14-05-2015_19-15-42 / AНСМОВА_ПДРУЧНИК

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Real vocabulary that learner possesses serves both productive and receptive purposes. When producing speech (while speaking/writing) learner operates freely some words, word-combinations, and expressions for their communicative purposes, their vocabulary is called active / functional / productive vocabulary. When comprehending wide variety of texts and utterances (while listening and reading) learner is able to understand but not yet use the vocabulary, it is called passive / recognition / receptive. Learners can be seriously under-equipped to deal with authentic language if they neglect to extend their passive /receptive vocabulary and develop their potential vocabulary.

It is undoubted that any language is a rationally organized structure. Not only grammar but also vocabulary is based on some structuring principles. The teacher's job is to find the ways to utilize the regularity and organization of lexical structure and help learners acquire lexical competence (see chapter 2.3.). Lexical competence is viewed as acquiring an appropriate quantity of lexical units, in other words, owning vocabulary. Unlike the learning of grammar, which is essentially a rule-based system, vocabulary knowledge is largely a question of accumulating individual items. To know a word means to know its

meaning (denotation, connotation, polysemy, homonymy, synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy),

form (phonology, orthography, morphology),

distribution (collocation, register, style) (see table 33, App. 4).

Constant use of a new word is the best way of learning it. New words should be approached from different sides, in many different ways, by means of many different forms of work. Teacher can ensure lasting retention of words for their learners, relying upon their sensory perception and thinking upon their auditory, visual and kinaesthetic analysis so that learners can easily recognize the words while listening and reading and use them while speaking and writing. The stages of vocabulary acquisition are shown in table 34 (see App.4).

There are numerous techniques concerned with vocabulary presentation. For example, the meaning of a word can be given by using an L1 translation; using a

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known L2 synonym or a simple definition in the L2; showing an object or picture; giving demonstration; drawing a simple picture or diagram; breaking the word into parts and giving the meaning of the parts and the whole word; giving several example sentences with the word in context to show the meaning; commenting on the underlying meaning of the word and other referents (see table 35, App. 4).

It is possible to draw attention to the form of a word by showing its spelling as well as pointing out any spelling irregularity in the word; giving the word pronunciation; showing the prefix, stem and suffix that make up the word.

In drawing attention to the use of the word it is a good idea to show the grammatical pattern of it; to give a few similar collocations, a well known opposite, or a well known word describing a group or a lexical set it fits into.

If we want to help learners remember new language more easily, it is useful to have some insight into how students learn. Marilee Sprenger asserts that memories are stored in different areas. She lists five memory lanes:

semantic (deals with words only without any context);

episodic (location driven);

procedural (involves step-by-step process);

automatic (associations);

emotional (emotions are involved via music, role play, debates etc).

To maximize the effectiveness of learning, all the memory lanes should be accessed through a variety of appealing activities – games, problem-solving and others, which can improve language learning ability of students when used as a central strategy in the language classroom and not just for fun.

Points for discussion

Peculiarities of functional/active, receptive/passive and potential vocabulary.

Development of rich vocabulary as an important element in foreign/second language acquisition.

Content of vocabulary teaching in communicative classroom.

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Self-Check

1. Match the notions with their definitions:

2. Tick the right criteria of vocabulary selection:

3. Differentiate between visual and verbal direct method techniques in vocabulary

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Meaning: The conventional or literal meaning of a particular form (e.g. that past tense form means past time).

Passive vocabulary: Words which readers/listeners understand but which they do not necessarily use.

Polysemy: having many different meanings.

Potential vocabulary: Those unknown words which might be understood by learners using their previous knowledge – international words or derivatives, converted words, compound words – or context.

Productive vocabulary: Another term for active (functional) vocabulary.

Receptive vocabulary: Another term for passive (recognition) vocabulary.

Recognition vocabulary: Another term for passive (receptive) vocabulary.

Retention: The ability to recall or remember things after an interval of time. It may depend on the quality of teaching, or the meaningfulness of the materials.

Synonymy: Words with the same meaning or nearly the same meaning as another word in the same language: "sad", "unhappy" miserable‖

Reports proposed on the theme

Vocabulary selection criteria for educational purposes.

The nature of lexical competence.

Different vocabulary presentation techniques.

Further reading

Білоножко Н. Є. Learn English vocabulary with effective strategies / Н. Є.

Білоножко. – К. : Ленвіт, 2005. – 105 с.

Навчання лексичного матеріалу // Методика викладання іноземних мов у середніх навчальних закладах. – К., 2002. – С. 92–120.

Обучение лексике // Настольная книга преподавателя иностранного языка:

Справочное пособие / Е. А. Маслыко, П. К.Бабинская, А. Ф. Будько, С. И.

Петрова. – Минск : Вышэйшая школа, 1998. – С. 12–29.

McCarthy M. Vocabulary / M. McCarthy. – Oxford : OUP, 1990. – 154 p.

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Nation I. S. P. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary / I. S. P. Nation. – New York : Newbury House, 1990. – 370 p.

Nunan D. Language Teaching Methodology / D. Nunan. – Prentice Hall International UK, 1991. – 219 p.

Thornbury S. How to Teach Vocabulary / S. Tournbury. – Harlow : Longman, 2002.

– 178 p.

3.4. Teaching pronunciation

Over recent years there has been a renewed interest in the teaching of pronunciation. Why is it so important? Work on pronunciation is important for two main reasons:

to help the students understand the spoken English they hear;

to help them make their own speech comprehensible and meaningful to others. Christine Dalton and Barbara Seidlhofer define pronunciation as the production

of significant sound in two senses. First, sound is significant because it is used as part of a code of a particular language. In this sense we can talk about pronunciation as the production and reception of sounds of speech. Second, sound is significant because it is used to achieve meaning in context of use. Here the code combines with other factors to make communication possible. In this sense we can talk about pronunciation with reference to acts of speaking.

So, primary communicative goal is important as a general guide for teaching pronunciation, because pronunciation is never an end in itself but a means to negotiate meaning in discourse. Teaching English pronunciation is envisaged in English School Syllabus as it is one of the basic habits necessary to be acquired in school. Under phonetic habits that should be formed we mean:

a)comprehensible and intelligible pronunciation of individual sounds, sound clusters or sounds in connected speech, correct word stress, rhythm and stress in utterances;

b)intonation patterns.

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The main requirement to learners' pronunciation is to be phonetically intelligible and accurate enough to be understandable. Absolute phonetic accuracy is impossible to achieve in secondary school, we cannot expect more than approximate correctness, the correctness that ensures communication between people speaking the same language. In communicative language teaching appropriacy is a more important criterion for intelligibility than correctness. So, the principle of approximation is the basic principle of teaching pronunciation in school. It deals with the pronunciation that is similar to the RP standard but not perfect and authentic enough as it is impossible to gain in secondary school. Approximated pronunciation is comprehensible pronunciation which is sought in the teaching process.

As in case of grammar and vocabulary, some limits to phonetic material acquisition are envisaged in a secondary school curriculum. So, we deal with phonetic school minimum. The criteria for its selection are as follows:

difficulty of a certain phonetic phenomenon (the subject for special training is phonetic phenomena which are difficult to overcome, e.g. unusual sounds and sequences, the length of vowels, etc.);

communicative needs (those sounds and intonation patterns which possess meaningful distinctive features should be in the sphere of attention:

e.g. question tags where rising or falling tones will result in different meaning; requests with rising tone in English and falling tone in Ukrainian; orders with rising tone in Ukrainian and falling tone in English; sentence stress; function of an utterance);

Received Pronunciation (RP) standard which is the phonetic standard teaching object, a convenient teaching norm for foreigners.

Teaching pronunciation is a process which should be covering both early and advanced stages of instruction. A distinction must be drawn between the types of exercises suitable for each stage. Training on the early/initial stages aims at avoiding problems in comprehension; not only particular sounds are practiced, but also patterns of stress, information and juncture. Phonetic habits are formed through identification exercises, imitative production, and guided non-imitative

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production. At a later, advanced stage, the stage of autonomous production appropriate exercises for remedial training should be proposed for advanced students who often need intensive practice in the production of certain problem sounds or sequences of sounds to correct a "foreign accent".

The classification of phonetic exercises acceptable for secondary school learning is as follows:

receptive (recognition, discrimination, identification);

reproductive (imitation, substitution, transformation, answering the questions) (see table 37 App.4).

Teaching pronunciation should be strategically planned and connected with the particular structures and lexis dealt with in the lesson. In the light of this Gerald Kelly divides lessons into three main types (see table 36, App. 4):

Integrated lessons in which pronunciation forms an essential part of the language analysis and the planning process, and the language presentation and practice within the lesson;

Remedial or reactive lessons, where a pronunciation difficulty which arises in class is dealt with there and then, in order to facilitate the successful achievement of classroom tasks;

Practice lessons in which a particular feature of pronunciation is isolated and practiced for its own sake, forming the main focus of a lesson period.

As native speakers of our first language, we automatically adapt our ways of speaking to situations and interlocutors. However, learning a foreign language may make us painfully aware of these factors. This awareness will be affected by our purpose and motivation. Motivation in second language learning may be instrumental and integrative, state Ch. Dalton, B. Seidlhofer (see table 38, App. 4).

An instrumental orientation reflects the practical advantages of learning a language, while an integrative orientation stems from a sincere and personal interest in the people and the culture. Obviously, this distinction is a very general one between two extreme positions, and many learners may actually go through different motivational stages in their language learning career. Learner with primarily

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instrumental motivation will probably be interested mainly in getting meanings across, and regard their linguistic performance as satisfying if it is accessible to interlocutors.

An integratively motivated learner, on the other hand, will probably set greater store by the interactional side of communication, and will be concerned to be not only accessible but also acceptable to the foreign language community he or she is aspiring to be a member of. Attitudes and motivation can naturally change, both in the course of learning and in the course of a particular interaction.

All in all, the communicative value of pronunciation is undoubted and the importance of teaching pronunciation is evident since if we sound badly, nobody will understand us, if we perceive badly, we will fail to understand others.

Points for discussion

The importance of teaching pronunciation and its communicative value.

Problems and approaches in pronunciation teaching. Phonetic school minimum.

Principle of approximated pronunciation. Different types of activities and exercises in pronunciation teaching.

Self – Check

1. What are the items that constitute the content of pronunciation teaching at school? Complete the list:

Discrimination, articulation;__________________________________________

3. What types of exercises are defined here?

a)the exercises are designed for developing students' ability to recognize, discriminate and identify sounds, sound sequences, stressed syllables, stressed words, melody and other phonetic phenomena in isolation, junctures or phrases;

b)the exercises are designed for developing learners' pronunciation habits, i.e. their ability to articulate English sounds correctly and to combine sounds into words, phrases and sentences easily enough to be able to speak English and to read aloud in this language.

4. What are the aim and the type of the exercise: "Listen to the words with sounds [ ]

b)comprehensible;

c)native-like;

d)strictly according to RP standard.