficiency (Murugesan, 2003), which has triggered implementation of certain measures calculated to prevent this recurrence. Where, the ministry of education has implemented Science and Mathematics teaching in English Language since year 2003 (ministry of education, 2014). There was a lot of attempt especially from Malay...

Words: 2816 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Factors Affecting First Year English Students Reading Comprehention

...the Study In today’s global world, the importance of English cannot be denied and ignored since English is the most common language spoken everywhere. Besides, English is a widely studied foreign language (Richards & Rodgers: 1995). So English is learned not only as a single language but also as a key medium of instruction to decide upon the students’ further life to be competent enough to cope with the 21century(Genenen: 2011). In the EFL context, language learning is seen as a process that requires opportunities for learners to participate in communication where making meaning is a primary goal. Reading is one of the language skills which students need to develop and the most important of all the four language skills. Students’ academic success and their language proficiency depend largely on their ability to read and comprehend the textbook and notes they receive in different subjects (Getachew: 1996). Though reading is not the only skill to be taught in the language classroom, it is definitely the most important for many ESL/EFL learners (Grabe2002). So, reading in a second or foreign language setting continues to have an increasingly important role. Traditionally, reading comprehension lessons have centered on a passage of text followed by questions. But the questions were usually designed to find out whether the students had understood, rather than to facilitate understanding. In other words, they were devices for testing rather than teaching (Nuttal 1982). There are...

Words: 5216 - Pages: 21

Free Essay

Extensive Reading

...Making Use of English Subtitled K-Pop MV in Exploring Students’ Extensive Reading Comprehension YUNINGSIH Telkom University, Indonesia yuningsihlegiman@gmail.com ABSTRACT Studies on captions and subtitles in EFL learning gave positive effects on comprehension and vocabulary acquisition (Chung, 1996, Neurnan & Koskinen, 1992; Price, 1983; Vanderplank, 1988, 1993). Using song in ELT was highly impressive and motivating (Murphey, 1992; Lied, 2000). This study was designed to investigate the use of English-subtitled K-Pop MV in exploring students’ extensive reading ability. In this case study, five students, four girls and one boy, were selected. To collect the data, document analysis and an in-depth interview were conducted. The findings showed in comprehending the song, the students’ interpretations were still shallow and relying heavily on summary of narrative with very low-level inference. Meanwhile in vocabulary acquisition, it helped their better understanding wider range vocabulary, either in English or Korean. In addition, using K-Pop for learning English was more interesting and enjoyable, it is also motivating. Overall, using English-subtitle on K-Pop can be used as an alternative way to enliven extensive reading. Keywords: Subtitle, comprehension, extensive reading, interpretation, inference. INTRODUCTION The Korean wave—”hallyu” in Korean—refers to a surge in the international visibility of Korean culture, beginning in East Asia in the 1990s and continuing...

Words: 3460 - Pages: 14