Teaching vocabulary

The plan of teaching vocabularyBackground information:Students:41 senior high school students,Grade 1Lesson duration:45 minsTeaching objectives:By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:1.Teaching contents:The effective ways to learn , consolidate and remember the vocabulary.Teaching aids:Blackboard, chalk, PPT, pictures,Teaching procedures:Step1. Warming up(5 mins)a) What does knowing a word involve?b) What are some effective ways to consolidate vocabulary? Step2. Explaining the meaning of the words(15 mins) The meanings of the words consist of two aspectsa)Denotative meaning & connotative meaningb)Collocations & synonyms,antonyms,hyponyms & receptive and productive vocabularyStep3. Introducing the ways of consolidating vocabulary(10 mins)a) Labelingb) Spot the differencec) Describe and drawd) Play a gamed) Use word seriese) Word bingof) Word associationg) Find synonyms and antonymsh) Categoriesi) Using word net-workj) Using the Internet resources for more ideasStep4. A task: use what is learned to do the exercise.(10 mins)a) Group-work: students are asked to group words into different categories after discussing with their partners. beef garments veal sirloinsteak chop cutlet stewsausage suit dress tailoredoveralls macaroni consomme broth milkClothing Food and mealsb) volunteers to present the result.Step5. HomeworkComplete all the exercises after the text。

第8章Teaching Vocabulary一、What does knowing a word involve? 都得背过并举例1. What does it mean to know a word?Knowing a word means knowing:(1) its pronunciation and stress;(2) its spelling and grammatical properties;(3) its meaning;(4) how and when to use it to express the intended meaning.Learning a word involves learning more than just the word itself. Lexical items can be phrases, clause or sentences.2. Vocabulary learningAccording to Hedge, vocabulary learning involves at least two aspects of meaning:(1) The first aspect involves the understanding of its denotative and connotative meaning.①Denotative meaningDenotative meaning of a word or a lexical item refers to those words that we use to label things as regards real objects, such as a name or a sign, etc. in the physical world.②Connotative meaningA connotative meaning of a word refers to ‘the attitudes or emotions of a language user in choosing a word and the influence of these on the listener or reader’s interpretation of the word’. These words that may express a positive or negative attitude or subtle feelings towards something.(2) The second aspect involves understanding sense relations among words. Lexical items of this kind include word collocations, synonyms, antonyms, and hyponyms.①CollocationsCollocations refer to words that co-occur with high frequency and have been accepted as ways for the use of words. It is believed that teaching word collocations is a more effective way than just teaching one single word at a time.②synonyms, antonyms, hyponymsSynonyms refer to items that mean the same, or nearly the same.Antonyms refer to items that mean the opposite of a word.Hyponyms refer to words which can be grouped together under the same superordinate concept.3. Receptive and productive vocabulary①Receptive/passive vocabulary:Receptive/passive vocabulary refers to words that one is able to recognize and comprehend in reading or listening but unable to use automatically in speaking or writing.②Productive/active vocabulary:Those words that one is not only able to recognize but also able to use in speech and writing are considered as one’s productive/active vocabulary.二、Ways of presenting vocabulary1．Ways to present and explain vocabulary①Using pictures, photos, video clips, mime or gestures;②Provide a verbal context to demonstrate meaning;③Use synonyms or antonyms to explain meanings;④Use lexical sets, e.g. cook: fry, boil, bake, and grill;⑤Translate and exemplify, if words with abstract meaning.⑥Use word formation rules and common affixes;⑦Teach vocabulary in chunks;⑧Use the context in real life where the word might be used;⑨Provide different contexts for introducing new words;⑩Prepare for possible misunderstanding or confusion.2．Things a teacher does after presentationTry to provide opportunities for students to use multiple senses such as visual, auditory, action, etc., to get familiar with the newly learned words.Engage the students in variety of activities, such speaking, listening, reading, writing or acting, using multiple senses.To create meaningful and personalized tasks for the students to use the words in their own ways. Remember, a word can’t be learned by only being presented to the students, often it has to be encountered at least seven times in different contexts before it can be learned by the students.三、Ways of consolidating vocabularySome vocabulary consolidation activities suggested:1. Labelling.2. Spot the difference.3. Describe and draw.4. Play a game.5. Use word series.6. Word bingo.7. Word association.8. Find synonyms and antonyms.9. Use word categories.10. Using word net-work.11. Using the Internet resources for more ideas四、How do we help students develop vocabulary learning strategies?It is necessary to help the students to develop vocabulary building strategies as they will not be able to learn all the vocabulary simply from class teaching.1. Review regularlyEvidence shows that regular review helps students to maintain largest amount of recall.2. Guess meaning from contextEspecially using sentence hints for word meanings. Clues contributing to the discovery of meaning:The topic;The grammatical structure;The possible meaning connect between the given word and other words;The linguistic pattern where the word appears.3. Organize vocabulary effectivelyIf information is organized and stored in special ways, e.g. related information is stored together or new information is related to previously stored information, it is more likely to be retained and easier to retrieve. Considering the mass English vocabulary, it is necessary for the teacher to guide students to organize the words they encounter. So with a conscious attempt at vocabulary organization it is likely that a student’s word store will increase significantly.4. Use a dictionaryThe ability to use a dictionary properly to aid learning is a very important strategy for independent learning. However, students should be guided at the beginning in using a dictionary.5. Keeping a vocabulary notebookIt is seen as one way of helping students learning vocabulary. In helping students create their own vocabulary notebooks, an A-Z format may be needed in terms of different formats.6. Manage strategy useStudents should be guided constantly to self-evaluate the effectiveness of their strategy used for vocabulary learning. Based on their evaluation, they may drop certain strategies and try others. Teachers can also provide opportunities for students to share their learning experiences so that they can learn from each other.。

Techniques of Teaching V ocabulary in Junior EFL ClassesAbstract:This paper discusses some techniques of teaching vocabulary in junior EFL classes. These techniques can help students learn vocabulary by associating the words with something they already know. In other words, they advocate instruction that relates new vocabulary to prior knowledge the learners bring them. Naturally, these techniques are likely to make vocabulary easier to remember.Key words: teaching vocabulary, techniques, junior students.摘要：本文探讨的是初中英语词汇教学的一些技巧。

这些技巧会帮助学生将已学词汇和将要学的词汇联系起来。

换言之，这些技巧会为学生在新旧词汇之间牵线搭桥。

无疑，这些技巧会让学习者更容易的记住词汇。

关键词：词汇教学技巧初中生I. IntroductionIn junior EFL classes, we have two major aims. One is to prepare students for the kind of English used by and for native speakers. The other special aim is to help students become independent, and responsible for their own learning. Junior students are almost at the end of the language program. If learning is to continue beyond the end of the course, the students will have to depend on their own efforts and habits of study. Teachers therefore become important in helping students form their own habits of learning, especially in their vocabulary learning. To this extent, teachers should master the techniques well in teaching vocabulary because it is so essential to students‟ ongoing vocabulary learning.As the material which is read becomes increasingly difficult, there are many more new words to be explained. The teachers cannot and should not help students learn all of them. When the teacher spends an entire class period explaining vocabularies writing words and their meanings on the blackboard .There are three unfortunate results: (1) the students remain too dependent on the teacher; (2) opportunities for learning to use a dictionary are lost; and (3) no class time is left for the communicative use of language. How then can we help students understand the many new words they meet? The answer is that it is necessary to make students learn some techniques of vocabulary learning. Of course, teachers should play a curial role in students learning vocabulary process.Many junior students tend to have a number of distinguishing or negative characteristics. First, they often lack motivation, especially if not working towards an examination. This is compounded by the fact that they know, or feel they know, English grammar, having recycled the major structures countless times in previous years. In addition, they usually possess a good enough active vocabulary to get by in most everyday speaking situations, and so do not see the necessity for acquiring a lot of new items. Similarly, as many have managed to pass the exams, they see little need to improve their writing skills. Unless specific lexis related to an individual's work or leisure interests surfaces, novel vocabulary or ways of expressing oneself seems onlypassing interest.If teachers content themselves with recycling hackneyed grammar points, or introducing increasingly irrelevant and tortuous new ones, along with rarely-used or over-specific lexis, there is a real possibility that learners will simply switch off. Most, accordIng to Lewis, will in fact remain stuck on the “intermediate plateau” (2000:115) and tend to continue producing both spoken and written language containing unnatural-sounding elements that grate on the listener or reader, as words that do not usually co-occur together are thrown up unexpectedly. For example 'in the shell of a nut' (instead of in a nutshell) and 'I have overtaken the fear of driving' (instead of 'I have overcome the fear of driving') are recent examples from my students.If the reader (or listener) is confused, then the writer or speaker is likely to be at best frustrated or at worst completely misunderstood. So as knowledge-transmitters, teachers have the responsibility for pointing out the fault of the students and then giving them directions to correct them.Having learnt all the basic structures of the language, junior learners can generally communicate well. However, they need to broaden their vocabulary to express themselves more clearly and appropriately in a wide range of situations.Students might even have a receptive knowledge of a wider range of vocabulary, which means they can recognise the item and recognise its meaning. Nevertheless, their productive use is normally limited, and their capability of using techniques is also weak. Based on this background, it is important to introduce some techniques in vocabulary teaching to share with teachers and students. It may be very useful for the students‟ learning if they can use vocabulary in a flexible way with the help of the teachers.II．Brief Literature ReviewTraditionally, the teaching of vocabulary above elementary levels was mostly incidental, limited to presenting new items as they appeared in reading or sometimes listening texts. This indirect teaching of vocabulary assumes that vocabulary expansion will happen through the practice of other language teaching skills. This hasbeen proved insufficient to ensure vocabulary expansion.Nowadays it is widely accepted that vocabulary teaching should be part of the syllabus, and taught in a well-planned and regular basis. Some authors, led by Lewis (1993) argue that vocabulary should be at the centre of language teaching, because …language consists of grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalised grammar‟.There are several aspects of lexis that need to be taken into account when teaching vocabulary. The list below is based on the work of Gaizns and Redmcn (1986:96): Boundabies between cïnceptual meanings: knowing not only what laxis refers to, but also where the boundaries are that separate it from words of related meaning (e.g. cup, mug, and bowl).Rolysemy:distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form wiph several"and closely related meanings (head: of a perwon, of a pin, of an organisation).Homonymy:distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form which has several meanings which are NOT closely related (e.g. a file: usad to put papers in or a tool).Homophyny:understanding words that have the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings (e.g.flour, flower).Synonymy:distinguishing between the different shades of meaning that synonymous words have (e.g. extend, increase, expand).Affective meaning:distinguishing between the attitudinal and emotional factors (denotation and connotation), which dap end on the speakers‟ attidude or the situation. Socio-cultural associations of lexical items are another important factor.Style, register, and dialect:Being able to distinguish between different levels of formality, the effect of different contexts and topics, as well as differences in geographical variation.Translation:awareness of certain differences and similarithes between the native and the foreign language (e.g. false cognates).Chunks of language: multi-word verbs, idioms, strong and weak collocations,and lexical phrases.Grammar of vocabulary:learning the rules that enable students to build up different forms of the word or even different words from that word (e.g. sleep, slept, sleeping; able, unable; disability).Pronunciation: ability to recognise and reproduce items in speech.The implication of the aspects just mentioned in teaching is that the goals of vocabulary teaching must be more than simply covering a certain number of words on a word list. We must use teaching techniques that can help realise dhis global concepd of what it leans to know a lexical item.III．Techniques of Teaching Vocabulary in Junior EFL Classes Whether teaching beginning or junior students, different techniques are appropriate for different vocabulary word types, word associations, word forms, idioms, word with multiple meanings, etc. the Techniques used dependent to a large extent on the needs of the students and the objectives for teaching the vocabulary. It is important to bear in mind that any word association strategy used must have meaning to the learners.3．1…Through Contextualized V ocabularyDepending on the age and level of sophistication of your students, songs, chants and games can be enjoyable and effective tools for introducing or reinforcing sight vocabulary. These are especially useful for beginning students. Activities which involve actions and speech (e.g. incorporating Total Physical Respgnse technique with speech acts) also offer other opportunities for teaching verb functions in contexd. Tisual and audiovisual materiads such as pictures, wall charts, flash cards, sentence strips, cassette dapes, videos or TV are colourful and tivid leans through which a large amount of contextualized vocabulary can be presented. Also, the used of language through any of these teaching aids is task oriented with the focus on other aspects of vocabulary learning. For future reference and use, it is a good idea to categorize pictures, flash cards and santence strips and keep them in separate labelled envelopes. 3．2…Through Grouping, Classifying or CategorizingV ocabulary learning is often enhanced through presenting words in semantically related categories or sets. A goods example is to have your studants make word lists from key words in let‟s talk in English, or studio classroom word banks, or a lesson from the textbook. Let them classify words with similar characteristics or meanings. Students can match the words with categories provided for them or work in pairs in labelling their word groups. After they have done that, have them compare notes with other pairs about their resulting group labels. Ask them to consider what criteria they have used for grouping, labelling and figuring out relationships between groups. They can share which ways of grouping, labelling and finding relationships have helped them to remember better.3．3…Through Word Formation or DerivativesThere are many ways to help your students learn more words by learning more about words. Word formation or derivatives is a productive process of forming new words from base words according to how they are being used in a sentence, such as: ＊Using regular or irregular inflections, e.g. adding -s or –es to form plurals;adding –s, -ing, or –ed to form regular verb tense;adding –er,-est for comparative and superlative forms Special attention and practice should be given to irregular inflections such as irregular verbs (catch-caught, go-went) and irregular adjective inflections (bad-worse, more-most).＊identifying related forms of the word to different parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective and adverb, e.g. an apoloၧy, to apologize, apologetic, apologetically; a hope, hopeful; hopefully, and in that order.)＊adding another word to make a compound word, e.g. hardship, honeymoon, drugstore＊adding affixes to construct different words with different meanings: through the addition of prefixes, e.g. sincere-insincere, motivatdd-unmotivated, wake-awake through the addition of suffixes, e.g. revenge-revengeful, dim-dimly.Do encourage intermediate and junior students to generalize the meanings of common prefixes or suffixes (e.g. un- or –ness from a list of familiar words) byencoding them into rules.Examples:THe prefix un- is often used with verbs to indicate a reversal action, such as, fasten-unfasten, opened-unopened, etcThe suffix –ness is added to adjectives to form nouns which often refer to a condition or quality, for example, happy-happiness, weak-weakness.3．4…Through Word AssociaTaonNo word stands alone; each has friends and neighbours. Unfamiliar vocabulary is often connected to words students may already know. By understanding word relationships, they can learn new words. Whenever possible, try to use those connections to tech your students‟ new words. However, some words are best taught in clusters of synojyms (words are related in meaning e.g. spot-stain) or antonyms (words opposite in meaning e.g. better-worse). Teaching synonyms and antonyms requires dictionary skills and practice in looking up words in an English dictionary or a thesaurus. Also, a collective noun which names a single collection of creatures or things should be taught in clusters of relationships. It is important to stress that there are may be many in the collection but there is one colleation. The collective noun is therefore singular, e.g. a flock of birds, a herd of elephants.Brainstorming or semantic mapping is a technique which can be used as a teacher-guided activity for the whole class or created by the intermediate or junior students in small groups or in pair work. This technique is useful for listening, reading, speaking and writing. It involves arranging concepts and relationships on the board or on a paper to create a semantic map. The semantic map is a diagram in which key concepts are highlighted and immediately to categories related to the topic of discussion. This is immediately helpful for comprehension, too. A big plus for such an activity is that students are likely to learn new vocabulary from each other‟s list. 3．5…Through Contextual Guessing by Reading Between Lines Students should recognize that in most language-learning situations they will encounter vocabulary they do not know. However, you can assure then that they donot need to understand every word. To discover the meaning of an unfamiliar word, teach them to look at the context in which a word is used and to try to find any clues to its meaning. Students would be able to infer the meaning of a word, provided they are familiar with most of the vocabulary in a sentence. For example, the meaning of thirsty is inferred by the context in the following sentence:It was very hot. I was very____. I needed a drink.For intermediate and junior students, use direct instruction that engages them in the construction of word meaning using context or prior knowledge. This is effective for learning specific vocabulary and for improving comprehension of related materials. At all times, encourage students to try to guess the meaning of a new word from the situation or context. Over time, their guesses will be better and their definitions more specific.Red, white and blue ribbons mimic the colours of the American flagWhat does “mimic” mean in this sentence? How are the three colours related to the American flag?Words with multiple meanings often pose a problem for English learners. For many entry words, the dictionary lists more than one meaning. The tricky part is figuring out which meaning is appropriate. Choosing the correct meaning of a word depends on two things. First, it depends on the words and sentences surrounding a particular word. The other words and sentences give the context clues. Second, the meaning depends on how the word is used in the sentence. It is a noun, a verb, an adjective or part of a phrase? Knowing the word‟s part of speech will help the students discover its precise meaning. For example, write the word bill on the chalkboard and have your students write down as many meanings as they can for it. Then have them look up the word in an English to discover more. For further practice, have them write a sentence using each meaning.IV．ConclusionVocabulary learning is a complex task because it involves a range of abilities. To have word knowledge, a leaner needs to develop the ability to recall meaning, infer meaning, comprehend a text and communicative orally. Stoller and Grabe (in Oller, 1993) note that no single method can address all these skills, but it is generally believed that vocabulary learning is facilitated by activities that provide varied experiences with reading, writing, speaking and listening in the target language. As language teachers, we must arouse our student s‟ interest in words and their motivation to learn ways of expressing meanings in all four-language skills.Learning vocabulary is challenging and interesting. By habit, your students may be learning vocabulary by memorizing new words and their meanings. Learning by rote or memorization is not the surest way to remember new vocabulary. Like floating toy balloons, they will stay around for a while, but unless you help your students to tie them down, they will blow away. Vocabulary instruction is more effective when it involves the learner in the construction of meaning through interactive processes rather than in memorization definitions or synonyms. In this article, the techniques can help students learn vocabulary by associating the words with something they already know. In other words, these techniques advocate instruction that relates new vocabulary to prior knowledge the learners bring them. Naturally, these associations are likely to strengthen comprehension, as well as making vocabulary easier to remember.ReferencesGairns, Ruth. and Redman, Stuaret. Working With Words-A Guide to Teaching and Learning Vocabulary.Cambridge UniversityPress,1986.Dr.Grace, Oon-Bee Hsu. English Teachers’ Resource Book.吉林科学技术出版社,2004,114-117。