VOCABULARY
LEARNING
Study unit 8
What is Vocabulary Learning
• Vocabulary are all the words known
and used by a particular person
• In simple terms, it refers to familiar words used in a
language
• We learn new words everyday of
English
• Vocabulary is a useful tool for
communication and acquiring
knowledge
How is Vocabulary acquired
The importance of vocabulary
Vocabulary is important because it is the foundation of
language/the basis of all languages.
It is a body of words that make up a language.
Vocabulary improves all areas of communication through
listening, speaking, writing, and reading we cannot express
our feelings without it
Five reasons to learn vocabulary
1. To express yourself better
2. To understand others
3. Think more logically
4. To boost our power of reasoning
5. Make a good impression to others
Importance of vocabulary in our practical life
Allows us to possibly build a strong relationship through
communication with the use of vocabulary.
Focusing on vocabulary can help you gain knowledge and
abilities in a variety of language and literacy-related areas.
Help us to think and learn about the word moreover
improves to reading comprehension.
Vocabulary can improve communication a broad vocabulary
enables you to express the same idea in a variety of ways. This
means that you will be able to reuse concepts from sources you
uncover without stealing the idea from the original author.
Additionally, you'll be able to better customise your message to
different audiences.
It is vital for students to learn vocabulary. Vocabulary is key to
reading comprehension. Readers cannot understand what they
are reading without knowing what most of the words mean. As
children learn to read more advanced texts, they must learn
the meaning of new words that are not part of their oral
vocabulary.
Vocabulary growth is directly related to school achievement
because learning vocabulary makes learners life easy as they
show their ability of thinking and learning. Expanding a child’s
knowledge of words provides unlimited access to new
information , so in order for learners to improve their
vocabulary they should always practice reading and know the
meaning of words as more as possible.
Types of Vocabulary
What Are The Different Types Of Vocabulary?
The different types of vocabulary are classified according
spoken and written vocabulary, and different
vocabularies serve different purposes. The advancement
of one leads to the advancement of others.
1. Reading Vocabulary
Reading is an important part of expanding your
vocabulary. This vocabulary refers to the words and letters
that we can recognize while reading texts. You can
sometimes recognize words used in reading even if you
don't use them in conversation
2. Speaking Vocabulary
Speaking vocabulary is made up of words that you use
while speaking. It has a very limited vocabulary, with most
adults communicating using 5000 to 10000 words. These
words are used to communicate and give instructions.
The number of words in this vocabulary is lower than in
the reading vocabulary, owing to the discomfort of
speaking a second language.
3. Writing Vocabulary
This is the vocabulary that represents the words you must
remember/ rather retain while writing.
It is easier to express yourself verbally through facial
expressions than it is to express yourself through writing.
As a result, your writing vocabulary will be determined by
your command of the language.
4. Listening Vocabulary
These are words you understand through hearing and
they make up your listening vocabulary. Even a sixteen-
week-old fetus may recognize some words in the womb by
perceiving sound. Most adults can recall nearly 50000
words by the time they reach adulthood.
Deaf children use sign language for visual listening, but
their vocabulary is far less than that of hearing children.
What are the principles of Vocabulary
The big part of learning the English language is learning new English vocabulary.
These are the following principles in teaching vocabulary
1. Keeping teaching simple and clear without any complicated explanations
2. Relating present teaching to past knowledge by showing a pattern or analogies
3. Using both oral and written presentation
4. Giving most attention to words that are already partly known
5. Telling learners if it is a high-frequency word that is worth noting for future
attention
6. Lastly not bringing in other unknown or poorly known related words like near
synonyms, opposites, or members of the same lexical set
Grammatical context of a Word
What is grammar
Active and Passive Vocabulary
Active Vocabulary- These are words that we use and
understand when we speak or write, we know their
meanings and do not have to look them up
- We know how to use these words and when to use
them in a context and we also know their spelling
- We know words are active when we pronounce them
correctly and use them with grammatical accuracy
Passive vocabulary- These are words that people do
recognize and understand but we do not have general
idea of their meanings and we do not use them
- We do not usually use these kind of words to
communicate due to not understanding them
The relationship between active and passive
vocabulary
As we have learned active vocabulary can be defined as the set of expressions and words
that a person frequently uses in speech and writing while passive vocabulary is the
distinction between words one understands and words one utilizes now, I will go on to
explain the relation between the two, once you begin to speak more, this passive
vocabulary will become active. You have to speak up and speak often at some point. But
it's astonishing how much you can learn by simply following a regular listening and
reading schedule. However, you must eventually activate it by speaking a lot.
Several people only wish to be able to greet others and appear to speak the language. If
so, it would be beneficial to concentrate on a few essential statements and phrases.
However, if the objective is to obtain that kind of comprehension, you must pay attention
to your passive vocabulary if you want to be able to join in discussions or comprehend
what others are saying in the workplace.
Breadth and Depth of Vocabulary
Most Overused Words (and Their Alternatives)
• Avoid overused words; they make you sound boring and repetitive. even
when you think you are intensifying your writing by adding words like "really"
and "very."
Overused Alternatives
Really Honestly, indeed
EXAMPLES
Important Vital, OF OVER-USED
significant
WORDS IN A LIMITED
like Admire, Enjoy, Adore
VOCABULARY
also furthermore
Here are multiple exercises you can use to expand your
vocabulary:
• One of the best ways to diversify your speech is to read as much as
you can
• Another good way to expand your vocabulary is by using the
