HASSANE HAMIDOU Fati, MOUSSA MOULLOU Sani et TANKARI Moussa
Département d’Anglais/Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines, Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey, Niger
Département d’Anglais/Ecole Normal Supérieure, Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey, Niger
Département d’Anglais/ Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines, Université André Salifou de Zinder, Niger
Abstract
Lexical knowledge plays a fundamental role in any language learning development and remains crucial to effective communication in particular. However, Nigerien EFL students display a very limited ability to communicate in English due to multiple factors, such as lack of enough vocabulary. Few studies address the influence of limited vocabulary on students’ speaking skills. The present study addressed this issue by examining the impact of students’ limited vocabulary knowledge on their communicative skills in secondary schools in Zinder. Building understanding from teachers’ perspectives, the study also highlighted how teachers’ address this problem in their classroom teaching practices and the contextual factors shaping their vocabulary teaching. It drew on the constructivist and qualitative research framework. English teachers were interviewed and observed to collect solid data addressing the research objective. Through thematic analysis, the findings unveiled numerous negative impacts of students’ restricted lexical knowledge on their communication skills. The findings also pointed out that it leads to a significant pedagogical change in teachers’ teaching practice; e.g., the predominance of translanguaging pedagogy, code-switching, and grammar translation method. Finally, the study revealed multiple contextual factors. These include large class size, lack of teaching materials, and teachers’ restricted pedagogical content knowledge in vocabulary teaching. Insights generated in this study call for competent authorities to take urgent actions for the betterment of English language teaching in Niger. The study also contributes to knowledge by exhibiting the interconnectedness of lexical knowledge and oral communicative skills.
Keywords: Lexical knowledge, oral communication, EFL teachers, perspectives
