Vocabulary Building Strategies

Vocabulary Building StrategiesELCE Summer Institute: July, 2013Facilitator: Sonja Follett

Practice makes perfect…

We need to see learning any particular word as being a cumulative process where knowledge is built up over a series of varied meetings with the word.

At best, teaching can provide only one or two of these meetings.

The others involve deliberate study, meeting through meaning-focused input and output, and fluency development activities (Paul Nation, “Teaching Vocabulary”, Asian EFL Journal)

“Light”With a partner, write down the definition of the word “light”Please also include the part of speechNow, share with the group…

Difficult?Explain what you found difficult about the assignment.What are the problems language learners have when they learn new vocabulary?

“Light” Definition

Still going…

Not done yet…

Just a little bit more…

And…DONE!

The 3 aspects of vocabulary learning…MeaningFormUse

MeaningDefinitionConceptAssociations

FormSpoken FormWritten FormWord parts

UseGrammatical functionsCollocationsConstraints on use

“Save”What is the meaning?What is the form?What is the use?

MeaningWhat activities help Ss to learn a word’s meaning?In pairs, write down one or two activities that you think help Ss learn a word’s meaning.

Meaning activitiesWord and meaning matchingLabelingSentence completionCrossword puzzles

FormWhat activities help Ss to learn a word’s form?In pairs, write down one or two activities that you think help Ss learn a word’s form.

Form activitiesFollowing spelling rulesRecognizing word partsBuilding word family tables

UseWhat activities help Ss to learn a word’s use?In pairs, write down one or two activities that you think help Ss learn a word’s use.

Use activitiesSentence completionCollocation matchingCollocation tablesInterpreting dictionary entries

Content Bingo Have Ss make their own definitions (advanced)Give descriptions instead of words (intermediate/advanced)

Word form charts

Word Form Fill-in-the-blank

Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word.

1. Large rocks and meteorites crashed into the moon’s surface_________________________ large holes called craters. create creation creator creating 

2. One of the _______________________ of the space program was to land a man on the moon.  goal goalkeepers goals goal-oriented

Flashcards

FlashcardsFlashcards can be either picture and English definition orL1 and L2 words For example: Ekimi DoctorHave Ss make their own set of flashcards for new vocabulary.Then, have pairs quiz each other using the flashcards.

Student generated Fill-in-the-blank

Give Ss a list of vocabulary words Ask pairs to create their own fill-in-the blank sentences for 2 words.Have pairs exchange papers with another pair and try to complete their sentences.Have the small group discuss answers.

Fill-in-the-BlankWords: sun, windThe ________ was shining brightly yesterday.The terrible _________ blew down a tree today.

Using 10 words in a story

Give Ss a list of vocabulary words. Tell them they must use at least 10 of the words in a short story or paragraph.(Note: this can be done in pairs or small groups)Collect the story (it is a vocabulary assessment).(pollution, environment, trash, smoke, plastic bags, cans, recycle, community, laws, throw away)

Categorization 1. Sort the word cards by category. (e.g., words related to people, words related to things).2. Find words that have certain connotations such as positive and negative, good and bad, desirable and undesirable.3. Sort words by part of speech (e.g., nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives).

Spelling BeeSmall class or small groupsHave Ss stand in a line in front of the board.Say the first vocabulary word and ask the first student to spell the word.If the student is correct, she/he stays at the board.If the student is incorrect, she/he must sit down.Note: Emphasize that learning is a process and mistakes are a normal and necessary part of that process. Consider if this activity is appropriate for your students.

Fly SwatterChoose a vocabulary word from your lesson.Have two Ss come to the front of the class.Give each Ss a rolled up piece of paper.Write the word on the board – (one word is spelled correctly, the other word is not)For example:Truck TrukThe first student to “hit” the correct word wins a point for their team.

Word TilesHave Ss make a set of alphabet cardsAsk Ss to make 2 or 3 cards for each letter.Ask Ss to work in pairs and spell as many words as possible related to their lesson content.When Ss complete one word, they must write it on a piece of paper. At the end of 10 minutes, collect the papers and see which group has won!

Vocabulary charts   See handout provided…When you teach new content words, give Ss a list of the words as homework.Ask Ss to fill out at least 4 of the chart boxes for each word. Have pairs work together in the next lesson to share what information they wrote down.Collect the charts at the end of the unit and test Ss on their acquired word knowledge.

ReferencesNation, Paul. “Teaching Vocabulary” Asian EFL Journal. Nation, P. (2008). Teaching Vocabulary. Online Course offered by Thomson ELT. Nation, P. (2007). The Four Strands. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 2-13.