The Effectiveness of a Structural-cum-Communicative Approach to Vocabulary Teaching

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a structural-cum-communicative approach to the teaching of vocabulary to students possessing a low level of English proficiency. A total of 52 foundation degree students taking a 13-week preparatory reading and writing course participated in the present study. Both the control and the experimental groups took a pre-test and a post-test. The pre-test contained two parts, each of which included 25 words and a list of 25 definitions for students to select. The same format applied to the post-test. Both groups of participants were taught word-formation knowledge at the initial stage. However, at the later stage of actually teaching target words, the experimental group was engaged in brief conversations on topics related to their daily life with respect to the target words while the control group was provided with explanations only in the teaching process.

Paired Samples T-Tests show that only the experimental group scored significantly higher on the post-test than on the pre-test. The findings suggest that the teaching of word-formation knowledge as well as engaging students in conversations related to the target words seems to constitute an effective pedagogical approach to vocabulary building for students possessing a low level of English proficiency.