Vocabulary Importance of Teaching of English Vocabulary

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D. Vocabulary

According to Penny Ur, “vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language. However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: for example, post office and mother-in-law, which are made up of two or three words but express single idea. There are also multi-word idioms such as call it a day. Where the meaning of the phrase cannot be deduced from: an analysis of the component words. A useful convention is to cover all such cases by talking about vocabulary ‘ item’ rather than ‘word’. Penny Ur , 1996: 60 Vocabulary is central to language and of critical importance to the typical language learner. Coady and Hunckin, 1997:5.” Vocabulary is the total number of word you know in a particular language.” Sinclair, 2001 : 174

E. Importance of Teaching of English Vocabulary

“Vocabulary is the biggest component of any language. If you do not know enough vocabulary you will not be able to express yourself adequately. McCharty, 1983:101. According to Allen, “Students who do not learn grammar along with vocabulary will not be able to use the language for communication. Allen, 1983:101 . Mc Charty stated, “ No matter how will the student learns grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered without words to express a wider range of meaning, communication in L2 just can’t happen in any meaningful way” 1990 : piii. 1 At this time, not knowing a specific word can severally limit communication: however, in many cases lexical lapse can actually stop communication completely. “To improve the second language proficiency, English Language Learners ELLs need a solid knowledge of vocabulary. While a basic level of vocabulary will allow learners to communicate some ideas to certain degree, better communication-whether in speakinglistening or writing reading-can be accomplished when learners have acquired more vocabulary”. Folse, 2004:12. There are three processes that would help the learner. There are as follow: 1. Fix the meaning of the word in your mind 2. Make word your own. 3. Use the word to communicate with others. The statements above point out that, vocabulary is the most important thing in the learning new language. We cannot say anything or cannot express anything in our mind for something without knowing the meaning of word. Besides vocabulary, grammar is also important. Both of them are needed in communication of English.

F. Technique in Teaching English Vocabulary