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APPLIED LINGUISTICS for BA Students in English Vocabulary Active and Passive Vocabulary

المؤلف:  BÖLCSÉSZ KONZORCIUM

المصدر:  APPLIED LINGUISTICS for BA Students in English

الجزء والصفحة:  P71-C1

2026-10-12

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APPLIED LINGUISTICS for BA Students in English

Vocabulary

Active and Passive Vocabulary

By passive knowledge we mean that students are able to recognize the word but they are not able to produce it. At beginner and elementary levels most words are active. As students’ vocabulary is limited, they learn only words which are frequently used and have a broad meaning so they will constantly reappear, students will practice them frequently. At more advanced levels some words are active and some words will belong to the students’ passive vocabulary. The status of vocabulary items is not permanent because if words are not frequently used, they may slip into the passive store and a passive word may become active as well. The teacher is supposed to decide not to deal with some words at the production stage and this way they will belong to the passive store. The fact that a word is passive or active also depends on how memorable it is to the students. For example, the word ‘cuddle’ is a memorable word for the students because it occurred in a funny text and students liked its sound so it belongs to the active store. As a consequence, teachers should make words memorable for the students, get them to interact with the word and this is the key to effective presentation. The other way of rendering the word into the active store is to make students practice it in an active way.