Estratégias de aquisição de vocabulário adotadas por alunos de letras na aprendizagem de inglês como língua estrangeira

Abstract

This study aims to determine which vocabulary acquisition strategies are more often adopted by learners of English as a Foreign Language and therefore more efficient in terms of methodology. First, different methodologies of teaching the English language are taken into consideration, focusing on the key strategies of vocabulary acquisition. Then, the textbook American English File 2, which is adopted by students of the third semester of Languages: English and Portuguese at the Franciscan University in the city of Santa Maria/RS, is analyzed. In order to determine which strategies are usually adopted to teach vocabulary to the English language learners, five units of the textbook are analyzed. Finally, a questionnaire is applied to the students, in order to check whether the strategies they say they apply to learn new words are the same strategies explored by the textbook being analyzed. The results showed that, although most of the activities found in the textbook focus on vocabulary acquisition without considering language in use, the learners identified reading - an activity that makes use of language in context - as the best strategy for learning new vocabulary in the target language.