Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm How to teach new words to high school students

Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm How to teach new words to high school students 1 së gi¸o dôc vµ ®µo t¹o lµo cai tr­êng thpt sè 4 thµnh phè lµo cai S¸ng kiÕn c¶I tiÕn kü thuËt ®Ò tµi “How to TEACH new words to high school students ” ( PH­¬ng ph¸p D¹y tõ míi cho häc sinh THPT ) Ng­êi thùc hiÖn Lª ThÞ Xu©n H­¬ng Tæ V¨n Sö §Þa Ngo¹i ng÷ GDCD SangKienKinhNghiem net 2 N¨m häc 2013 2014 TABLE OF CONTENT Chapter I Introduction 1 Reason for the choice of the study 2 Object of study 3 Field of study 4 Method of stu[.]

sở giáo dục và đào tạo lào cai trường thpt số 4 thành phố lào cai

thuật

đề tài: “How to TEACH new words to high school students

” ( PHương pháp Dạy từ mới cho học sinh THPT )

Người thực hiện: Lê Thị Xuân Hương

Tổ: Văn- Sử- Địa- Ngoại ngữ- GDCD

N¨m häc: 2013- 2014

TABLE OF CONTENT Chapter I: Introduction

1 Reason for the choice of the study

2 Object of study

3 Field of study

4 Method of study

Chapter II: CONTENTS

1 The place of vocabulary in language teaching and learning

2 Some of Vietnamese pupils’ problems in learning English vocabulary

3 Techniques for teaching new words

4 Showing the meaning of words

5 Using new words

6 Checking new words

7 Active and passive vocabulary

Chapter III: Conclusion

Chapter I- introduction

1 Reasons for the choice of the study

English learning and teaching become a great social demand Pupils when finishing school are required to be able to communicate But in fact, many pupils who have finished school can not satisfy this requirement They find it difficult to learn and remember new words, especially they don’t know how to use them in contexts So, teachers’ task is how to tesch new words effectively so that pupils are able to achieve the aim of fearing language teaching and learning To deal with this problem is not simple I have been very interested in the subject and found it necessary to present some of my techniques to teach new words effectively I do hope that it would be of some help to the teaching

2 Aims of the study

- To show the place of vocabulary in language teaching and learning.

- To show some techniques for teaching new words

- To show how to give the meaning of new words and how to use them

3 Study method

Reading reference books, discussing with other teachers, applying in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences

4 Subjects of the study

The subjects in this study are pupils in Lao Cai High Chool No 4 They have to acquire English well enough to be able to communicate in that language as well as

to pass the final exam This is the reason why we think they really need the help from teachers

Chapter II- content

1 The place of vocabulary in language teaching and learning

New vocabulary is one of the basic building blocks in our students' learning Words are important because they are one of the three language components Without words nothing can be conveyed in communication We can’t communicate effectively and successfully without words

But have we ever put much thought into how to introduce new words? Learning long laundry lists of words can be very tedious for students On the other hand, introducing words in students' native language and then translating them into English or vice versa is not very effective, either We have to start training them to think in English right from the start Needless to say, the language we are teaching should be spoken at all times, even if students are absolute beginners

It’s impossible to learn words only We teach vocabulary in combination with other language components: pronounciation, grammar, and the four l;anguage skills: listening, writing, reading and speaking

Most of English words are polysemantic, i.e a word has more than one meaning, and the meaning of the word depends on the situation No word can have a full meaning when it stands alone

Eg.: - Give me a ring tonight I’ll be home at 7.00

My boyfriend presented me a gold ring.

- I’ve bought a desk fan.

He’s a football fan.

Many English words are polysyllsbic that is having more tha one syllable

of which one is stressed Eg.: teacher, continue, dictation,

An English word may have different grammatical function in sentence it depends on its position It may be a subjects, object, predicate,…An English word may have different forms depending on its part of speech It may be a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, article,….Eg: I have a sister

pron v art n.

2 Some of Vietnamese pupils’ problems in learning English vocabulary

Because of the interference of the mother tongue, when learning English vocabulary, Vietnamese pupils often make the following mistakes:

- They confuse the meaning of the same word

- Fail to use the words in the right situation

- Fail to spell the word correctly

- Fail to pronounce the word correctly, especially stress and

intonation

- Fail to predict the meaning of the new words

Below is the result of the test after the lesson ( Lesson 3) done by pupils from class 11A1 when new techniques are still not applied:

3 Techniques for teaching new words

a/ The principles of teaching and learning vocabulary

To “know” a word in a target language, it may mean the ability to:

- Recognize it in its spoken and written form

- Relate it to an appropriate object or concept ( understanding the meaning)

- Use it in the appropriate grammatical form

- In speech, pronounce it in a recognizable way.

- In writing, spell it correctly

- Use it with the words it goes with in order to make sentences in real life ( pholology, lexical meaning, grammatical structure, spelling, use,…)

b/ Techniques for presenting new words

Learning a new language doesn’t mean learning by heart as many words

as possible The most important in teaching is how to use it in the right communicative situation

When we teach the new words to the pupils, we try to develop in them two abilities:

- To understand the new word as it is used in the situation

- To use it for their communicative purposes

We teach vocabulary in combination with other language components: grammar, pronunciation and four language skills

In teaching new words, we can use a lot of techniques ( remember a word should be introduced in spoken form first) Here are some techniques for teaching new words:

- Say the word clearly and write it on the board ( give transcription

if necessary)

- Show the meaning of the new word ( by using one of the four above techniques.)

- Get the class to repeat the word in chorus

- Give the word in its appropriate grammatical form and its combination with other words

- Give an example to show how the word is used

- Ask questions using the new word to check comprehension

- Leave the class to make their own sentences with the new word

* Vocabulary expansion: When pupils come across a new word, they are

likely to be interested in learning other related words, and this presents a natural opportunity for vocabulary development, this is sometimes called “ vocabulary expansion” We could give related words, write them on the board and use the new words in questions to involve the class

4 Showing the meaning of words

a/ Showing meaning visually

* Visually aids such as pictures, objects, things for the pupils to look at are important

- Showing visual focusses attention on meaning and helps to make the language used in the class more and alive

- Having something to look at keeps the pupils attention, and makes the class more interesting

* This is the list of visual aids: The teachers themselves, the blackboard, real objects, flashcards, pictures, charts,…

+ The teachers themselves: The teachers can use gestures, facial expressions, and actions to help show the meaning of words and to inllustrate situation

Most action verbs such as: sit, stand, open, write, ; some adjectives such as: happy, ill, worried ,… can be taught using mime

Example: Presenting the word “ sneeze”

T: Look! ( mime sneezing) Atchoo! I’ve just sneezed Sneeze Can you say it?

P: Sneeze.

T: Again

P: Sneeze.

+The blackboard: The teacher or pupils can use it to draw pictures, maps,diagrams,etc… Words such as: tree, cow, tractor, can be presented in this way

+ Real objects: Many words can be presented in this way Anything that is already in the classroom such as furniture, parts of the body, clothes Also many objects that can be brought into the cl;assroom: other items of clothing (hats, ties, ), food ( oranges, rice, eggs, ), small objects from home ( cups, keys, bags, )

Example: We can show the meaning of the words such as: watch, window, elbow by siply pointing at them and saying: “Look! This is a watch”

T: Look! This is a watch ( pointing to the watch) A watch.

P: A watch.

T: (gesture) What is it?

P: A watch

+ Flashcards: cards with single pictures which can be held up by the teacher They can be used for presenting and practising new words The teacher can draw a picture on the flashcard, or stick on a picture from a magazine Flashcards can also be used to show words or numbers

+ Charts: Larger sheets of card or paper with writing pictures or diagrams, used for more extended presentation or practice

In a word, for suitable vocabulary, it is a very effective method: it is direct, interesting and it makes an impression on the class

Of course, not all words can be presented visually if it can be done quickly, easily and clearly

b/ Giving examples

Another way to show what words mean is by giving examples, using a word in a context It is not necessary to give a complicated explaination, the meaning can be shown by simple sentences This can be done by making statements using the word, or by imagining an example

Example:

- Presenting the word “ building”:

T: Houses are building This school is also a building In big cities there are many buildings- there are hotels, offices, and cinemas They are all buildings of different kinds Building.

P: Building.

T: Good What does it mean?

( Pupils give translation).

- Presenting the word “lazy”:

T: Some people work hard Others don’t work hard For example, I have

a brother He’s very lazy He gets up late, and then he does nothing all day I say to him: “ Don’t be so lazy, do some work!” Lazy.

P: Lazy.

T: What does it mean?

( Pupils give translation).

A good example should clearly show the meaning of the word to someone who does not know it already Examples are especially useful for showing the meaning of abstract words, e.g : love, happinees, imagine, quality, impossible, etc Traslating a new wordis in itself a useful technique- it is often the simplest and clearset way of showing what a word means But if we only give a direct translation, pupils can not see how the word is used in an English sentence; to show this we need to give an example Instead of telling the pupils what the word means, we can give examples and then ask them to give a translation This checks that they have understood, and encourages them to listen to the word being used in English

c/ Substitution

This technique can be used with students of all levels and works best with concepts and ideas that can't be easily seen or touched, like abstracts, or anything that is not a real object There are different ways to use substitution:

- Synonyms – Teacher substitutes one word students are familiar with for

another new one

When you call someone, do you sometimes have to wait? You have to hold.

Do trains usually run on time? They are on schedule.

- Antonyms – Teacher substitutes one word they are familiar with for its

opposite

Is a Ferrari a cheap car?(No) It’s an expensive car.

Substitution works very well with phrasal verbs, which usually have a

one-word equivalent: Do you put off going to the dentist? You postpone seeing

your dentist.

However, we should be careful when using words that are not exact synonyms or antonyms Remember to imply that the connotation may be different in some cases

d/ Using media ( using video)

Almost any video can be used to teach English: commercial films, TV programmers, home-made dramas and holiday films Live television

programmers are NOT recommended Your method should vary according to

the language point you wish to teach and the level of your student(s) Although a handset is ideal, it is not essential Position yourself near the front of the class, to one side - close enough to the video player to work the controls if you do not have a handset If the video player is independent of the TV, turn it so you can work the controls easily without interfering with your students' view of the TV screen This medium can be used to pratise consolidate range of language points to introduce subject(s) for debate to encourage conversation amongst students to improve writing skills to introduce new vocabulary to develop listening skills (with visual aid) Few lessons would involve continuous viewing

- even with speech-free films Strategic stopping is essential The teacher controls what students see and hear: Films, with excessive bad language, can be shown without sound If the majority of film is good, unsuitable sex or violent scenes can easily be avoided as follows plan in advance how to exploit the

remainder of the film knowing the exact counter positions of scenes to be omitted

e/ Combining different techniques

A combination of techniques can be used frequently to show the meaning

of a word

Example: Presenting the word “ smile”: Teacher draws a picture on board first

T: Look! He’s smiling Now look at me I’m smiling ( show by facial expression) Smile We smile when we are happy Smile ( gesture)

P: Smile.

T; Good What does it mean?

( Pupils give translation).

Teacher uses different techniques in the demonstration:

- Drawing the picture on board ( interesting, pupils remember it)

- Facial expression ( to give meaning clearly)

- Example ( to show how “smile” is used as a verb)

- Translation ( to make sure everyone understands)

Each tecnique is very quick ( a few seconds) and they all reiforce each other

5 Using new words

Teacher can use a new word to ask a few simple questions round the class

These questions help the teacher to be sure that pupils really understand the word They give the pupils more examples of how the word is used, in a way that involves the class They give a chance to practise other languages

Questions using a new word should be simple and require only short answers

Example: Teacher has just presented the word “ market” Now he/she is

asking questions using the new word, such as: Do you live near a market? Does