Teaching Vocabulary Is the Writing Teacher’s Job

While most teachers acknowledge the importance of vocabulary in learning a new language, many assume a reading class or other teacher will cover vocabulary. Yet vocabulary plays an essential role in good writing, especially academic writing. Teaching Vocabulary Is the Writing Teacher's Job explores the serious nature of ESL students' lexical plight and looks at vocabulary in relation to reading, speaking, listening, and writing proficiency. It also examines the role of vocabulary in ESL writing assessment. In the conclusion, author Keith Folse discusses eight research-based suggestions for writing teachers, including encouraging students to become vocabulary detectives, teaching collocations, testing vocabulary, and teaching paraphrasing and summarizing.