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Acquiring, teaching and testing vocabulary
Author(s) -
Mobärg Mats
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal of applied linguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.712
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1473-4192
pISSN - 0802-6106
DOI - 10.1111/j.1473-4192.1997.tb00115.x
Subject(s) - vocabulary , context (archaeology) , argument (complex analysis) , linguistics , lexical choice , preference , lexical item , foreign language , psychology , computer science , lexical density , foreign language teaching , mathematics education , philosophy , mathematics , history , statistics , biochemistry , chemistry , archaeology
The main argument of this article is that the treatment of foreign language vocabulary in an educational context will vary predictably according to whether the pedagogical activity is founded on a structural or a lexical/collocational view of language. It is argued that in a structural approach, for which the author expresses a preference, vocabulary learning is primarily a frequency‐ and input‐based individual endeavor, whereas the lexical approach is said to be more teaching‐ and textbook‐oriented. As a consequence, there will also be a difference in the way vocabulary is tested. It is argued that a statistical testing method is more suitable in a structural context, whereas the lexical context will call for teaching‐based tests.