Teaching Strategies of Technical Vocabulary: A Qualitative Approach

Abstract

The implementation of effective strategies in the teaching and learning of language skills is highly recommended at the tertiary level. In this respect, the teaching of vocabulary requires the use of pertinent strategies to facilitate and boost students’ learning process. This goes hand in hand with the theme of this research paper which addresses the approaches, methods, and practices of teaching. Accordingly, the present study explores the most frequent strategies employed by teachers of English when teaching technical vocabulary to computer engineering students at the national school of applied sciences. Previous studies revealed that morphological incompetence hinders understanding of complex words, and thus impedes the acquisition of vocabulary. This study aims to examine the role of effective teaching strategies in acquiring English technical vocabulary. A semi-structured observation protocol was designed to collect data necessary to answer the research questions. Major findings revealed that English teachers frequently employ verbal strategies related to word definition, word synonyms and word translation to teach vocabulary to their computer engineering students. Nonverbal strategies were less frequently used. It is hoped that the findings of this research will be beneficial for ESP practitioners in implementing effective teaching strategies to teach specific vocabulary.

Keywords

• , teachers’ practices
• EFL
• teaching techniques
• teaching strategies
• vocabulary learning