Vocabulary development in the English classroom

Abstract

This thesis investigates the following research question: How do teachers work with vocabulary development in the English subject and why? The study examines how a sample of English teachers approach vocabulary teaching, and why they have chosen their respective approaches. In order to answer the main research question, I formulated two additional questions: what are teachers’ cognition towards the role of vocabulary teaching in ELT? And How do teachers interpret competence aims in relation to vocabulary teaching? Both of these questions inform the answer to the main question of this project. I chose to explore this topic for several reasons. The main one being that I believe that vocabulary is the most important part of English acquisition, and research on the topic is important to provide effective instruction in vocabulary. I have also attended multiple schools, none of whom agreed on which approach to vocabulary teaching is the most effective for acquiring word knowledge. I wanted to investigate if teachers have knowledge of research in vocabulary development, and if they choose their methods based on said research. To answer the research question, I have collected data using a qualitative approach where I conducted interviews with English teachers and observed some of the informants in a classroom setting. I coded the data from the informants into various categories of topics that emerged through the data collection and analysis process, and I used the coded data to answer my research questions. My findings indicate that teachers, to some extent, use approaches which are proven to be effective towards vocabulary development. However, there is a noticeable gap in knowledge about the research behind their chosen methods.