Attitudes towards the Effect of Vocabulary-based Instruction on the Writing Skill.

Abstract

Vocabulary is one of the important components of language. It is the set of words that build up the language. It has a primordial role in improving the writing skill because without a good knowledge of items, written composition will not be understood. However, a little attention has been given to vocabulary instruction. Therefore, the main focus of the present study is to improve the learners’ writing skill through vocabulary instruction. The current research has been conducted through a quantitative descriptive method in which two questionnaires for both teachers and students have been administered in order to know how can vocabulary instruction contributes in improving students writing skill. The research was conducted with a sample of 56 first year master students (out of a population of 66) and 20 teachers from the Department of English at the Universty of 8 Mai 1945 (Guelma). Participants of students’ questionnaire are chosen randomly, whereas those of the teachers’ questionnaire are not. Obtained results from students’ questionnaire reveal that writing is the most difficult skill for master one students, and that they face serious problems with vocabulary acquistion because they have a limited vocabulary knowledge, which have a great effect on their writing proficiency. From these findings, it is concluded that there is a positive relationship between vocabulary instruction and writing. Thus, it is recommended that teachers should provide students with the appropriate teaching strategies that help in ameliorating their vocabulary knowledge and therefore overcome some of the writing deficiencies.