Teaching/Learning vocabulary in the university context making use of word categorizations and frames

Abstract

Teaching vocabulary has been playing a second role during years and is still one of the outstanding challenges in second language learners. So, my paper suggests some ideas that may help to solve this status by using another methodology. The aim of the present paper is to improve some of the pedagogic procedures in the subject 0928 – Advanced English: Professional Contexts of English Studies Degree, modifying the methodology used by my tutor, Maria Luisa Renau Renau, last year. Specially, I focus on changing the business vocabulary lists to learn specific business words instead of general vocabulary and the way these words were taught in order to help students with the correct learning of the vocabulary that they must study, not only to pass their written exam but also to facilitate appropriate learning. The first part of this paper begins with a methodological overview about the historical and theoretical background of eight different methods and their characteristics, in order to understand the way in which teachers have been teaching foreign languages for many years. Moreover, I focus my paper on cognitive linguistics, the mental lexicon, frames and scripts to get to the system of categorization because they have helped me to understand the process of second language acquisition. Furthermore, I also want to make an emphasis on how vocabulary is taught today in classrooms and how vocabulary lists were taught in the subject 0928 last year. The second part of this paper concerns with my idea of modifying the methodology used by changing the business vocabulary lists, and my proposal of how teaching them in the third year of English Studies degree in the course 0928 using word categorizations and frames.