{"title":"Congruence between Teachers’ Spoken Discourse and Students’ Vocabulary Levels: Is the Gap Too Wide?","authors":"Graham Creighton","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2066157","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In international schools where English is the language of learning and teaching there are many students whose first language is not English and whose low vocabulary levels inhibit their chances of taking full advantage of their education. Not only must students comprehend the high-frequency vocabulary that make up general English usage, they also need the mid-frequency and academic vocabulary used by their teachers. In this article I report on the vocabulary levels of grade 9 and 10 English as a Second Language (ESL) students at an international high school and the vocabulary profile of their teachers’ spoken discourse. Results indicated a gap between the vocabulary level of the ESL students and the vocabulary used by the teachers. A better understanding of this gap would put English teachers in a stronger position to assist students to reach the vocabulary levels necessary for them to make sense of their lessons.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"53 1","pages":"63 - 80"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Language Matters","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2066157","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract In international schools where English is the language of learning and teaching there are many students whose first language is not English and whose low vocabulary levels inhibit their chances of taking full advantage of their education. Not only must students comprehend the high-frequency vocabulary that make up general English usage, they also need the mid-frequency and academic vocabulary used by their teachers. In this article I report on the vocabulary levels of grade 9 and 10 English as a Second Language (ESL) students at an international high school and the vocabulary profile of their teachers’ spoken discourse. Results indicated a gap between the vocabulary level of the ESL students and the vocabulary used by the teachers. A better understanding of this gap would put English teachers in a stronger position to assist students to reach the vocabulary levels necessary for them to make sense of their lessons.
期刊介绍:
The purpose of Language Matters is to provide a journal of international standing with a unique African flavour focusing on multilingualism in Africa. Although the journal contributes to the language debate on all African languages, sub-Saharan Africa and issues related to multilingualism in the southern African context are the journal’s specific domains. The journal seeks to promote the dissemination of ideas, points of view, teaching strategies and research on different aspects of African languages, providing a forum for discussion on the whole spectrum of language usage and debate in Africa. The journal endorses a multidisciplinary approach to the study of language and welcomes contributions not only from sociolinguists, psycholinguists and the like, but also from educationalists, language practitioners, computer analysts, engineers or scholars with a genuine interest in and contribution to the study of language. All contributions are critically reviewed by at least two referees. Although the general focus remains on multilingualism and related issues, one of the three issues of Language Matters published each year is a special thematic edition on Language Politics in Africa. These special issues embrace a wide spectrum of language matters of current relevance in Southern Africa.