L2 Vocabulary Learning From Context: Strategies, Knowledge Sources, and Their Relationship With Success in L2 Lexical Inferencing

Nassaji
1. Because the author uses the think-aloud technique and appears to consider the research subjects as individual processing machines unconnected to their surroundings, I believe this article fits within the cognitive approach.
2. The author addresses transition theory by studying how second language readers guess at the meanings of unknown words.
3. I found it very interesting that Nassaji did not advocate any one strategy, but recognized that no one strategy was successful. Nassaji goes on to recognize that the strategy of using contextual clues has been overused in ESL classrooms. I too am guilty of overteaching using context. I believe any teaching strategy can be overemphasized, and none is the correct answer. I liked how Nassaji did not call for a radical anti-context overhaul, but suggested that less emphasis be placed on using contextual clues. This moderation reflects well on the field; more researchers should exercise this much restraint when criticizing a teaching method.