Vocabulary Teaching and Learning: The Vital Role of Explicit Strategy Training

San Miguel de Tucumán

Jornada; IV Jornadas de Actualización para Profesores de Inglés; 2014

Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán

Learning, as a language based activity, is fundamentally and profoundly dependent on vocabulary knowledge. (Baker, Simmons & Kame?enut 1998 in Byrns 2010). Research emphasizes the idea that vocabulary development is a vital part of all content learning. In the field of literacy, one of the established relationships is that which exists between students? vocabulary knowledge and their skills for reading, writing, speaking and listening. (Templeton, Shane & Pikulski 1999). While extensive reading is important for incidental vocabulary acquisition and growth, it is not the only component. According to Lightbown & Spada (2006) the development of vocabulary by means of explicit teaching is of great importance. Effective vocabulary instruction also includes direct instruction as well as the building of interest in words. The meanings and understandings the students can derive from reading will be shallow and short-lived unless students are taught the strategies they need for learning new words. There is growing consensus that it is the task of teachers to teach such strategies explicitly. Based on this concept of explicit strategy training we carried out a two-year research entitled ?Estrategias de Aprendizaje de Vocabulario en Alumnos de Niveles Post-Intermedio y Avanzado de Inglés en las Carreras de Grado?, which was approved and financed by SECyT. Our aim was to determine the strategies for the acquisition of vocabulary which would be helpful for our upper intermediate / advanced level students at Facultad de Lenguas, U.N.C. It is our purpose to present and share the objectives and proceedings, the tools employed to collect data as well as some general conclusions we reached.