- •Exploratory task 1.1
- •M oney
- •Match the following vocabulary units with the types of “vocabulary sets”
- •Exploratory task 1.2
- •Exploratory task 1.3
- •Express the following messages in the given situations using any strategy of communicating the meaning (words, phrases, exclamations, gestures etc)
- •Exploratory task 1.6 Find the equivalents to the given words in your native tongue
- •Exploratory task 1.8
- •Exploratory task 1.10 Give adjectival collocations to the following
- •Exploratory task 1.11
- •Exploratory task 1.12 Combine the goods and the activities with them to cook food. The beginning has been done for you
- •Word observation sheet
- •Exploratory task 1.16
- •Exploratory task 1.17
- •Make up your own “cobweb” association with the word
- •H ouse
- •Input reading 2
- •Vocabulary acquisition
- •Exploratory task 2.1
- •Exploratory task 2.2
- •Match the following activities to teacher/learn the words with the types of exercises
- •Exploratory task 2.8
- •Exploratory task 2.11
- •Three-phase framework of teaching vocabulary
- •Exploratory task 2.12
- •Micro-teaching task
- •Integrated task
- •Answer Keys
- •Exploratory task 1.12
- •Exploratory task 1.13
- •Glossary
- •References and further reading
Teaching Vocabulary
The aim of this unit
To take a view on the “vocabulary-in-mind” phenomenon
To make you think about the process of vocabulary learning
To reflect upon the activities for teaching vocabulary
What do you have to do in this unit?
Warming-up discussion
Input reading
Exploratory tasks
Self-assessment questions (SAQ)
Observation tasks
Micro-teaching task
Integrated task
Input reading 1
Warming up discussion 1.1
Mark the following statements as “true” T “false” F or “debatable” D. You will get input reading on these and other issues later in this module.
Statements |
T F D |
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Mental lexicon
Mental lexicon is “vocabulary in mind". It consists of the smallest independent meaningful units of speech. These units of speech are called words. The words have word-forms and meanings assigned to them. Words in mental lexicon create lexical networks. Once activated a lexical item stimulates other associated lexical items and this causes activation of a bigger network. To access mental lexicon an idea has to be mapped onto meaning and form that are stored in our memory (Aitchison, J. 1994. Words in the Mind. Blackwell. Garman, M. 1990. Psycholinguistics. CUP).
Exploratory task 1.1
Explore your own mental lexicon associated with the word “money”. Share the results in the group.
M oney
Mental lexicon performs the functions of word storage, retrieval, comprehension and use (After Carter, R., and M.McCarthy. 1988. Vocabulary and Language Teaching. Longman). Storage of words in mental lexicon is the result of a person’s cognitive processes in real world situations. As a result of cognitive processes, the words form up the situation sets (associated with a particular situation, objects, phenomena or processes), semantic sets (associated with a concept) and collocation sets (associated with other words by habitual everyday use).
SAQ 1.1
Match the following vocabulary units with the types of “vocabulary sets”
Vocabulary units |
Vocabulary sets |
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Retrieval of words from memory is done through the activation of mental lexicon. Activation is caused by attempts to map an idea onto the words in memory. Sometimes meaning can’t be mapped onto the words and this causes the "tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon" when the meaning needs to be expressed but the form can't be retrieved from memory.
Exploratory task 1.2
Retrieve the following words from your memory (all the words are quite common) by meaning and by form. Reflect on the procedure. What helps you retrieve words, meaning or form associations?
Retrieval by meaning |
Retrieval by form |
Give a word! |
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…m…er |
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…oo… |
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…or |
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…oo… |
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…ou… |
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…bl… |
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…ar… |
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Word comprehension can run into a problem because of the vague lexical meaning, allusions and references, symbolic, metaphorical and idiomatic use of words. One of the means to overcome lexical ambiguity is getting the cues from the context, background knowledge, social culture and the situation setting.
Exploratory task 1.3
Interpret the meaning of the following vocabulary items and comment on the clues that helped you do the task
Vocabulary items |
Interpretation of meaning |
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Word use can be hampered by the absence of the necessary word in processing memory or in the mental storage. In this case language users resort to lexical strategies such as circumlocution (putting the idea in a different way), word coinage (creating a non-existent word) and derivation (forming a word from the one that is known to the language user). Another strategy is using the gestures and mimic.
Exploratory task 1.4