The Design of Vocabulary Activities: Focus on Grade 9 English Textbook

Abstract

The main aim of this paper was to analyze the nature and organization of vocabulary exercises/activities in the currently in use Grade 9 English Textbook. The focus was to see the extent to which current vocabulary organizing principles that advocate the use of awareness-raising vocabulary learning strategies are accommodated in the textbook. To this end, the vocabulary sections in the 14 units of the textbook were sorted out and analyzed based on the guideline principles given by Cunningsworth (1984; 1995), and McDonough and Shaw (1993.) The findings of the analysis show that target words in the textbook are not selected because of their potential for training learners in guessing strategies, but probably, because the material writer(s) is/are interested in them. Moreover, it has been revealed that there is no single case in which current vocabulary organizing principles such as the use of „sense relations‟ (synonyms, antonyms, and hyponyms), „collocations‟, „authentic reading texts‟, „contextual guesswork‟, and „grammatical clues‟ advocated by practitioners are used/adequately used in the textbook. Based on the findings of this study, it has been recommended that material developers take into consideration the apparent weaknesses observed in the currently in use English textbooks and use current vocabulary organizing principles in the textbooks to be developed in the future.