Teaching

VOCABULARY
 Teaching Vocabulary
1. What is VOCABULARY?
2. What needs to be taught in teaching
vocabulary?
3. What are steps in teaching vocabulary?
4. What techniques can be used for PRESENTING
vocabulary?
5. What activities can be used for PRACTICING
vocabulary?
 Teaching experience
Hi dear teacher,
I am writing this in the intermission between classes to tell
you of my extolment for your class. It comes without
speaking that your class is the best. You help me with the
difficultness of English. I’m so much happy to be student
of a sagely teacher such as you and getting your
advices. Your help is beyond valuability.
Bye for now,
Teo
 1. What is
VOCABULARY?
 Word knowledge includes the mastery of the words’:
1. Meaning(a) 6. Register (level of formality)
2. Written form 7. Association (how does it
3. Spoken form relate to other words?)
4. Collocation
8. Frequency (common? rare?
5. Grammatical behavior
old-fashioned?)
Vocabulary is the set of lexical items in a language (also
called lexicon), referring to the total stock of meaningful units
in a language-not only the words and idioms, but also the
parts of words which express meaning, such as the prefixes
and suffixes.
Lexical knowledge is central to communicative
competence and to the acquisition of a second language
(Schmitt, 2000)
 Types of
vocabulary

ADHOC ACTIVE PASSIVE

vocabulary vocabulary vocabulary

Important for Words over which a Words likely to be

a particular learner can understood by the
text but understand and use learner in speech of
unlikely to in their own speech writing of others but
have any and writing can not be
utility outside (productive vocabulary) produced
the text  Content words (receptive vocabulary)
 Structure words
 ACTIVE vocabulary
 To give the proficiency in spoken and written
language, words must continuously be added to
the active vocabulary of the students.
 Active vocabulary of a language calls for:
o The use of right word in right place.
o The spontaneous recall of words.
o Grammatical accuracy
o Fluency and ability to reproduce correct
sounds, pronunciation, intonation, rhythm etc.
 PASSIVE vocabulary
 Includes the words of the language which the
learners understand but have not yet learned to use
in speaking or writing.
 Passive vocabulary calls for:
o A recognition of vocabulary in speech or
writing.
o An acquaintance with major grammatical items
or forms.
o The skill of stimulating rapidly the sense of large
word groups
2. What needs
to be taught?
 What needs to be taught?
Meaning:
o synonyms, antonyms
o hyponyms, super-ordinate, co-hyponym
o denotation, connotation
o polysemy
o homonym
o translation
Form: grammar (past form, regular & irregular form,
singular/plural form), prefixes, suffixes, compound words)
Use: Connotation – Collocation – Register -
Appropriateness
3. Steps in teaching
vocabulary
 The teacher’s role in the process of
teaching & learning new words
Present the word (its form, meaning, usage, pronunciation)
both individually and in a context
Include both written and spoken form, both receptive and
productive
Optimize impact of presentation
Establish a memory bond between a new word and those
already covered.
Link words with learners’ personal significance or emotion
Help them recall or recognize the word by means of
different exercises.
Stimulate students to use the word in writing and speech.
Teach new items early in the lesson.
 Approaches to vocabulary acquisition
Words learning involves both:
Intentional (explicit) learning
 Defined as an activity where learning vocabulary is the
purpose

Incidental learning
 Described as words being acquired when engaging in an
activity with another purpose than learning vocabulary, such
as reading a book, listening in a native-speaker conversation
or trying to decide together with a peer the order of furniture in
a room
 Approaches to vocabulary acquisition

 There needs to be a proper mix of explicit teaching

and activities from which incidental learning can
occur.
With true beginners, probably necessary to
explicitly teach all words
Beyond this most basic level, incidental
learning should be structured into the program
PPP (Present-Practice-Produce)
TBL (Task-based Learning)
 2 stages in teaching vocabulary:

a) Presentation / Explanation
b) Retention / Consolidation
 4. Techniques for
PRESENTING vocabulary
a) Presentation / Explanation
 Present a new word = introduce its form + explain its
meaning & usage
 The teacher should follow the order: LISTENING =>
SPEAKING => READING => WRITING when presenting a
new word.
HEARING the word: in isolation & in a sentence
PRONOUNCING the word: pronounce the word even
if their aim is only listening or reading.
Grasping the meaning
READING the word: see the word in written form
WRITING the word: reproduce the written form
Methods of conveying the meaning of a
new word:

 The DIRECT method

 The TRANSLATION method
 Methods of conveying the meaning of a
new word:

 The DIRECT method

- Brings the learner into direct contact with
words.
- Establishes links between a foreign word & the
thing/the concept directly.
- Used when the words denote things, objects,
qualities, gestures, movements.
 The DIRECT method (cont.)
- Various techniques to group them into visual &
verbal:

Visual Technique: Verbal Technique:

The use of visual aids (for The use of the verbal means
concrete items): for conveying the meaning of
unfamiliar words.
• realia • definitions
• pictures • contexts
• situations • antonyms/ synonyms
• movements • parts of words
• gestures • enumeration
Example 1: “Referee” is a new word

Definition:
The man who is in black
uniform and blows the
whistle in a football match is
a referee.
Visual technique Verbal technique
Example 2: “Collection” is a new word

Context:
Jack has collected a lot of
stamps. He has a fine stamp
collection. His sister has a large
collection of picture books.

Visual technique Verbal technique

Example 3: “Policewoman” is a new word

Parts of words:
“police-woman” – you know
the words “police” &
“woman”, now guess the
meaning of the word
“policewoman”
Visual technique Verbal technique
Example 4: “Luggage” is a new word
Enumeration:
Making a list:
- Bag
- Suitcase
- Rucksack
- Briefcase …
=> The meaning of “luggage” will
become clear
Visual technique Verbal technique
 Example 5: “messy” is a new word

Antonym:
Previously learned: tidy
The opposite of “tidy” is “messy”

Visual technique Verbal technique

 Methods of conveying the meaning of a
new word:
 The TRANSLATION method
- Common translation: often used to explain the
abstract words which have equivalent in the native
language.
E.g. determination, charity, generosity, wisdom, etc.
- Translation-Interpretation: often used to explain the
words causing the interference of the mother tongue.
E.g. handshake, free way, eggplant, etc.
b) Retention / Consolidation
 Students perform various exercises to fix the words in their
memory.
 3 levels of exercises:
 Word level: words are practiced in isolation,
focusing on meaning, spelling, pronunciation, register,
etc.)
 Sentence level: words are practiced as they occur
in sentences, using collocations and grammatical
forms
Discourse or fluency level: words are practiced in
paragraphs or longer content-rich segments, focusing
on fluency along with accuracy
Word level activities
Word level activities
Word level activities
 Sentence level activities
 Complete the text by writing an appropriate word in each
space: ‘’Greta Garbo, the Swedish-born film ___, was born
in 1905. She won a scholarship to drama school, where she
learned to ___. In 1924 a film director chose her for a ___ in
a Swedish film called ..."
 Choose the best word from the list to complete each
sentence. Use each word once ...
 Select words from the list to complete these sentences. Note
that there are more words than sentences ...
 Choose words from the text you have just read to complete
these sentences ...
 Sentence level activities
 Choose the best word to complete each sentence:
When I feel tired, I can't stop __.
a sneezing b yawning c coughing d weeping
 Use each of these words to make a sentence which clearly
shows the meaning of the word.
 Choose six words from the list and write a sentence using
each one.
 Use each of these words to write a true sentence about
yourself or someone you know.
 Write a short narrative (or dialogue) which includes at least
five words from the list.
 Discourse/Fluency level activities
 Work in pairs. Ask and say how you feel about your town or
village.
I love it. It's all right. I can't stand it.
 Which of the following adjectives can you use to describe
your town or village? (interesting, boring, annoying,
depressing, frightening, marvelous, etc. )
 Students prepare a survey - using these examples as a
model:
1. Is your hometown boring or interesting? Why?
2 Do you find big cities: depressing, interesting, lively or
noisy? Why? etc.
then ask each other their prepared questions, and report the
results to the class
 Applying Task-based Learning Approach for
Teaching Vocabulary
 TBL approach focuses on the concept of communicative
task, simultaneously enhancing the learner’s vocabulary and
grammar skills, providing a better context for the activation
of learning processes.
 The task includes three basic components:
pre-task: to think of the vocabulary associated with the
topic
task-cycle: involves the students’ group discussions of the
task and presenting the report – accordingly, real-life
communication is practiced
post-task: includes working with authentic material,
focusing on the vocabulary, linguistic patterns, etc.
(Richards and Rodgers, 2001, 238-239)
 Example
Topic: Cooking
 Pre-task:
1. Learners brainstorm the topic and answer the
teacher’s questions linked to the theme. Some
replies that were considered to be useful for the task
phase were put down on the board.
2. Matching task: learners link the definition to the term
linked with cooking. Some terms are new for
learners
 Example
Topic: Cooking
 Task cycle:
Learners work in groups, each performing a task - to
create their own recipe of pizza.
1. Learners brainstorm and discuss their ideas.
2. They write a small report on their recipe.
3. Oral report: one spokesperson from the group has to
introduce their recipe; after each recipe, other learners
are encouraged to express their suggestions, opinions,
remarks, etc.
(Teacher monitors and helps; dictionaries were available.)
 Example
Topic: Cooking
 Post Task:
1. After all reports had been discussed, the teacher
provided the learners with an authentic text
containing a homemade pizza recipe. Learners
read and examine the difference between the text
and their own recipes (vocabulary, grammar
constructions, style, etc.), and to highlight
vocabulary that was considered to be useful for
cooking.
2. Learners express their opinions about the activity.