Abstract
Vocabulary acquisition is central to building literacy, yet there is little research on the vocabulary component of textbooks for school children. Acquiring the vocabulary of a language is commonly interpreted as simply “knowing the meaning of the words and being able to use the words”, acknowledging the receptive and productive aspects of vocabulary. However, Nation proposes that knowing a word involves nine aspects (categorized into “form”, “meaning”, and “use”) from the perspective of second language learning. This study shows that among the most popular primary English textbooks in Hong Kong (3 major publishers; 9 textbooks in total), “form and meaning” receives the most attention, while “grammatical functions”, “spoken form” and “written form” receive comparable attention. The other five aspects of vocabulary knowledge, including “word parts”, “concept and referents”, “associations”, “collocations”, and “constraints on use” receive little or no attention. This study explores the phenomenon by drawing upon vocabulary literature and the primary curriculum in Hong Kong. It suggests that researchers and industry collaborators need to consider a more holistic view of vocabulary knowledge, thus enhancing children’s L2 lexical diversity via their exposure to English textbooks with L1 input.
Author Information
Chris Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Stephen Matthews, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Virginia Yip, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Paper Information
Conference: ACE2023
Stream: Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics (including ESL/TESL/TEFL)
This paper is part of the ACE2023 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Law C., Matthews S., & Yip V. (2024) An Analysis of English Vocabulary in Hong Kong Textbooks for Bilingual Children ISSN: 2186-5892 The Asian Conference on Education 2023: Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2024.125
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2024.125
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