Transcript Vocabulary Expansion: Going Beyond the Textbook

Vocabulary Expansion: Going
Beyond the Textbook
Penny Ur
ETAI
2011
The textbook
Essential because:

Language syllabus

Texts

Activities
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Coverage of four skills

Interest and motivation

Cultural aspects
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The textbook
Even the best textbooks need
supplementing because

May not always be interesting enough
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May not be relevant to my class
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Some bits may be too difficult / easy
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May not provide enough vocabulary
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Not enough vocabulary?
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Sheer quantity
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Words and chunks
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Selection
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Quantity
To read and understand a Bagrut-level text you
need:
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95%-98% comprehension

between 5,000 – 8,000 word families
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Which means …
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Some numbers:
We teach English for about ten years
About 35 weeks a year
So …
Each week between 15-22 new words
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Words and chunks
This does not include
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added meanings for single words

chunks (Martinez and Murphy, 2011)
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Selection
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Students need the most useful and important
items
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So we should try not to waste time on
unimportant and (relatively) useless ones
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Examples
Rare items
Common items

eraser
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something
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purple
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need
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toe

know

gray

feel
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Frequency as a criterion for selection
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The main criterion
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Though not the only one!
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Easy to check out
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http://www.wordfrequency.info/free.asp
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http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/bnc/
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An added complications!
Books at the High School level may
provide a lot of vocabulary through
texts
But…
They may not give enough focused
vocabulary work.
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Need for focused vocabulary work

Incidental learning of vocabulary through
reading is not efficient (Laufer, 2003)
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You need to ‘notice’ (Schmidt, 1990)
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And engage with new items
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(And review… lots of times)
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Bottom line
We need to supplement the textbook with
focused vocabulary expansion activities
These need to be a regular feature of
lessons
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Vocabulary expansion activities
Aspects of design

Not too long and heavy: one to six new
items at a time
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Easily prepared
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Interesting / fun / enjoyable
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Some examples
Teach new vocabulary based on …
1. Your own initiative
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‘Word of the day’:
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A new word or phrase you want to teach
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a proverb, an idiom, paired expressions
A new word or phrase a student wants to
know
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2. Items students already know
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Words they know  connections
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Words they know  opposites
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Association chain
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Connections
intelligent
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Opposites
know
complain
admit
dream
objective
interesting
reflect
http://dictionary.reverso.net/englishsynonyms/
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3. Words students teach each other
‘Show and tell’
‘Experts’
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Pass it round
an egg
a cup
a vase
You can break
a bottle
a leg
a promise
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Further ideas for ‘pass it round’
Elementary
More advanced
You can eat
You can suffer from
You can enjoy
You can allow
You can listen to
You can organize
You can hold
You can book
You can sit on…
You can oppose…
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And more…
Adjectives (add nouns)
a hard… (for example, question)
a long… (for example, way)
a bright… (for example, colour)
Nouns (add adjectives)
a/an … book (for example, interesting)
a/an…animal (for example, dangerous)
a/an…suggestion (for example, useful)
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4. Items students discover themselves
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Dictionary: derivatives
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Thesaurus, internet or ‘Word’: synonyms
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Chunks and collocations
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What other meanings does it have?
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Derivatives
Noun
use
Verb
use
Adjective
Adverb
useful
usefully
useless
uselessly
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Synonyms
know
complain
admit
dream
objective
interesting
reflect
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Collocations
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range
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chance
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officer
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honest
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enjoy
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look it up!
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http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/
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http://www.forbetterenglish.com/
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COCA
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COCA (range)
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ForbetterEnglish
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ForbetterEnglish (range)
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What other meanings does it have?

table
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blue
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run
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work
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train
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branch
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Another part of speech?
Objects with a
function
hammer
nail
spoon
brake
clip
pin
Applying a
substance
oil
grease
water
sugar
paper
paint
Containers
bottle
pocket
can
box
shelf
People and their
functions
nurse
doctor
guard
boss
Parts of
the body
head
hand
elbow
skin
pilot
cook
Techological
functions
google
blog
text
email
photoshop
chat
twitter/tweet
judge
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Another part of speech: more advanced
Objects with a function
mask
gear
shovel
motor
thread
People and their
functions
pioneer
coach
father
mother
author
Containers
bin
file
crate
slot
referee
queen
slave
apprentice
broker
drain
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Phrasal verbs

Find a one-word verb that means the same
as…
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Find a two-word verb that means the same
as…
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Examples
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back up support
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pile up
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break down collapse
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put off
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come across encounter
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put out
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come together congregate
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run away
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consist of comprise
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set up
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get up
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sort out,
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give back
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speak to
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give up, give in
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take apart
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go away
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take away
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go back
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talk about
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go down
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throw away
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go up,
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turn round
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let down
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wait for
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make up
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work together
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Examples
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back up support

pile up accumulate

break down collapse

put off postpone

come across encounter

put out extinguish

come together congregate
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run away flee
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consist of comprise
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set up establish
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get up rise
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sort out classify, solve
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give back return
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speak to address
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give up, give in surrender
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take apart dismantle
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go away depart
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take away remove
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go back return (intransitive)
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talk about discuss
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go down descend
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throw away discard
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go up ascend, mount,
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turn round revolve
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let down disappoint
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wait for await
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make up compose
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work together collaborate
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5. Items students create on their own

Students are invited to make up their own
new words
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by combining two words to make a compound
word
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by adding a prefix or suffix
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Prefixes and suffixes
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email
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upgrade
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amoral
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monologue
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automatic
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philanthropy
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cyberspace
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antiseptic
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non-existent
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postdated
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subway
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counter-attack
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telecommunications
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outplay
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semi-final
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overdo
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deforest
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underline
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prearrange
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To summarize: in teaching vocabulary we
should
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Use the texbook as a basis, but add more!

Base vocabulary expansion activities on…


Things you teach yourself (e.g. ‘Word of the day’)
Items the students already know (e.g.
‘Brainstorming’)
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Items they teach each other (e.g. ‘Show and tell’)
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Items they discover themselves (e.g. Collocations)
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Items they create (e.g. Prefixes and suffixes)
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References

Laufer, B. (2003). Vocabulary acquisition in a
second language: do learners really acquire most
vocabulary by reading? Some empirical evidence.
Canadian Modern Language Review, 59(4), 567587.

Martinez, R., & Murphy, V.. (2011). Effect of
Frequency and Idiomaticity on Second Language
Reading Comprehension. TESOL Quarterly, 45 (2),
267-290.

Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in
SLL. Applied Linguistics, 11, 129-158.
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Thank you for listening and
participating
[email protected]