Vocabulary Teaching Strategies Practices by English Language Teachers: The Case of Preparatory Schools in Jimma Town

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate vocabulary teaching strategies practices by EFL teachers at preparatory schools. Descriptive research design was utilized to describe to what extent do EFL teachers actually use the acknowledged vocabulary teaching strategies. The study was intended to answer four research questions using the following specific objectives: to look into the extent that EFL teachers practice the known vocabulary teaching strategies, to identify the challenges that teachers encounter while teaching vocabulary, to assess the vocabulary teaching strategies often practices by EFL teachers and the teachers’ pedagogical beliefs about practicing vocabulary teaching strategies. Participants of the study were 10 EFL teachers and 1O5 preparatory school grade eleven and twelve students. The instruments used to collect data were observations, questionnaire, interview, and document analysis. The overall findings of the study revealed that EFL teachers claimed to utilize different types of acknowledged vocabulary teaching strategies. For instance, using exemplary phrases, using context clues, using word maps, using morphological word formations, using appropriate grammatical forms with multiple exposures of concepts. However, their practical implementation in real EFL classroom observation showed that EFL teachers did not adequately practice the acknowledged vocabulary teaching strategies. As a result, it is strongly recommended that EFL teachers should pay due consideration to practice the basic vocabulary teaching strategies so that students might improve their use of vocabulary in everyday communication. Furthermore, authentic materials and tasks that invite meaningful language use should be included. Moreover, teachers should implement various vocabulary teaching tasks in vocabulary lessons.