92-pages-GUIDELINES-FOR-SECONDARY-SCHOOLS-All-Streams-and-Sections

7. knowledge of the register of the word (i.e. class, gender, age, country or place, formality, mode of
discourse, etc).
8. knowledge of the grammar of vocabulary; that is focus should be put on learning the rules to build up
different forms of the word, or even different words from that same word (e.g. take, took, taken) .
9. knowledge of the equivalent of the word in the first language ( translation). However, equivalents in the
native language might have a different cultural load.
Vocabulary is no longer conceived of in terms of single words, but rather as a self-contained system including
poly-words, collocations, institutionalised utterances, sentence frames and heads, text frames, etc. Furthermore,
boosting learners’ vocabulary is compatible with the need to develop fluency which depends on access to such
store of words learned not in isolation (single words) but as combinations of words (chunks). Helping learners
learn words in groups implies enabling them to identify when words form a meaningful pair or group, and when
they do not. This multifaceted and highly intricate knowledge of vocabulary requires teachers to help learners go
beyond the word itself to discover its form, how it is pronounced, how it relates to other words in the discourse
or beyond it, as well as the various cultural meanings it expresses.
Learning EFL vocabulary
Learning vocabulary is a long process. As it requires time, it also requires suitable class activities and tasks to go
gradually through at least the following stages:
1. Meeting new words/ lexical items: Teachers help learners encounter vocabulary items for the
first time in naturally occurring language. They give learners the opportunity to notice word
forms, collocations, idioms, synonyms, etc.
2. Establishing previously met vocabulary: In order to help learners fix the vocabulary items met
earlier in naturally occurring language, teachers are required to suggest new contexts where
these items are embedded in new tasks and activities.
3. Enriching previously met vocabulary: Teachers devote some time to develop learners’
sensitivity to semantic networks or sense relations (e.g. synonyms, antonyms, etc).
4. Developing vocabulary strategies (i.e. the domain of learner training): Learners should also be
helped with efficient techniques for adequately recording and revising vocabulary in context.
5. Developing fluency with known vocabulary: This step entails immersing learners in very
interesting and appealing communicative tasks; e.g. role plays, simulations, guest interviewing,
picture interpretation, etc.
The stages above suggest that there are many ways to help learners see and retain the vocabulary they meet on a
day-to-day basis. Teachers can also help learners with other strategies that aid learning. These involve, for
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التوجيهات التربوية وبرامج تدريس مادة اللغة الإنجليزية س ت ث ت 2007