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The importance of vocabulary in learning English
The importance of vocabulary in learning English
The importance of learning vocabulary
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the study
Nowadays, English is one of the most popular languages all over the world. In Vietnam, English also plays an important role in people’s life because this country is in a stage of development and globalization. Many foreign companies invest in Vietnamese market. This is a good opportunity for learners of English to find good jobs. Therefore, it is necessary for people to study English. However, it is not easy to master English since there are several difficulties in the process of learning. Vocabulary is a typical one.
Vocabulary plays an influential part in learning English. Wilkins (1987) declares that one can express a few things even when one has no grammar; however, one could not express anything without word. Krashen (1987, as cited in Lewis, 1993, p. iii) also says this to prove the importance of vocabulary: when students travel, they carry dictionaries instead of a grammar book. Vocabulary is extremely important in the process of learning English. It is an essential part in the four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In these skills, if learners lack lexical knowledge, they cannot demonstrate how well they acquire the language. With it, they feel more confident in attending a listening comprehension test or an oral
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2-3) adapt five teaching steps of drawing mind mappings. First, the teacher introduces a topic and wrote on the board. Next, he/she models and teaches with the whole class. In this step, the teacher asks the students to list all the words, identifies the related words with the teacher‘s help; draws a topic in the middle of the circle; and groups the words in their category. Then, the teacher guids practice with partners. The students can practice independently, and then compare with their friends. Finally, the teacher generalizes the situation the students can use semantic
Teachers who work with English Language Learners know that academic language takes longer to achieve proficiency in than does conversational language. On average, ELL students need at least two years to achieve conversational language and, five to nine years to develop academic language proficiency. Many English words ELL students are exposed to in school, they have not yet learned or even heard in their first language, which makes transference of knowledge impossible. The vast differences in the ability to use conversational versus academic language can be a hindrance to these students and have lasting effects on their academics and therefore, their lives.
In your company, a position that pays a higher salary and has more regular work hours opens up so you decide to apply for the job. Your supervisor tells you that you cannot be considered for the position because although you are fully fluent in English, you have a Vietnamese accent. Instead, another employee who speaks with a British accent is interviewed for the position. In Myriam Marquez’s article “Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public” and Amy Tan’s article “Mother Tongue” we get a taste of what it feels like to be linguistically impaired and discriminated against. Through exploring Tan’s and Marquez’s articles, one can see the importance of learning a certain amount of English so one can get far in life and not be taken advantage of,
... Without adequate vocabulary, students do not have the ability to understand, discuss, and learn. However, teaching specific vocabulary in a meaningful and explicit way improves ones vocabulary and allows them to understand and gain knowledge from the classroom within which that vocabulary is being used. Consequently, learning vocabulary skills addresses the problem of students being able to read but not having sufficient vocabulary skills to understand what they are reading within and outside the classroom environment. Works Cited Gibbons, P. (2000).
Vocabulary development should give the students the ability to learn the meaning of new words and concepts that are presented to them in their text. Learning this skill will help students with comprehension and their content area curriculum. By teaching students vocabulary development, students will have a reserve of new words, connect new words with their previous knowledge, gain the ability to understand and comprehend the text, and lastly, it will increase a students’ word knowledge to connect with their comprehension and success.
A well recognized aspect of verbal skills includes the knowledge of vocabulary. Often vocabulary is referred to as a set of words familiar to an individual. An extensive research body indicates that knowledge of vocabulary is a significant aspect to the success of literacy or comprehension (Christ & Wang, 2010). Previous studies indicate that there is a significant difference in the verbal capability which is evident when an individual enters in a school. It also reveals that these types of disparities often start within the initial few years of a child’s life.
To this point, it is agreed that the culture of the target language does not necessarily limited to countries of native speakers such as the UK or the USA anymore but has already shifted to international culture. English now is not the only property of the inner circle but an international language by non-native speakers all over the world. Applying the paradigm into this research means that not only the British or American cultural perspectives but also all the international ones are going to be examined in the English textbooks in Vietnam.
One of the main goals of language teaching and learning process is to teach the students how to communicate in the target language appropriately. As the foreign language and the most learned target language, English has the same goal which for human communication. Due to this goal, the mastery of English becomes a priority to everyone especially the students. It can be seen by the rule of the curriculum that requires English becomes a subject that must be taught in school. Concerning on the curriculum, there are four skills in English that should be learned by the language students, they are: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Besides, there are three sub-skills that supporting those skills as pronunciation,
It is a staggering thought to imagine an existence without language. To be restricted to basic forms of communication or to have none at all is an unimaginably condition. Language, in simple terms, is the manner in which people express themselves and the understanding of communication presented to them . The phenomenon of language is confined to mankind and is an intricate and vital element in the complex framework of human beings. The scientific and objective study of language is carried out in the field of linguistics. The study of linguistics promotes and advances the mastery of communication among people, individuals and groups, and illuminates the fundamentals of self expression through language and the complexities of understanding people around us.
The words we use are vital to communication amongst all people and in all situations. Vocabulary is the body of words used in a particular language. It describes a list of words and conveys information and ideas . All communication serves as a medium to explain and inform using a particular vocabulary. It is an important source in all areas of knowledge. Having a larger vocabulary makes enables one to be able to understand more people and increases one’s understanding of people and aspects of the world compared to someone with a limited vocabulary. Without the right vocabulary, we may be unable to express an event or situation in detail, or the way that we are thinking it , so there is no way of communicating this idea to others and to pass it on. In this way, vocabulary can be a hindrance to our knowledge as well. It is the means for understanding and without the appropriate vocabulary, our ignorance to certain things is displayed. The truth in our knowledge is shown through our use of language and decided by the ways of knowing. These ways of knowing include language, perception and emotion. I agree with this claim and will show how our vocabulary can both demonstrate our knowledge and shape what we know by using the ways of knowing to explore the areas of knowledge.
I am taking AP Literature and Composition for many reasons, but the main reason is to make my grandmother proud. She used to be an AP english teacher herself and I just want her to be happy for me. The other perks for taking this course is to challenge myself and be more prepared for college. I believe that I could get a higher score on my ACT by taking this class. I hope to be able to read and comprehend words fast and efficiently. Also to improve my writing skills and spelling, I am really bad at spelling. Lastly, I want to improve my critical thinking skills when reading a story. To accomplish my hopes I can work on practice tests and spelling words. I can also read a book and stop in between certain chapters to think about the author is trying to say.
English has been considered as an essential language to be learnt in order to meet the communication needs in this globalization era. Taking into account the benefits of English, Vietnam has organized English to be taught in formal school as a compulsory subject. The teaching of foreign language, specifically English, is aimed to develop students’ ability to communicate with world society. Accordingly, there has been great concern about the teaching and learning English. The teaching includes the teaching of the four skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing and grammar. However vocabulary is one of crucial aspects to support those skills. Richards and Renandya (2002) state that vocabulary is an important component of
The teaching and learning of vocabulary and other aspects of language need special attention from both teachers and learners. According to Rahimi (2008) some of vocabulary learning problems are misconception, rote learning, dictionary use, lack of sufficient input, lack of output and memory. Solving these problems may be of great help to both students and teachers. This research tends to solve some of these problems through reading short stories. Also, the teachers in Iran, all of times have the problems for teaching vocabulary, especially for beginner to intermediate students. For solving this problem, they use some strategies and methods. For example they use direct strategies like repetition, retain the vocabularies or use indirect strategies like using of the films, cartoons, or role playing. One important way to develop vocabulary knowledge is through extensive reading. Students by reading extensively will be exposed to different new scope of vocabulary which is necessary in reading comprehension (Pazhakh, 2010). It seems that literature, especially short story has important role in teaching and learning English, especially in the form of implicit learning. According to Cunningham & Stanovich (1998) Reading volume is very important in terms of long-term vocabulary development. In later work, Cunningham (2005) further recommended structured read- aloud, discussion
Are you looking for guidelines for improving your vocabulary? Do you want to know how to improve English vocabulary? No matter you are trying to strengthen and widen your vocabulary for school or personal growth, the key is a promise to frequently learning new words. Now you must be thinking why to increase your knowledge and use of words? You will be able to speak and write more clearly and in brief. It also helps other people to understand you more effortlessly. Besides, learning new words is an enjoyable activity -- and you can do with the people around you, challenge a friend, relative or roommate to learn new words with you.
Good reading skills are very important in learning languages. Reading improves spelling because as students learn to sound out letters and words, spelling comes easier. It helps to expand the vocabulary, since the best way to acquire a large vocabulary is to read. Students learn new words as they read and put them in their mind for later use. . They also unconsciously absorb the information about things like how to structure the sentences, how words are used in different contexts, and it gives a better understanding of the word usage and definitions than the cold facts of a dictionary. It improves a person’s vocabulary and knowledge without the person even knowing it. Even if students do not understand every word, they will hear new sounds, words and phrases which they can then try out, copying what they have heard. They can comprehend ideas, follow arguments and detect implications. Reading texts also provide good models for English writing. Krashen (2004) found that reading is extremely important in learning English, since it is the only way to “become a good reader, develop a good writing style, an adequate vocabulary, advanced grammar” and the only way to “become a good speller”.
English language is recognized as the lingua franca of the global economic frontier due to its “rapidly [increasing use in] globalizing business and professional worlds” (Evans, 2013). English literacy has shifted outside native English-speaking borders and spread to EFL (English as Foreign Language) regions, becoming a compulsory subject for students. Consequently, English is being widely used “for international … and … national communication” (Warschauer, 2000) where domestic and international companies wont English as their main medium of instruction in business communications. Having English literacy is now considered a basic requirement for employment. However, speakers of the English language differ from one another; each speaker has his or her unique accent when speaking English. An accent is a unique mode of sound production that is influenced by a speaker's dialect or native language (Edwards, 1997; Carlson and McHenry, 2006) and is divided into “standard or nonstandard” (Fishman, 1971). According to Ryan, Hewstone, and Giles (1984), standard – accent speakers are highly regarded for qualities related to “competence, intelligence, and social status”, while nonstandard – accent speakers are considered less satisfactory. Hence, nonstandard English speakers often face prejudice when seeking employment, being deemed unsuitable for certain jobs although no specific status is attributed to them (Carlson and McHenry, 2006). Much of