General Concept of Vocabulary

2.2 Review of the Related Theories

In the review of the related theories, it will discuss about general concept of vocabulary, general concept of academic vocabulary, and the importance of learning academic vocabulary. It also deals with language learning strategies to develop academic vocabulary which covers vocabulary learning strategies and instruction and academic vocabulary instruction. Besides, it will present the importance of learning strategies in learning academic vocabulary and the use of list-group-label LGL strategy in learning academic vocabulary which contains procedure in applying list-group-label LGL strategy and the advantages of list- group-label LGL strategy.

2.2.1 General Concept of Vocabulary

Vocabulary is list of words that have meaning and several parts of speech, i.e. nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. It is very important for the students to learn vocabulary, because learning vocabulary is the core of language learning. Coady and Huckin 1997: 5 states that “vocabulary is the central to language and critical importance to the typical language learner.” It is one of the components of language which contributes an important role in developing students‟ language skills. Linse 2006: 121 states that “vocabulary is the collection of words that an individual knows.” It can be defined that vocabulary is list of words or phrases that can be used to describe everything in communication, so we can communicate with other people.Meanwhile, according to Beck, McKeown, and Kucan 2002 in Haynes and Zacarian 2010: 58, there are three tiers of vocabulary. 1 “Tier 1 includes basic words or phrases that do not need explanation, are commonly used in everyday conversation and are familiar to most English- fluent students. ” In other words, the teacher does not need to give further description or explanation for the students, because these words or phrases are easy to understand and can be find in everyday conversation. 2 “Tier 2 includes words or phrases that are used often and included in a variety of contexts but that need explanation because they are more descripti ve or precise.” It meansstudents may not familiar with words or phrases in this tier. Unlike words or phrases in tier 1, teacher‟s further explanation and description are needed to help the students to comprehend the meaning of these words or phrases. 3 “Tier 3 includes words or phrases that are not commonly used, are limited to a particular context, and are not likely to be used outside the classroom. ” In this tier, words or phrases are related to the specific discipline or content of a subject and most likely to be found in written academic text. Since it is limited to specific fields or studies, it has low frequency to be used in daily conversation outside the classroom. From the theories above, we can define vocabulary as words or phrases which have meaning and several parts of speech. In addition, vocabulary is very important to be learnt because it contributes to the students‟ language skills development.

2.2.2 General Concept of Academic Vocabulary