Vocabulary activities in year 9 L2 English workbooks

Abstract: This study aims to investigate vocabulary activities provided in English workbooks for year 9 students in Sweden. Vocabulary knowledge is an important part of language proficiency in the L2 and should therefore be supported by adequate activities. An analysis of vocabulary activities in existing workbooks allows for to investigate of which aspects of vocabulary knowledge (as defined by Nation, 2001, referred to in Brown, 2010, pp. 83-84) are presented and how they are addressed; this kind of analysis may have implications for teaching. The results show that the focus is on meaning and the written form of words by requiring the students to work with definitions through writing and reading. The findings indicate that the methods suggested by Zhang and Lu (2015) regarding contextualised language use and the suggestions by Brown (2010) and Neary-Sundquist (2015) regarding the aspects of vocabulary knowledge are only followed to an extent. The knowledge requirements and core content for year 9 in Sweden are discussed as an explanation as to why some aspects of vocabulary knowledge are not addressed or only addressed in certain language skills. Additionally, possible interpretations are discussed as to why working at the individual word level in vocabulary activities is commonly based on the interplay between the textbooks- and workbooks. The present study illustrates how teaching materials (i.e., workbooks) do not seem to support vocabulary learning adequately.