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Current Perspectives on Vocabulary Teaching and Learning

  • Samuel BarclayEmail author
  • Norbert Schmitt
Reference work entry
First Online:
Part of the Springer International Handbooks of Education book series (SIHE)

Abstract

This chapter reviews key vocabulary research and draws a number of conclusions regarding teaching and learning. Areas addressed include the amount of vocabulary required to use English; what it means to know and learn a word; the incremental nature of vocabulary acquisition; the role of memory in vocabulary learning, incidental, and intentional vocabulary learning; and the implementation of a systematic approach to vocabulary teaching and learning. This chapter also introduces principles by which activities can be developed for vocabulary teaching and instruments that will help teachers choose effective tasks. The insights and techniques discussed in this chapter can help teachers develop principled vocabulary programs for their students.

Keywords

Vocabulary size, Vocabulary depth, Incidental learning, Intentional learning, Retrieval 
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Copyright information

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Nottingham Trent UniversityNottinghamUK
  2. 2.The University of NottinghamNottinghamUK

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