Vocabulary Learning Strategies How to improve your way of learning new words

Vocabulary Learning Strategies

How to improve your way of learning new words

Aim of this presentation

Reflect about your own strategy use

Learn general strategies that assist memory

Understand more about memory and how to use this information to your advantage

How does the brain work?

Short-term memory working memory

(taking in new vocabulary) (encoding vocabulary)

long-term memory

(remember vocabulary)

Do you know how you learn?

You can only improve your learning if you know how you learn

Analyse your way of studying Keep a reflective learning journal

for a few weeks Ask your friends how they learn and

compare your ideas of learning

What are learning strategies?

Learning strategies are techniques that you can use to improve your learning

There are far more strategies than you might know

Maybe you already use many strategies without knowing it

Most strategies can be improved

Strategies which some of you already use

Repetition repetition repetition (Verbal/written)

Test yourself Use words in conversation Study the sound of a word

Strategies for vocabulary learning

Carry a small vocabulary notebook with you

Revise vocabulary whenever you have a few extra minutes (e.g. when waiting in a queue)

Get active / take responsibility for your learning


Learn associated words together

Learn word families together Play – player – replay – playful – playing – played Employment, employer, employee, employable, unemployed, self-

employed

Use

Look for similarities

clothes

socks

trousers dress

shirt


Think of a physical action or movement which could be related to the word

Be creative: Walking table wave

Give each word a certain sound and/or melody

Connect words to synonyms/antonymsSynonyms: Old: antique – mature – aged - elderly Antonyms: Old-new but also old-young


Paraphrase the word’s meaning “An ambulance is a vehicle which takes ill people to the hospital”

Use index cards / flash cards

Use mnemonics (tricks to remember better)Acronyms/Abbreviations: pto=please turn over, FYI= for your informationFind a word with a similar sound in your own language: lundi/laundry “I

wash my laundry every “lundi”.

Spanish: gato French: gateau

image: cat eating cake


Learn words with collocations (words that normally go together) home: “I went home”, “on the way home”, “I got home”, “I came home”

Look out for idioms and multi-word units“that sort of thing”, “more or less”, “now and again”, “out of the blue”


Use diagrams, charts, pictures and cartoons whenever possible

Relate words to a personal experience


Use the words in a story

The more unusual the easier to remember


Take a mental picture of a word

Involve your feelings and emotions

Make it funny

What do you remember?

How does the brain work?Short-term memory working memory long-term memory

What are vocabulary learning strategies?

Which strategies do you already use? Which other strategies do you

remember? Which ones do you like best?

Thanks for listening

Now it’s your turn

Experiment with the strategies

Find out which ones work best for you

Personalise them

References Cottrell, S. (2003) The Study Skills Handbook (2nd ed.) Hampshire,

Palgrave Macmillan McCarthy, M. & O’Dell, F. (2001) English Vocabulary in Use – upper

intermediate Cambridge, CUP O’Malley, J. & Chamot, A. (1990) Learning Strategies in Second

Language Acquisition Cambridge, CUP Payne, E. Whittaker, L. (2000) Developing Essential Study Skills

Harlow, Pearson Education Ltd Scharle, A. & Szabó, A. (2000) Learner Autonomy - A guide to

developing learner responsibility Cambridge, CUP Schmitt, N. & McCarthy, M. (1997) Vocabulary - Description,

Acquisition and Pedagogy Cambridge, CUP Thornbury, S. (2002) How to Teach Vocabulary Harlow, Pearson

Education Ltd

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Vocabulary Learning Strategies How to improve your way of learning new words