Clearly, no-one can claim to speak a foreign language unless they have mastery of both its essential grammar and its essential vocabulary. But the question here is: Should the learner focus more on acquiring grammatical knowledge or on acquiring an extensive wordstore?
Over the last few decades vocabulary has been neglected at the expense of grammar in a majority of the published English language teaching courses. This focus will probably continue in most EFL situations, but in ESL situations, such as at Frankfurt International School, there is a growing understanding of the centrality of vocabulary. Certainly, to achieve academic success the ESL student, like all students, must be able to read quickly and with comprehension. A large vocabulary is a necessary condition of efficient reading. It is true that a mastery of basic grammar is also a necessary condition of academic success in an ESL situation. To a large extent, however, grammar acquisition in such situations can take place without much directed learning or teaching. It is clear, therefore, that ESL students need to focus on the explicit learning of the large amount of vocabulary that they need to do well in their subject classes, particularly academic vocabulary. So for them, learning vocab
Related Questions
- Clearly, no-one can claim to speak a foreign language unless they have mastery of both its essential grammar and its essential vocabulary. But the question here is: Should the learner focus more on acquiring grammatical knowledge or on acquiring an extensive wordstore?
- How long does it take to speak a foreign language correctly?
- Which foreign language is difficult to learn and speak?
