Issues in Vocabulary Learning and Teaching

"Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed."David Wilkins (1972, p.111)1. Introduction1.1. The importance of vocabularySecond language vocabulary teaching and learning can be considered as a crucial component of language acquisition. In the past, these significant building blocks of every language had been neglected considerably, but during the past decades, vocabulary teaching obtained much of its importance and became the focus of attention of many researchers and teachers (Decaricco, 2001; Laufer, 1986; Nation, 1990; Read, 2000; Schmitt, 2000; Singleton, 2000).According to Stahl and Nagy (2006), our vocabulary knowledge involves all the words we know and use in listening and speaking as well as reading and writing. On the importance of the role of vocabulary in real life, Stahl (1999) noted that our vocabulary knowledge affects how we comprehend texts; how we define ourselves for others and how we define the way we see the world. Second language learners are typically aware of the notability of vocabulary knowledge; hence they know that limitations in their vocabulary knowledge can significantly affect their communication skills in view of the fact that vocabulary items encompass the rudimentary information they wish to comprehend and express (Nation, 2001). Furthermore, research investigated on English language learners demonstrated that our knowledge of vocabulary prophesies academic accomplishments (Snow & Kim, 2007). We may now come to the conclusion that what the goal of vocabulary instruction is. Nagy and Herman (1987) noted that the aim of vocabulary teaching is to help students learn the meanings of a lot of words in such a way that they can communicate effectually.The question that may come into mind at this point is that, what learning or knowing a word means. Is it just knowing the meaning of a word? Or are there other factors other than this one that comprise knowing a word?2. What does it mean to know a word?"A word is more than its meaning" (Cook, 2001, p.61). We may know the meanings of many words but still be unable to produce messages that look quite right. For instance, we may use a word which has a negative connotation in a situation which needs words with a positive connotation (Zimmerman, 2014). This indicates that there are other things we should know about a word to consider it a known or acquired word. Researchers (Nation, 2001; Read, 2000; Schmitt, 2008) note that learners must know a large number of vocabulary items; but more importantly, they have to acquire a great amount of knowledge about each word so that they can communicate well with them. We usually consider a word learned if the spoken/ written form and its meaning are learned (Schmitt, 2008). Schmitt (2008, p.333) contends that -while it is true that the form -meaning link is the first and most essential lexical aspect which must be acquired, and may be adequate to allow recognition, a learner needs to know much more about lexical items, particularly if they are to be used productively."Nation (1990, p 31) suggests that word knowledge includes the mastery of other factors as the following:Meanings: we should know what a word means and if there are multiple meanings for a single word. We should also know whether or not there are connotations for a particular word.Written form: knowing a word also involves knowing how it is spelled.Spoken form: pronunciation of a word is also of high importance. Without knowing the correct pronunciation of a word, we may be unable to use it in our speech.Grammatical behavior: we should know the patterns in which a specific word occurs. Having knowledge about the grammatical category of a word and also possible and impossible structures is necessary in acquiring a word.Collocations: we should know what words go with a specific word, and if there are certain words we must or mustn't use with this word. …