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8 express a wide range of meanings, communication in second language just can not
happen in any meaningful way . According to Hornby 1995: 11 acquisition is the process of acquiring
something. Ellis, Rod 1996: 6 states that the term ‘acquisition’ is used to refer to picking up a second language through exposure. While Channell in Nunan 1991:
129 says that acquisition is the end result of vocabulary development. She also says that a new vocabulary item is acquired when the learner can identify its
meaning in and out of the context and it can be used naturally and appropriated. Ellis in Schmitt McCarthy “Vocabulary acquisition is a cumulative activity, rather
than an all-or-nothing affair 1997: 119”. She also says that vocabulary acquisition is about meaning, it is an explicit learning process. In conclusion vocabulary
acquisition is a process to pick up list of words a second language through exposure thus the learner can identify the meaning, the meaning, spelling, instruction,
pronunciation of the vocabulary in and out of the context and it can be used naturally and appropriately.
2. Kinds of Vocabulary
There are two kinds of vocabulary namely receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary Hatch Brown, 1994.
a. Receptive vocabulary is words which the learners recognize and understand when they occur in context, but cannot produce correctly.
Receptive vocabulary recognize by the learners when they see in reading
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9 context. Receptive vocabulary is also called a passive process because the
learners just receive thought from others. It is a basic vocabulary which is much larger than productive vocabulary. In this case the learners only as a
hearer. Listening vocabulary is larger than speaking vocabulary and similarly to reading vocabulary that is relatively larger than writing vocabulary.
b. Productive vocabulary Productive vocabulary is the words, which the learners
understand, able to pronounce correctly, and able to use it in speaking and writing. Productive vocabulary needed from receptive vocabulary to make
the learners able to produce speaking and writing competence related with the context. Productive vocabulary can be called as an active process,
because in this process the learners are able to produce and express what they thought to others.
3. Aspects in Vocabulary
Ur 1998: 60 – 62 states some aspects that the learner should be mastered and the teacher should be taught in order to help the learners in mastering
vocabulary. They are as follows: a.
Form pronunciation and spelling Here, the mastery of vocabulary involves the mastery on pronunciation and
spelling. The learner has to know how the word sounds and how the word
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10 spells. In teaching, the teacher needs to make sure that both these aspects are
accurately presented and learned. b.
Grammar The grammar of a new word will need to be taught if this is not obviously
covered by general grammatical rules. A word may have an unpredictable change of form in certain grammatical contexts or may have some idiosyncratic
way of concerning with other words in sentences. c.
Collocation The collocation typical of particular item are another factor that makes a
particular combination sound ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in a given context. d.
Aspect of meaning 1 Denotation, connotation, appropriateness
Denotation is the meaning of a word is primarily what it refers to in the real world or it is often the sort of definition in dictionary. A less obvious
component of the meaning of an item is its connotation. The associations, or positive or negative feelings it evokes, which may or may not be indicated in
a dictionary definition. An aspect of meaning that also needs to be taught is whether a particular item is the appropriate one to use in a certain context
or not. Thus, it is useful for a learner to know that a certain word is very common, or relatively rare, or ‘taboo’ in polite conversation or is more
suitable for formal than informal situation, or belongs to a certain dialect.
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11 2 Meaning relationship
How the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others can also be useful in teaching. There are various such relationship, they are: 1
synonyms: item that mean the same or nearly the same, 2 antonyms: items that mean the opposite, 3 hyponyms: item that serve as specific examples
of a general concept, 4 co-hyponyms or co-ordinates: other items that are the ‘same kind of thing, 5 superordinates: general concepts that ‘cover
specific items, 6 and translation: words of expression in the learners’ mother tongue that are equivalent in meaning to the item being taught.
e. Word formation
Vocabulary item, whether one word or multi word, can often be broken down into their component of words. Exactly how these words are put together
is another piece of useful information.
4. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary
