English phrasal verbs (PVs) are ubiquitous and often polysemous. These lexical items are thus very important, but also challenging for ESL/EFL learners. Substantial research that can inform instructional approaches to PVs has already been conducted. One strand of this research has focused on identifying PVs that merit prioritization in learning.…

The extent of words with multiple meanings in English has important implications for the vocabulary learning load of EFL learners. The greater proportion of such words among the target vocabulary implies an increased learning load. The present study investigates the extent of multiple word meanings among the most frequent 9,000 words of the…

Purpose: The goal was to determine whether interactive book reading outcomes for children with developmental language disorder (DLD) were affected by manipulation of dose (i.e., the number of exposures to the target word during a book reading session) and dose frequency (i.e., the number of repeated book reading sessions) and whether pretreatment…

As researchers and practitioners are becoming more aware of the importance of multi-word items in English, there is little doubt that phrasal verbs deserve teaching attention in the classroom. However, there are thousands of phrasal verbs in English, and so the question for practitioners is which phrasal verbs to focus attention upon. Phrasal verb…

The ability to define a word with accuracy and precision is an important skill that has been associated with academic achievement. This study investigated the feasibility of conducting a lesson on formal word definitions to improve children's definitional production. The participants were 18 children in grade 4 (mean age: 9 years; 8 months) who…

This article discusses various approaches to vocabulary selection for second language teaching. The criteria of availability, familiarity, coverage, and meaning are suggested as important in vocabulary selection. (AM)