TEACHING VOCABULARY
Teaching Vocabulary
· What a student may need to know about a new word
· Ways to present vocabulary
· Other things to consider while teaching vocabulary
This article examines what should be taught while teaching vocabulary, as well as how to present and teach vocabulary.
Teaching vocabulary may be a difficult task when there are hundreds of thousands of terms in the English language. Keep in mind that the average native speaker utilizes about 5,000 words each day in regular conversation. Furthermore, your pupils will not be required to create every word they learn; some will just be required to recognize. It is therefore critical to choose what to teach depending on frequency and relevance to the requirements of your specific pupils. After you've decided what to teach, the following step is to think about what students need to know about the topics and how you'll teach them.
What a student may need to know about a new word
· What it means
It is vital to get across the meaning of the item clearly and to ensure that your students have understood it correctly by checking questions.
· The form
Students need to know if it is a verb/a noun/an adjective etc to be able to use it effectively.
· How it is pronounced
This can be particularly problematic for learners of English because there is often no clear relation between how a word is written and how it is pronounced. It is very important to use the phonemic script in such cases so the students have a clear written record of the pronunciation. Don't forget also to drill words that you think will cause pronunciation problems for your students and highlight the word stresses.
· How it is spelled
This is always difficult in English for the reason mentioned above. Remember to clarify the pronunciation before showing the written form.
· If it follows any unpredictable grammatical patterns
For example, man-men / information (uncountable) and if the word is followed by a particular preposition (e.g. depend on )
· The connotations that the item may have
Bachelor is a neutral/positive word whereas spinster conjures a more negative image.
· The situations when the word is or is not used
Is it formal/neutral/informal? For example, spectacles/glasses/specs. Is it used mainly in speech or in writing? To sum up, is usually written whereas mind you is spoken. Is it outdated? Wireless instead of radio.
· How the word is related to others
For example, synonyms, antonyms, lexical sets
· Collocation or the way that words occur together
You describe things 'in great detail' not 'in big detail' and to ask a question you 'raise your hand' you don't 'lift your hand'. It is important to highlight this to students to prevent mistakes in usage later.
· What the affixes (the prefixes and suffixes) may indicate about the meaning
For example, substandard sub means under. This is particularly useful at a higher level.
Which of these areas you choose to highlight will depend on the item you are teaching and the level of your students. Now it's time to think about how we can get the meaning across.
Ways to teach vocabulary
There are lots of ways of getting across the meaning of a lexical item.
· Illustration
This is very useful for more concrete words (dog, rain, tall) and visual learners. It has its limits though, not all items can be drawn.
· Mime
This lends itself particularly well to action verbs and it can be fun and memorable.
· Synonyms/Antonyms/Gradable items
Using the words a student already knows can be effective for getting meaning across.
· Definition
Make sure that it is clear (maybe check in a learner dictionary before the lesson if you are not confident). Remember to ask questions to check they have understood properly.
· Translation
If you know the students' L1, then it is fast and efficient. Remember that not every word has a direct translation.
· Context
Think of a clear context when the word is used and either describe it to the students or give them example sentences to clarify the meaning further.
Again which you choose will depend on the item you are presenting. Some are more suitable for particular words. Often a combination of techniques can be both helpful and memorable.
Other things to consider when teaching vocabulary
· Review the vocabulary you teach through a game or activity and encourage your students to do the same at home
· Encourage autonomy in your learners. Tell them to read, watch films, listen to songs, etc and note the useful words
· Have a section of your board for vocabulary items that come up as you are teaching. Use different colors for the word / the phonemics / the prepositions / the part of speech
· It is a good idea to teach/learn words with associated meanings together
· Encourage your students to purchase a good dictionary and use class time to highlight the benefits of one
· Teach your students the grammatical names for the parts of speech and the phonemic script
· Always keep a good dictionary by your side in case a student asks about a word you don't know
· If you don't and have never heard of the word, tell the student you will check and get back to them. Do get back to them
· Give extra examples sentences to the students if they are unsure and encourage them to write the word in an example sentence (maybe for homework) Tags: VOCABULARY
0 Responses to “TEACHING VOCABULARY”
Post a Comment