Transcript Teaching Vocabulary - E-Learning/An

Teaching
vocabulary
By Salah Awwad
Introduction
"Vocabulary enables us to interpret and to express
ourselves. If you have a limited vocabulary, you will
have a limited vision and a limited future." -– Jim
Rohn
Vocabulary knowledge plays an important role. It is
the first important step in language acquisition. It is
one element that links the four skills of speaking,
listening, reading and writing all together. In order to
communicate well in a foreign language, students
should acquire an adequate number of words and
should know how to use them correctly.
What is Vocabulary?
Definition:
- Vocabulary is defined as" All the words of a
particular language either used or understood
by a person or a group of people ." (From
Webster dictionary)
-Vocabulary " refers to information stored in
memory concerning the pronunciation and
meanings of words. (Snow, Burns, & Griffin,
1998)
- Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and
word meanings. ( Steven Stahl 1999)
-Vocabulary " is the basic tool for communication
and knowledge. It enables us to send information
to others, to interpret facts, opinions and views,
and to express ourselves.( Jim Rohn)
-Vocabulary :can be defined as the words we
teach in the foreign language .(Penny Ur 1996)
Why teaching vocabulary ?
What is The importance of teaching vocabulary?
"Without
grammar very little can be
conveyed; without vocabulary nothing
can be conveyed." (Wilkins 1972)
"When students travel, they don't carry
grammar books, they carry dictionaries."
(Krashen in Lewis 1993)
•English is considered as one of the international
languages, which is used worldwide, and it is used in
many fields of life such as education, politics, economics
and social.
• So it is needed by learners to deliver thought and
interact in different situations.
• Vocabulary is the body of words that make up a
language,. Without a good knowledge of words and
their meanings, both written and verbal communication
will be poorly understood.
Some of the main criteria for teaching vocabulary
1-Listening Carefully
Teacher should give the opportunity to the whole class to
hear the word correctly
2-Pronouncing the Word
Pronouncing the word by the teacher then by students
is essential , because it gives the students the opportunity
to pronounce the words correctly.
3-Realizing the Meaning
The teacher should try to avoid translation to get the
meaning, because translation will not give the exact meaning
and will not provide the meaning of the word accurately..
Teachers should use the new words in their everyday lives so
that they can fully grasp the meaning.
What needs to be taught ?
meaning
form
collocations
grammar
VOCABULARY
Pronunciation
spelling
Word
formation
1- Form : pronunciation and spelling
The learner has to know what a word sound like (its
pronunciation ) and what it Looks like (its spelling ) .
Its very important to make sure that both these aspects
Are accurately and correctly learned.
For example : Paradigm\ write
2- Grammar:
The grammar of new item should be learned if
it not covered by general grammatical rules .
An item may have unpredictable change of form
in certain grammatical contexts.
For example thing-thought / man –men .
3-Collocation :
The way that the words occur together.
For example : you describe thing in (great details ) not
in (big details) .
It is important to highlight this to students to prevent
mistakes in usage later.
4- Aspects of meaning :
Denotation
Connotation
Appropriateness
Denotation
The meaning of a word what it refers to in
real world .or the literal meaning of a word .
For example , dog Denotes a kind of animal .
Connotation
Connotation on the other hand, refers to the
associations that are connected to a certain
word or the emotional suggestions related to
that word. (less obvious meaning )
For example ,the word dog as understood by most
British people has positive manning of friendly ,but in
Arab world has negative manning of insult .
Appropriateness
How to use items in appropriate context.
For example , the word weep is synonymous
with cry ,but it is More formal ,tends to be used
in writing more in speech and less common .
2- meaning relationships :
how the meaning of one item relates to meaning
of others .
Synonyms
Items that means the same,
for example , smart –intelligent
Antonyms
Items that means the opposite,
for example , rich –poor
Hyponyms
Items that serve as specific examples of a
general concept.
For example, dog , lion are hyponyms of
animal.
Co –Hyponyms
Items that are the same kind of thing
For example, red , blue ,green are coordinates.
Superordinates
General concepts that cover specific items
For example, animal is the superordinates of
dog ,lion .
Translation
Words or expression in the learners mother's tongue
that are equivalent in meaning to the item being
taught.
6- Word formation:
Vocabulary items whether one word or multi
word , can often be broken Down into their
components ,and how these components put
together would-be useful for learners to know .
For example ,prefix and suffix
Ways to
teach
Vocabulary
Presenting new vocabulary
How to teach vocabulary ?
Strategies and Techniques for
Teaching Vocabulary
Here are some suggested strategies for
teaching vocabulary that may help the
teacher to give nearly a perfect vocabulary
lesson
Defining the new words
concise definition, detail description , examples
Defining the new words may be very useful if the
word is expressed in words that are better known or
can be easily guessed . A lot of new words are
learned primarily by the explanation of other words.
This is a house: a building
in which people live.
Illustration
using visual images
Realia
means using real items found in everyday life as an aid to
teaching English, using real objects in teaching the new
vocabulary is very effective and it gives a full meaning.
Example: a chair, a board, a pen, a ball, cup ,etc.
Pictures
are usually a big help for teachers anytime you
can not take big objects or things to the
classroom. Pictures can be board drawings, wall
pictures, charts flashcards etc.
Demonstration
Using Mime , gesture , facial expression and action
It is often to explain the meaning of words and
grammar either through the use of realia or pictures.
Actions like running, walking or smoking are easier to
explain by acting the words.
Using words in context
Story or sentence in which the item occur
Using the new words in context
makes the situation clear, and
this in turn makes the students
understand the meaning; also it
is a good way to clarify the
meaning of the new word. “From
the context we can guess the
meaning of unfamiliar word”
showing lexical relations
Antonyms
are words that mean the opposite of the
given words.. This helps the student to
understand the different models of meanings
of a word.
Synonyms
are words that mean the same as another word.. This will
enrich student’s vocabulary bank and help them to
understand the different forms of meaning.
Translation
translating the word into the students' native language
Word association
The teacher says “animal”, and then the students
write some words connected with animal.
Animal : cat , dog , camel , horse
Use active learning in teaching vocabulary
If students involved directly in learning vocabulary,
they will learn better, and they will not forget what
they have taught. Using the strategies of active
learning will benefit students understanding and
comprehending the new words
Using games in teaching vocabulary
We all know the positive result that we may
get from using games in teaching in general,
and it gives students high motivation to
participate and learn.
Using dictionary.
It is a good idea that the teacher encourage the
students to use some tools to learn more about
words, using the dictionary for example.
teacher can give them a text with difficult
words and ask them to look them up in a
dictionary
•Do you explain every word in the same way?
•Are there ways that particularly appropriate for
the presentation of certain types of words ?
•Do you as a teacher find that you prefer some kind of
ways And avoid others?
If you don’t use it……
you lose it !
Presenting the new vocabulary:
Ostrich: use a picture of an ostrich.
Amazing : = wonderful
Exciting : = very beautiful
Height: using a meter and try to
measure the height of the door or the
board.
The board is 2 meters high.
The height of the board is 2 meters.
Length: use a context.
How long is your English lesson?
Yes, the length of each lesson is 45
minutes.
Weigh and weight: use a weighing
machine or scale.
We use this to measure weight.
These books weigh 100 gram.
Produce: means to use
simple materials to make
new things.
Dangerous : not safe.
Speed : distance /time.
Bite / kick: show the
meaning by demonstration.
Intelligent : = clever.
Male: boy, man, father,
prince .these people are
male people.
Female is the opposite of
male
Adult: someone who is
not too old and not too
young.
Remembering vocabulary
There are various reasons why we
remember some words better than others:
1-the nature of the words themselves .
2- the ways or methods of teaching these words
The following is an interesting way to examine
theses reasons .
(memory experiment: involving the recall of as
many items as possible On a learned list )
REMEMBERING VOCABULARY
WORD LEARNING EXPERIMNT
A
WHO
DOT
ASH
LAR
OCT
FOR
AWE
ION
CAN
OWN
OBI
HUT
THE
FOR
THEM
B
ARM
LEG
PEG
PIG
TON
FOX
DOG
CAT
MAN
BOY
SON
MUM
DAD
BAD
SAS
Ideas for vocabulary work in the classroom
Or vocabulary activities
Brainstorming round an idea:
Write a single word in the center of the board , and ask students
Brainstorm all the words they can think of that are connected with .
For example :
flowers
Leaf
climb
tree
forest
green
roots
Identifying words they know:
The students are given the text and asked to write item they
already Now. they then get together in pairs to compare :
a student Who knows something not known to his pair teaches
it to him. they then try to know the other items .
Finally the teacher checking guess and teaching remaining
items.
Testing vocabulary
There are many different types of vocabulary testing techniques:
1- multiple – choice :
Only the denotative is tested , the testee doesn’t need to know
The words, connotation , spelling ,pronunciation ,grammar, or
how They would be used in context.
• clear answers , very quick and easy to mark
• tricky and time consuming to prepare
2- matching :
as in the previous type , only meaning is tested.
Matching items are quicker and easier to prepare than multiple
choice
3- odd one out :
again ,only meaning is being tested
4- writing sentences :
spelling and pronunciation of the items are not tested but most
other aspects are .this is difficult to mark objectively But does check
the testee's knowledge fairly well .
5- dictation :
dictations tests aural recognition and spelling only.
It is easy test to administer and check.
6- dictation- translation :
this check if students know meaning and spelling only .
7-gap filling :
this tests meaning , to some extent grammar and
Collocation
8- translation:
translation can test all aspects of an item , but there
Is difficulty of finding exact equivalents across languages, and it
may be tricky to mark .
9- sentence completion :
this tests denotative meaning only , but is interesting to do .
Conclusion
A successful teacher can use many efficient activities in teaching
vocabulary to his class, it depends on the abilities and levels of his
students, not all vocabulary are taught in the same way some are
difficult, some have normal difficulty and some easy. We can not
focus on one strategy or method and leave the rest to reinforce
teaching vocabulary, there is no firm method to enhance
vocabulary in a day or two. We are as teachers have to create the
motivation for our students to learn, enrich their knowledge of
vocabulary.
References:
•Penny Ur , 1996 .Accurse in language teaching ,practice and
theory .
•
West, M., 1953. A General Service List of English Words.
Longman, London.
• Bander.R-American English Rhetoric-The Dryden Press- New
York-1983.
• English for Palestine , grade 7, student book.
• www.google.com
• http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress.
• http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/vocabulary