REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter deals and presents various ideas of different authors related to the study and

research studies of different researchers that helps the present study. The information stated and

presented according to the needs of the study.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. As Steven Stahl (2015) puts

it, "Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition,

but also implies how that word fits into the world." 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. Vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to

words and intentionally through explicit instruction in specific words and word-learning

strategies.

Vocabulary plays an important role in oral language development and early literacy (Hill,

2012). Paris (2015) identifies vocabulary as one of the unconstrained skills, meaning that it is a

skill that we continue to develop over our life span. Konza (2016) notes the importance of

explicit teaching of vocabulary to support students to become confident in a word’s meaning and

use in context so that it will become part of their own repertoire.

highly effective. To develop vocabulary intentionally, students should be explicitly taught both

specific words and word-learning strategies. To deepen students' knowledge of word meanings,

specific word instruction should be robust (Beck et al., 2002). Seeing vocabulary in rich contexts

provided by authentic texts, rather than in isolated vocabulary drills, produces robust vocabulary

learning (National Reading Panel, 2000). Such instruction often does not begin with a definition,

for the ability to give a definition is often the result of knowing what the word means. Rich and

robust vocabulary instruction goes beyond definitional knowledge; it gets students actively

engaged in using and thinking about word meanings and in creating relationships among words.

Research shows that there are more words to be learned than can be directly taught in

even the most ambitious program of vocabulary instruction. Explicit instruction in word-learning

strategies gives students tools for independently determining the meanings of unfamiliar words

that have not been explicitly introduced in class. Since students encounter so many unfamiliar

words in their reading, any help provided by such strategies can be useful. (Bekket, 2010)

Word-learning strategies include dictionary use, morphemic analysis, and contextual

analysis. For ELLs whose language shares cognates with English, cognate awareness is also an

important strategy. Dictionary use teaches students about multiple word meanings, as well as the

importance of choosing the appropriate definition to fit the particular context. Morphemic

analysis is the process of deriving a word's meaning by analyzing its meaningful parts, or

morphemes. Such word parts include root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Contextual analysis

involves inferring the meaning of an unfamiliar word by scrutinizing the text surrounding it.

Instruction in contextual analysis generally involves teaching students to employ both generic

and specific types of context clues. (Ullyses, 2013)

and is beneficial for reading comprehension (Tozcu & Coady, 2010). Learning the vocabulary

encompasses four stages: discrimination, understanding meaning, remembering, and

consolidation and extension of the meanings. First, the discrimination stage involves

distinguishing sounds and letters. It helps in speaking, listening, reading, and writing because by

distinguishing sounds, the learners pronounce words correctly and understand them when they

read or hear. Secondly, understanding meaning involves understanding the concept of words by

relating them to their referents. Thirdly, the remembering stage consists of the ability to retain

the meanings. Fourthly, the consolidation and extension stage refer to learning new vocabulary

and its integration in the learners’ vocabulary system (Grauberg, 2015).

However, learning the vocabulary usually causes a heavy burden on the learners. In other

words, languages are productive and they continually create and add new words to their

vocabulary stock. Oxford (2011) argues that generally, no rules are followed in learning the

vocabulary as used in learning the grammar. Students usually encounter hundreds of words that

they need to learn and practice during their studies. In another study, Alqahtani (2015) declares

the learning of vocabulary as an important aspect of the foreign language learning with an

emphasis on the meanings of new words. This study summarizes the important research on

vocabulary and sheds light on teaching techniques employed by teachers while teaching

vocabulary. As a teacher-researcher, Alqahtani observes that, generally, the Saudi students are

taught grammar rules more than the vocabulary.

When English language learners struggle with reading comprehension, it can often be

attributed to their difficulty with understanding the vocabulary. Many studies report that low

academic language skills are associated with low academic performance (Baumann, Edwards,

Font, Tereshinski, et al, 2012; Biemiller & Boote, 2016; Carlo, August, McLaughlin, Snow, et al,

2004). These studies also report a discrepancy among students of diverse ethnicities related to

the amount of vocabulary they know and the depth to which they know and use that vocabulary.

According to Beck, McKeown, and Kucan, “there are profound differences in vocabulary

knowledge among learners from different ability or socioeconomic (SES) groups” (2002, p. 1).

Thus, students with smaller vocabularies are at a greater disadvantage in learning, and

this lack of knowledge too often is the main barrier to their comprehension of texts and lectures

(Newton, Padak, & Rasinski, 2008). According to Graves (2006 and Zwiers (2008), ELLs

require assistance in developing content-related vocabulary in their second language if they are

to experience success in school. Both native English speakers and ELLs need support in learning

the language that is used in the classroom as part of instruction, reading, discussion, and

assignments. Interweaving direct instruction in academic language helps students acquire an

understanding of abstract concepts, multiple meaning words, and content vocabulary. When

students are able to understand the vocabulary for the that content they are reading and hearing,

they will have a better understanding of the material. While wide reading promotes vocabulary

growth, ELLs who do not read enough cannot acquire the word wealth that would help them with

language learning.
Teacher Role’s in teaching Vocabulary

The teaching and learning of vocabulary have never aroused the same degree of interest

within language teaching as have such issues as grammatical competence, contrastive analysis,

reading, or writing, which have received considerable attention from scholars and teachers. The

apparent neglect of vocabulary reflects the effects of trends in linguistic theory, since within

linguistics the word has only recently become a candidate for serious theorizing and model

building (Leech 2014; Anthony 2012).

The teaching process does not involve only giving instructions. It is how to teach

language elements, how to create techniques, activities and how to make learners do these

activities enthusiastically. Therefore, the teacher has an important role since he is one of the

main elements in the teaching and learning processes. The teacher, however, has to have

considerable knowledge of applied linguistics, psycholinguistics and professional skills. The

linguistic skills mean that the teacher should understand the nature of the language he is

teaching. Also, he should have the ability to use it (i.e., he is to be able to produce and

understand the vocabulary items and the sentences which are appropriate in a given context when

they occur in the texts to be taught). The psycholinguistics and professional skills mean that the

teacher should have a considerable amount of knowledge about the psychology of learning and

theories of teaching and learning languages. Moreover, the teacher must know some methods

and techniques of teaching languages. The teacher should also know how to use teaching aids.

He must take into consideration the individual differences among the learners because learners

have different abilities and interests. Learning vocabulary, as has been said above (see: 3), is a
very difficult and complicated process. It is not possible to understand the meaning of the

message if a word is used incorrectly even if the grammatical structure is correct. For example,

the learner who says: I sold a pen yesterday instead of I bought a pen yesterday, commits a

lexical error by using an antonym. However, the teacher should be sure that his learners

understand how to use the new words in appropriate situations. Moreover, he is required to

understand the vocabulary items in the curriculum before presenting them and to teach and

explain them well so that learning can be facilitated. (Ullyses, 2013)

Since teachers are tasked with teaching vocabulary in addition to the skills of listening,

speaking, reading, writing and grammar, vocabulary ends up getting a small amount of attention

in the classroom. Regardless, we must remember that vocabulary is at the center of language

teaching and learning. In fact, research linking reading comprehension to vocabulary knowledge

has shown that a reader must know 98% of the words in a text to process and comprehend the

text independently (Hu and Nation, 2000). These findings highlight role of teachers in teaching

vocabulary including the strategies.

It is the teachers' job to guide student to learn appropriate words (Shewell, 2009). In her

literature review, Mei-fang (2008) identified several approaches teachers are urged to keep in

mind when teaching vocabulary, namely context, usage, morphology, grammar, frequency, and

coverage (Mei-fang, 2008). In addition, teachers should not treat all words indiscriminately

(Mei-fang, 2008;Fang and Xi-ya, 2009), help students select vocabulary words that lend

themselves to categorization, and that have depth of processing with emphasis on inferencing

strategies and mnemonics, such as keyword method (Broady, 2008), explain the targeted words,

offer valuable feedback and finally teach the students to use different strategies to help them

learn the targeted words (Shewell, 2009;Swanson and Howerton, 2007). .

literature review, Mei-fang (2008) identified several approaches teachers are urged to keep in

mind when teaching vocabulary, namely context, usage, morphology, grammar, frequency, and

coverage (Mei-fang, 2008). In addition, teachers should not treat all words indiscriminately

(Mei-fang, 2008;Fang and Xi-ya, 2009), help students select vocabulary words that lend

themselves to categorization, and that have depth of processing with emphasis on inferencing

strategies and mnemonics, such as keyword method (Broady, 2008), explain the targeted words,

offer valuable feedback and finally teach the students to use different strategies to help them

learn the targeted words (Shewell, 2009;Swanson and Howerton, 2007). ...

 In her literature review, Mei-fang (2008) identified several approaches teachers are

urged to keep in mind when teaching vocabulary, namely context, usage, morphology, grammar,

frequency, and coverage (Mei-fang, 2008). In addition, teachers should not treat all words

indiscriminately (Mei-fang, 2008;Fang and Xi-ya, 2009), help students select vocabulary words

that lend themselves to categorization, and that have depth of processing with emphasis on

inferencing strategies and mnemonics, such as keyword method (Broady, 2008), explain the

targeted words, offer valuable feedback and finally teach the students to use different strategies

to help them learn the targeted words (Shewell, 2009;Swanson and Howerton, 2007).