The Importance Of Vocabulary In The English Language

The importance of vocabulary It has often been remarked how strange it is that comparatively little has been researched and written on the teaching and learning of a second or foreign language vocabulary. Furthermore, it is also worth mentioning that several issues such as grammatical competence, reading or writing have traditionally received considerably more attention and interest within language teaching than the teaching and learning of vocabulary, which has never aroused the same degree of interest among teachers and learners. Nevertheless, decades of research, as well as numerous methodologists and linguists, have recently confirmed, emphasized and recommend teaching vocabulary because of its importance in the language use. Appart from

Vocabulary leads to a more accurate and effective communication and sharing of students’ ideas. In other words: “vocabulary is the foundation to build languages, which plays a fundamental role in communication” (Hatch and Brown, 1995, p. 1). It has a great impact to the students when they want to convey and share their opinions and ideas. Not being able to find the words you need to express yourself is the most frustrating experience in speaking English or another language. The more words one learns, the more effective he/she share and express his/her ideas. For that reason, how well learners can communicate in English is partly dependent on how many vocabulary they have

Similarly, the Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary defines mastery such as “great skill or understanding of something”. Hence, the mastery of vocabulary can be understood as the knowledge or skill that allow one to have a full command of a subject of study, in this case, vocabulary.

Moreover, it is described that by mastering vocabulary, students can express their ideas, understand and develop the other four basic competences. Thus, it could be said that the vocabulary mastery is one of the main factors to master English language, but what do vocabulary mastery and knowing a word entail? At the most general level, knowing a word involves “form, meaning and use” (Nation, 2001, p.26).

» The receptive and productive distinction

The terms receptive and productive may be applied to a variety of kinds of language knowledge and use. However, when they are applied to vocabulary, these terms become much more specific, covering all the aspects of what is involved in knowing a word. According to Nation (2001, p. 26-28) and in broad terms, receptive and productive knowledge of a word involves or implies that learners must:

RECEPTIVELY PRODUCTIVELY

- Recognise the word when it is