WEEK 8

DEVELOPING VOCABULARY AND SPELLING SKILLS

PATRICIA GAIL C. SUAREZ
English serves as an international language that is very important to learn and
master at the very young age. As an international language, English is used not only as
a means of communication, but also for transferring knowledge, conducting business
transaction, broadcasting the news by mass media, and other activities in the world.
Why is a strong vocabulary important?
You need good communication skills to work effectively with others in person,
through email or by other means. Knowing which words to use and when is an
important part of being a strong communicator. Building your vocabulary is one easy
way to improve your communication skills. Having a large vocabulary can help you
choose the right word or phrase needed for the situation, allowing you to easily convey
your ideas, concerns, decisions and more.
A strong vocabulary can also increase your confidence and your ability to
express yourself, whether you’re giving a presentation or meeting with a client to deliver
a proposal. When building your vocabulary, it is important to incorporate both general
terms and those related to your industry to develop a solid foundation.
INCIDENTAL AND INTENTIONAL VOCABULARY LEARNING
How do we close the gap for students who have limited or inadequate
vocabularies? The National Reading Panel (2000) concluded that there is no single
research-based method for developing vocabulary and closing the gap. From its
analysis, the panel recommended using a variety of indirect (incidental) and direct
(intentional) methods of vocabulary instruction.
• INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING
Most students acquire vocabulary incidentally through indirect exposure to
words at home and at school—by listening and talking, by listening to books read
aloud to them, and by reading widely on their own. The amount of reading is
important to long-term vocabulary development (Cunningham and Stanovich,
1998). Extensive reading provides students with repeated or multiple exposures
to words and is also one of the means by which students see vocabulary in rich
contexts (Kamil and Hiebert, 2005).

• INTENTIONAL VOCABULARY LEARNING

Students need to be explicitly taught methods for intentional vocabulary
learning. According to Michael Graves (2000), effective intentional vocabulary
instruction includes:
• Teaching specific words (rich, robust instruction) to support
understanding of texts containing those words.
• Teaching word-learning strategies that students can use independently.
 • Promoting the development of word consciousness and using word play
activities to motivate and engage students in learning new words.

In teaching English to young learners at kindergarten, the English teachers need

to comprehend language learning principles, Kasihani (2007, p. 88) said that there are
some techniques to teach vocabulary for the English Young Learners; listen and repeat,
listen and do, question and answer, draw and color, listen and identify, and see
differences.
a. Listen and Repeat. The teacher says something and the students only listen.
Then, the teacher says again and asks them to repeat what the teacher says.
The function is to introduce new words and memorization.

b. Listen and Do. The activity listen can be done by teacher or audio then students
listen carefully. Then, the students respond it by doing what their teacher says.

c. Question and Answer. The teacher starts to ask something and give sample of
the answer. Then, the students imitate; after that the teacher asks something and
the students answering the question. Before answer the question, the students
must listen and understand the question.

d. Draw and Color. The students must have background knowledge about colors
and the object, so they can draw the color of the picture. This technique can be
done after the students know some words, things, and colors, such as rabbit,
carrot, orange, and green. Both the picture and the color are matched to
student’s interest and the context or real life.

e. Listen and Identify. In English, practicing to identify sound is the important thing
to do because of wrong pronunciation will have different meaning. In this activity,
the teacher gives two similar sounds by using interesting way, for example by
using “minimal pairs” for vowel and some consonant.

f. See Differences. The students try to observe and find out the differentiations of
two things or pictures. This activity is useful for the student‟s accuracy.

RESEARCH-SUPPORTED VOCABULARY-LEARNING STRATEGIES

➢ STUDENT-FRIENDLY DEFINITIONS
The meaning of a new word should be explained to students rather than
just providing a dictionary definition for the word—which may be difficult for
students to understand. According to Isabel Beck, two basic principles should be
followed in developing student-friendly explanations or definitions (Beck et al.,
2013):

1. Characterize the word and how it is typically used.

 2. Explain the meaning using everyday language—language that is accessible
and meaningful to the student.

Sometimes a word’s natural context (in text or literature) is not informative

or helpful for deriving word meanings (Beck et al., 2013). It is useful to
intentionally create and develop instructional contexts that provide strong clues to
a word’s meaning. These are usually created by teachers, but they can
sometimes be found in commercial reading programs.

➢ DEFINING WORDS WITHIN CONTEXT

Research shows that when words and easy-to-understand explanations
are introduced in context, knowledge of those words increases (Biemiller and
Boote, 2006) and word meanings are better learned (Stahl and Fairbanks, 1986).
When an unfamiliar word is likely to affect comprehension, the most effective
time to introduce the word’s meaning may be at the moment the word is met in
the text.

➢ USING CONTEXT CLUES

Research by Nagy and Scott (2000) showed that students use contextual
analysis to infer the meaning of a word by looking closely at surrounding text.
Since students encounter such an enormous number of words as they read,
some researchers believe that even a small improvement in the ability to use
context clues has the potential to produce substantial, long-term vocabulary
growth (Nagy, Herman, and Anderson, 1985; Nagy, Anderson, and Herman,
1987; Swanborn and de Glopper, 1999).

➢ SKETCHING THE WORDS

For many students, it is easier to remember a word’s meaning by making
a quick sketch that connects the word to something personally meaningful to the
student. The student applies each target word to a new, familiar context. The
student does not have to spend a lot of time making a great drawing. The
important thing is that the sketch makes sense and helps the student connect
with the meaning of the word.

➢ APPLYING THE TARGET WORDS

Applying the target words provides another context for learning word
meanings. When students are challenged to apply the target words to their own
experiences, they have another opportunity to understand the meaning of each
word at a personal level. This allows for deep processing of the meaning of each
word.

➢ ANALYZING WORD PARTS

The ability to analyze word parts also helps when students are faced with
unknown vocabulary. If students know the meanings of root words and affixes,
they are more likely to understand a word containing these word parts. Explicit
 instruction in word parts includes teaching meanings of word parts and
disassembling and reassembling words to derive meaning (Baumann et al.,
2002; Baumann, Edwards, Boland, Olejnik, and Kame'enui, 2003; Graves, 2004).

➢ SEMANTIC MAPPING
Semantic maps help students develop connections among words and
increase learning of vocabulary words (Baumann et al., 2003; Heimlich and
Pittleman, 1986). For example, by writing an example, a non-example, a
synonym, and an antonym, students must deeply process the word persist.

➢ WORD CONSCIOUSNESS
Word consciousness is an interest in and awareness of words (Anderson
and Nagy, 1992; Graves and Watts-Taffe, 2002). Students who are word
conscious are aware of the words around them—those they read and hear and
those they write and speak (Graves and Watts-Taffe, 2002). Word-conscious
students use words skillfully. They are aware of the subtleties of word meaning.
They are curious about language, and they enjoy playing with words and
investigating the origins and histories of words.

Teachers need to take word-consciousness into account throughout their

instructional day—not just during vocabulary lessons (Scott and Nagy, 2004). It is
important to build a classroom “rich in words” (Beck et al., 2002). Students
should have access to resources such as dictionaries, thesauruses, word walls,
crossword puzzles, Scrabble® and other word games, literature, poetry books,
joke books, and word-play activities.

Teachers can promote the development of word consciousness in many ways:

• LANGUAGE CATEGORIES: Students learn to make finer

distinctions in their word choices if they understand the
relationships among words, such as synonyms, antonyms, and
homographs.
• FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: The ability to deal with figures of
speech is also a part of word-consciousness (Scott and Nagy
2004). The most common figures of speech are similes, metaphors,
and idioms.
Once language categories and figurative language have been taught, students
should be encouraged to watch for examples of these in all content areas.
VINA MAE P. SAN JUAN
Teaching by Spelling
There are many techniques that can be used by the teacher to teach vocabulary
by spelling. As it is said by Rippel (2009) that good spellers are simply those people
who learn the most effective spelling strategies and apply them on a routine basis.
There are four categories of spelling strategies: phonetic, rule-based, visual and
morphemic. A successful and effective spelling program uses all four strategies while
helping student become a better speller.

a. Phonetic Spelling Strategies. When a student listens for each sound in a word
and then attempts to represent those sounds with a letter or letter combination,
he‟s using a phonetic spelling strategy.

b. Rule-based Spelling Strategies. It is not efficient or effective to spell with

phonograms only. The second type of spelling strategy includes recognizing the
rules and generalizations of the language. For example, if the student knows that
the “ch” sound is spelled “tch” when it follows a short vowel, the student has a
better chance of spelling the word “kitchen” correctly.

c. Visual Spelling Strategies. Word banks that focus on a single concept, such as
the “j” sound spelled as “dge,” help the student remember words related to that
concept. Visual memory strategies also come into play when dealing with
homophones. Extensive reading and word games are two of the best ways to
help a student develop visual spelling strategies.

d. Morphemic Spelling Strategies. Morphemic strategies are based on the

knowledge of how the meaning of a word influences its spelling. A spelling
program that teaches morphemic spelling strategies may teach Greek and Latin
roots, how to add prefixes and suffixes to base words, and how to form
compound words and abbreviations.
8 FUN SPELLING ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS (AND HOW THEY HELP BUILD
SPELLING SKILLS)
1. PLAY THE SPELLING MEMORY GAME:
First, create flashcards that have one word per card. You can use your
child’s spelling list or create your own. Have your child pick a card, read the word
aloud, and say each of the letters in the word. Then, have him or her place the
card face down and write the word on a piece of paper.
This activity encourages: memory recall and spelling aloud.

2. SOUND IT OUT:
Say a word out loud to your child, have him or her repeat it back to you,
and then write out what he or she heard. For younger children, try to stick to
words that are spelt as they are heard. For older children, include more complex
words that are a bit more difficult to spell.
This activity encourages: identifying phonetic patterns in words and spelling
words using these patterns.

3. CREATE A PUZZLE:
 Write a word on paper and cut the letters into individual pieces
(refrigerator magnets work great, too). Mix up the letters and have your child
spell out the word by putting the letters in the correct order.
This activity encourages: logic skills to determine the spelling of a word.

4. TRY RAINBOW WRITING:

Have your child spell words by using a different color pen, pencil, or crayon for
each letter. Then have your child spell the same words using a different color for
each word.
This activity encourages: learning how letters work together to form complete
words.

5. TRACE, WRITE, AND REMEMBER:

Create three columns on a sheet of paper. Label one column ‘trace’, one
‘copy’, and one ‘remember’. Using your child’s spelling list or one you’ve created,
write a list of words in the first column. Have your child trace the letters you have
written, then copy them in the next column. Lastly, cover the first two columns
with a sheet of paper and have your child write the word in the third column from
memory.
This activity encourages: word identification and spelling memory.

6. TRY STAIRCASE SPELLING:

Have your child practice writing words in a staircase pattern. Start with the first
letter of the word on one line, add one more letter on the next line, and continue
until the word is complete.
For example:
W
Wr
Wri
Writ
Write

This activity encourages: understanding spelling logic, especially for more

complex words or words with more than two syllables.

7. CREATE WORD SWATTERS:

Create a ‘word swatter’ for your child using a fly swatter or kitchen spatula.
Working from a list of words, have your child look through books, magazines, and
other print materials and ‘swat’ the words using the word swatter when he or she
spots them. Keep track of the words your child has found by crossing them off as
they are found.
This activity encourages: active reading, word identification, and spelling
memory.

8. FILL IN THE MISSING LETTERS:

 Create a list of words on a piece of paper with blanks replacing some of the
letters. Have your child work through the words, filling in letters to complete them.
If your child needs help identifying the word, try drawing a simple picture next to
the word, or include a ‘word bank’ at the bottom of the page.
This activity encourages: spelling logic and word identification.

REFERENCES:

Erudio (Journal of Educational Innovation), 5(2), December 2018 e-ISSN: 2549-8673, p-

ISSN : 2302 – 884X

www.readnaturally.com

gradepowerleading.com

www.indeed.com
GAIL PPT