Primary ESOL

Professional Readings: Vocabulary

On ESOL Online

There are currently no links in this category.

On Other Websites

• Good Practice in Teaching and Learning Vocabulary

  2003 article from the UK Higher Education Academy.

• A Guide to Learning English : English Vocabulary

  What every mainstream teacher should know (Frankfurt International School).

• Lexical Approach to Second Language Teaching

  2001 article on the role formulaic phrases play in language acquisition (CAL Digest).

• Lexical Exploitation of Texts

  Explains why students need to be trained to notice and learn chunks, rather than just individual words (British Council).

• Vocabulary - Is It More Than Words?

  Short article by Scott Thornbury (2002). Draws on Virginia Woolf's writings on connotations and semantic networks.

• Vocabulary Size, Text Coverage and Word Lists

  An article by Paul Nation and Robert Waring.

• The Word Frequency Lists

  Many word lists are here - 500, 1000, 2000, academic lists

• Building Vocabulary Through Prefixes, Roots and Suffixes

  From The Internet TESL Journal (2003).

• A Focus on Vocabulary

  A close look at vocabulary instruction as a component of reading comprehension (Pacific Resources for Education and Learning).

• A Focus on Vocabulary

  Research stresses the important role word knowledge plays in reading comprehension. (Pacific Resources for Education and Learning)

• Guessing Word Meaning from Context: Should We Encourage It?

  1997 article by David Dycus.

• Lexical Approach (British Council)

  A clear explanantion of the important role of formulaic phrases in language learning.

• Michael McCarthy Interview

  2005 interview that includes the key role of vocabulary in language learning.

• Review of Paul Nation's "Learning Vocabulary in Another Language"

  Summarises important points from the 2001 book and refers to a number of the sacred cows of vocabulary teaching that Paul Nation has toppled.

• Teaching and Developing Vocabulary: Key to Long Term Reading Success

  2004 article that explores the tools we can give students to develop a rich vocabulary (PDF).

• Vocabulary Acquisition: Curricular and Instructional Implications for Diverse Learners

  Baker, Simmons and Kameenui argue for a more vigorous commitment to increasing the vocabulary growth of diverse learners through daily instructional routines.

• Vocabulary and Autonomy

  Activities to build students' abilities to explore, store and use vocabulary (British Council).

• Vocabulary and Comprehension (ARB)

  Support material and ideas for teaching and learning for vocabulary and comprehension. Please note that all users accessing the ARB resources now need to log in with a password. To register for a username and password, go to the ARB registration page.

• Vocabulary Instruction

  This site focuses on the teaching of important vocabulary before reading to help students comprehend text. The research discusses the importance of indirect and direct vocabulary learning.

• Vocabulary Wall Chart

  Suggestions for wall charts that remind students of strategies they can use to work out word meanings (PDF).