ABSTRACT
Vocabulary was once "a neglected aspect of language learning" both in teaching and research, partly because influential teaching methods such as the Audio-Lingual Method and Grammar Translation primarily aimed at mastery of grammatical rules and, as such, vocabulary learning was regarded only as a secondary matter. Knowing a word means more than knowing its meaning. It involves many aspects, such as pronunciation, spelling, associations, collocations and register. Knowledge of the grammatical function of a word is also regarded as one component of vocabulary knowledge, and this is often associated with language use. For effective language learning, Nation and colleagues proposed the principle of four strands which emphasizes an even balance of meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focused learning and fluency development. This chapter consideres how grammar has been viewed in the literature of second language vocabulary learning. Grammar is left aside or is thought 'given' to learners, and thus, meaning-focused activities are unlikely to work well, especially for novice learners.
