Vocabulary learning as a foreign language – case study research in the 8th grade classes of a public school from Eusebio

Abstract

Vocabulary is an important element of language knowledge. However knowing a word requires more than being able to provide its translation. The interest in the subject comes from observations made in the classroom in which the students point out the lack of vocabulary knowledge as the main limitation to communicate in L2. In addition, English Language gains space in the legislation as a compulsory subject in the Elementary School curriculum.This is an exploratory single case study conducted in a public school from Eusebio that aims to investigate the phenomenon of acquisition of vocabulary to which students are exposed from the textbook. The research finds support in studies of Laufer (2016), Milton (2009), Nation (1990, 2016), Brown (1994), Hulstijn (2001) and others. The relevant theories explored for this study, are the concepts of word, threshold, intentional and incidental approach. This qualitative research attempts to seek the average of vocabulary students acquire from the textbook, the understanding of which approach provides better results, whether is the intentional or incidental teaching of vocabulary, and identify how the textbook affects such knowledge. As inventory of the words from the units 4 and 5 was made. The test used to collect data is the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale – VKS (WESCHE & PARIBAKHT, 1996). A pre-test and a post-test was administered so we could evaluate the growth of vocabulary in each group. Each test had 15 words from the inventory separated by frequency and with mixed parts of speech. The principle of the scale is to measure progressive degrees of word knowledge. The analysis focuses on receptive words because it comprises the words the students understand when they hear or read. The analysis identified that students acquire an average of 35% of the vocabulary they are exposed to. High-frequency words are the most common and also the content words. The intentional approach proved to be more efficient than incidental. The results are in graphs according to the aspects mentioned in the study. The outcomes from this research show that we need to keep focusing on the teaching of vocabulary in order to improve our students knowledge.