2. Because each new word has to be
studied and learned on its own, the
larger your vocabulary becomes, the
easier it will be to connect a new
word with words you already know,
and thus remember its meaning. So
your learning speed, or pace,
should increase as your vocabulary
grows.
Johnson O'Connor
4. When preparing classes and choosing what
vocabulary to focus on we should take into
account:
1. Frequency:
which words and expressions are frequent
and which are rare
2. Differences in speaking and writing:
which vocabulary is more frequently spoken
and which is more frequently written
5. 3. Contexts of use:
the situations in which people use certain
vacabulary
4. Collocation:
which words are often used togheter
5. Strategic use of discourse
which words and expressions are used to
organize and manage discourse
6. 6. Polysemy
distinguishing between the various
meaning of a single word form with several
but closely related meanings (head: of a
person, of a pin, of an organisation).
7. Homonymy
distinguishing between the various
meaning of a single word form which has
several meanings which are NOT closely
related ( e.g. a file: used to put papers in or
a tool).
7. 8. Homophyny
understanding words that have the same
pronunciation but different spellings and
meanings (e.g. flour, flower)
9. Synonymy
distinguishing between the different shades
of meaning that synonymous words have
(e.g. extend, increase, expand).
8. 10. Style, register and dialect
Being able to distinguish between different
levels of formality, the effect of different
contexts and topics, as well as differences in
geographical variation.
11. Chunks of language
multi-word verbs, idioms, collocations,
lexical phrases.
12. Translation
awareness of certain differences and
similarities between the native and the
foreign language (e.g. false cognates).
9. Reapeat and recycle
Learning vocabulary is related to memory, and
usually students need do see, say and write
new words many times before they can say
they learned it.
Provide them chance do review vocabulary
10. Complete the chart with languages and
countries. Compare your answers with a
partner.
I can speak... I can’t speak I want to go to...
Portuguese Korean Canada
A little English
(From Touchstone)
11. When reviewing or working with lists of
vocabulary:
Ask students to separate words into a chart:
Know it Sort of know it Don’t know it at all
Then ask them to write definitions (or my guess
on meaning) for the words they know adn sort
of know.
12. Bingo
It can be done in class. Ask your students to
choose 9 words from a list and write it in the
order they want.
Shout the words and when a student has it he /
she has to make a sentence.
The winner is the one who has all the words
and is able to make correct sentences.
13. Dictation
Auto-dictation
It can be assigned as homework. They listen to the
cd and write down the words.
After that they check the words on the book.
If you want, you can ask them to rewrite the words
they wrote wrong and hand it to you, so you
know what words they are having the most
difficulty with.
14. Cattegories dictation
Create charts with cattegories of vocabulary.
As you dictate the words they are supposed to
put them in the write cattegory.
Furniture Parts of the Means of Parts of the
House transportation body