English Language Skills

1.1 Preliminaries The outstanding developments in technology and communications have made learning foreign languages in general and English language in particular essential for every individual. English language has become an international language and a means of communication among people all over the world. In learning a language, there are four skills that we need to improve for complete communication. They are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Obviously vocabulary size influences the four skills. Indeed, vocabulary is the building block of every language skill without which one is quite speechless, Mostaan (2012). Ellis (1997) believes that vocabulary knowledge can assist grammar acquisition because knowing the words in

For instance, learners cannot understand a reading passage if they do not have an adequate vocabulary and do not have the skills to guess meaning from context. In summary, vocabulary knowledge is an essential component of learning a second language for several reasons. Both native speakers and learners recognize the importance of getting the words right because lexical errors are numerous and disruptive. Thus, it is important for learners to have good lexical skills in order to produce sentences and to understand them correctly (Gass & Selinker, 2001). One way to decrease the problem is to help students in becoming independent learners during the process of second language vocabulary learning (Maleki, 2010). This could be achieved through instructing learners to use vocabulary learning strategies as effectively as possible. Rivers (1981) suggests that “vocabulary cannot be taught. It can be presented, explained, including in all kinds of activities, but it must be learned by the individual” (p.110). She continues, “As language teachers, we must arouse interest in words and a certain excitement in personal development in this area” (p.

Novak and Canas (2010) described new concept maps tools as engines for knowledge creation.

1.3 Word List Word lists include the list of related words in forming an essay in a specific context. A word list is in its most common form a list of words in a target language with one translation of each word into another language. Dictionaries (e.g., bilingual dictionaries) can be seen as sophisticated word lists, where the target items (lexemes) are put in alphabetical order, and where semantic span of each lexeme is illustrated through the use of multiple translations, explanations and examples. Yongqi (2003) stated that word lists can be valuable for a language learner who wants to make sure that s(he) covers the basic vocabulary of the target language. The most conspicuous use of word lists is the one in the text books for language learners, where new words in each lesson are summarized with their translations. However they are also an important element of language guides used by tourists who don 't intend to learn the language of their destination, but who need to communicate with local people. 1.4 Statement of the