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English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 
Vol. 5, No. 3, December 2022, pp. 191-202  

       https://doi.org/10.12928/eltej.v5i3.6879          http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/eltej/index          eltej@pbi.uad.ac.id  

Teachers’ knowledge: Teachers’ perceptions and their sources 
of knowledge in vocabulary instruction 
Bekele Daba Shube a, 1,*, Alemu Hailu Hanshu b, 2  
a, b NBH1, 4killo King George VI St, Addis Ababa, Etiopia 
1 bekeledaba45@gmail.com*, 2 alemuhailu2011@gmail.com   
 

 

ARTI CLE  I NFO 
 

ABSTRACT   
 

 
Article history 
Received 20 September 2022 
Revised 28 October 2022 
Accepted 26 November 2022 

 The study investigated EFL teachers’ perceptions and their sources of 
knowledge in vocabulary instruction at the secondary school level in 
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. To fulfill this purpose, an explanatory research 
design and mixed data analysis methods were employed. The study 
involved thirty-six English teachers from three representative secondary 
schools. Data was collected from the participant teachers through a 
questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The findings show that 
participants in the study generally have positive perceptions about 
vocabulary teaching and learning. According to the participants’ 
perspectives, vocabulary is central to language and it is important to 
language learners in their language learning. This thought was affirmed 
by participants in both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the study. 
The finding also revealed teachers’ sources of knowledge in vocabulary 
instruction. These knowledge sources include teachers’ teaching 
experience, their disciplinary background, apprenticeship of observation, 
and others. The discussion of these findings suggests implications for 
practices and recommendations for future research to improve vocabulary 
instruction in secondary schools. 
 

This is an open access article under the CC–BY-SA license. 

    

 

 
Keywords 
Perceptions 
Sources of Knowledge 
Teachers’ Knowledge 
Vocabulary Instruction 
 
 
 

 

How to Cite: Shube, B. D. & Hanshu, A. H. (2022). Teachers’ knowledge: Teachers’ perceptions and their 
sources of knowledge in vocabulary instruction. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 5 (3), 191-
202. 

1. Introduction 
Teachers’ knowledge and how they implement their knowledge is central to the process of teaching 

and learning (van Leeuwen, Hornstra, & Flunger, 2023). Teachers’ knowledge refers to the total 
knowledge and insights underlying teachers’ actions in practice. According to Borg (1999), teachers’ 
knowledge implies "the beliefs, knowledge theories, assumptions, and attitudes that teachers hold 
about all aspects of their work" (p. 9). Research in teacher cognition also demonstrates that teachers’ 
knowledge is an important element that has the potential to provide insights into teachers’ innate 
ability to make images and interpretations about what they are teaching, who they are teaching, and 
the context in which teaching takes place (Carter, 1990; Freeman, 2002; Meisani, 2023). 

The investigation into teachers’ knowledge in terms of ‘what’ teachers know about what they do 
in the classroom has become a core interest in typical educational research since the mid-1970s. At 
this time, the significance of teacher cognition inquiry has increased and the center of attention in L2 
research education has immensely changed from studying teachers' observable behaviors to studying 
teachers’ knowledge and beliefs (Meijer, Verloop, & Beijaard, 1999; Soifah & Pratolo, 2020). 

In the early 1990s, research in language education also shifted to focus on the cognitive aspects of 
teaching, and attention was seriously paid to the central role of teachers’ knowledge in helping to 



192 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 
 Vol. 5, No. 3, December 2022, pp. 191-202 

 Shube, B. D. & Hanshu, A. H.  (Teachers’ knowledge: Teachers’ perceptions and their sources of knowledge.....) 

improve language teaching (Prabhu, 1990). Within the EFL context as well, there has recently been 
an increasing interest in research on teachers’ knowledge in the field of English language teaching. 
To this end, Shulman (1987) argued that teachers’ knowledge is essential for effective language 
teaching. Here, what deserves special attention is "the influence of teachers’ mental lives or the hidden 
side of teaching" on their instructional decisions (Freeman, 2002). 

In the same way, researchers have viewed vocabulary as an important part of a language on which 
teachers’ knowledge of research is required to be made. Borg (2003) points out that L2 teachers’ 
knowledge needs more focused research on different curricular aspects of language teaching, 
particularly those unstudied areas such as the teaching of vocabulary, speaking, and listening. Thus, 
referring to the studies on L2 teachers’ knowledge in various curricular areas, the researcher 
investigated perceptions and sources of EFL teachers’ knowledge in vocabulary instruction at the 
secondary school level in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

1.1. Statement of the Research Problem 
Teachers play an important role in students’ vocabulary development as they prepare learners for 

strategies that increase their vocabulary knowledge (Windiarti et.al., 2019). However, Borg (2009) 
indicates that vocabulary as an area of study has been sidelined from a teacher's knowledge 
perspective, and there is insufficient understanding of this curricular area of second language teaching. 
The researcher also agrees with Borg’s idea that studies of vocabulary teaching, which aim to 
investigate teachers’ knowledge of vocabulary teaching and how these affect classroom practices, are 
rare in our context, and he believes that more research needs to be done on teachers’ perceptions and 
their sources of knowledge in EFL classes. 

Although worldwide there is a large body of literature documenting research findings about 
teachers’ perceptions and their sources of knowledge with regard to different curricular areas (Van 
Driel, Beijaard and Verloop, 2001; Tsui, 2003; Borg, 2004; Arıoğul, 2007; Gao, 2007) it seems less 
attention has been paid to such kinds of research in our context. As a result, the development of 
teachers teaching English in general and vocabulary instruction in particular remains unchanged. 
Therefore, this study filled the gap by exploring teachers’ perceptions and their sources of knowledge 
in vocabulary instruction in an EFL secondary school context in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

Based on the preceding analysis, this study thus attempted to answer the following basic research 
questions: 

1.2. Research Questions 
i. What perceptions do secondary school EFL teachers have about their knowledge and 

practice in vocabulary instruction? 
ii. How do secondary school EFL teachers develop their sources of knowledge in     vocabulary 

instruction?  

1.3. Objectives of the Study 
Based on the above research questions, the study has the following general and specific objectives: 
1) General Objective 
The general objective of this study is to investigate secondary school EFL teachers’ perceptions 

and their sources of knowledge in vocabulary instruction. 
Based on this general objective, the study focused on the following specific objectives: 
2) Specific Objectives 
i. To investigate secondary school EFL teachers’ perceptions of their knowledge and practice 

in vocabulary instruction. 
ii. To find out secondary school EFL teachers’ sources of knowledge in vocabulary instruction. 

2. Meterials and Method 
2.1. Research Design and Methodology 

The study adopted an explanatory mixed-method design by combining quantitative and qualitative 
methods as complementary strategies appropriate to the research questions. Explanatory design sets 



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out to explain information and seeks to ask "why" and "how" questions those go on to identify the 
actual reasons a phenomenon occurs (Creswell et al., 2003). This design starts with the collection and 
analysis of quantitative data. The second, qualitative phase of the study is designed so that it follows 
from (or connects to) the results of the first quantitative phase. The reason behind the sequence of the 
explanatory design is that the quantitative data and their subsequent analysis provide a general 
understanding of the research problem. The qualitative data and their analysis refine and explain those 
statistical results by exploring participants’ views in more depth (Creswell et al., 2003). Consequently, 
in the first phase of data collection, the researcher conducted a questionnaire, followed by semi-
structured interviews in the second phase. Based on some of the findings from the first phase, 
integration of the two phases was carried out, and further investigation of secondary school EFL 
teachers' perceptions and sources of knowledge in vocabulary instruction was conducted. 

2.2. Participants of the Study 
The participants of this study were EFL teachers who were teaching English at randomly selected 

secondary schools. For the study, thirty-six English teachers from representative secondary schools 
took part in filling out the questionnaire. As well, for semi-structured interview, four purposefully 
selected teachers from these representative secondary schools were engaged. 

2.3. Data gathering instruments 
Two instruments were employed in order to gather the necessary data for the study undertaken. 

These instruments are questionnaire and semi structured interview. 
1) Questionnaire 
In this research, questionnaire aids in gaining a preliminary understanding of the phenomenon 

under study. This is supported by Teddlie & Tashakkori (2009) that first, a questionnaire helps to 
obtain a general overview of the research. Secondly, if the strategy of data collection is sequential 
(similar to the research), findings from the questionnaire pave the way for the development of other 
qualitative data-gathering tools such as interviews and others. 

In the same way, certain aspects of teachers’ perceptions and sources of knowledge in vocabulary 
teaching arising from the findings of the questionnaire were further investigated, and certain issues 
generated by the first investigation were addressed through the participants’ views and 
understandings. As Morse (2003) maintained, by employing more than one method within a research 
design, the researcher is able to obtain a thorough understanding of human behavior and experience. 
The principal aim of this questionnaire was to obtain an overview of perceptions and sources of 
knowledge secondary school teachers of English have about their vocabulary teaching. 

2)  Interview 
This study employed face-to-face semi-structured interview, which was guided by a list of 

interview questions and was designed to put interviewees at ease and allow them to express 
themselves. 

The semi-structured interview in this study served a number of purposes. First, it dug deep into the 
minds of the interviewees to explore EFL government secondary school teachers’ perceptions and 
sources of knowledge in vocabulary instruction. Second, it provided further insight into justifying the 
claims made by the respondents to the questionnaire. Third, it allowed the researcher to ask questions 
that were not in the guide and the researcher could use prompts to encourage the participants to 
elaborate on the original response. Such a distinctive feature helped the researcher to gain a thorough 
understanding of teachers’ perceptions and sources of knowledge in vocabulary instruction. In the 
light of the research questions and aims, the semi-structured interview questions of this study were 
formulated with the help of the relevant literature in the area and based on the findings from the 
questionnaire. It was conducted after a purposive selection of four teachers from representative 
secondary schools was made. 

2.4. Data Collection Procedures  
In this study, data was collected sequentially in two phases. The first phase of data collection was 

the administration of the questionnaire. In the second phase, the researcher used his time to conduct 
qualitative data, i.e., the semi-structured interview, with purposely selected teachers at representative 
government secondary schools, respectively. 



194 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 
 Vol. 5, No. 3, December 2022, pp. 191-202 

 Shube, B. D. & Hanshu, A. H.  (Teachers’ knowledge: Teachers’ perceptions and their sources of knowledge.....) 

3. Findings and Discussion 
This section provides a discussion of research findings with reference to each of the two research 

questions. In each of these two sections, the quantitative and qualitative findings were analyzed and 
concisely discussed, followed by an interpretation of the results with reference to the literature 
reviewed and existing relevant research evidence. 

3.1. What perceptions do secondary school EFL teachers have about their knowledge and 
practice in vocabulary instruction? 

This section of the questionnaire contains seven items designed to elicit teachers' perceptions on 
teaching English vocabulary. Table 1 below shows the frequency and percentages of the responses 
with reference to each item. 

Table 1.  Frequency and percentages of responses to teachers’ perceptions 

No TEACHERS’ 
PERCEPTIONS 

SA A CD D SD Total 
F % F % F % F % F % F % 

1 
 

Learning a foreign 
language is mostly a 
matter of learning new 
vocabularies. 

8 22.2 14 38.9 2 5.6 8 22.2 4 11.1 36 100 

2 Teaching vocabulary 
learning strategies to 
students should be the 
primary role of an EFL 
teacher. 

13 36.1 10 27.8 2 5.6 7 19.4 4 11.1 36 100 

3 Vocabulary is best learned 
naturally through 
meaningful 
communication. 

9 25 14 38.9 5 13.9 6 16.7 2 5.6 36 100 

4 Vocabulary teaching has 
to be given prime 
consideration in EFL 
classes. 

8 22.2 12 33.3 5 13.9 6 16.7 5 15.9 36 100 

5 Teaching vocabulary is 
more important than 
teaching grammar. 

8 22.2 11 30.6 5 13.9 7 19.4 5 13.9 36 100 

6 
 
 

Teachers should use an 
explicit instruction 
technique more than an 
implicit one when they 
teach English vocabulary. 

7 19,4 13 36.1 6 16.7 6 16.7 4 11.1 36 100 

7 
 

Teachers should use 
students L1 when they 
teach new words. 

7 19.4 12 33.3 3 8.3 8 22.2 6 16.7 36 100 

 
Based on their perceptions, teachers involved in the survey reported a variety of responses they 

considered helpful to their vocabulary teaching. 
As Table 1 shows, 61.1 % of the respondents confirmed that ‘Learning English is the same as 

learning new English words. However, 33.3 % of the respondents disagreed (4 teachers) and strongly 
disagreed (8 teachers) with the item respectively. It is clear from the majority of the respondents’ 
views that participant teachers believed the importance of new English words to learn English 
language. The rest 2 respondents didn’t decide to the item. 

In response to the second item, a large percentage of the respondents (63.9 %) confirmed that 
teaching vocabulary learning strategies to students should be the primary role of an EFL teacher. This 
entails the teacher’s role in an EFL class is to provide students with a variety of strategies and let the 
students choose these strategies and make them independent learners. However, 30.5 % of the 
respondents opted to disagree (19.4%) and strongly disagree (11.1 %) with the statement, thinking 
teaching vocabulary learning strategies to students should not be the primary role of an EFL teacher. 
The remaining respondents (5.6 %) chose to not decide on the item. 



ISSN 2621-6485 English Language Teaching Educational Journal 195 
Vol. 5, No. 3, December 2022, pp. 191-202 

 Shube, B. D. & Hanshu, A. H.  (Teachers’ knowledge: Teachers’ perceptions and their sources of knowledge.....) 

As far as the statement "Vocabulary is best learned naturally through meaningful communication" 
is concerned, the data in Table 1 shows that 22.2 % of the respondents disagree (16.7 %) and strongly 
disagree (5.6 %) with the statement, respectively. However, 63.9 % of those polled preferred strongly 
agree (25%) and agree (38.9%). This suggests that teachers have positive (strong) attitudes toward 
developing vocabulary knowledge through meaningful communication. Thus, respondents believed 
vocabulary teaching should expose students to interactive activities rather than learning only the forms 
of new words. 

Regarding ‘Vocabulary teaching has to be given prime consideration in EFL classes’, 55.6 % of 
the respondents replied: "strongly agree" (22.2 %) and "agree" (33.3 %) to the item, respectively. The 
data in the table shows that participant teachers have positive attitudes towards giving prime 
consideration to vocabulary teaching. However, 30.6 % of the respondents held negative feelings 
towards the statement, and the remaining respondents (5 teachers) chose to un decide the item. 

When teachers responded to the statement "Teaching vocabulary is more important than teaching 
grammar", 52.8 % of the respondents replied "strongly agree" (22.2 %) and "agree" (30.6 %) to the 
statement, respectively. The responses of this percentage (52.8%) of teachers actually revealed that 
teaching vocabulary is more important than teaching grammar. Compared to grammar, vocabulary 
plays an important role in expressing ideas and thoughts. However, 33.3% of respondents chose to 
disagree (19.4%) or strongly disagree (13.9%) with the claim that teaching vocabulary is more 
important than teaching grammar. The remaining 13.9% of the respondents could not decide which 
language element was important. The fact that these teachers preferred not to decide might show that 
some teachers found it hard to rank vocabulary and grammar according to their importance. 

As seen in Table 1, more than half of the respondents (55.6 %) perceived vocabulary should be 
taught explicitly in EFL class situations. This entails an explicit method of vocabulary learning 
promises the greatest opportunity for the acquisition of vocabulary by virtue of direct attention to it. 
However, 27.8 % of the respondents chose to disagree (16.7 %) and strongly disagree (11.1 %) with 
the item, considering teachers should use an implicit way when they teach English vocabulary. Yet, 4 
respondents preferred to choose undecided, arguing the use of neither explicit nor implicit instruction 
techniques in vocabulary teaching classes. 

Finally, the data in the survey reveals that more than half (52.8%) of the participant teachers have 
strong beliefs in the use of students' L1 when students find it hard to express key concepts and notions 
in English. However, 38.9% of respondents disagreed with the statement, believing that students' L1 
should not be used in vocabulary instruction because they may develop the habit of frequently waiting 
for translation in class, which is not good for learning a foreign language and is not required in 
vocabulary instruction. The remaining 3 teachers opted to undecided the statement. 

In the previous section, the findings of the questionnaire provided a preliminary understanding of 
teachers’ perceptions of vocabulary instruction. The next section discusses research findings from an 
in-depth study (semi-structured interview), followed by an interpretation of the results with reference 
to the literature reviewed and existing relevant research evidence. 
Teachers' Perceptions of Vocabulary Instruction  

Underscoring the importance of vocabulary learning, all participants acknowledged the importance 
of vocabulary in learning English as a foreign language. As T1, who teaches English at a secondary 
school, pointed out, words are the bricks that can have the cohesive, sensible thought of ideas for 
holding a lot of concepts, and they are very important in foreign language learning (teacher1’s 
interview). Much to the same thought, T3 added, "Vocabulary is very important as cells are very 
important for our body. The basis for our body is a cell, and the basis for language is vocabulary 
(teacher 3’s interview). Besides, based on the analysis of the findings in the quantitative parts, it is 
clear from the majority of the respondents’ view that vocabulary is central to language and important 
to language learners. In the study, most participants confirmed that "learning a second language is the 
same as learning the vocabulary of the language." In this regard, Gass (1999) states that learning a 
second language means learning its vocabulary, as vocabulary skills make a significant contribution 
to almost all aspects of second language proficiency. This means that vocabulary knowledge is central 
to communicative ability and to learning a second language. Generally, vocabulary is a core 
component of a language and it provides much for language proficiency and for how well learners 
learn to speak, listen, read, and write in an EFL class. 



196 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 
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 Shube, B. D. & Hanshu, A. H.  (Teachers’ knowledge: Teachers’ perceptions and their sources of knowledge.....) 

In order to teach, English teachers have to develop knowledge of vocabulary teaching strategies 
(Pratolo, & Hafizhah, 2022). This thought was affirmed by most participants in both the quantitative 
and qualitative aspects of this study. According to Nation (2001), teacher awareness of vocabulary 
teaching strategies has a direct impact on EFL teachers' practice in the teaching and learning of 
vocabulary. Since, without having sufficient awareness of the principles and purposes of vocabulary 
teaching strategies, it is difficult to effectively practice them in the classroom. So, to improve the 
effectiveness and efficiency, teachers should not only understand the students’ difficulties with word 
study but also know and use some useful strategies and methods in their classroom teaching 
(Nugraheni & Rokhyati, 2022). Only in this way can they help to improve the students’ vocabulary 
knowledge and their ability to use English freely in communication. Besides, teaching words is a 
crucial aspect of learning a language, as languages are based on words. Therefore, it is essential for 
the teacher to have knowledge of vocabulary teaching strategies in order to make their students grasp 
new concepts in their vocabulary learning. 

Participants in the study supported the idea that "Vocabulary is best learned naturally through 
meaningful communication" and they believed vocabulary exercises should expose students to 
interactive activities rather than learning only the forms of the new words. This positive perception of 
the use of CLT in teaching vocabulary is conducive to the actual classroom practice. In connection to 
this idea, Richards and Rodgers (2001) pointed out that vocabulary teaching focuses on meaning rather 
than form to achieve effective communication. Thus, having a good knowledge of vocabulary is 
necessary to make students effective in different communication settings and help them express their 
ideas and feelings effectively. From this angle, about 64% of the quantitative survey respondents 
supported the idea and believed vocabulary exercises should expose students to interactive activities 
rather than learning only the forms of the new words. 

As a matter of fact, learning vocabulary is one of the most important domains in the process of 
learning a language. Regarding its significance in learning a language, it can be said that limited 
knowledge of English vocabulary may affect the performance of English language learners at school. 
To this end, with positive feelings towards vocabulary teaching, teachers prefer the idea that "prime 
consideration should be given to vocabulary teaching in EFL classes." As Zhang Jianmin (2003) 
underscored, "Vocabulary is to the learner as building materials are to the architect, and without a 
large English vocabulary, no one can claim a good command of the language" (p.53). This shows that 
vocabulary knowledge is often viewed as a critical tool for second language learners because a limited 
vocabulary in a second language impedes successful communication. Lewis (1993) went further to 
argue that Lexis is the core or heart of a language, and a human being’s language is based on the 
vocabulary of that language. Vocabulary is the basic material to put even the grammar into patterns 
because there is no sentence, no essay, and even no language without vocabulary (p. 89). The survey 
results expressed in the questionnaire were seen with most teachers’ interview responses that 
acknowledged the importance of vocabulary in learning English as a foreign language. As T1, who 
teaches English at a secondary school, pointed out, "vocabularies are the bricks that can have the 
cohesive sensible thought of ideas for holding a lot of concepts and it is very important in foreign 
language learning" (SSI). Much to the same thought, T3 added, "Vocabulary is very important as cells 
are very important for our body. The basis of our body is a cell. The basis for language is "vocabulary" 
(SSI). This implies that vocabulary is one of the significant components of language learning and it 
has to be given prime consideration in EFL classes. 

Respondents actually considered teaching vocabulary more important than teaching grammar. I 
think that vocabulary plays an important role in expressing ideas and thoughts. From this angle, 
McCarthy (1990) states that the single biggest component of any language course is vocabulary. No 
matter how well students learn grammar or how well they master L2 sounds, communication in an L2 
cannot take place in any meaningful way unless they have words to express a wide range of meanings. 
Thus, if students do not have a vocabulary to work with, they cannot even learn grammar. From this 
point, we can understand that to acquire a language, learning vocabulary is more compulsory than 
learning grammar. To this angle, one of the participants replied: "For me, vocabulary is more 
important than grammar since without vocabulary we can’t teach other language skills and even 
grammar" (teacher 4’s interview). This was also expressed in T2’s comment, "it is impossible to teach 
a language without the knowledge of vocabulary" (teacher 2’s interview). It is clear from these 
respondents' views that vocabulary is more important to acquire a second language compared to other 
language skills and language elements. From this angle, 52.8 % of quantitative survey respondents 



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 Shube, B. D. & Hanshu, A. H.  (Teachers’ knowledge: Teachers’ perceptions and their sources of knowledge.....) 

disclosed that teaching vocabulary is more important than teaching grammar, and respondents thought 
vocabulary plays an important role in expressing ideas and feelings compared to grammar. 

It is worth noting that a difference existed between the findings in the questionnaire and in an in-
depth study (semi-structured interview) in line with using explicit and implicit ways of vocabulary 
teaching. In the questionnaire, more than 55% of the respondents prefer an explicit method of 
vocabulary teaching, whereas in an in-depth study, most teachers prefer the integration of both 
methods (explicit and implicit) in their vocabulary teaching. For example, teachers who respond to an 
interview appeal that vocabulary should be taught both explicitly and implicitly. Evidently, one of the 
participants articulates that vocabulary should be taught using different ways of teaching. For 
example, if teaching involves the direct presentation of a lesson, I use an explicit method of teaching. 
If teaching promotes incidental vocabulary learning, I use implicit techniques and let students read it 
outside of class. Thus, I didn’t have any specific way of teaching vocabulary (teacher2’s interview). 
This implies teachers do not prefer explicit vocabulary teaching to implicit teaching of vocabulary or 
the other way around. Hence, it is perhaps impossible to put the two concepts of explicit or implicit 
teaching against each other, and it is hard to claim that one method is better than the other, which is 
also what many researchers of second language acquisition promote (Chacón-Beltrán et al., 2010). It 
is clear from this evidence that both approaches to learning vocabulary have been shown to be 
beneficial. 

Teachers have a strong belief in the use of students' L1 when they find it hard to express key 
concepts and notions in English or feel students would be unable to understand the meaning of new 
words easily. In short, these teachers held the view that L1 could be used as a "scaffolding tool" in 
teaching English words. Thus, ignoring student L1 would decrease the cognitive level of that learner. 
Swan (1985) believes that "when learning a new language, learners habitually attempt to find ways to 
comprehend the new structures in the L2 by trying to find the equivalents in their L1". This is logical 
for taking L1 reference, and teachers should find a balance and decide if the use of L1 is excessive or 
not. However, as the data in the survey reveals, some respondents reflected that students' L1 should 
not be used in teaching vocabulary because students might develop the habit of waiting for translation 
in class now and then, which is not good for learning a foreign language and was not a must in 
vocabulary instruction. However, this finding also reveals that about 53 % of the participant teachers 
have a strong belief in the use of students' L1 when students find it hard to express key concepts and 
notions in English. Thus, the use of student L1 cannot be ignored nor overused in EFL classes when 
teachers teach new words. 

Results and discussion of the findings about respondents’ perceptions of vocabulary instruction 
were presented in the previous section. In the following section, teachers’ sources of knowledge 
development in vocabulary instruction were analyzed first, and then the results of the findings were 
discussed with literature related. 

3.2. How do secondary school EFL teachers develop their sources of knowledge in     
vocabulary instruction? 

In order to address the responses to the items about teachers’ sources of knowledge development 
for vocabulary teaching, the responses were first counted; the percentages were calculated in the 
following table, and then they were analyzed and discussed beneath the table. 

Table 2.  Frequency and percentages of responses on teachers’ sources of knowledge development 

No Source items Response Percentage 
1 Teaching experience (the knowledge teachers themselves generate as a 

result of their experiences as teachers). 
29 80.6 

2 Teachers’ disciplinary background (the knowledge teachers possess at 
college or university in their teacher education programme). 

26 72.2 

3 Apprenticeship of observation (prior experience of teachers as learners). 22 61.1 
4 Peer learning 6 16.7 
5 Instructors’ advice. 5 13.9 
6 Teachers training or seminar held by the ministry of education or zonal 

education bureau. 
3 8.3 

7 Students’ feedback 17 47.2 
8 Doing research or reading research articles in the area. 19 52.8 
9 Other (specify) 2 5.6 



198 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 
 Vol. 5, No. 3, December 2022, pp. 191-202 

 Shube, B. D. & Hanshu, A. H.  (Teachers’ knowledge: Teachers’ perceptions and their sources of knowledge.....) 

As the data in Table 2 revealed, the sources noted most frequently were: teaching experience (the 
knowledge teachers themselves generate as a result of their experiences as teachers, 80.6%) , teachers’ 
disciplinary background (the knowledge teachers possess at a college or university in their teacher 
education program, 72.2%), and apprenticeship of observation (prior experience of teachers as 
learners, 61.1%), respectively. 

Participants also reported that their knowledge is developed from the research they are doing or 
reading research articles in the area (52.8%) and students’ feedback (47.2%), respectively. Some 
respondents as well stated that their knowledge about vocabulary teaching originated from peer 
learning, instructors’ advice, and seminars held by the ministry of education or zonal education 
bureau, which covered 16.7%, 13.9%, and 8.3% respectively. Additionally, a very small percentage 
(5.6 %) of the participants indicated that their knowledge about vocabulary instruction is derived from 
other sources, including their use of emerging technologies such as mobiles, computers, and others. 

In sum, teachers' teaching experience, their disciplinary background, and teachers’ apprenticeship 
of observation contributed a lot to teachers’ knowledge about vocabulary teaching. Besides, sources 
such as research they are doing in the area and students' feedback also play an important role in 
developing teachers’ knowledge in vocabulary instruction. 

In the preceding section, the findings of the questionnaire provided a preliminary understanding of 
teachers’ sources of knowledge developments quantitatively. The next section discusses research 
findings from an in-depth study (semi-structured interview), followed by an interpretation of the 
results with reference to the literature reviewed and existing relevant research evidence. 
Sources of Teachers’ Knowledge Development in Vocabulary Instruction  

In order to recognize teachers’ classroom practices and the knowledge embodied in these practices, 
it is important to understand the sources of influence that shape teachers’ conceptions of knowledge 
and practice (Tsui, 2003). To this end, EFL teachers’ knowledge of vocabulary teaching is developed 
from a variety of sources. 

The result of an in-depth study (a semi-structured interview) showed that the participants are 
mainly reliant on their own experience of teaching English. It is clear that experience is an important 
source of influence on the development of teachers’ knowledge in teaching English. From this angle, 
T1, who taught English for more than ten years in secondary school, said, "My knowledge regarding 
English teaching is not from my college or university education, rather it is from my teaching 
experience" (teacher1’s interview). T4 also supported this view and showed his position by saying, 
"Basically, I give attention to experience because the experiences that I have passed through make me 
feel like a full teacher now" (Teacher 4’s interview). 

The findings regarding the role of experience in shaping and developing teacher knowledge 
replicate existing research evidence supporting experience as an indispensable source for the 
development of teacher knowledge. For example, Grangeat (2008) highlighted that professional 
knowledge is shaped by professional lived experience at work. Thus, relevant EFL work experience 
as an English teacher could make the teacher good at teaching language skills and language elements, 
including vocabulary, in an EFL classroom. 

The data presented in the above excerpt indicates that the participant is mainly reliant on his own 
experience of teaching English. It is clear that experience is an important source of influence on the 
development of teachers’ knowledge in teaching English. 

The responses in the questionnaire were almost the same as the results from the interviews; with 
most teachers (80.6%) saying teaching experience was their major source of knowledge in vocabulary 
instruction. Participants explained that by teaching, they gained more knowledge about how to teach 
vocabulary and assess vocabulary learning. As regards their content knowledge (mainly referring to 
their English proficiency), the participants tended to reveal that with an increase in teaching 
experience, their vocabulary size increased since they could develop some words through teaching the 
textbooks or other supplementary materials. Besides, the experience of teaching different language 
skills in English in one way or another developed teachers’ vocabulary teaching techniques. 

The questionnaire results also showed most teachers (72.2%) agreed with the teachers’ disciplinary 
background as the second most important source of knowledge development in vocabulary 
instruction. However, interviews revealed the teacher participants did not seem to value the course 



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works of EFL teacher education as an important source of their vocabulary knowledge. The teachers’ 
views expressed in the interviews were inconsistent with their questionnaire responses. As one of the 
interviewed participants said, "The teacher training course has no influence on my vocabulary 
teaching because we didn’t take any specific courses regarding how to teach vocabulary" (teacher 3’s 
interview). In the participants’ views, the major reasons for this perception as reported by these 
respondents include: The teacher education program aims to develop teachers’ disciplinary knowledge 
in linguistics, language teaching approaches, and other related courses. They argue this stage of 
education has less impact on their vocabulary teaching. However, T2 conceived that the courses he 
took had some impact on his vocabulary instruction. As he underscored, the methodology courses play 
an important role in how to teach English in general. Even if there are no specific courses on how to 
teach vocabulary, the general methodology course has importance for vocabulary teaching (Teacher 
3’s interview). 

The data from the interviews also show that the participants' formal high school education and 
undergraduate education influenced the development of the teachers' English teaching in general, and 
vocabulary instruction in particular. For example, one of the participants stated that almost all the 
techniques that they shared to teach vocabulary were based on their apprenticeship of observation in 
formal education. One example worth mentioning is T2’s perception of vocabulary teaching. In the 
interview, T2 clearly said that: I had an excellent teacher when I was a student at Yekatit 12 senior 
secondary school. This teacher was giving us lots of activities using different vocabulary teaching 
techniques so as to build our vocabulary knowledge. For example, he was presenting many 
vocabulary-developing exercises by telling a story and presenting vocabulary-building drills. This 
assisted the way I taught vocabulary today (teacher2’s interview). Similarly, T4 in his part stressed, 
"The first important point is that I would like to appreciate my former teachers." I have got the very 
important skill of teaching English and teaching vocabulary as well from my former preparatory 
school English teachers"(teacher 4’s interview). These revealed teachers developed knowledge of 
teaching English language skills or language elements from their former schooling in their EFL class 
learning. The data in the questionnaire also revealed that more than 61% of the respondent’s 
acknowledged apprenticeship of observation (prior experience of teachers as learners) helped a lot in 
developing their vocabulary instruction knowledge in EFL classes. 

There were other sources revealed to be useful for the development of the various areas of teachers’ 
knowledge in teaching English vocabulary. To this end, teacher participants’ stated research they are 
doing in the area and students’ feedback as an important source of their knowledge development. On 
the other hand, most teacher participants did not seem to value training or seminars held by the 
ministry of education or zonal education bureau as a source of their knowledge. It seems that those 
seminars were not relevant to their teaching and research interests, or that they were quite general and 
not specific about how to teach English vocabulary. Besides, it is important to note that in the 
interviews, teachers' own sources of knowledge in teaching English also impacted their knowledge 
development in vocabulary instruction. For example, T2 recalled his experience of how to teach 
English and how this source helped him with his vocabulary teaching, saying, “Your teaching depends 
on your sources of knowledge." The more knowledge sources you have, the better your classroom 
teaching will be. Thus, getting various knowledge sources has an impact on your vocabulary teaching 
(teacher 2’s interview). 

Generally, the three most frequently mentioned contributing sources for teaching English 
vocabulary were: teachers’ teaching experience (the knowledge teachers themselves generate as a 
result of their experiences as teachers), teachers’ disciplinary background (the knowledge teachers 
possess at college or university in their teacher education program), and apprenticeship of observation 
(prior experience of teachers as learners). This finding echoed other researchers’ studies concerning 
ESL teacher knowledge (Tsui, 2003) and EFL teacher knowledge (Gao, 2007). Besides, the 
participants agreed these sources have an impact on their vocabulary knowledge development and 
contributed to the consistent relationship between knowledge and practice in vocabulary instruction. 

4. Conclusion and Recommendation 
Participants in the study generally have positive perceptions of the teaching and learning of 

vocabulary. According to the participants' perspectives, vocabulary is central to language and is 
important to language learners. In this study, most participants confirmed that 'learning a foreign 



200 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 
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 Shube, B. D. & Hanshu, A. H.  (Teachers’ knowledge: Teachers’ perceptions and their sources of knowledge.....) 

language is the same as learning the vocabulary of the language. This thought was affirmed by 
participants in both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the study. 

Professional knowledge is developed or shaped by professional experience at work. Participant 
teachers revealed that experience is an important source of influence on the development of teachers’ 
knowledge in teaching English vocabulary. Besides, teachers’ disciplinary background (the 
knowledge teachers possess at college or university in their teacher education program) and 
apprenticeship of observation (prior experience of teachers as learners) are considered the most 
frequently mentioned knowledge sources for vocabulary teaching. 

Teachers are the main personalities in an EFL class, and they need to be effectively involved in 
the process of teaching and learning. The researcher would suggest that teachers should be aware of 
the role of constructive perceptions (views) necessary for the development of their knowledge and 
practice in vocabulary instruction. They should also know about their students’ different abilities, 
learning styles, and backgrounds in their vocabulary teaching. Besides, teachers should know about 
potential knowledge sources that serve them in their vocabulary teaching. 

 

Acknowledgment 
This research would not have been possible without many people’s support and help, including my 

professors, colleagues and English teachers at representative secondary schools. I would like to take 
this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of them. 

My deepest thanks and gratitude go to my professors of English at Addis Ababa University, who 
generally provided knowledge and experience in doing research of this kind. I also couldn’t have 
undertaken this journey without Arsi University, which gave me permission to study for my Ph.D. 
and do this research work. Additionally, this endeavor would not have been possible without the 
generous support of Addis Ababa University, which financed my research project. 

I am grateful to my classmates and cohort members, especially Dr. Ermias Mulatu from Dire Dawa 
University and Mr. Mitiku Garedew of the Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, for 
editing the manuscript, and providing feedback and moral support. 

I am also indebted to secondary school English language teachers who were involved in the 
research process for their cooperation during data collection. 

Declarations 
Author contribution : Bekele Daba Shube was responsible for the entire research project. 

He also led the writing of the manuscript and the collaboration with 
the second author. Dr. Alemu Hailu Hanshu participated in the data 
analysis and revision of the manuscript. Both authors approved the 
final manuscript.  

Funding statement : This research is funded by Addis Ababa University with contract no. 
01-0352/181117144 CBE 

Conflict of interest : Both authors declare that they have no competing interests. 
Ethics Declaration : We as authors acknowledge that this work has been written based on 

ethical research that conforms to the regulations of our university and 
that we have obtained permission from the relevant institutes when 
collecting data. We support English Language Teaching Education 
Journal (ELTEJ) in maintaining high standards of personal conduct 
and practicing honesty in all our professional practices and endeavors. 

Additional information : No additional information is available for this paper. 
 

 
 
 



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