Vocabulary in Language Teaching

Joe Barcroft

Sep 2015 · Routledge

About this ebook

This module focuses on the pivotal role of vocabulary in language acquisition, communication, and instruction. It first reviews the nature of vocabulary knowledge, the mental lexicon, and different contexts of vocabulary learning. It then explains how we acquire vocabulary and refine vocabulary knowledge over time. The primary emphasis is on how language instructors can promote evidence-based vocabulary instruction in the classroom. To this effect, the module highlights some telling research on the effects of specific tasks (such as sentence writing and copying target words) and different ways of presenting target words (such as having multiple talkers instead of a single talker produce the target words) and outlines an effective approach to vocabulary instruction, one that emphasizes multiple presentations of target vocabulary, specificity in the relationship between task type and learning outcomes, and the gradual build-up of language-specific vocabulary knowledge over time. A sample lesson based on this approach is also provided.

Please visit the series companion website for more information: http://routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/9781315679594/

Ratings and reviews

Extremely dense, but great information. You would have to take it slow processing all of the information and make sure you understand one part well enough, before moving on to the next. Even though it is a shorter book, it should be spaced out in a course, to make sure the content is actually learned; all of this cannot be understood in one or two sittings.

About the author

Joe Barcroft is Professor of Spanish and Second Language Acquisition in the Department of Romance Languages & Literatures at Washington University in St. Louis.