The first theoretically-based guide for vocabulary instruction in Spanish as a L2 or FL, tailored to the specific needs of Spanish language learners and teachers Each chapter clearly ties vocabulary learning to meaning-oriented instruction making this a practical guide for teachers with suggestions that are easy to incorporate into day-to-day teaching The unified emphasis on meaning-oriented instruction mean the suggestions throughout focus on engaging learners in different types of communicatively oriented, task-based, and content-focused activities.

The first theoretically-based guide for vocabulary instruction in Spanish as a L2 or FL, tailored to the specific needs of Spanish language learners and teachers Each chapter clearly ties vocabulary learning to meaning-oriented instruction making this a practical guide for teachers with suggestions that are easy to incorporate into day-to-day teaching The unified emphasis on meaning-oriented instruction mean the suggestions throughout focus on engaging learners in different types of communicatively oriented, task-based, and content-focused activities.

This module focuses on the pivotal role of vocabulary in language acquisition, communication, and instruction. It first reviews the nature of vocabulary knowledge, the mental lexicon, and different contexts of vocabulary learning. It then explains how we acquire vocabulary and refine vocabulary knowledge over time. The primary emphasis is on how language instructors can promote evidence-based vocabulary instruction in the classroom. To this effect, the module highlights telling research on the effects of specific tasks (e.g. sentence writing and copying target words) and different ways of presenting target words (e.g. having multiple talkers instead of a single talker producing the target words). It also outlines an effective approach to teaching vocabulary, one that emphasizes multiple presentations of target vocabulary, specificity in the relationship between task type and learning outcomes, and the gradual build-up of language-specific vocabulary knowledge over time. A sample lesson based on this approach is also provided.

This fascinating presentation of current research undoes numerous myths about how we most effectively learn new words in a second language. In clear, reader-friendly text, the author details the successful approach of IBI vocabulary instruction, which emphasizes the presentation of target vocabulary as input early on and the incremental (gradual) build-up of different aspects of vocabulary knowledge over time. Instructors can take advantage of numerous practical classroom activities to support the IBI approach.