Cognitive Semantics: A proposal for learning and teaching vocabulary in English

Abstract

According to the general rules, this work belongs for its characteristics and contents to the typology 1. The aim of this paper is twofold: (1) presenting different activities for secondary school students to learn vocabulary from the two different approaches that I have deeply studied for this work, namely, Structuralist Semantics and Cognitive Semantics. In order to design these activities, I have mainly taken into account Nation’s expertise in the field of teaching and learning vocabulary in a foreign language; (2) and reflecting on the convenience of using one approach or the other so as to make students learn vocabulary in a more effective way. These are the objectives that I have contemplated: 1) To review the existing literature about the Theories of Lexical Semantics and Vocabulary Learning and Teaching to deepen in the knowledge of these fields. 2) To address Cognitive Semantics approach with a combination of different teaching and learning strategies as the best way of making learning vocabulary in a foreign language effective. 3) To design different task-based activities according to the definition of task by Nunan (2004) taking into account Nation’s strategies from the Structuralist Semantics approach on the one hand, and, on the other hand, from the Cognitive Semantics one. In order to reach the objectives mentioned above, I have analyzed in depth the existing scientific literature regarding Field and Lexical Semantics Theories and Vocabulary Learning and Teaching, looking into detail on the one hand the different strategies that could be very useful for learners and, on the other hand, the main characteristics of the two different approaches previously mentioned. This study helped me reach the conclusion that the latter approach in combination with the right strategies provides the ideal method, leading to effective learning.