How Vocabulary Is Learned

Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers

by Various

This guide to vocabulary acquisition is essential reading
for teachers of English as a second or foreign language.
It presents the major ideas and principles that relate to the
teaching and learning of vocabulary and evaluates a wide
range of practical activities designed to help boost students’
vocabulary acquisition.
Key questions which are answered include:
• How many words should students learn at a time,
and how often?
• How much classroom time should be spent teaching
vocabulary?
• What is the best way to group vocabulary for learning?
• Is it useful to provide students with the L1 translations of
unknown words?
• Why do some students make greater progress than others?
stuart webb is Professor in Applied Linguistics at the
University of Western Ontario, Canada.
paul nation is Emeritus Professor in Applied Linguistics at
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Teachers will find answers to many of their perennial questions
about vocabulary learning—as well as some they had not yet
thought to ask! There is research evidence to support established
practices, but also new evidence that challenges old ideas.
patsy lightbown (co-author of How Languages are Learned,
with Nina Spada)

Genres: Nonfiction, Linguistics, Teaching, Research

336 pages, Paperback

Published August 3, 2017

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily digestible, it’s only ~242 pages plus appendix, glossary, etc..., and generally uses plain language. The field jargon that is present is explained in a glossary. Doesn’t delve into the cognitive side of language and memory but rather presents ideas of designing an ideal vocabulary program. Lots of resources and activities are you included. Highly recommend it to 2nd language teachers interested in understanding how to best incorporate vocabulary into your curriculum. Generally beneficial for any 2nd language educator though.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for anybody who's learning languages. One of the best books on topic out there.