Read/Search this Article The study compared the effect of
systematic, explicit vocabulary instruction on the acquisition
of word meaning and collocations for nouns, verbs and
adjectives. Data were collected from 18 high-intermediate level
Japanese students of English. The findings suggest that word
class may be one of the factors in the acquisition and
availability of lexical items for productive purposes. In both
receptive and productive tests of word knowledge, nouns were
found to have a clear advantage over the other two classes.
Adjectives were acquired more easily than verbs. Some
collocation sequences were found to be under-represented in
learners' lexicons. Possible explanations for these patterns are
reviewed and the pedagogical implications of the findings are
discussed. - Bulletin of the Faculty of Language and Literature
Bulletin of the Faculty of Language and Literature 24(1), 1-36,
2010-09-00