ABSTRACT
Particularly for the abler learners, though not exclusively the most advanced, it is a worthwhile exercise to get pupils to reflect occasionally on the reasons they all have to study a language within the National Curriculum. In this way, they may come to understand that communicative competence for some imaginary future use is not the only, or even the most significant reason for this requirement. There will be occasions in teaching a language (a whole lesson or a part of a lesson) when teachers will wish to focus specifically on some aspect of vocabulary for its own sake, without gearing it to any particular communicative objective. In this chapter we will consider some of the possibilities.
