Given the complexity of EFL vocabulary development, learners need structured support in this endeavor (e.g., Schmitt, 2008). School can play a central role in providing this support, as the classroom is the shared language learning environment for students. It is therefore important that the EFL classroom is organized in a way that facilitates vocabulary learning (Newton, 2020). Although there is a large body of research relating to how vocabulary is learned and what vocabulary students need to learn (cf. Nation, 2011), there is a considerable research gap relating to how vocabulary learning is approached and supported in the classroom and thus the learning opportunities provided to learners. This paper presents the results from a doctoral dissertation situated in Swedish secondary school that seeks to understand vocabulary instruction by studying factors impacting classroom practice, namely conceptualizations of vocabulary learning and learning support in EFL teaching materials. 

This paper reports a synthesis of the results from four studies; two qualitative interview studies with Swedish EFL teachers and materials developers, one corpus-based analysis of the texts in EFL teaching materials and one analysis of vocabulary exercises in materials using word frequency and the Involvement Load Hypothesis (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001) as analytical tools. The synthesis shows two main themes in the findings, namely that vocabulary instruction is not seen as a central concern for the classroom and that vocabulary instruction is not guided by a systematic approach. The paper discusses these findings in relation to contextual factors, such as communicative language teaching (Schurz & Coumel, 2020) and extramural English (Sundqvist, 2020), and their implications for the learning support provided in the classroom. As the results indicate a gap between vocabulary theory and EFL teaching practice, the paper also reflects on how this gap can be bridged by directing attention to the research community.  

References:

Laufer, B., & Hulstijn, J. (2001). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: The construct of task-induced involvement. Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/22.1.1

Nation, I. S. P. (2011). Research into practice: Vocabulary. Language Teaching, 44(4), 529–539. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444811000267 

Newton, J. (2020). Approaches to learning vocabulary inside the classroom. In S. Webb (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of vocabulary studies (pp. 255–270). Routledge. 

Schmitt, N. (2008). Instructed second language vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 12(3), 329–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168808089921 

Schurz, A., & Coumel, M. (2020). Grammar teaching in ELT: A cross-national comparison of teacher-reported practices. Language Teaching Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820964137

Sundqvist, P. (2020). Sweden and informal language learning. In M. Dressman & R. Sadler (Eds.), The handbook of informal language learning (pp. 319–322). John Wiley & Sons.