The Repository @ St. Cloud State

Open Access Knowledge and Scholarship

Date of Award

5-2017

Culminating Project Type

Thesis

Degree Name

English: Teaching English as a Second Language: M.A.

Department

English

College

College of Liberal Arts

First Advisor

Michael Schwartz

Second Advisor

Choonkyong Kim

Third Advisor

HungChih Yu

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Keywords and Subject Headings

vocabulary, beliefs, practices, ESL

Abstract

The objective of this study is to explore ESL teachers’ perceptions and practices about vocabulary instruction. The research also aims to explore whether teachers’ beliefs are congruent with their practices. Twenty-five ESL teachers took part in this study. They completed a survey, which could reflect teachers’ belief on vocabulary instruction. Then the research observed three of the participants’ classes for one month. The observation may provide insights into how teachers actually teach vocabulary in class. At the end of the study, the research collected all teaching materials of three observed teachers and had a focus group discussion with them. The results show that participants held a positive attitude towards explicit vocabulary instruction in general but they also supported implicit teaching. From the class observation and focus group study, it can be concluded that some teachers act differently from what they believe. Finally, some pedagogical implications, like suggestions for supervisor, can be drawn from this study.

Comments/Acknowledgements

This objective of this study is to explore ESL teachers’ perceptions and practices about vocabulary instruction. The research also aims to explore whether teachers’ beliefs are congruent with their practices. Twenty-five ESL teachers took part in this study. They completed a survey, which could reflect teachers’ belief on vocabulary instruction. Then the researcher observed three of participants’ classes for one month. The observation may provide insights into how teachers actually teach vocabulary in class. At the end of the study, the researcher collected all teaching materials of three observed teachers and had a focus group discussion with them. The results show that participants held a positive attitude towards explicit vocabulary instruction in general but they also supported implicit teaching. From the class observation and focus group study, it can be concluded that some teachers act differently from what they believe. Finally, some pedagogical implications, like suggestions for supervisor, can be drawn from this study.

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