Vocabulary in the Foreign Language Curriculum: Principles for Effective Instruction

Written by experts in the field, this book explains the principles of effective vocabulary instruction for the modern language classroom. While many language classrooms rely on practices which can be outdated, idiosyncratic or ill-advised, this book overviews the research and background necessary to successfully integrate vocabulary instruction into the curriculum in a systematic way. Starting with the common gaps in vocabulary instruction, Milton and Hopwood demonstrate how students’ development of a large, communicative lexicon, with an understanding of word structure and collocations, is an essential component of language instruction.

The book addresses goal setting, curriculum design, word selection, how words are learned, learning in and outside of the classroom and more. It also addresses common myths about teaching vocabulary in the United Kingdom and around the world. This comprehensive text fills an important gap in the literature and is ideal for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in world language/foreign language methods and language methods courses.

James Milton is Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics at Swansea University, UK.

Oliver Hopwood is Head of Modern Languages at Westminster School, UK.