This document provides guidance on effective ways to teach vocabulary, with a focus on collocations. It defines collocations as words that are naturally associated with each other in English. The document recommends starting to teach collocations from elementary levels and provides examples of hands-on activities to teach collocations, such as memory games matching phrases to definitions. It emphasizes making lessons varied, visual, and appropriate for students' levels to help them sound more natural when speaking and writing in English.

1. Teaching Vocabulary
Motivating and effective Ways of
Teaching Vocabulary
Concepts and Activities for learning and
teaching vocabulary with joy
By Marisa Zuazo

4. Teaching Vocabulary
1. Natural aproach
2. What is a collocation?
3. Why is it important to teach collocations?
4. When do I start?
5. How do I insert collocation in a lesson?
6. Activities that go well with collocations.

5. Teaching Vocabulary
What is a collocation?
It refers to the way English words are naturally associated
with each other.
e.g.: blond hair; heavy rain; fast food etc.
And NOT: yellow hair; strong rain; quick food .
 Compounds x idioms x phrasal verbs
Some are fixed as in take a photo, where no other word
than take collocates with photo with the same meaning.
Some are open, where many other words collocate well
with the same meaning, as in keep/stick to the rules.
Sometimes a pair of words may sound unnatural to native
speakers but not totally incorrect. As in the sentence
“I did many mistakes”, it will be understood but the
natural collocation in this case would be to make
mistakes.
Compounds are two or more words that together form units of meanings.
They can be written separately, with hyphen or as one word.
Normally if you know the meaning of the two words used in it you can
guess the meaning of this compound.
e.g.: post office, narrow-minded, teapot.
In the other hand, idioms are groups of words in a fixed order that does
not allow to guess their meaning by knowing the meanings of individual
words.
e.g.: On the double! (Hurry!)
Besides being considered individual lexical items compound nouns and
phrasal verbs frequently collocate with other words.
e.g.: play the stock market (compound);
come up with (phrasal verb) a suggestion.

6. Teaching Vocabulary
Why is it important to teach collocations?
 The words we chose define the people we are.
 You will improve your students style in writing.
 They will sound more natural.
 They can decide how they want to sound during their speech.
(precise, fluent, eloquent, exotic, etc.?)
 It will shorten the communication barrier.
 It will increase their range of English vocabulary.
 They will understand when a skillful writer departs from normal
patterns of collocation by not choosing an expected collocation to
create an effect.
e.g.: There’s no place like Rome (allusion to there’s no place like
home)

7. Teaching Vocabulary
When do I start?
As you may have already noticed, you probably have taught
collocations before. The key point is to decide if you made it part of
a lesson, a unit, a class or a course or if it eventually appeared as a
teaching point.
If you want your student to sound more natural, to choose the best
combination of words and to understand authentic materials better,
you have to start preparing your classes including collocation
teaching time asps!
The challenge is to think about interesting ways to teach focusing in
collocation. Choosing appropriate activities suitable to different
levels, teaching topics and skills.

8. Teaching Vocabulary
How do I insert collocation in a lesson?
There are several points to take into consideration when teaching
collocation.
Vocabulary Relevance
Adjectives + Nouns
Nouns + Verbs
Nouns + Nouns
...
Time
Opportunity
Interest
Motivation
Teacher
Students

9. Teaching Vocabulary
How do I insert collocation in a lesson?
Approach
Variety of
activities
Visual component
Students Level
Elementary
Intermediate
Advanced

10. Teaching Vocabulary
Elementary (Sports)

11. Teaching Vocabulary
Elementary (Do x Make)
Images 1, 2 and 3 from English Collocations in use - Cambridge

12. Teaching Vocabulary

13. Memory game – Look at the phrases below
and memorize them. You have 2 minutes to do so.
*You will easily remember if you associate them to people you know.
Selfish streak
Good sense of humor
Outgoing personality
Vivid imagination
Loose your temper
Razor sharp mind
Snap decisions
Keep your word
Keep your temper
Brutally honest
Time is up!!! Check how good your
memories are. Write as many
phrases as you can remember in a
paper and have a look to see if
your partner did better than you.

14. Let’s try a challenge! A harder memory game for you.
Look at the definitions and match them to the phrases you memorized
from the previous activity.
*Remember: the more you concentrate, the better!
People enjoy being with you
Stronger than extremely
You sometimes act in a selfish way
Resent for a long time
bad things people did to
you
Do what you say you will do
Quick decisions
Trying to deceive or trick you
Not get angry
Honest in a way that may heart

15. Now read the following text and
talk to your partner. Think of
people you know who were born
in the same month and whose
personality fits to the
descriptions.
Think of those who don`t fit at all
and tell your partner why.

16. Teaching Vocabulary
Hands on!
 Form groups of 5.
 Choose an activity from the handout.
 Come up with ideas in order to make it more
communicative, attractive and fun.
 Share your ideas.
 Which activity would you definitely try with your
groups?

18. Teaching Vocabulary
References
 LINDSAY, Cora; KNIGHT, Paul.
Learning and Teaching English. OUP. 2006
 HARMER, Jeremy.
The practice of English Language. Pearson Longman. 2007
 GILLET, Amy.
Speak English Like an American. Language Success Press. 2007
 LEWIS, Michael.
Teaching Collocation: further developments in the Lexical Approach. Hove. 2000
 LIMA, Denilso. Por que assim e não assado? Campus. 2008
 McCARTHY, Michael; O’DELLl, Felicity
English Collocations in Use. Cambridge.2008
 McCARTHY, Michael; O’DELLl, Felicity
English Collocations in Use Advanced. Cambridge.2008
 SPEARS, Richard A.
NTC’s Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions. NTC. 2000
 UR, Penny; Wright, Andrew.
Five-minute activities

19. Teaching Vocabulary
Thank you for your wonderful
participation!
marisa.zuazo@gmail.com