The Importance of Vocabulary Acquisition

I would like to begin this part of my paper with the description of layers and groups in the vocabulary of Modern English.   

Needless to say, this classification, as any other, is not ideal. I do not want to go into detailed description. We all know that the vocabulary of any language is divided into two basic groups: standard and non-standard vocabulary. / New English Russian Dictionary in two volumes having about 150 000 words/.We find this classification rather useful and interesting to know. It is impossible to draw a hard and fast line between the layers because the words tend to shift from one layer to the other.

Learning vocabulary is not an easy process; it requires a great attention to a great range of different factors, for example, grouping. It is well known in psychology that if the material to be memorized is organized in some fasion, learners can use this organization to their benefit.

Groups of words you need to remember by color, size, function, likes/dislikes, the similar meaning, the opposite meaning, or any other feature that makes sense to anyone to remember and know. When we teach any kind of reading and the students do not know the meaning of the verb r e v e a l, for example, we give them the words with the similar meaning as illustrate, demonstrate, indicate and show. They understand immediately the translation / the meaning/ and go on their reading.

The task of teaching vocabulary acquisition skills is a significant responsibility. Aquiring active vocabulary means learning the words in such a way that you can communicate both in speaking and writing without the help of word banks. We will have to develop effective strategies for remembering and using new words and expressions, for instance, assessing the depth of receptive vocabulary knowledge; effects of sentence writing; vocabulary input through extensive reading; effects of morphological knowledge /suffixes and prefixes/ as well as sentence structure; learning vocabulary through self-initiated attention /proverbs and sayings, idioms, poems and songs, synonyms, antonyms, homographs, homonyms/; comparing the lexical difficulty of two languages; the effects of learning different parts of speech in lexical sets.

All the benefits give the student possibility to derive more from the text. Reading comprehension is necessary in all subjects and a vocabulary of depth helps all readers /all levels/ to better understanding. Knowing vocabulary sparks a greater desire to learn. It means if the students have need, or want, they are highly motivated. Many motivation theorists assume that motivation is involved in the performance of all responses, that is, a learned behavior will not occur unless it is energized because m o t I v a t I o n is an internal state or condition (sometimes described as a need, desire, or want) that serves to activate or energize behavior (Kleinginna and Kleinginna, 1981).

Explanations regarding the sources of motivation can be categorized as either Extrinsic / outside the person / or intrinsic /internal to the person/. In t r I n s I c sources and corresponding theories can be further subcategorized as either body /phisical, mind (mental), i.e., cognitive, affective, conatative or transpersonal /spiritual/.