Categorization is a natural thinking skill. Our brains categorize and map everything we learn, so why not use this in teaching? The presentation will explain how to work with the categories from the earliest stages of learning and how to develop speaking and thinking skills using categories. You will learn effective ways of teaching to ask questions, describing and comparing objects.

1. Effective Teaching:
Working with Categories
Maryna Tsehelska
Kryvyi Rih Pedagogical University
Educational Centre “Interclass”
Kryvyi Rih

2. Key Points:
Key points:
1. Categorization – a natural function of our brains.
2. Implementing categories into teaching.
3. Using categories for description and comparison.

3. Before speaking about categories
maps let’s examine common ways
of teaching English vocabulary.

4. What do we teach?
Nation and Gu claim that “in terms of usefulness, all
words are not created equal” (Nation, 2007: 20). The
concept of ‘usefulness’ in this context refers to
communicative usefulness.
Put it another way, the primary and ultimate goal of
language learning is communication.
Communication is possible in the greatest part thanks to
vocabulary. In this regard, according to Nation, vocabulary
learning should focus on words that provide students with
the greatest benefit.
Vocabulary input in EFL textbooks is based on frequency
criterion.

5. An example of vocabulary list

6. Advantages: a learner can quickly
communicate at a basic level.
Disadvantage: the words are difficult to
remember, especially if you do not use them
often.

7. We can learn much
more if we group
vocabulary into
categories.
Categorizing is the
main activity of the
brain.

8. Scientists discovered how our brains
categorize and map everything we see.
After that point the researchers translated
the model to a visual form. Using principal
component analysis — a mathematical
procedure used to provide a synopsis for a
large amount of data — the scientists were
able to visualize those 1,700 categories and
how they related to one another, creating
the chart shown to the right.
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/1
43816-scientists-discover-how-our-brains-
categorize-map

9. Advantages: vocabulary is grouped in brain-
friendly way that will later develop accurate
thinking.
Disadvantage: there are more words than a
learner can learn at once, so we need to go
back to categories + words over and over
again.

10. How do we choose categories?
• Start with the most general – they are displayed in the order of
adjectives:
O S Sh A C O M P

11. Opinion
Size
Shape
Age
Colour
Origin
Material
Purpose

19. To add syntax, we’ll use symbols for
the parts of speech (sentence):
Adjective Noun (Who?) Verb Noun (What?) Adverb
An important detail – e.g. a
preposition

20. At the earliest stages
students learn to describe
using categories:

21. Classification/
Division
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
? ________________________________ system/ group/ process
? _________consists of/ comprises ___ parts/subgroups/ components/stages/
is divided into/arranged in kinds/ types/ sorts/ classes/
Each ____________ has its ___________ characteristics/ elements/features
Above all _________________. __________especially
________________significantly
Most/ Mostly__________
?__________________
1_______
________
2_______
________
3_______
________
Category +
Paraphrase
Prioritize
Emphasize
Above all…
Especially
Most….
link linkCategories:
Consists of…
Belong to…
We may teach how to
categorize by using the
template:

22. Categorization also enhances comparisons:
Traditional Tools:

23. Categories make them more comprehensible:
Category
1: ___Sponge Bob_
both
2: Cheese
colour yellow
material sponge cheese
structure soft have holes tough or soft
shape square shaped square shaped or round
Actions
and clothes
can act and wear
clothes
can’t act and wear
clothes

24. Speaking strategies
for young learners: I want to compare _______________ and
______________________
We can compare them by such categories as
…………
They are the same in _________________,
they both are _________
They differ in _________, one is
___________and the other is______
They have ____ differences and _____
similarities, so they are
(more/ less) similar than different.

25. Compare two outfits:

26. Categories may be used in speaking about the
simplest versions of cause and effect:
Coats are
winter
clothes.
We wear coats
in winter

27. Bloom’s Taxonomy = levels of thinking
LOTS – Lower
Order Thinking
Skills
HOTS – Higher
Order Thinking
Skills

28. With categories we promote using
LOTS in Teaching English
1.Description.
2.Categorizing.
3.Compare and Contrast.
4.Analogical reasoning (outer and
inner vocabulary extensions).
5.Cause and Effect.

29. Two objects have similar characteristics: Two objects have different characteristics:
Both __1__ and ____2___ are/ have, etc.
Neither __1__ nor ____2___ are/ have, etc.
1 is _________ and 2 is ___________ too.
1 is/has/does________, but 2______________
Whereas/While 1_________, 2____________
Although/While 1_________, 2____________
1 ________________. Similarly, 2 ___________
1 and 2 are similar in _____________________
1 is similar to 2 in _______________________
There are some similarities between 1 and 2: …..
1 ________________. However, 2 ___________
1 and 2 are different/dissimilar in ___________
1 is different from 2 because ________________
There is a difference between 1 and 2 in (terms of)…..
1__________, (just) like 2 ____
Like 1, 2 is/has/does ______
1 is ______________. Likewise, 2 is __________
1 and 2 are alike.
Unlike 1 that_______________ 2 ___________
Contrary to 1, 2 ___________
In contrast to 1 that_______________ 2 ___________
1 and 2 are equally _______________________
1 ______ (does/ works) in the same way as 2.
1 and 2 both__________ (work/ do) in the same way.
1 is _____________ compared to/with 2
In comparison to/with 1, 2 _______________
1 is __________, in comparison, 2 ________
Two objects have similar and different characteristics
Despite different (differences in……) ______________, 1 and 2 both ____________________.
Although/Even though 1_________and 2____________, they both __________________
Though both 1 and 2 _______________, one ____________________ and the other __________________

30. References and Sources
1.Карпенко М.П. (2008) Телеобучение. М.: СГА.
2. Zhabotynska, S.A. (2002). Shorts, breeches, and bloomers: Plurality in blends. In
A.Hougaard & S.N. Lund (eds.). The Way We Think. Odense Working Papers in
Language and Communication. Odense: University of Southern Denmark, 127-142.
• http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/program/hndouts/bloom.html
• http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm
• http://oaks.nvg.org/taxonomy-bloom.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bloom%27s_Rose.png