Vocabulary
Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy

This volume examines what vocabulary is and how it behaves, how the mind learns vocabulary and uses it, and pedagogical issues of teaching and testing L2 vocabulary.

Norbert Schmitt (Edited by), Michael McCarthy (Edited by)

9780521585514, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 15 January 1998

400 pages
22.9 x 15.3 x 2.3 cm, 0.655 kg

'This collection provides a thought provoking and valuable update on the state of vocabulary as it is currently viewed and is an important contribution to the field.' NZ Studies in Applied Linguistics

This volume examines the area of second language vocabulary studies from three broad perspectives: description, acquisition and pedagogical context. The book's fifteen chapters are grouped together to achieve a balance between descriptions of what vocabulary is and how it behaves, how the mind learns new vocabulary and then uses it when it is learned, and pedagogical issues of teaching and testing L2 vocabulary. Some of the specific topics addressed in these three general areas include: - word frequency and vocabulary size, multi-word units, variation between spoken and written language; - models of lexical acquisition, first language influences on second language vocabulary acquisition, vocabulary learning strategies; - vocabulary and the syllabus, trends in teaching and testing vocabulary, lexical reference sources.

Subject Areas: ELT: teaching theory & methods [EBA]