Vocabulary for English Learners

V O C A B U L A R Y F O R E L S

M E L A N I E G O N Z A L E Z ,

S A L E M S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

AGENDA

• Part I: Evidence-based practices for developing English Learners’ vocabulary

– What does the research say

– Best practices in teaching second language vocabulary

– Resources

• Part II (Break-out session): Vocabulary development activities

– Four vocabulary best practices

– Q&A discussion

M.Gonzalez 1/13/2016

ANTICIPATIONS

PAIR-SQUARE-SHARE

In pairs, read the quote you receive and reflect on the following:

• What does this quote mean for our English Learners?

• What are the challenges and successes posited by this quote?

• What connections (examples, anecdotes, etc.) can you make between your teaching and what

the researchers/teachers/ELs are saying?

Square with another group and share your discussion.


IN THE AGE OF COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

• Explicit, direct vocabulary instruction all but disappeared from the curriculum

• Debate between whether students learn better through incidental or intentional exposure

• Errors in vocabulary tends to resist correction


WHAT IS VOCABULARY?

VOCABULARY ITEMS EXAMPLE

• Single words

• Set phrases

• Variable phrases

• Phrasal verbs

• idioms

• Destructive; elephant; hypothesis

• In other words; it’s up to you; back and forth

• Subject + poised to deliver a +adjective + noun; off and on

• Put away; come up with; take away

• Get with it; case of the Mondays


WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO “KNOW” A WORD?

WORD KNOWLEDGE EXAMPLE

• Polysemy

• Denotation/Connotation

• Frequency

• Usage

• collocation

• conduct

• slim vs. skinny

• Purple vs. aubergine

• synonyms for dying

• commit*; argue*


PREDICTING LEXICAL ISSUESWHOLE GROUP: What are potential vocabulary words for ELLs in this

passage from Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby? What word knowledge is required?

I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house, I was one of

the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited — they

went there. They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island,

and somehow they ended up at Gatsby’s door. Once there they were

introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby, and after that they conducted

themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement

parks. Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came

for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission.

Mark up/highlight Passage 1 in Appendix B in your handout


PREDICTING LEXICAL ISSUESCOMPARE AND SHARE: What are potential vocabulary words for ELLs in

this passage from Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby? What word knowledge is

required?

I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house, I was one of

the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited —

they went there. They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long

Island, and somehow they ended up at Gatsby’s door. Once there they were

introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby, and after that they conducted

themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement

parks. Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all,

came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of

admission.

Now, complete Passage 2 on your own, then compare and share

with a colleague. M.Gonzalez 1/13/2016

MYTH 1: ELS WILL LEARN VOCABULARY IMPLICITLY.

• Introduce, highlight, repeat, and revisit

vocabulary

• Hold ELs accountable for word

development

• Drills, keep word walls, vocabulary

notebooks, etc.


Myth 1: Folse (2004)

MYTH 2: PRESENT VOCABULARY IN SEMANTIC SETS.

• Present new vocabulary thematically,

through the content

• Present through tiers or types

• Vocabulary walk throughs/previews

• Revisit often



MYTH 3: DON’T KNOW A WORD? USE CONTEXT CLUES.

• L1 translation is definition #1

• Teacher/peer guided definitions

• Create vocabulary notebooks or word

walls

• Teach context clues as a reading strategy,

not vocabulary acquisition



VOCABULARY RESOURCES

TOOL WEB ADDRESS USES

VocabProfile

Classic;

VocabProfile Kids

http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/eng/

http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/kids/

Profile lexical complexity of an

electronic text; Categorize words

based on frequency of occurrence

Word and Phrase http://www.wordandphrase.info/

analyzeText.asp

Similar to VocabProfile, but more for

academic content areas; Can

concordance the words to find

collocations

Academic Word

Finder

http://achievethecore.org/academic-

word-finder/

Profiles the words according to

grade level and tiers




VocabProfile

Classic;

VocabProfile

Kids




electronic text; Categorize

words based on frequency of

occurrence

Word and Phrase http://www.wordandphrase.info/anal

yzeText.asp




collocations

Academic Word

Finder


word-finder/



Go to:

http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/boston-tea-

party-facts

Click on: “Who organized the Boston Tea Party?”

What do you find? How might this tool be useful?


http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/boston-tea-party-facts



VocabProfile

Classic;

VocabProfile Kids






Word and

Phrase

http://www.wordandphrase.info/

analyzeText.asp

Similar to VocabProfile, but

more for academic content

areas; Can concordance the

words to find collocations

Academic Word

Finder


word-finder/



Use the same passage for Word

and Phrase

What do you find? How does it

compare to the VocabProfile?

How might this tool be useful?




VocabProfile

Classic;

VocabProfile Kids






Word and Phrase http://www.wordandphrase.info/anal

yzeText.asp




collocations

Academic Word

Finder

http://achievethecore.org/acade

mic-word-finder/



Use the same Boston Tea Party Passage

What do you find? How does it compare to

the VocabProfile? How might this tool be

useful?


“MAD 3 MINUTES”

• You have three minutes to think of all

the keywords/phrases used or related to

this afternoon’s discussion

• When the three minutes is up, select one

or two of the keywords/phrases to share

with the group

• Select one from the board that you feel

best summarizes vocabulary

learning/teaching and why you feel this

way


C O N TAC T I N F O

THANK YOU!Melanie Gonzalez

[email protected]


V O C A B U L A R Y D E V E LO P M E N T

P R A C T I C E S

M E L A N I E G O N Z A L E Z ,

S A L E M S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

VOCABULARY TEACHING INVENTORY

• Turn to Appendix A in your packet

• Take a moment to put a: +, , or - next to each of the aspects of word knowledge to rank

how well your ELs are developing each aspect of word knowledge in the classroom

• Review your checkmarks: Where are the strengths? Where can we do better?


PRACTICE 1: KEEP A RUNNING LIST OF WORDS

• Word walls

• Vocabulary notebooks

• Academic word lists

Which of Nation’s (2001) aspects of word

knowledge do these types of activities fall?

Can you think of other ways to have our ELs

keep a running list of words?

Word: photosynthesis My definition: how plantsuse the sunlight to eat food

Example sentence: Photosynthesis begins when plants absorb energy from the sun’s light.

My understanding:

1 2 3 4

Picture clue:


PRACTICE 2: VOCABULARY CARDS

• Flashcards

• “Find your partner”

• Word sorts

• Ranking

• “Odd man out”

Which of Nation’s aspects of word


Can you think of other ways to use

vocabulary cards?

Ranking: The following three items were bought at Market Basket yesterday. Look at the advertisement and rank these from the cheapest (1) to the most expensive (3).

__ a box of cereal

__ a bunch of bananas

__ two packs of gum

From Folse, 2008

“Odd Man Out”: Read the three words on your card.

Circle the word that does not belong in this group. Why?

convert photosynthesis oxygenOR

make a bed make homework make a mistake


PRACTICE 3: WORD PUZZLES AND GAMES

• Sentence auction

• Vocabulary ladder puzzle

• Sentence scrambles

• Analogies



Can you think of other ways to use word

puzzles and games?

Vocabulary ladder puzzle: The three missing

words in the

vocabulary ladder all have three letters.

Each word differs from the word immediately

above or immediately below by

only one letter. Use this information and

the clues to solve the puzzle.

1. __ __ __ Would you like a ___ of tea?

2. __ __ __ A baby dog is called a puppy or a

___.

3. __ __ __ Let’s ___ some popcorn! I’m

hungry!

From Folse, 2008


PRACTICE 4: DRILLS

• Revisit and review vocabulary by asking a

series of quick questions – takes very little

prep to do!


knowledge do drills fall?

Can you think of other ways to use drills?

Sample questions:

• Which word means “when plants convert

light into food?”

• Which words do we use when we add?

• Which words mean something negative?

• Which words are proper nouns?

• How many words end in –ing? Are you

sure?

And so forth!


IN SUM…

• Vocabulary development activities do not need to take up a lot of class time – key is to develop high impact activities

• Multiple retrievals are key – an average of 13 encounters are needed to acquire a word

TURN & TALK:

3- new things we want to try

2- challenges we are facing

1- discussion question for the group that we still have

Be prepared to share the question with the large group


C O N TAC T I N F O

THANK YOU!Melanie Gonzalez

[email protected]


REFERENCES

• Folse, K. S. (2004). Vocabulary myths: Applying second language research to classroom teaching. Ann

Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

• Folse, K. (2008). Six vocabulary activities for the English language classroom. English Teaching

Forum, 3, 12-20.

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

University Press.


Vocabulary for English Learners

Education

Transcript of Vocabulary for English Learners