Teachers’ and students’ perceptions about vocabulary instruction in the EFL classroom: A case study in the south region of Ecuador.

Abstract

This study aimed to determine teachers’ and students’ perceptions about vocabulary instruction in EFL classrooms. It was conducted at private and public high schools in the city of Loja. The participants were 47 EFL students, 24 at a private high school and 23 at a public institution from the first year of Senior high school. The instruments used to collect data were questionnaires that contained open-close questions, teachers’ interviews and observation checklists that were used to observe the English vocabulary lessons. Furthermore, this research followed a mixed-approach in which the quantitative approach was used to tabulate numerical data in the Excel program and to transform it into graphics. On the other hand, the qualitative method was used to analyze and contrast information that was collected during this study. The results show that teachers and students perceive English vocabulary instruction as an important tool in the acquisition of EFL because it allows them to communicate with others by using the target language effectively.