Abstract

Vocabulary is an indispensable part of language and it is of vital importance for second language learners. Wilkins (1972) points out: “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. Vocabulary teaching has experienced several stages characterized by grammatical-translation method, audio-lingual method and communicative teaching method before obtaining great attention from second language teachers and researchers finally.

This study states four proposals for the improvement of vocabulary teaching, which refer that: (1) apply componential analysis to vocabulary teaching; (2) foster learners’ awareness of the difference between English and Chinese; (3) introduce lexical phrases; (4) develop effective word meaning acquisition strategies.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.