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Current situation of vocabulary teaching
The importance of vocabulary in learning a second or foreign language has been widely acknowledged and the findings of a sea of research studies have convinced us to regard vocabulary knowledge as a predictor of verbal knowledge and reading comprehension （Sternberg， 1987）. For most of us， this means the more vocabulary learners acquire， the more communicative they are. With this belief， most L2 instructors in China attach great importance to teaching vocabulary. Taking the teaching practice of my school which is a public high in Jiangsu Province as an example， most teachers spend 2 classes（ 90 minutes） teaching the vocabulary in each unit. The explicit instruction covers pronunciation， meaning， spelling， derivative words， and collocation. However， with the implement of various teaching approaches， from grammar translation to communicative language， between which the former approach is still playing the dominating role in vocabulary teaching， few ESL learners confirm they have mastered adequate vocabulary and use it freely. Students complain about the dullness of vocabulary class. They assert it is the dullest task to memorize new words. They feel discouraged even though they remember some. It is most likely they will fail to recall these words over time.
The reasons are complicated. Firstly， as Min （2008） has said， direct vocabulary instruction in EFL classrooms is far from enough to help students achieve the basic vocabulary size. Secondly， the limited chances for students to use the vocabulary diminish their familiarity with the words， which hampers students form retaining them in later cases. Furthermore， most of the EFL learners learn vocabulary passively from the teacher-centered nature of most vocabulary classes， during which they have nothing to do but listen and try to memorize （Soltani， 2011）. Due to the limitation of the classroom explicit instruction and intentional vocabulary learning， the necessity to encourage incidental learning attracts many researchers’ attention. Incidental learning， means acquiring word incidentally and this acquisition is just a byproduct of their other main learning activities both inside and outside the classroom （Read， 2004）. According to Read， incidental learning does occur in input-rich environments and it is most elicited by reading extensively.
Vocabulary acquisition and extensive reading
According to Grabe and Stoller （2002）， extensive reading provides learners with access to a world of material which is within their linguistic competence. Besides， it is bring about pleasure to learners. Schmit （2000） argued that intensive reading alone was not adequate. Extensive reading is of help for learners to acquire language. Learners reading freely and voluntarily achieve more progress in both reading and vocabulary （Krashen， 2004）. It is also suggested that compared to the common method of teaching， vocabulary used in school by offering definitions directly， reading contextually was a more effective approach to acquiring word meanings. Besides these researchers’ strong recommendation， the limitations of classroom direct instruction which has been mentioned and the insufficient class time for vocabulary growth and insufficient knowledge of vocabulary for reading comprehension （Grade 2001； Hinkel， 2004； Laufer， 2003， cited in Tran， 2007） all call for the involvement of extensive reading in vocabulary development.
With regard to the benefits of extensive reading in enhancing vocabulary acquisition， many studies have been done to investigate it. Huckin and Coady （1999） claim that this approach is pedagogically efficient because it involves two activities--vocabulary acquisition and reading. This advantage is quite dominant considering the equal importance of vocabulary and reading in EFL learning and the time limit on language teaching. Besides， extensive reading makes the learning procedure more autonomous， pleasant and motivating. What’s more， by reading extensively and freely， not only do learners have access to large sight vocabulary but also they are provided with more opportunities to various contexts of using these words （Thornbury， 2002， cited in Pigada and Schmitt， 2006）. All these advantages make it possible to achieve substantial vocabulary development. However， this kind of development is unlikely to occur during the language classroom where vocabulary acquisition mainly depends on explicit teaching in the relatively short class time. Considering the benefits of extensive reading， Nation （2001） argues that for EFL learners， the use of reading and other sources providing plenty of input might be the only alternatives for language development out of class.
Despite the consensus that extensive reading does facilitate incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition， controversy still exists as to to what extent it can enhance vocabulary development and to what extent the new words are retainable. While many studies have found evidence to confirm the vocabulary growth （e.g.， Huckin & Bloch， 1993； Hulstijn， 1992）， contradictory study results provoke different opinions whether the retention rate is low （Hulstijn， 1992） or high （Krashen， 1989， cited in Tran， 2007））. In spite of various disagreement， the finding of many studies still suggests that it is undoubted that learners do incidentally acquire small amount of vocabulary knowledge through this meaning-focused reading activity. And this kind of vocabulary learning is a gradual process of running across a word thus adding to or consolidating the original knowledge gained from previous meetings （Nation， 2001）. Whether the expected acquisition can be achieved greatly depends on whether the small amount of learning of vocabulary is soon reinforced by another meeting. Otherwise， that learning is soon lost. That implies the importance of repetition of the vocabulary. Though the benefits of extensive reading do not become apparent in a short term， the long-term benefits including improving vocabulary acquisition as well we reading proficiency and other associated skills justify the implement of this approach in teaching vocabulary. Teaching implication
As teachers， we must acknowledge that presenting and teaching new vocabulary units once only in class is far from enough. We need to expose them to the new information repeatedly. Hence， it is necessary to build recycling into their learning such as regular rehearsal， rote learning， and so on. It is unwise to quit these activities just because of their obsolescence. However， some strategies can be taught to learners to help them retain vocabulary.
Apart from direct teaching and explicit instruction in class， teachers have the responsibility to encourage extensive reading. In class， the most common and practical practice of implementing reading is sustained silent reading. Considering the time limit in Chinese high school English class， a practice of daily silent reading lasting five to ten minutes seems more suitable. The observation on SSR classes in a middle school made by Von Sprecken and Krashen （1998， cited in Krashen， 2004） found that 90 percent of the students were immersed in reading and this result was also reinforced by later observations （Cohen， 1999； Herda and Ramos， 2001）. This kind of daily exposure to new word information provides students with an input-rich environment and can be quite interest-raising， which may lead to students’ desire to read out of class.
In addition to the classroom practice of reading， it is more crucial for teachers to save precious class time and encourage students to take charge of their own learning of vocabulary （Tran， 2007）. For example， we teachers can encourage incidental learning out of class by encouraging use of various multimedia resources such as penfriends， chat rooms， email， films， songs， dictionaries and so on. What’s more， teachers can set ‘out-of-class’ tasks aiming to increase vocabulary such as presenting weekly acquisition of vocabulary to classmates.
The importance of vocabulary in learning a second or foreign language has been widely acknowledged and the findings of a sea of research studies have convinced us to regard vocabulary knowledge as a predictor of verbal knowledge and reading comprehension （Sternberg， 1987）. For most of us， this means the more vocabulary learners acquire， the more communicative they are. With this belief， most L2 instructors in China attach great importance to teaching vocabulary. Taking the teaching practice of my school which is a public high in Jiangsu Province as an example， most teachers spend 2 classes（ 90 minutes） teaching the vocabulary in each unit. The explicit instruction covers pronunciation， meaning， spelling， derivative words， and collocation. However， with the implement of various teaching approaches， from grammar translation to communicative language， between which the former approach is still playing the dominating role in vocabulary teaching， few ESL learners confirm they have mastered adequate vocabulary and use it freely. Students complain about the dullness of vocabulary class. They assert it is the dullest task to memorize new words. They feel discouraged even though they remember some. It is most likely they will fail to recall these words over time.
The reasons are complicated. Firstly， as Min （2008） has said， direct vocabulary instruction in EFL classrooms is far from enough to help students achieve the basic vocabulary size. Secondly， the limited chances for students to use the vocabulary diminish their familiarity with the words， which hampers students form retaining them in later cases. Furthermore， most of the EFL learners learn vocabulary passively from the teacher-centered nature of most vocabulary classes， during which they have nothing to do but listen and try to memorize （Soltani， 2011）. Due to the limitation of the classroom explicit instruction and intentional vocabulary learning， the necessity to encourage incidental learning attracts many researchers’ attention. Incidental learning， means acquiring word incidentally and this acquisition is just a byproduct of their other main learning activities both inside and outside the classroom （Read， 2004）. According to Read， incidental learning does occur in input-rich environments and it is most elicited by reading extensively.
Vocabulary acquisition and extensive reading
According to Grabe and Stoller （2002）， extensive reading provides learners with access to a world of material which is within their linguistic competence. Besides， it is bring about pleasure to learners. Schmit （2000） argued that intensive reading alone was not adequate. Extensive reading is of help for learners to acquire language. Learners reading freely and voluntarily achieve more progress in both reading and vocabulary （Krashen， 2004）. It is also suggested that compared to the common method of teaching， vocabulary used in school by offering definitions directly， reading contextually was a more effective approach to acquiring word meanings. Besides these researchers’ strong recommendation， the limitations of classroom direct instruction which has been mentioned and the insufficient class time for vocabulary growth and insufficient knowledge of vocabulary for reading comprehension （Grade 2001； Hinkel， 2004； Laufer， 2003， cited in Tran， 2007） all call for the involvement of extensive reading in vocabulary development.
With regard to the benefits of extensive reading in enhancing vocabulary acquisition， many studies have been done to investigate it. Huckin and Coady （1999） claim that this approach is pedagogically efficient because it involves two activities--vocabulary acquisition and reading. This advantage is quite dominant considering the equal importance of vocabulary and reading in EFL learning and the time limit on language teaching. Besides， extensive reading makes the learning procedure more autonomous， pleasant and motivating. What’s more， by reading extensively and freely， not only do learners have access to large sight vocabulary but also they are provided with more opportunities to various contexts of using these words （Thornbury， 2002， cited in Pigada and Schmitt， 2006）. All these advantages make it possible to achieve substantial vocabulary development. However， this kind of development is unlikely to occur during the language classroom where vocabulary acquisition mainly depends on explicit teaching in the relatively short class time. Considering the benefits of extensive reading， Nation （2001） argues that for EFL learners， the use of reading and other sources providing plenty of input might be the only alternatives for language development out of class.
Despite the consensus that extensive reading does facilitate incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition， controversy still exists as to to what extent it can enhance vocabulary development and to what extent the new words are retainable. While many studies have found evidence to confirm the vocabulary growth （e.g.， Huckin & Bloch， 1993； Hulstijn， 1992）， contradictory study results provoke different opinions whether the retention rate is low （Hulstijn， 1992） or high （Krashen， 1989， cited in Tran， 2007））. In spite of various disagreement， the finding of many studies still suggests that it is undoubted that learners do incidentally acquire small amount of vocabulary knowledge through this meaning-focused reading activity. And this kind of vocabulary learning is a gradual process of running across a word thus adding to or consolidating the original knowledge gained from previous meetings （Nation， 2001）. Whether the expected acquisition can be achieved greatly depends on whether the small amount of learning of vocabulary is soon reinforced by another meeting. Otherwise， that learning is soon lost. That implies the importance of repetition of the vocabulary. Though the benefits of extensive reading do not become apparent in a short term， the long-term benefits including improving vocabulary acquisition as well we reading proficiency and other associated skills justify the implement of this approach in teaching vocabulary. Teaching implication
As teachers， we must acknowledge that presenting and teaching new vocabulary units once only in class is far from enough. We need to expose them to the new information repeatedly. Hence， it is necessary to build recycling into their learning such as regular rehearsal， rote learning， and so on. It is unwise to quit these activities just because of their obsolescence. However， some strategies can be taught to learners to help them retain vocabulary.
Apart from direct teaching and explicit instruction in class， teachers have the responsibility to encourage extensive reading. In class， the most common and practical practice of implementing reading is sustained silent reading. Considering the time limit in Chinese high school English class， a practice of daily silent reading lasting five to ten minutes seems more suitable. The observation on SSR classes in a middle school made by Von Sprecken and Krashen （1998， cited in Krashen， 2004） found that 90 percent of the students were immersed in reading and this result was also reinforced by later observations （Cohen， 1999； Herda and Ramos， 2001）. This kind of daily exposure to new word information provides students with an input-rich environment and can be quite interest-raising， which may lead to students’ desire to read out of class.
In addition to the classroom practice of reading， it is more crucial for teachers to save precious class time and encourage students to take charge of their own learning of vocabulary （Tran， 2007）. For example， we teachers can encourage incidental learning out of class by encouraging use of various multimedia resources such as penfriends， chat rooms， email， films， songs， dictionaries and so on. What’s more， teachers can set ‘out-of-class’ tasks aiming to increase vocabulary such as presenting weekly acquisition of vocabulary to classmates.