The Problem of Lexical Gaps in Teaching Military English

Since anisomorphism, the absence of an exact correspondence between words in two different languages, often impedes the process of second language (L2) acquisition, L2 teachers need to recognize effective methods for dealing with it. In an experiment involving a total of 109 students, we tested several methods of teaching English language military vocabulary particulars which lack direct Polish language equivalents. The results suggest that L1 translation is less effective in dealing with lexical gaps than monolingual explanations, presentation of the terminology in context, and illustrating its meaning with examples. However, the results also indicate that the use of L1 for contrastive analysis may help students cope with anisomorphism.