LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 10 : 10 October 2010
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         K. Karunakaran, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.

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A Micro-Case Study of Vocabulary Acquisition among
First Year Engineering Students

K. R. Vijaya, M.A., M. Phil., Ph.D. Candidate

Abstract

Vocabulary knowledge is very essential to be proficient in any second language. Effective use of Language lies in the way one uses its words. The second language teacher always has a question in her mind, "What should I do to enable my students acquire a good stock of words?". This paper aims at giving an answer to this Question. It is a micro-case study of I year engineering students using various teaching strategies while teaching them vocabulary. It has also evolved effective strategies that can be used by English teachers for teaching vocabulary successfully.

Little Emphasis on the Acquisition of Vocabulary

It used to be the case, in the past, in Indian schools that vocabulary and grammar were greatly focused upon. Students showed keen interest in learning, memorizing and using new vocabulary with great zeal. Interest in demonstrating this skill was widespread across all age groups. Exam papers also had some focus on vocabulary skills. This situation seems to be changing in professional colleges whose curriculum places greater emphasis on acquisition of engineering and technology content. As emphasis on communicating such acquired knowledge through innovative means begins to get our attention, students will begin to learn more communicative and effective vocabulary items.

In English language teaching, only the elements of grammar and the other competencies are the central focus. There has been little emphasis placed on the acquisition of vocabulary. This lack of vocabulary competence among the students affects all the four skills: LSRW namely Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing which are essential for language proficiency.

In this paper, I present a micro case study done among I year Engineering students using various types of vocabulary learning strategies. At the end of the research, the class-room based study suggested several strategies that can be used effectively in teaching vocabulary to students.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

English Loanwords in Meiteiron A Linguistic and Sociolinguistic Analysis | A Report on the State of Urdu Literacy in India, 2010 | More Than Meets the Eye Reasons Behind Asian Students' Perceived Passivity in the ESL/EFL Classroom | English for Medical Students of Hodeidah University, Yemen - A Pre-sessional Course | Education as an Indicator for Human Resource Development | Representation of Malaysian Women in Politics | A Modern Approach to Application of Abbreviation and Acronym Strategy for Vocabulary Learning in Second/Foreign Language Learning Procedure | Causes of Social Acceptance of "O" and "A" Level Education System in Pakistan | Pronounce Foreign Words the English way! | Dubhashi and the Colonial Port in Madras Presidency | An Investigation of Davis' Translation of SHAHNAMEH - Rostam and Sohrab Story in Focus | Feminine, Female and Feminist - A Critical Spectrum on Selected Novels by Kamala Markandaya, Shahsi Deshpande and Arundhati Roy | Four-letter Words and the Urdu Learner's Dictionaries in Pakistan | Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin - A Study of the Impact of War on Historical and Economic Aspects of the Society | Was Gandhi a True Mahatma? | Omani Women
Are Their Language Skills Good Enough for the Workplace? | Spread of English Globalisation Threatens English Language Teaching (ELT) in Pakistan | Multiple Intelligences, Blended Learning and the English Teacher | A Micro-Case Study of Vocabulary Acquisition among First Year Engineering Students | Imagery of Wilderness in Margaret Hollingsworth's Islands | The Influence of Learning Environment on Learners' Attitude in a Foreign Language Setting | Caste - Gender Ideology in Gundert's Malayalam-English Dictionary | Development of a Hindi to Punjabi Machine Translation System - A Doctoral Dissertation | A PRINT VERSION OF ALL THE PAPERS OF OCTOBER, 2010 ISSUE IN BOOK FORMAT. | HOME PAGE of October 2010 Issue | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com

K.R. Vijaya, M.A., M. Phil., Ph.D. Candidate
Department of English /> Rajalakshmi Engineering College
Thandalam
Chennai 602 105
Tamilnadu, India
viji.murari@gmail.com

 
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