Vocabulary learning strategies instruction: a case study of teachers’ practices and perceptions

Abstract

Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) are widely acknowledged to be effective in facilitating learners’ vocabulary acquisition and explicit instruction of VLS is required for learning to take place. Past studies indicated that Vietnamese EFL learners do employ various strategies to learn vocabulary, however, VLS instruction has not been as widely researched. Thus, a qualitative case study was employed with the aim of exploring the teachers’ practices and perceptions regarding VLS instruction. Four teachers were selected by maximal variation sampling. Twelve non-participant observations and four semi-structured interviews with four teachers were used to collect data. Findings revealed that the teachers had positive perceptions regarding VLS and VLS instruction. Furthermore, it was discovered that they had mixed opinions concerning the necessity of explicit instruction of VLS. Half of the teachers agreed that VLS instruction is necessary; however, they did not explicitly teach VLS. The other half argued against explicit instruction of VLS and merely employed VLS as a technique to explain the meaning of new words. This study thus concluded that there was a mismatch between the practices and perceptions of teachers, and from this, implications about the necessity of teaching VLS, vocabulary teaching practices, and teacher training were made.