The purpose of this qualitative study is to compare five teachers’ beliefs about their students’ learning of vocabulary and compare that with current theories and recommended practices in the field. The method for collecting data was semi-structured interviews with teachers who teach English in both lower secondary and upper secondary schools in Sweden. The data from these interviews were then analyzed by way of thematic analysis. The results were then compared with previous research in the field of vocabulary learning drawing on studies and works of researchers such as Stuart Webb and Paul Nation among others. The results reveal a lot of similarities with the latest research on vocabulary learning. The findings of this study also indicate some differences between teacher beliefs and research. Apart from research done in the field of vocabulary learning this study has also taken the proven experience of the teachers into account. Since this study is of a qualitative kind, these results cannot be generalized in regard to Swedish teachers of English as a group but rather what some of them portray when talking on the topic of vocabulary.

Denna studie hade till syfte att undersöka vilka metoder för ordinlärning med fokus på betydelse som förekom i textböcker för SFI kurs B och C. Frågeställninggen förankrades teoretiskt i tidigare språkvetenskaplig och psykologisk forskning om ordinlärningsmetoder. Fyra textböcker granskades för att identifiera och kategorisera ordinlärningsmetoder med fokus på betydelse enligt Nations (2011) kategorisering av betydelserelaterade aspekter av ordkunskap (associationer, begrepp och referens, form-betydelsekoppling). Därefter analyserades fynden enligt Cummins fyrfältsmodell (2017). Resultatet visade att en typ av aktivitet inom aspekten begrepp och referens (svara på frågor som innehåller målorden) dominerade och utgjorde över 50% av de betydelserelaterade ordinlärningsaktiviteterna i textböckerna. Det var också den enda typen av aktivitet inom begrepp och referens. För aspekterna associationer och form-betydelsekoppling förekom varierande aktiviteter. Därmed erbjuder böckerna en variation av metoder för inlärning av ordbetydelser inom två aspekter men endast en metod inom en aspekt. Detta begränsar vägarna till att främja inlärarens lärandeprocess då fler metoder kan erbjuda olika positiva effekter på ordinlärning.

This study investigates the Involvement Load Hypothesis proposed by Laufer and Hulstijn (2001). The involvement load hypothesis posits that vocabulary learning is determined by involvement load or mental effort. Involvement load has three components, need, search, and evaluation and each component is scored for three levels: index 2 for the strongest, index 1 for a moderate degree, and index 0 for none. Each participant learned six words with graphic organizers at the high involvement load (need index 1, search index 1, evaluation index 2, total index 4) and six at the low involvement load (need index 1, search index 1, and evaluation index 0, total index 2). Immediately and one week after completing the graphic organizer task, vocabulary knowledge was measured using three vocabulary tests that tested different levels of vocabulary knowledge: a translation test, a difficult multiple-choice test, and an easy multiple-choice test. Quantitative analyses of data from 291 university and college students in Japan were conducted, and audio-recordings from five pairs were analyzed to examine learning processes. Repeated measures MANOVA and ANOVAs revealed significant differences between the conditions of the two involvement loads in the translation test and the easy multiple-choice test, but not in the difficult multiple-choice test. The effects of Task and Time were statistically significant, but there was no interaction. There were significant differences between the immediate test and delayed test observed in the translation test and the easy multiple-choice test, but not with the difficult multiple-choice test. The current study supports the involvement load hypothesis, but caution is advised. Even though the high involvement load graphic organizers yielded more vocabulary retention than those with less involvement load in two out of the three vocabulary tests, the differences in mean scores were small and extensive differences were not observed in the participants' discussions. Additional statistical analysis indicated that the three vocabulary tests measured three levels of vocabulary knowledge. Determining the effectiveness of graphic organizers for vocabulary learning was only mildly successful as forcing greater involvement load proved to be challenging. / CITE/Language Arts