Voc Worshop1

8/10/2019 Voc Worshop1

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Teaching Vocabulary: Theory and Techniques

Ken Cranker

Objectives: To consider what methods of learning vocabulary worked for us

To understand what vocabulary needs to be taught and why

To increase awareness of obstacles to vocabulary learningTo conceptualize four major strands of vocabulary teaching

To grapple with some practical techniques of teaching vocabulary

Theoretical Background

With the advent of the communicative approach to language teaching, studying and

teaching word lists, focusing lessons on vocabulary, and deliberately teaching vocabulary

was largely neglected. It was not completely ignored, but it was taught on a need-of-the-

moment contingency basis. However, thanks largely to the development of computers and

corpus analysis and the work of Paul Nation (School of Linguistics and Applied Language

Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand), we now know what words need

to be focused on when teaching vocabulary, and to some extent why.

Presentation Outline

I.

Introduction: Some questions:

a.

How did you learn English vocabulary?

b.

What did you do?

c.

What worked?

d. What didnt?

e.

How do you teach vocabulary now?

f. How do you feel about it?

g. What worked for me.

II.

Theory

a.

West (1953) General service list

b.

1990s corpus analysis, Nation

Top 2000 words nearly identical to Wests, covers 80% of words in academic

texts and newspapers, 87% in novels, >90% of informal conversation

Meaning?

c.

How much do we need to know? Hu and Nation (2000) 95-98%

d. Coxhead (2000) Academic Word List 570 headwords ~ 10% of academic texts.

AWL + GSL ~ 90%, close, but not enough

e.

Nation/Schmidt Levels Test 2000, 3000, AWL, 5000, 10000 See Appendix

III Problems with Vocabulary

a. Forgetting: Ebbinghaus (1885) (cited in Myers, 1993)

b.

Not encountering: >3000 word level words are rarely encountered

forgetting even after learned

c. Passive/Active vocabulary

d.

Tedium: Boring and difficult

III.

How to teach: Four strands

a. Meaning focused input:

extensive leveled (graded) reading at appropriate level 1book/week

(Day & Bamford, 1998)


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Extensive listening at appropriate level (difficult to find), note-taking,

info-transfer (listen and fill in table/diagram)

b.

Meaning-focused output:

Re-telling stories, reporting info using vocabulary cues (active vocab)

c. Language focused study: (memorization)

Word lists (GSL, AWL)

Word Parts (Greek and Latin roots and affixes)Vocabulary cards, frequent exposure and review with time in between

(decontextualized, but research seems to support that deliberate

learning is more efficient than incidental)

When using cards for learning new vocabulary, learners should write the word on one side

and its first language translation on the other, should try to retrieve the meaning rather than

just flipping over the card without thinking, should keep changing the order of the cards,

should increasingly space the learning sessions, and should avoid putting words of related

meanings (synonyms, opposites, lexical sets) in the same pack of cards (Nation, 2000).

d. Fluency: using already known vocabulary in large quantities while focusing on

meaning and being pushed for speed. (Speed reading, repeated reading,10-minute writing, re-listening, 4/3/2 story telling same story to 3

different listeners in 4 minutes, then 3, then 2)

Native speakers easily learn 1000 new words per year until early 20s. Is it possible to come

close to this in an EFL classroom?

A few other points: concept/context cat, whiskers, paw, claw, climb, scratch

Interest: miming, games (Bingo), content of stories

Recyclereview with increasing time in between

Possibilities of the Internet (Interactive vocabulary sites, variety of sites, variety of

stories of interest. Level not necessarily controlled, but can find stories or

information on almost any topic of interest

Materials from Books in the Box

English for Everyday Activities(either or both levels and cassettes)

English You Need for the Office

Miming, re-telling, charades for review

Getting a Fix on Vocabulary

Affixes, reading, re-reading, re-telling

Great Big Bingo Book

Review of almost any vocabulary (food, action, body parts, weather, sports)

You can even make your own for word parts or more academic vocabulary.

Interactive TutorialTravel Journal (p. 51) This can be adapted to cities, museums, ball parks, or

any number of situations for introduction, practice, or review. Re-tell the

stories that have been made with new pairs in 4/3/2 exercise.

Nasreddin Hodja

Witty stories for learning vocabulary in context and re-telling

Thematic Word Search

Good for consolidating and filling in spaces between units or after tests. If one

encounters an unfamiliar word, it can be investigated and taught by students.


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World We Live In(Book 1 and/or 2)

Interesting content for science and culture. Vocabulary may be taught before

or after readings. Read in small groups. Tell, re-tell based on vocabulary cues.

Interaction and Follow-Up Assignment

Work with Books in the Box to develop lessons for your own classroom. Lessons

may incorporate parts of the books as they are, or they may be adapted. Lessons will beshared in the workshop if time permits, and written up in teachers portfolios.

References

Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly 34(2): 213-238.

Day, R.R. and J. Bamford. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hu, M & Nation, I. S. P. (2000). Unknown vocabulary density and reading

comprehension.Reading in a Foreign Language, 13, 1, 403-430.

Joe, A., P. Nation, and J. Newton. (1996). Speaking activities and vocabulary learning.

English Teaching Forum 34 (1): 2-7.

Nation, P. (2000). Learning words in lexical sets: dangers and guidelines. TESOL Journal 9

(2): 6-10.

Nation, I.S.P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Nation, P. (2001) How Good is Your Vocabulary Program?ESL Magazine. Retrieved June 17,

2005 from http://www.eslmag.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=24

Nation, P. and A. Hamilton-Jenkins. (2000). Using communicative tasks to teach

vocabulary. Guidelines 22 (2): 15-19.

Myers, D.G. (1993).Exploring psychology. New York: Worth Publishers.

Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

West, M. (1953). A general service list of English words. London: Longman.


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Appendix

A Vocabulary Levels Test

This is a vocabulary test. You must choose the right word to go with each meaning. Write

the number of the word next to its meaning. Here is an example.

1. business

_____ part of a house

2. clock

_____ animal with four legs

3. horse

_____ something used for writing

4. pencil

5. shoe

6. wall

You answer it in the following way:

1. business

6 part of a house

2. clock

3 animal with four legs

3. horse

4 something used for writing

4. pencil

5. shoe

6. wall

Some extra words are in the test to make it more difficult. You do not have to find a meaning

for those words. In the example above, these words are business, clock,and shoe.

Try to do every part of the test.

The 2000-word level

1. original

_____ complete

2. private

3. royal

_____ first

4. slow

5. sorry

_____ not public

6. total


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____________________________________________________

1. apply

_____ choose by voting

2. elect

3. jump

_____ become like water4. manufacture

5. melt

_____ make

6. threaten

________________________________________________________

1. blame

_____ keep away from sight

2. hide

3. hit

_____ have a bad effect on something4. invite

5. pour

_____ ask

6. spoil

_______________________________________________________

1. accident

_____ having a high opinion of yourself

2. choice

3. debt

_____ something you must pay

4. fortune

5. pride

_____ loud, deep sound

6. roar

___________________________________________________________

1. basket

_____ money paid regularly for doing a job

2. crop

3. flesh

_____ heat

4. salary

5. temperature

_____ meat

6. thread

______________________________________________________


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1. birth

_____ being born

2. dust

3. operation

_____ game

4. row

5. sport

_____ winning

6. victory

__________________________________________________________

The 3000-word level

1. administration

_____ managing business and affairs

2. angel

3. front_____ spirit who serves God

4. herd

5. mate

_____ group of animals

6. pond

____________________________________________________________

1. bench

_____ part of a country

2. charity

3. fort

_____ help to the poor

4. jar

5. mirror

_____ long seat

6. province

_____________________________________________________________

1. coach

_____ a thin, flat piece cut from something

2. darling

3. echo

_____ person who is loved very much

4. interior

5. opera

_____ sound reflected back to you

6. slice


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_________________________________________________________

1. marble

_____ inner surface of your hand

2. palm

3. ridge

_____ excited feeling4. scheme

5. statue

_____ plan

6. thrill

____________________________________________________________

1. discharge

_____ use pictures or examples to show meaning

2. encounter

3. illustrate

_____ meet4. knit

5. prevail

_____ throw up into the air

6. toss

__________________________________________________________

1. annual

_____ happening once a year

2. blank

3. brilliant

_____ certain

4. concealed

5. definite

_____ wild

6. savage

The 5000-word level

1. alcohol

_____ cloth worn in front to protect your clothes

2. apron

3. lure

_____ stage of development

4. mess

5. phase

_____ state of untidiness or dirtiness

6. plank


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________________________________________________________

1. circus

_____ speech given by a priest in a church

2. jungle

3. nomination

_____ seat without a back or arms4. sermon

5. stool

_____ musical instrument

6. trumpet

_________________________________________________________

1. apparatus

_____ set of instruments or machinery

2. compliment

3. revenue

_____ money received by the government4. scrap

5. tile

_____ express admiration

6. ward

_____________________________________________________________

1. bruise

_____ agreement using property as security for a debt

2. exile

3. ledge

_____ narrow shelf

4. mortgage

5. shovel

_____ dark place on your body caused by hitting

6. switch

_______________________________________________________________

1. blend

_____ hold tightly in your arms

2. devise

3. embroider

_____ plan or invent

4. hug

5. imply

_____ mix

6. paste

__________________________________________________


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___________________________________________________

1. anonymous

_____ without the writers name

2. indigenous

3. maternal

_____ least possible amount4. minimum

5. nutrient

_____ native

6. modification

________________________________________________________

1. elementary

_____ of the beginning stage

2. negative

3. static

_____ not moving or changing4. random

5. reluctant

_____ final, furthest

6. ultimate

_________________________________________________________

1. coincide

_____ prevent people from doing something they want to do

2. coordinate

3. expel

_____ add to

4. frustrate

5. supplement

_____ send out by force

6. transfer

The 10,000-word level

1. acquiesce

_____ work at something without serious intentions

2. contaminate

3. crease

_____ accept without protest

4. dabble

5. rape

_____ make a fold on cloth or paper

6. squint


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______________________________________________________

1. blaspheme

_____ give care and food to

2. endorse

3. nurture

_____ speak badly about God4. overhaul

5. skid

_____ slip or slide

6. straggle

__________________________________________________________

1. auxiliary

_____ full of self-importance

2. candid

3. dubious

_____ helping, adding support4. morose

5. pompous

_____ bad-tempered

6. temporal

__________________________________________________________

1. anterior

_____ small and weak

2. concave

3. interminable

_____ easily changing

4. puny

5. volatile

_____ endless

6. wicker


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_________________________________________________________1. dregs

_____ worst and most useless part of anything

2. flurry

3. hostage _____ natural liquid present in the mouth4. jumble

5. saliva_____ confused mixture

6. truce

__________________________________________________________

1. auspices_____ being away from other people

2. casualty

3. froth

_____ someone killed or injured

4. haunch

5. revelry

_____ noisy and happy celebration

6. seclusion

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