The Meaning of Vocabulary

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Vocabulary

1. The Meaning of Vocabulary

Vocabulary can be defined lexically as a collection of words and phrases usually alphabetically arranged and explained or defined. 6 It is a sum or stock of words employed by a language group or work or in relation to a subject scope of language or generally vocabulary is a list of a foreign language textbook of the words and phrases taught or used. Vocabulary is the entire accumulation of words in language for example estimates of the number words in English language range from about 415.000 to as high as 3.000.000. Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. 7 Specifically, vocabulary is list of words with their meanings, especially one which accompanies a text book in a foreign language. As Steven Stahl 2005 said, Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world. 8 Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fully mastered; it is something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime. Instruction in vocabulary involves far more than looking up words in a dictionary and using the words in a sentence. To increase the vocabulary knowledge, so vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words and intentionally through instruction in specific words and word-learning 6 Philip Babvock Gove, Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Massachusetts: G C Meriam Company, 1966, p. 2560 7 The New Book of knowledge, Connecticut, Grolier incorporated, 1986, vol. 19 U-V p. 371 8 Linda Diamond and Linda Gutlohn, “Teaching Vocabulary ,” the article is accessed on April 16th, 2007 at http:www.ldonline.orgarticle9943 strategies. 9 Vocabulary knowledge also needs to increase by continuity. Learners are expected to learn vocabulary creatively. Jack C. Richards defines vocabulary as a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis how well learners speak, listen, read and write. Without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for acquiring new vocabulary, learners often achieve less than their potentials and may be discouraged from making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening radio, listening to native speakers, using the language in different contexts, reading, or watching television. 10 It can be seen from the explanation the vocabulary is also the collection of words a person knows and uses in speaking, writing, reading or listening. It means vocabulary is whole words that are used in communication. Based on some definitions above, the writer can conclude that vocabulary is a list of word collections and phrases usually arranged and explained or defined in some subjects, activities, various registers, and particular sphere group that are related to the meaning of the words and the way to use them in communication.

2. Types of Vocabulary