Basics Of Teaching Vocabulary

Basics of Teaching Vocabulary Erin Lowry, Senior English Language Fellow, June 2009

Overview
Teaching new vocabulary and grammar in context
Eliciting techniques
Creating interaction in the classroom

What is Scaffolding?
Giving contextual supports for meaning through the use of:
simplified language
teacher modeling
visuals and graphics
cooperative learning
hands-on learning
Ovando, Collier, & Combs, 2003, p. 345

Effective Scaffolding for Language Learners
Simplifying the language
By shortening selections, speaking in the present tense, and avoiding the use of idioms
Asking for completion, not production
Students choose answers from a list or complete a partially finished outline or paragraph
Using visuals
Present information and ask for students to respond using graphic organizers, tables, charts, outlines, and graphs

Teaching Vocabulary

What is vocabulary?
Vocabulary refers to words or multiword units (like idioms and phrasal verbs) that have a common meaning.

5 Types of Vocabulary
Single words
Set phrases
Variable phrases
Phrasal verbs
Idioms

Other Aspects of Vocabulary
Polysemy
Connotation and usage
Part of speech
Frequency
Collocation

Important Goals
Focus on the vocabulary
Multiple retrievals
Develop successful vocabulary learning strategies

Principles of Teaching Vocabulary
Keep teaching simple and clear. No complicated explanations.
Relate the present teaching to past knowledge by showing a pattern.
Use both oral and written presentation - write it on the board and explaining.
Give most attention to words that are already partly known.
Tell the learners if it is a high frequency word that they should remember.
Don’t bring in other unknown or little-known related words (like synonyms or opposites).

4 principles for teaching and learning vocabulary
Recycling
New vocabulary must be regularly recycled/revised for students to remember it
Motivation
Evaluation & assessment
Communication
In order to communicate clearly and effectively a good range of vocabulary is needed

Some Techniques for Teaching New Words
Say the word clearly and write it on the board
Get the class to repeat the word in chorus
Translate the word, or ask students to translate
Draw a picture to show what the word means
Give an English example
Ask questions using the new word
Say an opposite of the word
Collocation (e.g. to apply for a job)
Use visual aids

Showing Meaning Visually watch window elbow How could you most easily show the meanings of these words?

Showing Meaning Visually tree tractor cow How could you most easily show the meanings of these words?

Showing Meaning Visually sneeze dig jump How could you most easily show the meanings of these words?

Using a New Word The teacher has just presented the word market . Now she is asking questions using the new word. What is the purpose of this? Does your mother go to the market? What do they sell there? Do you live near a market? When does she go there? What does she buy?

Meaning-focused Input
Learning from listening and reading
Learning vocabulary this way isn’t always enough:
The amount of vocabulary learning that occurs during the reading of a text is rather small.
It depends greatly on the learners' control of the reading skill.
The type of reading done influences vocabulary learning.

Meaning-focus Output
Learning through speaking and writing
Learners’ attention is on communicating meaning
Research indicates that by carefully designing and monitoring the use of handouts for spoken tasks, instructors can have a major influence on their students' internalization of vocabulary

Vocabulary Strategies
3 effective ways for students to learn vocabulary:
Guessing unknown words from context
Learning the meanings of unknown words
Studying word parts and mnemonic devices

Where is it?        Where is the circle? It’s ______ the square.   Where is the  ? It’s ______ the  and the  .

Eliciting

What is eliciting?
Getting information from people as opposed to giving it to them

Why elicit?
Focuses students’ attention and makes them think
Can be used to present new language as well as reviewing
Encourages students to draw on previous knowledge
Gives the teacher the opportunity to see what students know and don’t know

Getting Students to Guess
Telling vs. eliciting new vocabulary
Important part of language learning is developing the ability to make guesses
Language follows rules, so we’re often able to guess things we’ve never been taught

Eliciting from Pictures
Often best to ask fairly general questions that allow a variety of response
Encourages more students to respond and say more
If questions show that no one knows a new word, the teacher will present them

Creating Interaction

Resources
Brown, H.D. (2000). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. (2 nd Ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
Folse, K.S. (2008). Six vocabulary activities for the English language classroom. English Teaching Forum , 46(3). 12-20.
Gower, R., Phillips, D., & Walters, S. (1995). Teaching Practice Handbook . MacMillan Heinemann.
Grundy, P. (). Beginners . Oxford.
Harmer, J. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching . Pearson Longman.
Spratt, Pulverness & Williams. (2006). The TKT Course . Cambridge: CUP.
Thornbury, S. (2002). How to Teach Vocabulary . Edinburgh: Pearson Education.

Resources for Images
Time Magazine
www.timemagazine.com
Newsweek
www.newsweek.com
New York Times
www.nytimes.com
National Geographic
www.nationalgeographic.com

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Basics Of Teaching Vocabulary

by Erin Lowry on Jun 09, 2009

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