Lecture 13: Teaching Vocabulary - Modern Technologies

Lecture 13: Teaching vocabulary. Modern technologies of teaching vocabulary lecturer: Satibaldiev E.K. Outline 1. Foreword (Definition of vocabulary and its types) 2. Aspects of vocabulary to teach: form, grammar, collocation, meaning, word formation. 3. Meth...

Lecture 13: Teaching vocabulary. Modern technologies of teaching vocabulary lecturer: Satibaldiev E.K. Outline 1. Foreword (Definition of vocabulary and its types) 2. Aspects of vocabulary to teach: form, grammar, collocation, meaning, word formation. 3. Methods of presenting vocabulary: definition, examples, illustrations, synonyms, translation. 4. Vocabulary activities: brainstorming, identifying known words. 5. Vocabulary testing techniques.  Foreword What is vocabulary? Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language. ! However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: for example, post office and mother-in-law, which are made up of two or three words but express a single idea. ! There are also multi-word idioms such as call it a day, where the meaning of the phrase cannot be deduced from an analysis of the component words. A useful convention is to cover all such cases by talking about vocabulary ‘items’ rather than ‘words’. What needs to be taught? 1. Form: pronunciation and spelling The learner has to know what a word sounds like (its pronunciation) and what it looks like (its spelling). These are fairly obvious characteristics, and one or the other will be perceived by the learner when encountering the item for the first time. In teaching, we need to make sure that both these aspects are accurately presented and learned. On Wednesday, the colonel ate salmon at a buffet, mispronounced quinoa, and planned a rendezvous on his yacht. He admired garden gnomes, paid his debt, and under a pseudonym, wrote about the choir singing near the hors d'oeuvres table. His subtle trick? Avoiding the receipt while questioning the gauge of meal sizes. What needs to be taught? 2. Grammar The grammar of a new item will need to be taught if this is not obviously covered by general grammatical rules. When teaching a new verb, for example, we might give also its past form, if this is irregular (think, thought), and we might note if it is transitive or intransitive. Similarly, when teaching a noun, we may wish to present its plural form, if irregular (mouse, mice), or draw learners’ attention to the fact that it has no plural at all (advice, information). We may present verbs such as want and enjoy together with the verb form that follows them (want to, enjoy -ing), or adjectives or verbs together with their following prepositions (responsible for, remind someone of). What needs to be taught? 3. Collocation The collocations typical of particular items are another factor that makes a particular combination sound ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in a given context. So, this is another piece of information about a new item which it may be worth teaching. When introducing words like decision and conclusion, for example, we may note that you take or make the one, but usually come to the other; similarly, you throw a ball but toss a coin; you may talk about someone being dead tired but it sounds odd to say *dead fatigued. Collocations are also often noted in dictionaries, either by providing the whole collocation under one of the head-words, or by a note in parenthesis. What needs to be taught? 4. Aspects of meaning (1): denotation, connotation, appropriateness The meaning of a word is primarily what it refers to in the real world, its denotation; this is often the sort of definition that is given in a dictionary. For example, dog denotes a kind of animal; more specifically, a common, domestic carnivorous mammal; and both dank and moist mean slightly wet. A less obvious component of the meaning of an item is its connotation: the associations, or positive or negative feelings it evokes, which may or may not be indicated in a dictionary definition. The word dog, for example, as understood by most British people, has positive connotations of friendship and loyalty; whereas the equivalent in Arabic, as understood by most people in Arab countries has negative associations of dirt and inferiority. Within the English language, moist has favourable connotations while dank has unfavourable; so that you could describe something as ‘pleasantly moist’ where ‘pleasantly dank’ would sound absurd. What needs to be taught? 5. Aspects of meaning (2): meaning relationships How the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others can also be useful in teaching. There are various such relationships: here are some of the main ones. Synonyms: items that mean the same, or nearly the same; for example, bright. clever, smart may serve as synonyms of intelligent. Antonyms: items that mean the opposite; rich is an antonym of poor. Hyponyms: items that serve as specific examples of a general concept; dog, lion, mouse are hyponyms of animal. Co-hyponyms or co-ordinates: other items that are the ‘same kind of thing’; red, blue, green and brown are co-ordinates. Superordinates: general concepts that ‘cover’ specific items; animal is the superordinate of dog, lion, mouse. Translation: words or expressions in the learners’ mother tongue (more or less) equivalent in meaning to the item being taught. What needs to be taught? 6. Word formation Vocabulary items, whether one-word or multi-word, can often be broken down into their component ‘bits’. Exactly how these bits are put together is another piece of useful information - perhaps mainly for more advanced learners. You may wish to teach the common prefixes and suffixes: for example, if learners know the meaning of sub-, un- and -able, this will help them guess the meanings of words like substandard, ungrateful and untranslatable. They should, however, be warned that in many common words the affixes no longer have any obvious connection with their root meaning (for example, subject, comfortable). New combinations using prefixes are not unusual, and the reader or hearer would be expected to gather their meaning from an understanding of their components (ultra-modern, super- hero).  WAYS OF PRESENTING THE MEANING OF NEW ITEMS A cat is a small, furry animal that is often kept as a pet and is known for being independent and agile. o concise definition o detailed description (of appearance, qualities…) A cat is a four-legged mammal with a flexible body, sharp claws, and whiskers. It has a long tail, soft fur, and comes in o examples (hyponyms) various colors and patterns. Cats are known for their ability to jump high, their keen eyesight (especially at night), and o illustration (picture, object) their habit of purring when they are happy. o demonstration (acting, mime) o context (story or sentence in which the item occurs) Different types of cats include Persian cats, o synonyms Siamese cats, Bengal cats, and Maine Coons. o opposite(s) (antonyms) o translation o associated ideas, collocations QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION: VOCABULARY PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES 1. Some techniques are more popular than others. What are they, and can you account for their popularity? 2. Are there techniques that are particularly appropriate for the presentation of certain types of words? 3. Are there techniques which are likely to be more, or less, appropriate for particular learner populations (young/adult, beginner/advanced, different background cultures)? 4. Do you, as an individual, find that you prefer some kinds of techniques and tend to avoid others? Which? And why?  Ideas for vocabulary activities Brainstorming round an idea Write a single word in the centre of the board, and ask students to brainstorm all the words they can think of that are connected with it. Every item that is suggested is written up on the board with a line connecting it to the original word, so that the end result is a ‘sun-ray’ effect. For example, the word tree might produce something like the sketch below. Identifying words we know As an introduction to the vocabulary of a new reading passage: the students are given the new text, and asked to underline, or mark with fluorescent pens, all the words they know. They then get together in pairs or threes to compare: a student who knows something not known to their friend(s) teaches it to them, so that they can mark it in on their texts. They then try to guess the meaning of the remaining unmarked items. Finally, the teacher brings the class together to hear results, checking guesses and teaching new items where necessary. VOCABULARY-TESTING TECHNIQUES Example 1 Choose the letter of the item which is the nearest in meaning to the word in italics: He was reluctant to answer. a) unprepared b) unwilling c) refusing d) slow Example 2 Choose the letter of the definition which comes closest in meaning to the word alert. a) ready and willing b) tense and excited c) tending to talk a lot d) in high spirits  Examples 1 and 2: Multiple-choice Note that only denotative meaning is tested, the testee does not need to know the words’ connotations, spelling, pronunciation, grammar, or how they would be used in context. Multiple-choice questions are tricky and time-consuming to compose, but, if the answers are clear, very quick and easy to mark. Note that a testee who does not know the answer has a 25 per cent chance of being right by guessing! The second example allows for more careful and subtle distinctions in meaning.  Example 3 Draw lines connecting the pairs of opposites. A B brave awake female expensive cheap succeed asleep cowardly fail male Example 3: Matching As in the previous examples, only meaning is tested; and is knowledge of an opposite a proof that the testee knows the meaning of the original word? Matching items are quicker and easier to compose than multiple-choice; but note that the last option - if the learner has all the others right - becomes obvious. This problem can be corrected by the provision of more items in Column B than in A.  Example 4 Which of the prefixes in Column A can combine with which of the words in Column B? Write out the complete words. A B over human trans national super flow dis form in flect Example 4: Matching Here the only thing that is being tested is whether the testee is aware of the existence of the (combined) word! Which probably means they also know its meaning, but this fact is not actually being tested. Example 5 Underline the odd one out: goat, horse, cow, spider, sheep, dog, cat. Example 5: Odd one out Again, only meaning is being tested, and you have no way of being sure that all the items are known. But this is at least more interesting to do, and usually easy to mark. Example 6 For each of the following words, write a sentence that makes its meaning clear. 1. wealth 2. laughter 3. decision 4. brilliant Example 6: Writing sentences Spelling and pronunciation of the items are not tested, but most other aspects are. This is a bit boring to do, and difficult to mark objectively, but does check the testee’s knowledge fairly well. Example 7 (The teacher dictates the words from Example 6, the students write them down.) Example 7: Dictation Dictation tests aural recognition and spelling only. However, if learners can recognize and spell an item correctly, they probably also know what it means: is extremely difficult to perceive, let alone spell, words you do not know. A relatively easy test to administer and check. Example 8 (The teacher dictates the mother-tongue equivalents of the words in Example 6, the students write down the target-language versions.) Example 8: Dictation-translation This checks if students know meaning and spelling only. There is the problem that the mother-tongue translation may be inexact or misleading; but if it is a reasonable equivalent, then this is a very quick, easy and convenient test to administer and check. Example 9 Fill in the gaps: In the seventeenth ________ Spanish ships sailed ________ to Central and ________ America to fetch gold for the Spanish ________. The ships were often attacked by ________, who infested the "Spanish Main" (the sea ________ north-east of Central and South America). Example 10 Complete the passage using the words from the list: area, century, pirates, government, regularly, South In the seventeenth ________ Spanish ships sailed ________ to Central and ________ America to fetch gold for the Spanish ________. The ships were often attacked by ________, who infested the "Spanish Main" (the sea ________ north-east of Central and South America). Examples 9 & 10: Gap-filling with a ‘pool’ of answers Meaning is tested here, also to some extent grammar and collocation. This version is easier to do and mark than Example 9. Example 11 (Students are given sentences in the mother tongue to translate into the target language; or vice versa.) Example 11: Translation Translation can test all aspects of an item, but there is the usual difficulty of finding exact equivalents across languages, and it may be tricky to mark. Example 12 Finish the following sentences: I feel depressed when… I never have an appetite when… It was a great relief when… Example 12: Sentence completion This type of activity tests (denotative) meaning only; but is ‘personalized’ and interesting to do and read! Thank you for your attention!