2. Build a strong vocabulary base.
Recent research emphasized the importance of vocabulary to successful reading. As I have developed my own philosophy of the role of vocabulary in reading instruction, I have decided that basic vocabulary should be explicitly taught and L2 readers should be taught to use context to effectively guess the meanings of less frequent vocabulary. I have arrived at my philosophy, in part, by reviewing the research on vocabulary acquistion. Levine and Reves (1990) have found that "it is easier for the reader of academic texts to cope with special terminology that with general vocabulary" (p.37). They stress the great need for a teaching program that builds general, basic vocabulary.
I have found my own vocabukary instruction enhanced by asking these three question from Nation (1990,p.4):
1. What vocabulary do my learners need to know?
2. How will they learn this vocabulary?
3. How can I best test to see what they need to konw and what they now konw?