Daskalovska, Nina (2020) Vocabulary size at four stages of language development. European Journal of English Language Teaching, 6 (2). pp. 1-11. ISSN 2501-7136
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Abstract
One of the main aims of language learning is developing communicative competence, or
the ability to communicate effectively in everyday situations. In order to achieve that,
besides grammar knowledge, learners need to acquire enough vocabulary knowledge
that would enable them to use the language outside the classroom, which requires
acquiring significant receptive and productive word knowledge in order to be able to
participate in various communicative situations. Research shows that the most frequent
2000 words comprise about 85% of the words in any text regardless of the topic, and that
learners need to know at least 3000 word families in order to be able to use the language
successfully and to be able to read authentic texts with understanding. However,
experience shows that acquiring a large vocabulary is one of the biggest obstacles that
language learners face in the process of language acquisition. Nevertheless, since
vocabulary knowledge is the key component of the overall communicative competence,
is it necessary to invest time and effort to learn the most frequent words in the language.
The aim of this study is to determine the vocabulary size of language learners at four
stages of language development. In addition, the study attempts to determine the
difference between receptive and productive knowledge of vocabulary, as well as the
difference between knowledge of words seen in isolation and in context. The participants
were four groups of learners, of whom three groups comprised elementary and
secondary school students and one group were university students. The results showed
that during the first five years of learning the vocabulary knowledge increases at a greater
rate, that learners have better receptive than productive knowledge of words, and that
seeing words in context helps learners demonstrate greater receptive and productive
vocabulary knowledge.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Humanities > Languages and literature |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Philology |
| Depositing User: | Nina Daskalovska |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Oct 2020 08:53 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Oct 2020 08:53 |
| URI: | https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/id/eprint/26684 |
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