2.2.5.1 Type of vocabulary
In order to understand how vocabulary items work or relate to the four
language skills, it will be helpful to make clear first by grouping the skills into two
pairs. There are two ways in so doing:
Firstly, listening and speaking are the skills necessary in oral
communication, they can be grouped together. For some learners, this is the main focus
of their interest. Reading and writing can be grouped together since they are the skills
necessary in written communication, and this may be the main focus or motivation for
other learners. Alternatively, we can group listening and reading together, since they both are used to understand language which was produced by other people. To this
extent, listening and reading are known as receptive skills, and speaking and writing
are productive skills.