a well-balanced language course should contain four strands that occupy roughly equal maounts of time. these four strands are as follows:

learning from meaning-focused input. this involves learning and establishing language items through listening and reading. the learnign in this strand is largely incidental learning because the learners' main focus of attention is on the content of what  they are listening to or reading.

learning from meaning-focused output. this involves learning or establishing language items through speaking or writing, and like the meaning-focused input strand the learning is largely incidental.

language-focused learning. this strand involves deliberate learning which is focused on language items. it includes studying vocabulary and grammar, learning and practising new sounds, and studying discourse features. this strand involves study of the language system.

developing fluency. this strand involves no unknown language items, and covers the four skills of listening ,speaking, reading and writing. in this strand learners practise making the best use of what is already known.

these four strands all provide opportunities for vocabulary learning.

how would i make vocabulary a part of my course? there are numerous options for focussing on vocabulary as a part of a language proficiency course. there may be specific lessons devoted to vocabulary development, or the focus on vocabulary may be integrated withe the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. alternatively, vocabulary may be just dealt with as it occurs, but is dealt with in a principled way. the following task gets you to reflect on how i would deal with vocabulary in my lesson.

planning the vocabulary component of a course

1. think about a language course i teach and answer the questions:

a. will i have special classes on vocabulary or will i deal with vocabulary in the various parts of the course?

b. what level of vocabulary will i be focusing on the 1st 1000 words, the second 1000 words, academic words, technical vocabulary, low frequency words?

c. how long is my course and how many words do you expect learners to learn during the course?

2.which strand would be the hardest for me to implement in my course? what solutions can i think of to overcome the implementation problems?