Vocabulary in language learning

VOCABULARY AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Samadova Svetlana Jantashevna

Teacher of the department of Languages,

Chirchik higher tank command-engineering school

This article is dedicated to the learning and teaching of the English language. The article revealed what is a vocabulary itself, ideas of other famous linguists about how vocabulary is important and how to overcome the problems of using knowledge and skills properly.

 Keywords: vocabulary, form, meaning, use, category, understanding, various, importance, aspect.

Vocabulary can    be      defined       as      the words of a language, including single items and phrases or chunks of several words which convey a particular meaning, the way individual words do. Vocabulary addresses single lexical         items—words       with             specific meaning(s) — but   it       also includes lexical       phrases or chunks. Vocabulary is central to English language teaching because without sufficient vocabulary students cannot understand others or express their own  ideas. Wilkins       (1972)         wrote that       “ … while         without  grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”        (pp. 111–112).     Even without grammar, with some useful words and expressions,  one    can often     manage to communicate. Lewis (1993) went             further to argue, “ lexis is the core or heart  of language” (p. 89). Particularly   as students develop greater fluency and expression in English, it is significant for them to acquire more productive vocabulary knowledge and to develop their own personal vocabulary learning strategies.

Students  often     instinctively recognize   the     importance  of vocabulary to  their             language learning.     As     Schmitt       (2010) noted, “Learners carry  around dictionaries and not grammar books” (p.4). Teaching vocabulary helps students understand and communicate with others in English. Voltaire       purportedly said, “Language  is very difficult to put into words.” I believe English language students generally would concur, yet learning vocabulary also helps students master English for their purposes.

The concept of a word can be defined in various ways, but three significant aspects teachers need to be aware of and focus on are form, meaning, and use. According to Nation (2001), the form of a word involves its pronunciation (spoken form), spelling (written   form), and       any word parts that make     up this particular item     (such as a prefix, root, and suffix). An example for word   parts can been seen with the word uncommunicative, where the prefix un- means negative or opposite, communicate is the root word, and -ive is a suffix denoting that someone or something is able to do something. Here, they all go together to refer to someone or something that is not able to communicate, hence uncommunicative.

Nation (2001) stated  that meaning encompasses the way that form and meaning work together, in other words, the concept and what items it refers to, and the associations that come to mind when people think about a specific word or expression. Use, Nation noted, involves the grammatical functions of the word or phrase, collocations that normally go with it, and finally any constraints on its use, in terms of frequency, level, and so on. For form, meaning, and use, Nation (2001) declared   there  is       both  a receptive and     productive dimension, so knowing these three aspects for each word or phrase actually involves 18 different types of lexical knowledge. When teachers teach vocabulary to build students’ knowledge of words and phrases, helping them learn any and all of these different components assists them in enhancing their English vocabulary knowledge and use.  As vocabulary knowledge     is very personal,  some teachers   are        good at the grammatical functions of particular words or phrases, for example, and others have a strong knowledge of English word parts. I encourage you to begin with your students’ strengths, because every person has some vocabulary knowledge that is relevant to English, even if it derives from his or her own native language. Aim to build on learners’ strengths and also      recognize    various weaknesses.       For example, many students read in English and thus       may be adept at recognizing meaning in terms of concepts and referents, but if they have not heard the words and phrases they are reading, then they may be weak at recognizing       them  when they hear them spoken or weak at pronouncing them when they read something out loud.   Sometimes students learning English as a foreign language (EFL)     are weaker at recognizing particular constraints on vocabulary usage, such as the fact that only young people use a particular word or expression, which might be colloquial and not usually deemed appropriate in more formal contexts such as speeches. Yet if teachers are aware of their students’ strengths and weaknesses in English vocabulary, then they have a place to start to expand students’ knowledge and strengthen weaker areas.

Because it is a changing, growing reality, English vocabulary  is hallenging. As Ur (2012) aptly stated, unlike grammar, “lexical items … are an open set, constantly being added to (and lost, as archaic words gradually go out of use)” (p.3). Perhaps this situation is most evident with computer-related vocabulary, such as the Internet, e-mail, and Web browser, which was not commonly used even 15 years ago. Now, though, everyone seems to know these items and how important such realities are to their lives and work. English vocabulary’s expansion is exciting, but it also means that teachers and students alike need to be in the habit of learning vocabulary. People can expand their English vocabulary knowledge in many different ways. As a  English teacher, I have been learning vocabulary for many years, but I am still a learner because English vocabulary changes and grows. Occasionally, I come across an unknown word             or phrase (or a new usage for one I already      know) in something in print or online. I will stop to consider what it might mean in that particular context, and make a guess. If I have a dictionary close by, I will check it for the word or phrase, or if I am at my computer I will check an online dictionary. Words and phrases fascinate me, and if new ones seem useful, then these vocabulary items are ones I may later use in my own speech or writing. What-ever their personality and learning style, both teachers and students can develop a growing love for English vocabulary learning and naturally share a passion for words and phrases in any language.

English vocabulary is complex, with three main aspects related to form, meaning, and use, as well as layers of meaning connected to the roots of individual words (Nation & Meara, 2010). Teaching vocabulary is not just about words; it involves lexical phrases and knowledge of English vocabulary and how to go about learning and teaching it.

Reference

1.   Nation, Paul & Paul Meara. 2010. Vocabulary.

2.    Norbert Schmitt, An Introduction to Applied Linguistics, 2nd edition.

3.   Penny Ur, A Course in English language teaching, 2012

4.   Wilkins, Linguistics in language teaching. Book, 1972