…, knowing a word in a second or foreign language might be said to have the following characteristics:
1. It means knowing how to use it productively and having the ability to recall it
for active use, although for some purpose only passive knowledge is necessary and some words for some users are only ever known passively.
2. It means knowing the likelihood of encountering the word in either spoken or
written contexts or in both. 3.
It means knowing the syntactic frames into which the word can be slotted and the underlying forms and derivations which can be made from it.
4. It means knowing the relations it contracts with other words in the language
and with related words in an L1 as well. 5.
It means perceiving the relative coreness of the word as well as its more marked pragmatic and discoursal functions and its style-levels.
6. It means knowing the different meanings associated with it and, often in a
connected way, the range of its collocational patterns. 7.
It means knowing words as part of or wholly as fixed expressions conveniently memorized to repeat – and adapt – as the occasion arises.
Carter, 1998: 239
As the result of the demands in mastering vocabulary, it is thought that teaching and learning vocabulary plays very important role in second or foreign
language learning. Nation 1990 asserts that there are at least two reasons for why teaching and learning vocabulary is important. First, everybody is aware of
the importance of vocabulary in language learning. Language learners feel that the biggest difficulty arises in both receptive and productive of language use is caused
by the lack of vocabulary mastery. In other words, the lack of vocabulary mastery causes language learners are unable to both produce and understand the language.
Second, “giving attention to vocabulary is unavoidable” Nation, 1990: 2. It means that in all approaches of language teaching and learning, either the most
formal or informal, the need to vocabulary will always arise. Thus, teaching and learning vocabulary becomes very important as well as the fact that vocabulary is
absolutely an important element in languages.
b. Contextual Guessing Strategy
When dealing with foreign language text either in the form of written or spoken, students often find many unknown words which then become boundaries
for them in comprehending the information in the target language. There are numerous strategies available to deal with unknown words; one of the strategies
developed is contextual guessing strategy. Contextual guessing strategy is a strategy in learning vocabulary in which the focus is on finding the meaning of
unknown words by examining the context where the words occur Bruton Samuda, 1981; and Clarke Nation, 1980 cited in Nation, 1990.
According to O’Malley and Chamot 1990 cited in Thanasoulas, 2002, learning strategy is “the special thoughts or behaviours that individuals use to help
them comprehend, learn, or retain new information”. This definition is in line with that of defined by Wenden 1998: 18 cited in Thanasoulas, 2002 in which
“learning strategy is the mental step or operation that learners use to learn a new language and to regulate their efforts to do so”.
The vocabulary learning strategy of contextual guessing emerges from the basic condition that the meaning of a word generally depends on the relationship
of it to other words, phrases, or sentences within which it is embedded Dale O’Rourke, 1971; Drum Konopak, 1987. In other words, the meaning of a word
is tightly related to the context where the word occurs. In this respect, context refers to sentences or utterances where the words occur Read, 2000; Dale
O’Rourke, 1971. Hence, the meaning of a word can be different if it is used in different context.
An example of a word meaning that has different meaning according to its context is the word “book”. When the word “book” is found in the sentence “This
book belongs to her.”, then the word “book” is categorized as a noun which means a number of printed sheets of paper fastened together in a cover Hornby,
1989. Meanwhile, when the word “book” comes in the sentence “We booked the tickets by telephone call.” then it is categorized as a verb which means reserve
Hornby, 1989. Nation argues that in vocabulary learning, contextual guessing strategy
serves as the “major means’’ Nation, 2002: 28. This strategy is also said to be the most important strategy in vocabulary learning Read, 2000: 53. Meanwhile,
Sternberg 1987 articulates that the most effective way to enhance one’s vocabulary development is by teaching herhim learning from context. As it is
elaborated by Sternberg, there are three basic facts about vocabulary that can explain his opinion of most vocabulary is learned from context. Those are:
1 No disagreement that the typical adult has in hisher vocabulary tens of
thousands of words 2
One’s level of vocabulary is highly predictive, if not determinative, of one’s level of reading comprehension
3 Vocabulary is probably the best single indicator of a person’s overall level
of intelligence When dealing with contextual guessing strategy, it is also important to look
at the stages needed to be able to guess a word’s meaning. Bruton Samuda
