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What Is Vocabulary?

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Most of English language learners are aware that learning vocabulary is a vital and absolutely necessary part during their learning. A good command of vocabulary is important for English learners, especially for those who need to master English for specific purposes. Paul Nation describes how learners should deal with specific vocabulary by stating: “It is wise to direct vocabulary learning to more specialized areas when learners have mastered the 2000 -3000 words of general usefulness in English.” (1974: 68)
In order to survive the challenges of advanced vocabulary usage, learners should be taught various types of vocabulary, its usage, and specific approaches that will help them acquire vocabulary. (Brooks, 2008: 153-154) So what is vocabulary?
“Vocabulary can be defined as the words of a language, including single items and phrases or chunks of several words which convey a particular meaning, the way individual words do. Vocabulary addresses single lexical items — words with specific meaning — but it also includes lexical phrases or chunks. Vocabulary is central to English language teaching because without sufficient vocabulary students cannot understand others or express their own ideas. It is said that while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” …show more content…

As it can be guessed from the word ‘core’, core vocabulary refers to those words that are used frequently and are more important to the language than other words. According to McCarthy, people prefer using such words because they have core meaning-potential. These words are meant to be ‘core’ because they are easy to find an antonym or a synonym for. Moreover, they are neutral in formality and usable in a wide dimension of situations. Furthermore, these core words can be used to paraphrase or give definitions of other words. (McCarthy, 2008:

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