Objectives of teaching vocabulary

Knowledge of a foreign language is often associated with knowledge of words, while having a true command of a language is associated with lexical habits providing functioning of words in communication. Although grammar structures, sounds, stress and intonation framing of speech are of great importance, it is impossible both to utter and to understand even the simplest phrase without knowing words. Thus, lexical habits should be considered the most important and inseparable component of the foreign language teaching content. Lexical habitsformation constitutes the main objective of teaching lexical material, often referred to as vocabulary.

Acquiring lexical material does not just mean memorising words. The learners have to acquire the use of words. It is more difficult, but at the same time easier than to memorise vocabulary in lists of words. It is harder, for word-use requires not only knowledge of words (e.g. a family, to be, a table, at, cards, to play), but certain skills of manipulating words in the process of uttering them (The family are playing cards at the table). It is easier, for vocabulary manipulation in the process of uttering gives an opportunity to interpret and comprehend a chain of words and to memorise the word-use better. In other words, lexis is closely connected with the content of communication, on which the interlocutors’ attention is focused on. It helps the concentration of their attention on the words and, finally, their acquisition. Thus, the main objective of teaching vocabulary – lexical habits formation – consists in providing learners to obtain the use of words.

This hard task is solved in two aspects. Learners should not only use words in their own speech (1), but also comprehend words in other people’s speech (2). For many years it has been considered that once having learnt to speak students become automatically able to understand the language material they are using. However, this opinion has been proved wrong by practice. It occurs that a word even properly acquired by a learner is quite difficult to recognise in a flow of speech. This is so because it is very often camouflaged by new surroundings in writing, let alone oral speech. In some way or another the word becomes hard to recognise because of other words coming before or after it. Its main meaning and manifestation present themselves anew, turning to a learner with its strange, unknown side.

It has turned out that the ways of realisation of a speaker’s activity, on the one hand, and a listener’s activity, on the other hand, have their own peculiarities. These peculiarities require different approaches in teaching, both for explanation and especially for training. Hence, it appears, that words comprising the learner’s vocabulary should be acquired in two ways: 1) to the benefit of speaking and writing (the aspect of production) and 2) to the benefit of reading and listening (the aspect of reception).

Thus, the objectives of teaching vocabulary include not only the learners’ acquiring words and their use, but also learning how to operate them in different kinds of language activity.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-13