Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Modern Research in Education, Teaching and Learning
Year: 2023
DOI:
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Case study: Frame Semantics-based Approach to ICT Terminology Teaching
Viktorija Tataurova,Jekaterina Martinova, Diāna Ivanova
ABSTRACT:
There exist a great number of methods and approaches to general and specialized vocabulary teaching, including the traditional ones (e.g., the direct method) and the more recent ones (e.g., content and language integrated learning, computer-assisted vocabulary learning). Although the method has been proven to be time-consuming and requiring self-discipline and motivation from the students, presenting the students with the terminological and vocabulary lists still remains to be one of the most frequently applied methods in vocabulary teaching. Therefore, the analysis of the existing methods and approaches to vocabulary teaching is still topical nowadays. One of these approaches is formulated on the basis of the theory of frame semantics. Frames can be described as the primary understandings of the world, which are constantly modified and changed depending on the new knowledge and information processed. Likewise, the vocabulary of an individual is altered depending on the background, education, experience, and knowledge acquired throughout the lifetime. The aim of the present study is to investigate the perspective of applying the theory of frame semantics to teaching English for Specific Purposes to tertiary-level students. The present research is a case study, where the students under the supervision of an educator classify the terminology referred to the topics of ‘cybercrimes’ and ‘security’ and elaborate the frames with the lexicographic (i.e., definitions) and contextual information. FrameNet – a lexical resource involving more than 200 000 semantically and syntactically annotated text was selected as the reference for the annotation made by the students. The results of the study suggested that for the reason of linguistic, contextual, and content-based information, the frame-semantics-based approach has great potential in vocabulary development of tertiary-level students, especially in teaching English for Specific Purposes terminology. The potential of the application of a frame-based approach to vocabulary teaching with secondary school students is yet to be investigated.
keywords: frame semantics, English for Information and Communication Technology, English for Specific Purposes, tertiary-level education