Teachers’ Reflections about Vocabulary Teaching

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare teachers‟ opinions about vocabulary teaching to methods described in research and to investigate if there is a correlation between the methods the teachers say they use and their work experience. Furthermore, another aim is to compare teachers‟ opinions about vocabulary teaching to what the syllabi state. The method used has been qualitative interviews with eight high school teachers. The study suggests that teachers use both systematic and incidental approaches to vocabulary teaching, but the teachers with a longer work experience have a stronger tendency towards a systematic approach to vocabulary teaching. The teachers also share the same opinions about vocabulary teaching regarding extensive reading and learning words in context. Furthermore, communicative methods were only briefly mentioned by some of the teachers. The teachers‟ answers largely correspond to the description of vocabulary in the syllabi although the syllabi do not discuss vocabulary acquisition explicitly.