Vocabulary Lists

The value of list learning may have been underestimated. Many students like learning words from lists. One reason is that it is very economical: large numbers of words can be learned in a relatively short time. Some researchers estimate that up to 30 words an hour could be learned in this way.

Better still than lists are word cards. Having each word on an individual card means the sequence can be varied as a precaution against the serial effect. This effect occurs when one word on a list triggers recall of the next word and so on.

Here are some ways for exploiting lists: - The teacher reads words from the list in a random order. Learners show they can match the sound with the written form by ticking the ones they hear.

- Learners cover the l1 translation (if they have a bilingual list); the teacher gives translations and learners tick the English equivalents.

Bingo: Ask learners each to write down, say, twelve words (form a list of twenty). Read out twelve words form the master list in random order, or read out their L1 translations.

Alternatively, if the words can be illustrated, show pictures of the words. Learners tick off each word as it occurs – the first learner to have ticked all twelve of their words shouts out Bingo!

- From a random list of words, ask learners to make connections between words and explain them to their classmates: the more connections the better, no matter how far fetched. For words to copy and to shave, a student might produce: I learned to shave by copying my father

- Students construct a story form the list: they can do this by choosing twelve words from a list of twenty, and working them into a narrative. Or they take turns to make a sentence that includes the next word in the list so as to continue a story

• Ask learners to make their own list from the words that come up in the lesson and bring their lists to class for the next lesson. At the beginning of the following lesson, pair students up to teach each other on their word lists.

• Learners can also make lists of words that have appeared in previous units of the coursebook, and test each other by asking How do you say .. in English? or What’s the English for…?

Vocabulary books

One of the problems of many supplementary vocabulary books is that often lack of space prohibits a thorough development of a vocabulary area. Users are not given more than one or two opportunities to make decisions about words. Teachers need to think of creative ways of developing an activity to ensure memorability.

• Group the items into at least 3 different categories. With a neighbour compare and explain your categories

• Use your dictionary to add different words to these categories. Teach the neighbour the words you have added.

• Rank the items in terms of usefulness. Compare rankings.

• Imagine you and your classmate are sharing a flat. Decide which of the items you would buy, and in which order.

• Write definitions or descriptions of three of the items. Can your neighbour guess which ones they are?

• Tell the story behind any of the items that you yourself own. Where did you get it? How long have you had it? How often do you use it?

Some vocabulary books have imaginative tasks that are directed at affective depth – emotional associations with the words

1. Ask the students what date it is today. Write it on the board. Ask them what the date was seven years ago. Put that on the board. Ask three or four people how old they were on that day seven years ago.

2. Now ask students to write down ten key emotional or idea words and phrases that sum up their lives now and a further ten to sum up their lives then.

3. Ask the students to pair off and explain the words and their significance to their partners. Have them change partners three or four times, not more, as this kind of talking is very tiring.

Short texts.

Nowadays the tendency is to present vocabulary in texts. For vocabulary building purposes texts have enormous advantages over learning words from lists.

Words in contexts increases the chances of learners appreciating not only their meaning but their typical environments such as their collocations or grammatical structures.

Here is a procedure that can be applied to both the academic text and informal text.

1. Ask learners to skim the text and decide a) what kind of text it is, b) what style it is written in

2. Learners read the text again and are asked to attempt a rough summary of its gist - what is it about? Or What three pieces of advice are offered?

3. Ask learners to find all the examples of the lexical feature that is being targeted – long noun phrases or idioms. Learners then work out the meaning of the phrases either from their components, or from their contexts or both. They could be allowed to consult dictionaries.

4. Provide definitions, synonyms or L1 translations of the targeted words and ask them to find the words in the text that match.

Working with dictionaries

1. Students match words on cards to form collocations, checking with the dictionary

Densely injured

Fatally enforced

Narrowly defeated

Sorely outnumbered

Strictly tempted

Hopelessly populated

2. Students can also use dictionaries to complete grids of words families to show common derived forms.

Person crime verb

robber robbery rob

______ _______ murder

hijacker ________ ______

_________ rape ______

_________ ________ smuggling

Students use dictionaries to decide which word or expression in a group is the odd one out, in terms of style

flee run away retreat turn tail

occur crop up happen take place

Supervise monitor keep an eye on oversee

Students use dictionary information to group words according to whether they have neutral or negative connotations: notorious famous

publicity propaganda

skinny slim

chat gossip

childish childlike

queer gay

officious official

Presenting vocabulary

By presentation of vocabulary we mean those pre-planned lesson stages in which learners are taught pre-selected vocabulary items.

1. The number of the words presented should not overstretch the learner’s capacity to remember them.

2. The presentation should not extend so far into the lesson that no time is available to put the words to work

3. Sequence of presentation (meaning first, then form or form first, then meaning) – both approaches are valid.

4. Means of presentation: translation, real things, pictures, actions/gestures, definitions, situations.

5. The order of presentation: spoken form, written form?

Translation: economical – the most direct route to the word’s meaning.

Over-reliance on translation can mean that the learners fail to develop an independent L2 lexicon.

TEACHER: What’s this? (pointing to a dress) Do you know what this is in English? No? Listen It’s a dress. Repeat.

STUDENTS: Dress.

TEACHER: How do you say it in Ukrainian? Maria? MARIA: Suknya. TEACHER: That’s right.

TPR lesson

Typical classroom commands might be:

Point to the apple

Put the banana next to the apple

Give the apple to Natasha

Offer the banana to Maxim

Visual aids – wall charts, flash cards, transparencies, board drawings, sets of pictures etc.

Explaining meaning: providing students with example sentences, each one being a typical instance of the target word in context. From the cumulative effect of the sentences the students should be able to guess the meaning of the target word: He’s really nice but I don’t fancy him. I fancy eating out tonight. Fancy a drink? That guy on the dance floor – he really fancies himself. I never really fancied package holidays much.

The advantage of this approach is that the learners hear the word several times increasing the likelihood of retention in memory. Also they hear the word in a variety of typical contexts learning about typical collocations.

Elicitation or involving the learners: The rationale underlying elicitation is that it - actively involves the learners - maximises speaking opportunities - keeps the learners alert and attentive - challenges better learners who might turn off otherwise - acts as a way of checking the learners’ developing understanding - encourages learners to use contextual clues

- What’s a waterfall, anyone? - Like Niagara? - Exactly.

Personalisation is the process of using the new word in a context that is real for the learner personally.

Ask learners to write a true sentence using the new word, preferably applying it to themselves or someone they know. To help, provide a frame, such as

The last time I fell frightened was when…

Learners write questions for other learners incorporating a new word: What makes you frightened?

Ask the learners to order the items in order of personal preference

Each student is given a list of six to eight words, with their translation or definitions. For example, one student may get the following:

Check in, boarding pass, duty free, luggage, security desk, departure gate etc. They have to work these words into a narrative.

Games

Word clap. Students stand or sit in a circle, and, following a teacher’s lead, maintain a four-beat rhythm, clapping their hands on their thighs three times and then both hands together. The idea is to take turns, clockwise, to shout out a different word from a pre-selected lexical set on every fourth beat. Players who either repeat a word or break the rhythm are out.

Coffee pot. One learner answers yes/no questions from the rest of the class (or group) about the verb she has thought of, or that the teacher has whispered to her. The students might ask Do you coffeepot indoors or outdoors? The answer (the word yawn) - Both indoors and outdoors. - Can you coffeepot with your hands? - No, you can’t, but you might use your hands.