THE ACQUISITION OF VOCABULARY IN CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION : A CASE STUDY OF 13 EFL ADULT LEARNERS

概要

論文の詳細を見る
The EFL learners' lack of vocabulary knowledge is considered to be one of the greatest obstacles to having communication with other speakers of English. However, there has been little study which tried to investigate the effects of focusing on vocabulary in 90-minute real academic classes on learners' content comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effects of incorporating an explicit focus on vocabulary into a content-based college class on learners' content comprehension, vocabulary acquisition and the changes in their perception of the need for focusing on vocabulary for their greater oral proficiency enhancement. The results suggest that if learners receive content-based classes repeatedly in which vocabulary acquisition is systematically aimed at, and after they get accustomed to taking such classes little by little, first, there is the potential for learners to achieve greater comprehension of the class content without losing their acquisition of vocabulary knowledge than if they receive non-vocabulary-focused instruction. Second, learners would enhance their vocabulary knowledge and its use more effectively, especially in terms of the productive use of target vocabulary which facilitates their greater oral proficiency enhancement, than those who are instructed in comprehension-based pedagogy.
上智大学の論文