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Developing Student Vocabulary:Fun Ways to Learn Words
Katie Bainwww.elfellowkbain.wordpress.com
ObjectiveParticipants will learn, interact
with, and apply new ways of learning and teaching English
vocabulary.
How do you teach vocabulary?
What are the challenges for teaching vocabulary?
Challenge 1: The large number of words
1. The number of words that students need to know. – To function in English, students need
• 8,000 – 9,000 word families for reading!• 5,000 – 7,000 word families for speaking/listening!
Example of Word Family:• stimulate• stimulated• stimulates• stimulation• Stimulative
(Folse, 2008)
Challenge 2:Depth of Knowledge Needed
• Students must know a lot about a word in order to understand it well and use it correctly.
• What is involved in knowing a word?– Form– Meaning – Use
(Folse, 2008)
Five Types of Vocabulary Learning
1. Single Words2. Set Phrases3. Variable Phrases4. Phrasal Verbs5. Idiomatic Expressions
(Folse, 2008)
Single Words
Single words express one single concept.
roomliving roombedroom
Learners need to know 2,000 to maintain a conversation. Learners need to know 3,000 single word families to read
authentic texts. (Folse, 2008)
Set Phrases
Set phrases consist of more than one word and cannot be changed at all.
Example: “On the other hand”
NOT
“On the other hands”“On the other fingers”
(Folse, 2008)
Variable Phrases
In Variable Phrases, most of the phrase stays the same, but some parts may change.
Examples:“It has come to our attention.”“It has come to my attention.”
(Folse, 2008)
Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal Verb = verb + particle
put uptake downcome onmake upgo awayget over
(Folse, 2008)
Idioms(Idiomatic Expressions)
In an idiom, the meaning of the whole phrase is different than the meaning of the
individual words
Example:“Who let the cat out of the bag?”
means
“Who told the secret?”(Folse, 2008)
Multiple Meanings(Polysemy)
• Hammer (noun or verb?)
• Table– furniture– set of numbers– action of stopping conversation– description (table cloth)
(Folse, 2008)
Connotation
Positive Neutral Negative
purebred dog mutt
youngster child kid
pass away die kick the bucket
(Folse, 2008)
Part of Speech
noun – amazementverb – to amaze
adjective – amazingadverb - amazingly
(Folse, 2008)
Frequency
usualcommon• “Smith” is a common last name.
discardthrow away* I’m going to discard my old books.
(Folse, 2008)
Collocation
co = togethertogether + location
Collocation has to do with a word or phrase that naturally or frequently occurs near another word in context.
• squander….money/resources• commit… murder, suicide, fraud, grand larceny
(Folse, 2008)
So what do we do?
• Successful vocabulary activities help students to …– Focus on the vocabulary– Experience the words many times– Develop good learning strategies
(Folse, 2008)
Goal 1: Focus on the Vocabulary
• How do we make students NOTICE words? – write them on the board– keep a section of the board or chart paper for
vocabulary– word walls– Students mark key vocabulary
(Folse, 2008)
Goal #2: Experience the Word Many Times • Students have to see, hear, and use a word
multiple times to understand and know it well.– matching– writing– spelling– naming/identifying– writing it in a sentence
(Folse, 2008)
Goal #3: Develop Successful Vocabulary Learning Strategies
• Teachers show students many different ways to acquire and memorize vocabulary.
• Students eventually pick and choose what works best for them.
(Folse, 2008)
Activities and Ideas
1. Keep a running list of words2. Vocabulary Cards3. Ranking Vocabulary Items4. Scrambled vocabulary envelopes5. Word Sorts (Lexical Sets)6. Dialogues7. What’s missing8. Erase9. Smack10. Listen and Draw (Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)
#1: Keep a Running List of Words
(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)
#2: Vocabulary Cards
(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)
#3: Ranking Vocabulary Items
(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)
#4: Scrambled Vocabulary Envelopes
(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)
#5: Word Sorts(Lexical Sets)
(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)
#6: Dialogues
(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)
#7: What’s Missing?
(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)
#8: Erase!
(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)
#9: Smack!
(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)
#10: Listen and Draw
(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)
Sources• Folse, Keith S. "Myths about Teaching and Learning Second Language Vocabulary: What Recent Research
Says." TESL Reporter. 37.2 (2004): 1-13. Web. 14 May. 2013. <http://api.ning.com/files/6jocxzFU7kaIe5Zr-7tGPjFfR4UU882*VrN2OvUu3k5McnMv0n1TAtnyYhSkyQ21XFaralZovXUY4qI0hxyOmdLfCywAVFtB/MythsaboutTeachingandLearningSecondLanguageVocabularyFolseKeith.pdf>.
• Folse, Keith. "Six vocabulary activities for the English language classroom." English Teaching Forum. 1.3 (2008): n. page. Web. 15 May. 2013.
• "Lexical Profiler." Compleat Lexical Tutor: VocabProfile. N.p.. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://www.lextutor.ca/>.• Nan, Yao, and Zuo Mingfang. "Using VOA Special English To Improve Advanced English Learners’ Productive
Use of High Frequency Words." English Teaching Forum. 1.3 (2009): 26-37. Web. 14 May. 2013.• Ryan, Katie. "Activating Vocabulary: Creating a Way With Words." Shaping the Way We Teach English
Webinar Series. U.S. Department of State. Washington, DC. 17 Oct 2012. Lecture.• Schindler, Andrea. "Channelling Children's Enercy Through Vocabulary Activities." English Teaching Forum.
1.2 (2006): 8-12. Web. 14 May. 2013. • Schmitt, Norbert. "Review article Instructed second language vocabulary learning." Language Teaching
Research. 12.3 (2008): 329–363. Web. 14 May. 2013. <http://api.ning.com/files/NYB1ymk6ME*n7N5NiQMFl5p5BS0MMK8z-B-8b0SIA9bcKlAHL3R53TTqMlUe7q7l8QF1IGOmSjbZ24cdlQ9vPhiahGW7Qkas/InstructedSecondLanguageVocabularyLearningSchmittNorbert.pdf>.
• Schmitt, Norbert. "Six vocabulary Activities for the English Language Classroom." English Teaching Forum. 1.3 (2008): 12-21. Web. 14 May. 2013.
