Teaching Belarusian as a Second Foreign Language: Ways of Vocabulary Selection, Introduction and Semantization

Abstract

Vocabulary is a core part of teaching any language as a second one. Students while learning a foreign language acquire a new language vision of the world (mainly through learning the vocabulary of this language). In this regard teaching vocabulary should be thoroughly planned and systematized. This is far away from mere introduction of new words and their memorizing later on. It is more of learning sensory, grammatical, phonetic and associative links as any language is a mixture of lexis, phonetics, grammar, etc. The article provides the main phases of teaching vocabulary (its selection and systematization), highlights some criteria for vocabulary selection, outlines the main ways of its semantization (showing of a thing, a picture, an image, a slide; providing a detailed description of a word; explaining its meaning through its definition; semantization through synonyms and antonyms).