New Vocabulary

New Vocabulary

Teaching new Voc according to their kind:

A-Does the new word refer to a concrete or abstract word?

B-What is its part of speech?

Each kind has its method of presentation:

1-Introducing nouns, things, objects, animals, etc…

Visual elements work best with concrete nouns, but try to go beyond

flashcards and illustrations.

Try to use real objects whenever possible, or even sounds, smells, and

tastes. Appeal to all of your students’ senses!

2-Introducing adjectives

Opposites, like “big” and “small”, “long” and “short”, are usually

illustrated with pictures, but here’s another case where realia will help

you teach new adjectives; the use of real life objects is wonderful for

words like “soft” and “rough”, adjectives that may take precious

minutes of class time to explain.

For more advanced adjectives, like “stunning”, “gorgeous”,

“spectacular”, “huge”, or “immense”, bring in photos of famous

sights from around the world like the Louvre, Egyptian pyramids,

the Eiffel Tower, etc…then use these new adjectives to describe

these places in ways that clearly illustrate their meaning.

3-Introducing Verbs:

Verbs can be taught through real situations, real material and acting

the scene that contains the new vocabulary. Assimilation can be used

also.

4- Introducing abstracts

Methods of teaching vocabulary:

Adults (either alone or with the child(ren)) should preview reading materials to determine which words are unfamiliar. Then these words should be defined and discussed.

It is important for the adult to not only tell the child(ren) what the word means, but also to discuss its meaning. This allows the child(ren) to develop an understanding of the word’s connotations as well as its denotation.

Also, discussion provides the adult with feedback about how well the child(ren) understands the word. After pre-teaching vocabulary words, the child(ren) should read the text.

New Vocabulary ( Activity ) :

A Practice Example:

1-Guided practice:

The collocation is:                                (Be Fond of )

The Chunk is:                                 / Football   -     Basketball /

The prompts are:   What are you..............................

                            :     Me? I am.....................................

                         ---------------------------------------------------

Learner 1 :  What are you fond of ?

Learner 2 : I am fond of...................  . What about you?

Learner 1 : Me? I am fond of...........................................

2-Free Practice :

                                                      / Swimming        -    Diving  /

Learner 1 :  What are you fond of ?

Learner 2 : I am fond of....................... What about you?

Learner 1 : Me? I am fond of..............................................

                                     /sports          -     Diving                         /

                                 /reading          -     Writing                    /

                             /running            - Walking                     /

                         /riding horses      -  Paddling in a boat /

                     /traveling outdoors -    Staying indoors/

3-Elicitation:

I elicit the rule form from the students themselves. How?

I ask my learners questions like the following

1-What repeated words have you practiced?

2-What does the structure consist of?

3-What comes before the pattern?

4-What comes after the pattern?

................. .   ..................... .  ................................  .  

Extension:

Repeated Exposure to Words

 Adults often forget a person (especially a child) needs to hear and use a word several times before it truly becomes a part of her vocabulary. Providing multiple opportunities to use a new word in its written and spoken form helps children solidify their understanding of it.

Keyword Method

Word Maps

 At the top or center of the organizer is the vocabulary word.

Branching off of the word are three categories: classification

(what class or group does the word belong to), qualities

(what is the word like) and examples. Using prior knowledge

the child fills in each of these three categories. Word maps

help readers develop complete understandings of words.

Root Analysis

Root Analysis

 The words either contain a “core” root (the primary component of the word) or use prefixes or suffixes that hold meaning. Adults should focus on teaching children the most commonly occurring roots, prefixes and suffixes. As each is taught examples of its use in common word should be shared and examined.

The reader should see how the root helps her understand the word’s definition. Children should then be given practice analyzing words to determine their roots and definitions. When a reader is able to break down unfamiliar words into their prefixes, suffixes and roots they can begin to determine their meanings.

Restructuring Reading Materials

 A portion of the difficult words can be replaced with “easier” synonyms to help the reader understand the overall text. Vocabulary footnotes (definitions provided at the bottom of the page) can be added for particularly challenging words so that the reader can easily “look up” the word while still reading the text.

An accompanying vocabulary guide can be provided for the text. Words that are included in the guide should be highlighted or printed in bold text to direct the reader to check the vocabulary guide if the word or its meaning is unfamiliar.

Lexis:

   There are several aspects of lexis that need to be taken into account when teaching vocabulary. 

·      Boundaries between conceptual meaning:

Knowing not only what lexis refers to, but also where the boundaries are that separate it from words of related meaning .

(e.g. cup, mug, bowl).

·      Polysemy:

 Distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form with several but closely related meanings.

(head: of a person, of a pin, of an organization).

·      Homonymy:

Distinguishing between the various meaning of a single word form which has several meanings which are NOT closely related

( e.g. a file: used to put papers in or a tool).

·      Homophyny:

Understanding words that have the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings (e.g. flour, flower).

·      Synonymy:

Distinguishing between the different shades of meaning that synonymous words have (e.g. extend, increase, expand).

·      Affective meaning:

Distinguishing between the attitudinal and emotional factors (denotation and connotation), which depend on the speakers attitude or the situation. Sociocultural associations of lexical items is another important factor.

Being able to distinguish between different levels of formality, the effect of different contexts and topics, as well as differences in geographical variation.

·      Translation:

Awareness of certain differences and similarities between the native and the foreign language (e.g. false cognates).

·      Chunks of language:

Multi-word verbs, idioms, strong and weak collocations, lexical phrases.

·      Grammar of vocabulary:

 Learning the rules that enable students to build up different forms of the word or even different words from that word (e.g. sleep, slept, sleeping; able, unable; disability).

·      Pronunciation:

Ability to recognize and reproduce items in speech.