Using Technology to Assist in Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension

Andreea I. Constantinescu
anconst {a t} u.washington.edu
University of Washington, (Seattle, Washington, USA)PICTURE SOURCE:
http://enrichingvocabulary.blogspot.com/2010/05/data-report.html

Vocabulary plays an important part in second language acquisition and academic achievement.  This paper will present several possibilities to enhance vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension with the help of technology.

Introduction

The role that vocabulary knowledge plays in second and foreign language acquisition has long been neglected. However, vocabulary is currently receiving increased emphasis in the language teaching curriculum. This is due to several reasons, such as the influence of comprehension-based approaches to language development, the research efforts of applied linguists, and the exciting possibilities opened-up by the development of computer-based language corpora (Nunan, 1999: 103). Moreover, it is now increasingly pointed out that there is a reciprocal, well-documented relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. As Tozcu and Coady (2004: 473) point out, learning vocabulary is an important aspect of L2/FL acquisition and academic achievement and is vital to reading comprehension and proficiency, to which it is closely linked.
READ MORE:

http://iteslj.org/Articles/Constantinescu-Vocabulary.html