Vocabulary Teaching: Effective
Methodologies
Naveen
Kumar Mehta
naveennmehta(at)yahoo.co.in
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (New Delhi, India)
naveennmehta(at)yahoo.co.in
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (New Delhi, India)
Introduction
Vocabulary is the first and foremost
important step in language acquisition. In a classroom where students are not
finding themselves comfortable with L2, language learning can be made
interactive and interesting with the introduction of appropriate vocabulary
exercises. This paper is an attempt to study and explore the various
methodologies that can be incorporated in the teaching of vocabulary items in a
language classroom.
Background
Patterns
of Difficulty in Vocabulary
Robert Lado (1955) talked about patterns
of difficulty in vocabulary teaching. He highlighted key issues related to
words, the native language factor and about patterns. He even analyzed
Spanish, French and Mexican patterns of difficulty in their respective
vocabulary items. He stated that while dealing with vocabulary one should take
into account three important aspects of words - their form, their meaning and
their distribution - and one should consider various kinds of classes of words
in the function of the language. He said that the forms, meaning distribution
and classification of words are different in different languages. He revealed
that these differences might lead to vocabulary problems.
Vocabulary
and Anatomy
VisnjaPavicic (2003) dealt with a
way to improve students' abilities to explore, store and usage of vocabulary
items. He determined the role of vocabulary teaching and how a teacher could
help their learners. He laid emphasis on self initiated independent learning
with strategies, in which formal practices, functional practices and memorizing
could be included. He said that the teacher should create activities and tasks
to help students to build their vocabulary and develop strategies to learn the
vocabulary on their own.
Teaching
Vocabulary in English Language: Effective Methodologies
It is noteworthy to mention here
that vocabulary items are imparted mostly by translation: either a list of
words with their translation at the beginning of the lesson or the translation
of the content having new words or glossaries at the very end. This is an
erroneous practice as it leads to a state of confusion for the learners. On
the teaching skills of vocabulary items, Frisby (1957) commented
that "While the teacher is not, himself, concerned with the actual
selection of vocabulary for text book purposes since practically all the books
we use are based on limited vocabularies, it is important that he/she (the
teacher) should know the principles, which underlie vocabulary
selection". Thus it signifies that a language teacher should be
innovative and proficient in the application of methodologies pertaining to
teaching vocabulary items in a classroom situation. Following are the main
methodologies for teaching vocabulary items in an English language classroom.
Listening
Carefully
Caeful listening to the words may be
a good option in teaching vocabulary items in a heterogenic classroom.
"Let the students hear the word in isolation and in a sentence. If the
sounds of the word have been mastered, the students will hear it correctly with
two or three repetitions." (Robert Lado: 121) Slow pronunciation without
distortion will help. Breaking the word into parts and building up to the whole
word will also be helpful.
Pronouncing
the Word
Pronouncing the word enables the
students to remember it longer and identify it more readily when they hear or
see it.
Methods
of Grasping the Meaning
The teacher should try to get the
meaning to the class without using translation. This is not preferable on the
ground that translation may or may not provide the meaning of the word
accurately and precisely. It is advocated as it enables the class to go without
grasping the meaning of a word that they have learned to pronounce rather than
to depend upon the translation.
Key
Strategies in Teaching Vocabulary
Some of the key strategies to unfold
the information and meaning of a new word to a class are as follows:
Definitions
Definitions in the target language
may be very handy if they are expressed in terms that are better known or more
easily guessed than the word that is defined. In this direction teachers and
students can refer to authentic and reliable dictionaries.
Self-defining
Context
The context makes the situation
clear, and this in turn illuminates the meaning of the new word. This practice
saves time and develops an intensive reading habit and better understanding.
Antonyms
When one member of a pair of
opposites is understood, the meaning of the other can be easily
comprehended. This helps the student to understand the different shades
of meanings of a word.
Synonyms
A synonym may be used to help the
student to understand the different shades of meaning if the synonym is better
known than the word being taught. Synonyms help to enrich a student's
vocabulary bank and provide alternative words instantly.
Dramatization
This method can be practiced at
ease. It can win the favour of the students as learners like dramatizations and
can easily learn through them. Many situations can be dramatized or
demonstrated.
Examples
Examples
- Sing [Sing a song]
- Open [Open a book]
- Close [Close the book]
Pictures
and Drawings
Pictures of many types and colours
can be used successfully to show the meaning of words and sentence.
Handmade pictures can also be used as there is no need to be very artistic.
Examples
Examples
- into [Raj goes into the circle.]
- in [Rahman is in the circle.]
Drawings can be used to explain the
meaning of things, actions, qualities, and relations. A line drawing of a
head, for example, provides many useful nouns and verbs.
Realia
Real objects or models of real
objects are very effective and meaningful in showing meanings but in handling
of real objects, a teacher must be practical and should not be superfluous.
Series,
Scales, Systems
The meaning of words such as the
months of the year, the days of the week, the parts of the day, seasons of the
year, ordinal numbers, cardinal numbers, etc. that form part of well-known
series can be made clear by placing them in their natural order in
the series.
Parts
of Words
The parts of complex and compound
words may be more common than the words themselves. Separating such words into
their component parts generally elaborates the meaning.
Illustrative
Sentences
Most words have a variety of
restrictions on their use. Systematic descriptions of these restrictions and
idiomatic uses would be laborious and not very effective in teaching. It is
better to give appropriate examples that elucidate the range and variation of
usage.
Practice
from Meaning to Expression
This is controlled practice in which
the class does not create new uses or new contexts but simply recalls the ones
presented. There are many types of practices for this purpose. Pictures,
realia, context, and dramatization can be used. Series and systems can also be
used.
Reading
the Word
Reading words aloud is also very
beneficial. It makes a learner familiar with the word and also improves
pronunciations of the learners.
Writing
the Word
It will enable the class to write
the new word while the auditory memory is fresh, even if the objective is only
to read. Writing or copying the word from the blackboard will give the student
a chance to understand the grammatical aspect of the word such as noun, verb,
adverb, adjective etc.
Shift
of Attention
Under this practice, the teacher
provides a context by description or through reading which elicits the use of
the word. The learners should be asked to pay attention to and develop an
attitude or a point of view which he defends or attacks.
Strategy
for Special Types of Words
Specific techniques or special
combinations of the above techniques may be applicable for particular groups of
words.
Words
That Are Easy to Learn
It has been seen that the words that
are similar in form and meaning to the first language are easy to understand
and comprehend. They should be taught for listening and reading rather than for
speaking and writing.
Words
of Normal Difficulty
Words of normal difficulty are best
taught in contextual realms, such as food, clothing, sports, work, and so on.
There are advantages to using a connected context illustrating the words that
are to be taught. Additional words can be taught as alternatives to those
chosen in the connected context. Practice can be controlled in varying
situations by changing a key word or phrase.
Difficult
Words
Some words and sets of words are
especially difficult to understand. They have to be taught as special
problems with the strategy determined by the particular problem in each case.
Conclusion
An efficient language teacher can
use selected vocabulary activities or can use integrated activities. All this
depends upon ability and level of understanding and interest of the
learners. There is no sure fire remedy or method to enhance vocabulary in
a day or two. A student's vocabulary bank can be enriched on a gradual basis
and one should always show keen interest and enthusiasm in finding, learning
and understanding new words.
References
- A.W. Frisby (1957), "Teaching English", The
English Language Book Society and Longmans Green and Co., p.98.
- Robert Lado (1964), "Language Teaching: A
Scientific Approach", McGraw Hill: New York, p.121.
- Robert Lado (1955), "Patterns of difficulty in
vocabulary" International Journal Language Learning, 6, p.23-41.
- VisnjaPavicic (2003), "Vocabulary and
Autonomy"
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