Giáo trìnhphương pháp giảng dạy tiếng anh 2(teaching english –from theory to practice)

methods, principles, techniques, strategy, error correction, suggested activities and further reading  Chapter 6 mentions how to teach listening with various aspects, i.e.. Stt.010.Mssv

GIÁO TRÌNH PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY TIẾNG ANH 2

(TEACHING ENGLISH – FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE)

TS Nguyễn Hoàng Tuấn (Chủ biên)

Th.s Trần Thị Thanh Mai

Bình Dương, tháng 12 năm 2014

etc have been adapted for the development of Teaching English – from theory to

practice and have changed the theories into something much more pedagogical and

practical for those who are interested in how to teach English in reality – whether directly or indirectly

I am grateful to Dr Ly Quyet Tien of Thu Dau Mot University for inviting me to compose this book and to our editors for their helps in shaping the book

I only hope that they will like the way it has turned out

Trần Thị Thanh Mai

ii

for learning and teaching than ever before They can choose methods and materials according to the learners’ needs, the teachers’ preferences and the constraints of the school or educational setting

To others, however, the wide variety of method options currently available confuses rather than comforts Methods appear to be based on very different views of what language is and how a language is learned Some methods recommend apparently strange and unfamiliar classroom techniques and practices

This book is written in response to synthesize and organize popular and practical approaches and methods in language teaching as well as to review some useful techniques and principles to deal with a particular teaching skill

Teaching English – from theory to practice is designed to provide a detailed account

of major issues in language teaching, of ways of teaching English and of ways to plan

a lesson To avoid too much reading, each part is designed into various activities ranging from filling the blanks to jigsaw reading Further references are also recommended right after each session This book is designed for prospective or novice teachers who are not yet familiar with the basic theories, methods, and basic practices

of teaching English as a Foreign Language or for those experienced teachers needing a further grounding in the most current, up-to-date methods and practices to be more successful in their current teaching The book introduces the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing as well as issues in language teaching and lesson planning It also introduces the teaching of the micro-skills of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and discourse

CONTENTS iii

INTRODUCTION v

ISSUES ABOUT LANGUAGE TEACHING 1

Chapter 1: How to choose a coursebook 1.1 Criteria to choose a coursebook 2

1.2 The role of coursebook in language teaching 6

Chapter 2: How to deal with content of language

2.1 Language form 8

2.2 Language function 9

HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH 12

Chapter 3: How to teach vocabulary

3.1 Methodology in teaching vocabulary 13

3.2 Principles of teaching vocabulary 20

3.3 Techniques in teaching vocabulary

3.4 Strategies in teaching vocabulary 23

3.5 Error correction in teaching vocabulary 24

3.6 Suggested activities in teaching vocabulary 25

3.7 Further reading 35

Chapter 4: How to teach pronunciation

4.1 Methodology in teaching pronunciation 38

4.2 Principles of teaching pronunciation 39

4.3 Techniques in teaching pronunciation

4.4 Strategies in teaching pronunciation 42

4.5 Error correction in teaching pronunciation 45

4.6 Suggested activities in teaching pronunciation 46

4.7 Further reading 55

Chapter 5: How to teach grammar 5.1 Methodology in teaching grammar 57

5.2 Principles of teaching grammar 59

5.3 Techniques in teaching grammar 60

5.4 Strategies in teaching grammar 63

5.5 Error correction in teaching grammar 65 5.6 Suggested activities in teaching grammar 66

5.7 Further reading 68

Chapter 6: How to teach listening 6.1 Methodology in teaching listening 72

6.2 Principles of teaching listening 74

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6.7 Further reading 86

Chapter 7: How to teach speaking 7.1 Methodology in teaching speaking 89

7.2 Principles of teaching speaking

7.3 Techniques in teaching speaking 90 7.4 Strategies in teaching speaking 95

7.5 Error correction in teaching speaking 96

7.6 Suggested activities in teaching speaking 97 7.7 Further reading 101

Chapter 8: How to teach reading 8.1 Methodology in teaching reading 102

8.2 Principles of teaching reading 104

8.3 Techniques in teaching reading 105

8.4 Strategies in teaching reading 109 8.5 Error correction in teaching reading 112

8.6 Suggested activities in teaching reading

8.7 Further reading 115

Chapter 9: How to teach writing 9.1 Methodology in teaching writing 117

9.2 Principles of teaching writing 119

9.3 Techniques in teaching writing 120

9.4 Strategies in teaching writing 123

9.5 Error correction in teaching writing 125

9.6 Suggested activities in teaching writing

9.7 Further reading 128

HOW TO PLAN A LESSON 130

CONCLUSION 139

BIBLIOGRAPHY 140

APPENDICES APPENDIX 1 143

APPENDIX 2 153

APPENDIX 3 159

whatever age

What is it about?

Teaching English – from theory to practice is about teaching English as a

foreign or second language: what it is about, and how to do it Here is what it contains

 The first two chapters discuss general issues about teaching and

learning: how to choose a coursebook, how to deal with content of language

 Chapter 3 discusses how to teach vocabulary with various aspects, i.e

methods, principles, techniques, strategy, error correction, suggested activities and further reading

 Chapter 4 deals with how to teach pronunciation with various aspects,

i.e methods, principles, techniques, strategy, error correction, suggested activities and further reading

 Chapter 5 looks at how to teach grammar with various aspects, i.e

methods, principles, techniques, strategy, error correction, suggested activities and further reading

 Chapter 6 mentions how to teach listening with various aspects, i.e

methods, principles, techniques, strategy, error correction, suggested activities and further reading

 Chapter 7 suggests ways to teach speaking with various aspects, i.e

methods, principles, techniques, strategy, error correction, suggested activities and further reading

 Chapter 8 is about how to teach reading with various aspects, i.e

methods, principles, techniques, strategy, error correction, suggested activities and further reading

 Chapter 9 is concerned with how to teach writing with various aspects,

i.e methods, principles, techniques, strategy, error correction, suggested activities and further reading

 The last session is about how to plan a lesson

 A list of references provides the authenticity and validity of the contents in the book

 The book ends with four appendices of lesson plan designed for a whole lesson from grade 6 to 9

- 1 -

ISSUES ABOUT LANGUAGE TEACHING

Chapter 1 includes two main parts:

+ Part 1.1 Criteria to choose a coursebook This part consists of five activities presenting various criteria to choose a coursebook

+ Part 1.2 The role of coursebook in language teaching Two activities will be included in this part to deal with the role of coursebook in language teaching

1.1 Criteria to choose a coursebook

Choosing a coursebook is a daunting, sometimes overwhelming prospect for both program administrators and teachers Nevertheless, it is a prospect that must be respected as it has significant impact on the ability of students to meet their language learning objectives, and affects both the process of how they learn and the outcomes Many researchers have compiled checklists and guidelines for choosing appropriate course books for different students Some are more detailed and some are less so, but all deal with more or less the same issues It is very important to know what to look for when choosing a book

Before choosing a course book for the students in any course, it is important to create a needs-analysis for your own students What will the students need to know by the end of the course or school year? Once the needs-analysis is done, it's a good idea

to create a list of items that you consider desirable in a course book Based on these lists, any course book can then be analyzed

Below are a few basic questions (to help get you started) that should be asked when

we are in the process of choosing a course book for our classes and our students

Initial Questions

 Do the principles stated in the introduction or teacher's guide reflect my own principles?

 Is the teacher's guide comprehensive and does it offer many extra ideas?

 Does the book follow the rationale of the current English curriculum?

o How do I know this?

o Where can I check it?

 Are the topics covered in the book appropriate for my students?

 Is the material appropriate for my students?

 Are there enough reading passages and tasks in the book? Are they varied?

 Are there enough listening comprehension tasks in the book? Are they varied?

 Are there enough writing tasks in the book? Are they varied?

 Is grammar presented, taught and practiced in the book? Is there enough practice of grammar

in the book?

 Are there performance-based tasks in the book? Are these varied and include both oral

presentations and written ones?

 Is the language authentic?

 Is the book appealing to me? Do I think the students will also find it appealing?

 Is the font size or style appropriate for the age group of my students?

 Do I think I would enjoy using this book?

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1 Do the book’s priorities match with your priorities?

2 Does the book seem to do what it claims to do?

3 Is it clear how to use the book?

4 Is the book clearly sequenced and structured?

5 Does it provide integrated revision of key items?

6 Are there any useful, additional materials?

7 Does it offer lots of practical ideas?

8 How does the book develop a balance of all 4 skills? Does this meet your needs?

9 Does it provide plenty of varied practice of any one set of language items?

10 Does it help you to set tests?

11 Does the book manage to avoid sexual, racial and cultural stereotypes?

What does the book offer the students?

12 Does the book look interesting and fun?

13 Can the students easily see what they have to do?

14 Does the book provide much for them to do independently?

15 Does it give them activities and tasks which are interesting and worthwhile in

themselves not just language exercises?

16 Does it provide plenty for those children who cannot read and write with

confidence?

When completing the questions from the table, teachers should then follow this stage procedure

4-Step 1: Analysis The teacher can look through the various books to analyze each

for answer to the questions on the next page It helps to have a chart to write down the answers for this so that the information is clearly displayed

Step 2: Piloting By far the best way to find a book’s strengths and weaknesses is

to try it out with a class, seeing which lessons work and which don’t work The teachers are teaching more than one group at the same level, they may choose to teach two different books to compare them

Step 3: Consultation Before choosing a book, teachers should try and find out

any of their colleagues have used the book before and how well they succeed with it Through discussion, they can get an idea about whether or no book is likely to be right for them

Step 4: Gathering opinions Anyone who might have an opinion on the textbook

is worth speaking to, from the publisher and bookshop owners, to colleagues and

friends It is also a good idea to let students look through the book to see how they react to a first sight of it They they express a preference with what you agree with, they are likely to be more committed to the textbook

American Headway 2 (Joan & Liz Soars) and Upstream– pre-intermediate (Virginia Evans & Jenny Dooley) based on mentioned nine areas to consider a coursebook

Areas to consider a coursebook

Area Questions to consider

Price How expensive is the textbook? Can the students afford it? Will they have to buy an

accompanying workbook? Can they afford both? What about the teacher? Can he or she pay for the teacher’s book and tapes?

Available Is the coursebook available? Are all its components (students’ book, teacher’s book, workbook,

etc.) in the shops now? What about the next level (for the next term/semester)? Has it boon published? Is it available? What about tapes, videos, etc.?

Layout and

design

Is the book attractive? Does the teacher feel comfortable with it? Do the students like it? How user-friendly is the design? Does it get in the way of what the book is trying to do or does it enhance it?

Methodology What kind of teaching and learning does the book promote? Can teachers and students build

appropriate ESA sequences from it? Is there a good balance between Study and Activation?

Skills Does the book cover the four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) adequately? Is

there a decent balance between the skills? Are there opportunities for both Study and Activation

in the skills work? Is the language of the reading and listening texts appropriate? Are the

speaking and writing tasks likely to Engage the students’ interest?

Syllabus Is the syllabus of the book appropriate for your students? Does it cover the language points you

would expect? Are they in the right order? Do the reading and listening texts increase in difficulty as the book progresses?

Topic Does the book contain a variety of topics? Are they likely to engage the students’ interest? Does

the teacher respond to them well? Are they culturally appropriate for the students? Are they too adult or too childish?

Stereotyping Does the book represent people and situations in a fair and equal way? Are various categories

of people treated equally? Is there stereotyping of certain nationalities? Does the book display conscious or unconscious racism or sexism?

Teacher’s

guide

Is there a good teacher’s guide? Is it easy to use? Does it have all the answers the teacher might need? Does it offer alternatives to lesson procedures? Does it contain a statement of intention which the teacher and students feel happy with?

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1.2 The role of coursebook in language teaching

Together with the impact of new technologies, there is no doubt that textbooks remain essential in language teaching and serve as ''a framework'' for both teachers and learners In fact, the role of the textbook in the language classroom is a difficult one to define perfectly and exactly

Apart from the fact that teachers are required using materials by program administrators, it is beneficial to make use of materials in language teaching In other words, materials play a crucial role in teaching and learning situation A textbook is a cheap way of providing learning materials in terms of ready-made teaching texts and learning tasks

Also, materials, as Allright (1981) suggests, are only part of the co-operative management of language learning Allright also adds a further dimension to the role of the textbook by characterizing the lesson as an interaction between the three elements

of teachers, learners and materials In his opinions, this interaction enhances the opportunities to learn

Figure 1.2: A model of the lesson (adapted from Allwright 1981)

Allwright (1990) argues that materials should teach students to learn, that they should be resource books for ideas and activities for instruction/learning, and that they

i a source for presentation materials,

ii a source of activities for learner practice and communicative interaction, iii reference source for learners on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and so on,

iv a source of stimulation and ideas for classroom language activities,

v a syllabus reflecting determined learning objectives,

vi a resource for self-directed learning or self-access work and vii a support for less experienced teachers

The author also emphasized that coursebooks can serve as a resource in achieving aims and objectives set in advance in terms of learner needs

Hutchinson (1994) and Richards (2001) state that textbooks are a key component in most language teaching situations because learners consider textbooks the backbones

of language input, with a balance of skills taught and of language practice while teachers, especially inexperienced ones, may find textbooks a form of guidance to plan and teach lessons

Mention to this issue, Betsy Parrish (2004, p.227) describes benefits of using a textbook:

It assures a measure of structure, consistency, and logical progression in a class

It minimizes preparation time for teachers

It allows learners to review material or preview other lessons

It meets a learner’s needs or expectations of having something concrete to work from and take home for further study

It provides novice teachers with guidance in course and activity design

It may provide multiple resources such as tapes, CDs, videos, self-study workbooks, etc

As a matter of fact, textbooks alone cannot provide students with all the knowledge they require, but they are a major tool in helping learners to make progress Theoretically, experienced teachers can teach English without a textbook However, it

is not easy to do it all the time, though they may do it sometimes Many teachers do not have enough time to make supplementary materials, so they just follow the textbook Textbooks therefore take on a very important role in language classes, and it

is important to select a good textbook

CHAPTER 2: HOW TO DEAL WITH CONTENT OF LANGUAGE Aims of this chapter

This chapter clarifies the differences between language form and language content It includes two main parts

Part 2.1 Language form This part gives a short summary about language form, i.e morphology, syntax and phonology

Part 2.2 Language function This part deals with three main functions of a language, i.e performatory, expressive, informative

Language content refers to the topics and ideas that are encoded in linguistic messages We all talk about the same things: objects, relationships between objects, and relationships between events Content is, therefore, general and independent of any particular context In contrast, topic is variable and changes with age, as well as culture Language content is akin to semantics Bloom and Lahey (1978) divide language into three separate but overlapping components:

 Content

 Form

 Use The overlap of these in the centre of the diagram below represents knowledge of language and a successful integration of content, form and use to understand and transmit messages

Figure 2.1 The Integration of Content, Form and Use

2.1 Language form

Language form refers to the surface features of language and how these are arranged according to the grammar of the language As a means of connecting sound with meaning, it incorporates morphology, syntax and phonology

In general, form refers to the shape and structure of something It can also mean the organization, placement and relationship between things As such, language form refers to the so-called surface features of language and how these are arranged The rules that govern how particular language features are arranged are the grammar of the language Language form can be divided into at least two categories (Lahey, 1988):

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- Morphology examines how words are formed in any particular language It focuses especially on their internal structure and how their meaning can be altered through the addition of prefixes and suffixes

- A morpheme is the smallest element in a language capable of creating a distinction in meaning, as such it

is central to an understanding of morphology

Syntax refers to the rules that govern how words combine to create meaningful utterances Morphemes combine to form words, words combine into phrases and phrases combine according to set rules into clauses

Now, in spoken language we are additionally concerned with the ways in which sound is connected to meaning This, therefore, introduces a third category:

Phonology

Phonology is the study of the categorization of the speech sounds of a particular language and the rule system that governs how they are used to produce meaningful words It describes the basic unit of speech in any language as the phoneme and examines how speech sounds change when they are combined

In addition, phonology examines other surface features of speech such as intonation, stress and pausing There are also counterparts of these features in signed language, where the range and speed of movements (hand, arm, body, face) and hand configurations and emphasis, stress, pausing, and so on

2.2 Language function

What are language functions?

A lot of what we say is for a specific purpose Whether we are apologizing, expressing a wish or asking permission, we use language in order to fulfill that

purpose Each purpose can be known as a language function

Savignon describes a language function as “the use to which language is put, the purpose of an utterance rather than the particular grammatical form an utterance takes” (Savignon, 1983) By using this idea to structure teaching, the instructional focus becomes less about form and more about the meaning of an utterance In this way, students use the language in order to fulfill a specific purpose, therefore making their speech more meaningful There are at least three different basic functions of language:

a Informative – words can be used to pass on information + The informative function affirms or denies propositions, as in science or the statement of a fact

+ This function is used to describe the world or reason about it (e.g whether a state

of affairs has occurred or not or what might have led to it)

+ These sentences have a truth value; that is, the sentences are either true or false (recognizing, of course, that we might not know what that truth value is) Hence, they are important for logic

b Expressive – words can be used to evoke an emotion that is not a direct result of their meaning

+ Poetry and literature are among the best examples, but much of, perhaps most of, ordinary language discourse is the expression of emotions, feelings or attitudes

+ Two main aspects of this function are generally noted: (1) evoking certain feelings and (2) expressing feelings

+ Expressive discourse is best regarded as neither true nor false

c Performative – words can be as a kind of symbol / action in and of themselves + The directive function is most commonly found in commands and requests + Directive language is not normally considered true or false (although various logics of commands have been developed)

+ Example of this function: "Close the windows." The sentence "You're smoking

in a nonsmoking area," although declarative, can be used to mean "Do not smoke in this area."

What are some examples of functions of language?

Language functions in many different ways Its most familiar function is informative, i.e it transmits information But it also operates expressively, when we attend to the feelings evoked by the words rather than just their meaning Poetry often combines the informative and the expressive:

“The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew The furrow followed free

We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

“When Ajax strives some rock’s vast weight to throw, The line, too, labors, and the words move slow;

Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, Flies o’er th’ unbending corn, and skims along the main.”

Alexander Pope, “Essay on Criticism”

“I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris and he;

I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three.”

Robert Browning, “How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix”

In these verses the rhythm and sound of the words are expressive in themselves Language is also used expressively in prayer; and when a man whispers “sweet nothings” into his wife’s ear, or tells her she looks “scrumptious”; and in such sounds

as “wow!” and “scram!”; and when a politician or preacher or salesman uses words to evoke emotional responses

A third area of language is the ceremonial Here the words are not necessarily either informative or expressive, but performative, they are an action in themselves Examples are “I thank you, apologize, warn, greet, guarantee, promise, welcome,” etc These words are complete speech acts They do not describe the acts of thanking, apologizing, warning, etc., but instead are those very acts They are not propositions which can be true or false If a man says, “I bid you good morning,” that does it (even though he may hate you) In its performative sense, language is like any other gesture

If we think about a function of language as one that serves a purpose we can see that much of what we see can be considered to be functional Let's take the example of going to a dinner party Arriving at the dinner party we may introduce ourselves, thank the host and ask where to put our coats During the dinner we may congratulate someone on a recent accomplishment, ask advice, express affection and compliment the host on the meal Each of these individual utterances are considered functions of language

How can we teach functions of language?

Krashen and Terrell (1983) suggest that basic communication goals can be expressed in terms of situations, functions and topics It is up to the teacher to plan the situations within which students will be able to use their language for a purpose in the classroom context For instance, if the topic being learned is family and relatives then the situation may be introductions or visiting relatives By creating a situation the teacher is providing the necessary context students need to use the language for a function

In addition to creating situations, teachers must also be prepared to explain that there may be a large number of possible ways to fulfill each function of language For instance greeting an elderly lady on the street would differ from greeting a peer in their home Choosing the appropriate way in which to say something will partly depend on:

1 Your social standing relative to the person you are talking to;

2 How well you know the person;

3 Who is listening; and

4 The circumstances under which the communication occurs

HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH

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CHAPTER 3: HOW TO TEACH VOCABULARY Aims of the chapter

After dealing with chapter 3, learners will acquire some basic knowledge about

+ methodology in teaching vocabulary, + principles of teaching vocabulary, + techniques in teaching vocabulary, + strategies in teaching vocabulary

Also, learners can have some experience in error correction in teaching vocabulary as well as be recommended some suggested activities in teaching vocabulary

Part 3.1 Methodology in teaching vocabulary provides learners with direct and indirect vocabulary teaching

as well as four different approaches to teaching vocabulary Part 3.2 Principles of teaching vocabulary deals with some basic principles in teaching vocabulary Part 3.3 Techniques in teaching vocabulary presents three stages in teaching vocabulary as well as some popular techniques which are very useful for teachers

Part 3.4 Strategies in teaching vocabulary mentions to explicit and implicit instructions in teaching vocabulary

Part 3.5 Error correction in teaching vocabulary discusses how to correct errors in teaching language, especially vocabulary

Part 3.6 Suggested activities in teaching vocabulary recommend some useful activities to teach vocabulary Last but not least, a number of references are presented for learners to explore more aspects of teaching vocabulary

What is Vocabulary?

According to Morris (1984) vocabulary refers to every word in a language that is used for making understanding especially between persons Vocabulary is the list of words or phrases of a particular language along with their meanings Richard (1985) defines vocabulary as every word of a language such as single words, compound words, and the idioms of the language

How many words are needed for effective communication in L2?

Adapted from Nation and Newton, 1997, p.239

3.1 Methodology in teaching vocabulary

In the past, teachers used to select and present vocabulary from concrete to abstract Words like ‘door’, ‘window’, ‘desk’, etc which are concrete, used to be taught at beginning levels However, words like ‘honesty’, ‘beauty’, etc., which are abstract words, used to be taught at advanced levels because they are not “physically represented” in the learning/teaching environment and are very difficult to explain Nowadays, methodologists and linguists suggest that teachers can decide and select the

words to be taught on the basis of how frequently they are used by speakers of the language That is, the most commonly used words should be taught first

3.1.1 Direct vocabulary teaching

Direct vocabulary instruction involves 6 explicit steps which, when conducted consistently and over time, improves students' academic vocabulary knowledge The six steps of direct vocabulary instruction, in brief, are:

+ Teacher provided description, explanation or example + Students restate in own words

+ Students construct non-linguistic representation + Participate in variety of activities

+ Student discussion + Games

In direct vocabulary instruction, learners do many specific exercises and activities that focus their attention directly on certain words in lists, learning word parts, and vocabulary games These techniques will benefit all learners, but have been shown to especially benefit learners with limited personal experience with words as well as limited knowledge of words (Vacca,Vacca and Gove, 2000; Omanson et al., 1984; Jenkins, Stein, and Wysocki, 1984; McKeown et al., 1983; Kameenui, Carnine, and Freschi, 1982)

Direct vocabulary instruction is commonly done once prior to a reading and reviewed or assessed after the reading Stahl suggests providing contextual information while addressing definitional information Practice throughout the week with new vocabulary has historically revolved around writing definitions and sentences Research, however, shows that in order to "learn" a word, it must be revisited approximately 8 to 10 times Additionally, word learning is most effective when done in meaningful contexts Owning a word is not getting a word right on a vocabulary quiz; owning a word is using it correctly in conversation and writing Each activity listed below can be modified and used in an oral format for use with younger students

+ Concept Maps + Word Cards + Four Square Vocabulary + Concept Sorting

+ List-Group-Label Teaching a word directly first involves providing definitional and contextual information Stahl suggests various ways you can provide definitional information:

+ teaching synonyms and antonyms (requiring your students to consider the critical features of words);

+ rewriting definitions (allowing students to show their understanding of a word);

+ constructing a scenario (providing a richer context than a single sentence); and creating silly questions using a pair of target words (demonstrating understanding

of word meanings and their relationships)

Concept maps

A concept map can provide you with multiple ways to address both definitional and contextual information during vocabulary instruction Concept maps provide a visual organization of information about a word including classification, examples/non-examples, and description Concept maps allow teachers to directly teach vocabulary while providing a context for the new word

What is this?

Cold-blooded animal with moist skin

Example

Frogs Toads

Salamanders

Amphibian

Non-examples

Horses Alligators Birds

What is it like?

Moist skin Cold-blooded Lives on land

Lays eggs in water

Word Cards

Word Cards provide students with the opportunity to have collections of studied words that can be reviewed routinely Stahl and Kapinus suggest that a word card should include the word, its definition, any relevant contextual information (such as a sentence), and a personal clue to help remember the word (see figure below)

WORD Definitional

Information

Contextual information Personal

clue

A sample Word Card for the word repeal may look like this:

REPEAL

To withdraw or take back officially The senate decided to repeal

skateboarding in the park

The city repealed its decision to hold a parade

After students have a collection of word cards, they can engage in various activities

to practice Word cards can be sorted by parts of speech (i.e., nouns, verbs, adjectives,

or adverbs) or by semantic categories The students could also sort words without specified categories and then explain the basis for their categories Pairs of words can

be used to make up sentences Students can also find words that have certain connotations such as good and bad, desirable and undesirable, etc

Four-Square Vocabulary

Another activity suggested by Stahl and Kapinus is Four Square Vocabulary Squares This activity is a type of concept mapping which uses explanations, examples, non-examples, and definition generation (providing both definitional and contextual information) The following describes an adaptation to this activity To set up the "4-squares," have students fold a sheet of paper into quadrants and in the upper left box, dictate the word that is being taught, for example, passive

You then describe the word (e.g., "when someone is passive, they are not active") When describing the word, provide a contextual example For example, you could say

"Last night, I was passive when I was watching TV because I was sitting on the couch without being active." Generate examples of that concept along with your students For passive, students might provide "napping," "spacing out," "daydreaming." After discussing, have students write four or five examples in the top right box

Next, have students provide non-examples of the concept For passive, students should offer activities that are not passive (e.g., "dancing," "playing sports," "playing music") Have students write four or five non-examples in the lower right box after you have discussed non-examples as a group

After you have described the word and examples and non-examples have been discussed, have your students write a definition of the concept in the lower left box These definitions should be written in their own words and can then be shared with the class

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Concept Sorting

When introducing a new unit, one manner to amass information is to sort the words into main categories (an activity outlined by Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, and Johnston) Categorization allows your students the opportunities to solidify their knowledge of word meanings through comparisons We continually categorize by finding order and similarities among new information to help us make sense of the world

Before beginning a unit/chapter, select important concept words Together with your students, review the list of words and come to a consensus by dividing the list into categories Through this process, your students will be comparing, contrasting, and analyzing already known concepts while expanding their knowledge of unknown concepts This exercise allows you to assess and build background knowledge While the students are reading and come across a sorted word, they can move it to another column if it is not correct If it is correct, they may highlight the word The sort is then revisited after the reading for further discussion

Medieval Times

List-Group-Label

The List-Group-Label activity (an activity described by Tierney and Readence) introduces and reviews new vocabulary on a specific topic through the process of categorization This activity is a form of semantic webbing, without requiring a graphic organizer Students must have a working knowledge of the concepts in order

to be successful with this activity The purpose of the activity is to solidify meanings

of words and concept knowledge

To begin, you would select one or two target words as a stimulus and write the words on the board or chart paper (i.e., volcano) You and your students proceed while brainstorming a list of related words (i.e., lava, fire, Pompeii, erupt) For the next stage, you orally read the list of brainstormed words, pointing to each word Using only the list from the board, partners group related words together and title each list to indicate the shared relationship between the words (not unlike a concept sort) Your students should then share their grouping strategies with the class, verbally stating why the words have been categorized in the particular manner (i.e., lava, ash, rocks, dust, smoke are all things emitted from a volcano)

3.1.2 Indirect vocabulary teaching

Students, especially young learners need indirect vocabulary instruction so that they can learn strategies for figuring out the meanings of unfamiliar words that they

encounter while reading This section describes instructional techniques that can help you in indirect vocabulary instruction

+ Analyzing Word Parts + Word Tree

+ Dictionaries +Word Wizard + Access to Stories

Analyzing word parts

Students need to understand the uses and meanings of prefixes and suffixes in order to pronounce unfamiliar words, figure out meanings, and use suffixes to determine parts of speech Deconstructing word parts can make a word more memorable and can help determine meanings of words when used in combination with contextual information

To assist your students in the use of word parts you must directly teach the most commonly used word parts and a strategy for deconstructing words Before beginning word-part instruction, you should introduce your students to prefixes, suffixes, and roots Students need not be concerned with learning specific terms; understanding how various word parts function together to influence word meanings is the goal

When introducing the concept of prefixes and/or suffixes, begin by displaying common morphemes on a chart (e.g., in-, dis-, re-, -ly, and -tion) and common base words (e.g., credible, connect, and equal) By combining prefixes and suffixes and one

or two base words to create new words (e.g., reconnect) Then involve students in building words using the remaining base words (e.g., disconnect, disconnection, equally, inequality) Using a think-aloud model, teach how to explain the meaning of each word using your knowledge of prefixes and suffixes

For example, explaining the word disconnection might go like this, "The prefix means the opposite of; connect means joined together or related, and -tion is a suffix that indicates a noun So, I can figure out that disconnection means not related or joined." Finally, discuss how suffixes can help you identify a word's part of speech This discussion can be revisited throughout the year with different morphemes and base words

dis-Word Trees

In Teaching Vocabulary, Tomkins and Blanchfield suggest an activity that provides a visual display of word analysis They suggest that you divide your class into groups with each group assigned a root to study Each group brainstorms words derived from the root by consulting a dictionary and joining suffixes and prefixes to find new words The groups then write their found words along with brief definitions for each using the meaning of the root in your definitions Then they draw an outline

of a tree and write the root at the base of the tree and each new word and its definition

on individual branches Look at the following example

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Dictionaries

Looking words up in dictionaries and recording their definitions have not proven to

be effective ways to address vocabulary instruction However, we should not therefore discount using dictionaries Have your students look words up after they encounter them in context rather than before Dictionary definitions are often hard for children to understand Help your students understand the elements of dictionary entries Additionally, have your students rewrite definitions in their own words

of two weeks or so, you and your students determine the student who found the most words That student is then declared the "Word Wizard" for the class

efficiently from having a story read to them as when they read it themselves but reading aloud to your students provides them with access to more sophisticated stories than they can read by themselves

In short, most researchers and vocabulary experts believe that the best methodology employs both direct and indirect teaching and provides opportunities for both receptive and productive learning to occur Thus, vocabulary teaching can fit into any course that involves language learning, not just reading or language arts classes The amount of time spent either on direct or indirect instruction depends on the teacher’s judgment in relation to a large number of factors, such as time available, the age of the learners, and the amount of contact the learners are likely to have with the variety of English words, both in and out of school (Vacca,Vacca and Gove, 2000;Allen, 1999; Marzano and Marzano, 1988)

3.2 Principles of teaching vocabulary

No matter how different many theories about vocabulary learning process were written , it still remains the matter of memory Thus, there are several general principles for successful teaching , which are valid for any method According to Wallace, 1988 the principles are:

 aim – what is to be taught, which words, how many

 need – target vocabulary should respond students’ real needs and interests

 frequent exposure and repetition

 meaningful presentation – clear and unambiguous denotation or reference should be assured

Learning vocabulary is a complex process The students’ aim to be reached in learning vocabulary process is primarily their ability to recall the word at will and to recognize it in its spoken and written form

Generally, knowing a word involves knowing its form and its meaning at the basic level In deeper aspects it means the abilities to know its (Harmer 1993):

1) Meaning, i.e relate the word to an appropriate object or context 2) Usage, i.e knowledge of its collocations, metaphors and idioms, as well as style and register (the appropriate level of formality), to be aware of any connotations and associations the word might have

3) Word formation, i.e ability to spell and pronounce the word correctly, to know any derivations (acceptable prefixes and suffixes),

4) Grammar, i.e to use it in the appropriate grammatical form

3.3 Techniques in teaching vocabulary

Teaching vocabulary is not just conveying the meaning to the students and asking them to learn those words by heart If teachers believe that the words are worth explaining and learning, then it is important that they should do this efficiently Teachers should use different techniques and activities in teaching English vocabulary

to motivate the learners, enrich their vocabulary and enable them to speak English

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properly There are many techniques and activities that teachers can employ and use in teaching vocabulary, such as presentation, discovery techniques and practice Below are several techniques teachers should consider when teaching vocabulary

Drawing

When it comes to teaching vocabulary words to younger students, there are plenty of easy options Coloring pages and picture books help students visualize the words that they are being taught, which helps with comprehension While older students may not be interested in coloring or reading storybooks, they too benefit from visual stimulation That’s why writing words out or creating flashcards helps in memorization of vocabulary words

Online Videos

Another visual way to teach vocabulary is to find videos that showcase the words used in lesson Videos created for people learning English as a second language are also ideal for teaching younger students words with which they have had little or no exposure YouTube Teachers’ Language Arts section is a good place to look for video content that is safe for classroom viewing

Brainstorm

Vocabulary builds upon itself, and association with words that are already familiar to students is one of the most effective means of teaching students unfamiliar words Teachers who help students to associate new words with words they already know well will help students with long-term retention

One method of associating vocabulary words with familiar words is to brainstorm with students Once students have heard a word and its definition, teachers can write the word

on the board and ask students to say words that go along with the new vocabulary word If the word is “mare,” for instance, students might say

“horse,” “barn” and “hay.” By writing the words down together, it creates a visual reference for students

Act it out

Younger children, especially, respond to games, but older kids don’t generally mind a little injection of fun into their school days either Teachers can make vocabulary words more fun to learn by turning the process into a game, like charades

Students can take turns acting out one of the vocabulary words, while the other students guess the word In order for charades with vocabulary words to work, students need some basis in the vocabulary, so teachers should schedule the game of charades a few days after students first get their vocabulary words Teachers may want

to release the word list on Monday, for instance, and make Friday game day

Write a Story

A larger vocabulary enhances students’ writing and reading abilities, so what better way for students to retain words than to use them in stories? Teachers can assign stories on an individual basis, or make it a class project By having students incorporate all their vocabulary words correctly into the text, students get the opportunity to learn proper spelling and definitions, and also how to use the words in context

Also, Celce-Murcia recommends every teacher to follow the “3 C’s approach (conveying meaning, checking understanding, and consolidation)

Stage 1 (conveying meaning), the items are presented to the students

The conveying meaning stage, to present new vocabulary to the learners, can be done in many ways, so that the learners can understand and grasp the words’ meanings

At the beginning levels, teachers can convey meanings by bringing authentic material into the classroom, i.e., teachers can bring the objects themselves to the classroom and show them to the learners, such as ‘pen’, ‘rulers’, ‘balls’

However, when that is impossible to bring the object to the classroom such as

‘cars’, ‘animals’, teachers can show their students pictures of those items Besides that, teachers can use mine, action and gesture to convey meaning Concepts like running, walking, or smoking are easy to present in this way At the advanced levels, teachers can convey meaning by using techniques of word relations, (synonyms or antonyms) definitions, explanations, examples, anecdotes, contexts and word roots and affixes E.g “If the teacher is explain the item “a guided tour”, s/he may ask the class to imagine a museum or an art gallery in which there is a group of people listening to a man explaining a picture The man goes from this picture to the next picture and the people follow him The teacher explains that the man is called a guide and the group is

on a guided tour If this is not clear, the teacher can illustrate with another example, perhaps of a guided tour of a city”

Stage 2 (checking for comprehension) exercises test how far the students have grasped the meaning of the items

After the stage of conveying meaning, the teacher should check the learners’ understanding, i.e., the teacher can prepare different kinds of exercises to check the students’ vocabulary comprehension Celce-Murcia suggests different kinds of activities for checking the students understanding, such as fill-in-the blank, making

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pairs and sorting exercises In the fill-in-the blank activity, the teacher gives the students either sentences or short passages with missing words, and then the students have to consider the context of the sentences to work out the probable missing words

In the matching pair’s activities, the students may be asked to pair up verbs with appropriate nouns, mini dialogues, definitions, idioms or funny definitions Lets’ take the following activities of matching up a verb (A words) with an appropriate noun (B words) as an example

6 – drive f – the television

7 – faster g – seat belt

Stage 3 (consolidation), students deepen their understanding of the items through use and creative problem-solving activities”

In the last stage, this is consolidation Implementing this stage, the teachers can ask their pupils to handle problem-solving tasks, values clarification, writing a story or dialogue, discussions and role-play

3.4 Strategies in teaching vocabulary

According to Colorin, C (2007), there are some strategies in teaching vocabulary

as follows

Pre-teach vocabulary

Before doing an activity, teaching content, or reading a story in class, pre-teaching vocabulary is always helpful This will give them the chance to identify words and then be able to place them in context and remember them You can pre-teach vocabulary by using some activities such as:

+ Role playing or pantomiming + Using gestures

+ Showing real objects + Pointing to pictures + Doing quick drawings on the board For complex words and concepts, you might want to follow these six steps:

+ Pre-select a word from an upcoming text or conversation

+ Explain the meaning with student-friendly definitions

+ Provide examples of how it is used

+ Ask students to repeat the word three times

+ Engage students in activities to develop mastery

+ Ask students to say the word again

Focus on cognates

Cognates are words in different languages that are derived from the same original word or root This is an obvious bridge to the English language – if the student is made aware of how to use this resource

Scaffold

Scaffolding is providing a support for students as they learn new skills or information For scaffolding vocabulary, you can:

+ Use a graphic organizer to explain concepts and related words

+ Use the six steps above to help students understand and use the word immediately

+ Post new vocabulary on a word wall, and review the words daily

+ Swap out old words as necessary

Label drawings and pictures to help students make the connection between oral and written English Point to these visuals to clarify meaning when using these words

Use computers and television

Computers are a non-threatening way to help learners work on their own or with a buddy to learn vocabulary, sounds of English, syntax, reading, and writing Educational children and adults’ television can also be a wonderful way to increase many reading skills, including vocabulary and comprehension

Use a word wizard box

Ask students to bring new words into the classroom that they hear at home, on TV,

or anywhere else and drop these words into a word wizard box At the end of class, pull out a word and ask who wrote it Have students tell you where they heard the words and how they were used Ask students to use these new words in their discussions and writing

Encourage oral language use

Learners are going to learn it from teachers Begin by making sure that they know instructional words that you use every day, such as "follow directions", "describe",

"start at the top of the page", "read to the bottom of page 4", "highlight the verbs only", and "use the steps in your guide." Encourage students to speak in class as much as possible Structure conversations around books and subjects build vocabulary Instead

of simple "yes or no" questions, ask questions that are interactive and meaningful For example, "What do you think? What should we change?"

3.5 Error correction in teaching vocabulary

Before the student begins to read, tell the student, "If you come to a word that you

do not know, I will help you with it I will tell you the correct word while you listen and point to the word in the book After that, I want you to repeat the word and continue reading Try your best not to make mistakes." When the student commits a

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reading error (e.g., substitution, omission, 5-second hesitation), immediately pronounce the correct word for the student, have the student repeat the word correctly, and then direct the student to continue reading NOTE: To avoid too many reading interruptions, do not correct minor student errors (e.g., misreading or omitting the or a, dropping suffixes such as -s, -ed, or -ing)

Word supply is the simplest error-correction to use, so it can be ideal for student tutors or parents to use On the other hand, the approach is less powerful than others described here for building student reading vocabulary (Singh, 1990)

According to Haring (1978), the instructor prompts the student to apply a hierarchy

of word-attack skills whenever the student misreads a word The instructor gives these cues in descending order If the student correctly identifies the word after any cue, the instructor stops delivering cues at that point and directs the student to continue reading (NOTE: To avoid too many reading interruptions, do not correct minor student errors (e.g., misreading or omitting the or a, dropping suffixes such as -s, -ed, or -ing)

Also, Jenkins & Larson (1979) emphasize the Error Word Drill an effective way to build reading vocabulary When the student misreads a word during a reading session, write down the error word and date in a separate "Error Word Log" The procedure consists of 4 steps as follows

1 At the end of the reading session, write out all error words from the reading session onto index cards (If the student has misread more than 20 different words during the session, use just the first 20 words from your error-word list If the student has misread fewer than 20 words, consult your "Error Word Log" and select enough additional error words from past sessions to build the review list to 20 words.)

2 Review the index cards with the student Whenever the student pronounces a word correctly, remove that card from the deck and set it aside (A word is considered correct if it is read correctly within 5 seconds Self-corrected words are counted as correct if they are made within the 5-second period Words read correctly after the 5-second period expires are counted as incorrect.)

3 When the student misses a word, pronounce the word for the student and have the student repeat the word Then say, "What word?" and direct the student to repeat the word once more Place the card with the missed word at the bottom of the deck

4 Error words in deck are presented until all have been read correctly All word cards are then gathered together, reshuffled, and presented again to the student The drill continues until either time runs out or the student has progressed through the deck without an error on two consecutive cards

3.6 Suggested activities in teaching vocabulary

3.6.1 Showing meaning visually (cited from Doff, A (1995) Teach English: A training course for teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

A Show the meaning of new words by showing a real object

E.g

Write these words on the board

watch window elbow

 Simply point at them and say ‘Look – this is a watch.’

Anything that is already in the classroom: furniture, clothes, parts of the body Also many objects that can be brought into the classroom: other items of clothing (hats, ties, handkerchiefs); food (orange, rice), small objects from the home (soap, cups, keys), etc

E.g

Demonstrate a presentation of the word ‘watch’

T: Look – this is a watch (pointing to his or her

watch) A watch A watch

Ss: A watch

T: (gesture) What is it?

Ss: A watch

(and so on)

B Show the meaning of the words by showing a picture

This can be done in two ways, i.e (1) by drawing a picture on the board, (2) by showing a picture prepared before the lesson (a drawing or photograph)

E.g Teachers show the picture and say “This is a cottage Cottage”

C Show the meaning of the words by miming (for most action verbs such as sit, stand, open, write, etc.; some adjectives such as happy, worried, ill, etc.), using actions

and facial expressions

E.g Demonstrate a presentation of the word ‘sneeze’ by the following way:

T: Look – (mime someone sneezing) Atchoo! I’ve just

sneezed Sneeze Sneeze Can you say it?

Ss: Sneeze

T: Again

Ss: Sneeze

3.6.2 Give examples (cited from Doff, A (1995) Teach English: A training course for

teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

Another way to show what words mean is by giving an example, using the word in context Make these points:

 It is not necessary to give a complicated explanation The meaning can be shown by simple sentences This can be done by making statements using the word or by imagining an example

 A good example should clearly show the meaning of the word to someone who does not know it already We need to add further information for learners to understand the word

3.6.3 Combining different techniques (cited from Doff, A (1995) Teach English: A training course for teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

A combination of techniques can be used to show the meaning of a word, i.e picture on the board (be interesting, students can remember it), facial expression (give meaning clearly), examples (show how ‘smile’ is used as a verb) as well as translation

(to make sure everyone understand)

E.g Demonstrate the word “smile” The teacher draws a picture on the 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)

Ss: smile

T: Good What does it mean?

(Students give translation)

3.6.4 Using a new word (cited from Doff, A (1995) Teach English: A training course for teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

The teacher can use a new word to ask a few questions which should be simple and

require only short answer round the class to:

+ help the teacher to be sure that students really understand the word

+ give the students more examples of how the word is used, in a way that involves the class

+ give a chance to practise other language (big, small, present simple tense, cook, etc.)

E.g The teacher presents the word “market” She/he will ask questions using the new word like

+ Does your mother go to the market?

+ Do you live near a market?

+ When does she go there?

+ What do they sell there?

+ etc

3.6.5 Vocabulary expansion (cited from Doff, A (1995) Teach English: A training course for teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

To introduce a new word, the teacher can expand vocabulary by providing sets of

words i.e synonyms (they are words of the same type and have the same general meaning) and the words are related by context (they might all be used when talking

about the new word, although they are not synonyms)

E.g Demonstrate the word ‘cook’

- The teacher lists some methods of cooking such as bake, fry, boil, grill, etc

- The teacher can try to elicit the new words from the students and then write them

on the board, e.g

+ What about bread?

+ How do we cook bread?

+ What about eggs?

3.6.6 Spot the vocabulary

(cited from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/spot-vocabulary) This is a visual activity which helps make the process of recalling vocabulary motivating and memorable This short activity works well particularly with lower levels, for vocabulary that has been studied thematically It can be used at any point in

a lesson, as a warmer, filler or lead-in

Preparation

You will need a picture (this could be an illustration from a book, from the web, a photo, even your own sketch!) that depicts 'things' on a particular theme which your students have recently learnt (ex: furniture/ food/ in the classroom)

Prepare one copy per group of two or more students

Procedure

The teacher holds up the picture so that the students cannot see it, and start building

up interest by saying, 'Hey, this picture is interesting, isn't it?', 'Can't you see it?' The teacher then asks students if they want to see the picture, turning it round for them to see just for a couple of seconds

The teacher then 'accepts' to let them see it for a bit longer, walking round the class for each person to see the picture for a few seconds

After this first 'suspense' stage, the teacher hands out a copy of the picture to students in pairs/small groups The teacher tells them they have two minutes to identify and remember as many things as they can see from the picture, without writing anything down! (Of course you may find your students trying to 'cheat' by writing things down - which of course is fine, as this is likely to help their learning, without their realizing!)

Once the time is up, the teacher takes back the pictures and asks students to write a list of everything they can remember

The teacher then pins up a few copies of the picture around the class for students to

go up and check their list

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Whole-class feedback can then involve one of various possibilities, depending on the students' mood by this stage and how much more exposure to the vocabulary items the teacher feels they need:

- Students call out the items and the teacher writes them up

- The group with the most items reads out their list for the others to check against

- Each group contributes one item/ the item that forms the longest word on their list They can come up to the board to write this

- The teacher and/or students pick out any items that they found difficult to remember/pronounce and try to improve their knowledge of these items

A variation of this adds a 'grammar' component to the listing of the vocabulary items Following a focus on 'There is/ There are', for example, students can write their list under these two headings Other grammar features that work well are headings for singular/plural, countable/uncountable or adjectives

3.6.7 Collocation pelmanism

(cited from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/spot-vocabulary) This activity follows on from the Think article Lexical exploitation of texts It is often necessary to recycle new words several times in class before they become part of learners' active vocabulary, and the same is true of collocations Whether the collocations are introduced through a text, as described in the article, or explicitly taught, the memory game pelmanism can provide a useful review activity in a later lesson

The winner is the person who has most pairs at the end

In order to collect pairs, learners need to remember the position of the cards as well

as the collocations, so it's important that they do not move the cards around too much It's also a good idea to demonstrate the game with a strong student the first time you use it in class If you later use the same activity again, you'll probably find that learners remember what to do

3.6.8 Quick revision games (cited from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/spot-vocabulary)

Five things

Divide the class in two teams Give each team a set of slips with five (or three or two, depending on their level) things they have to name

Examples:

 Name five things that move

 Name five drinks

 Name five things you would be doing if you weren't here

 Name five ways to get rich

 Name five animals

A member of the team reads the category of things they have to name and the whole team shouts the words

While team A is doing this, team B have to remain in silence Then it's team B's turn

Time each team The faster team is the winner

Category game

This activity can be used as a review Students usually get very excited

The teacher chooses a category (animals, colors, school objects, kitchen gadgets ) and each student has to say a word that belongs to that category

If a student doesn't know, he / she stands up Then, the teacher chooses another category the following student starts again In the following round, the student who's standing will have another chance If he / she can say a word that belongs to the new category, he / she can sit down

It's a great game for revision and to get students tuned into the lesson topic It may also be used to elicit from the student what they already know about a certain topic

3.6.9 Word association recitation

(cited from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/spot-vocabulary) This is a good way of getting students to memorize words and practise their pronunciation The activity requires no preparation

Procedure

With a big class, write a word on the board, for example, 'Sun'

Get the students to come up with a word that they would associate with that word, for example, 'round'

Write that word beside the original word on the board Now get the students to come up with an association for the new word

Continue the word association game until you have a good number of words on the board for the size of your class (for a class of 40 people, about 8 words will do)

Now get each student to quietly choose a word from the words on the board (they don't have to write it down, just memorize it)

Confirm things by going through each word asking people to raise their hand if they have chosen that word You need to do this because if there is a word that nobody has chosen then that word, when it comes time to recite the list, is replaced with a clap Erase all the words from the board and just leave a circle in the place of each one

Lastly, get all the students to say all of the words together

3.6.10 The revision box (cited from

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/spot-vocabulary) This activity can be used for both levels in teaching English as a second language

Preparation

The teacher uses a vocabulary box This box must mainly comprise of words on pieces of paper (either verbs, adjectives, adverbs etc.) all said by the learners themselves in previous lessons Importantly a lot of words are required for this activity

Procedure

The box with all the words is circulated around the class Each learner is given a chance to pick a word from which he / she will have to construct a short and grammatical sentence

Each sentence said is written on the board just as the speaker said it After 12 to 20 sentences the sentences are analyzed to see if they are grammatically correct with the emphasis placed mainly on the word from the vocabulary box

Correction of the sentences can then be done and learners, again depending on time available, prompted to produce the correct sentences with the same word from the box

It really gets learners talking while at the same time identifying their mistakes

3.6.11 The comparison game

(cited from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/spot-vocabulary)

In this activity, students compare the properties of different but similar words It can take up to 90 minutes or be done quite quickly using fewer words and is designed for lower intermediate students, though again this depends on the number and complexity of the words used

Elicit the difference between a 'pen' and a 'pencil' as an example and put the key words on the board in the relevant sections You can also elicit grammatically correct sentences with these words (e.g "You can write with both a pen and a pencil")

Write your pairs of words on the board: e.g

café - restaurant

newspaper - magazine kettle - teapot

clock - watch house - flat Tell your students to copy them down - and ask them to leave spaces on the right under the headings 'similarities' and 'differences'

Divide your class into groups of three and tell each group to work with one pair of words (allocate them so that all the pairs of words are being worked on at the same time, but by different groups)

Ask the students to write down as many similarities and differences as possible in note form

After two minutes say "Change!" - Instruct each group to work on the next pair of words

After each group has finished each pair of words, ask the students to regroup, so that each new group is composed of students from different groups

Ask the new group to compare and edit their information - adding, deleting, and modifying points

Get the whole class's attention and elicit the key similarity and difference for each pair of words Put these key words on the board

Create an example sentence using the keywords which includes a similarity and a difference (e.g "A kettle is similar to a teapot because you put water in both, but a kettle is different from a teapot because you put cold water in a kettle and boiling water in a teapot.")

Split your class into pairs, and ask each pair to write a similar sentence, using their own examples

Get the students to read out some of their sentences

3.6.12 Stop the bus (cited from

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/spot-vocabulary) This is a great game to revise vocabulary and you can use it with any age group and any level by changing the category headings

It really gets students focused and working on tasks as a team and can be a saviour

to fill the last ten minutes of a class when you have run out of ideas!

Procedure

 Put the students into teams of three or four

 Draw on the board a table like the ones below and get each team to copy it onto

Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj.dtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn33

 Check their answers and write them up on the board and if they are all okay that team wins a point If there are any mistakes in their words, let the game continue for another few minutes

 If it gets too difficult with certain letters (and you can’t think of one for each category) reduce the amount of words they have to get You can say “Ok For this round you can Stop the Bus with 4 columns”

Examples:

Animals Colours Food Clothes Countries Sports

T Tiger Turquoise Tuna Trousers Tunisia Tennis

Something in the living room

Something in the bedroom

Something in the bathroom

Something in the office

Something in the garden

Something made of glass

Something made of plastic

Something made of wood

Something made of material

3.6.13 Making it up - Phrasal verb stories

(cited from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/spot-vocabulary)

A persistent problem area for students is phrasal verbs This story activity presents the verbs in a context helping the students to work out the meaning It is also memorable so it's easier for students to remember them too

Preparation Have each of the phrasal verbs from the story written on a piece of card, large enough for all the students to read Have the verbs in their infinitive form e.g to go out with / to turn up / to break down etc Also make sure the pronoun is in the correct place depending on whether the verb can be separated from the particle or not e.g to get on with something / to ask somebody in etc

Procedure Read out the story to the class slowly using gestures and miming to help meaning Place a phrasal verb on the board each time you say one

After each paragraph invite students, with your help, to repeat the story with you

Once the story has been presented put students in pairs and, using the cards on the board as prompts, get students to tell each other the story Monitor and after they have all tried to say the story get them to tell you it themselves without you saying a word Keeping the students in pairs hand out the cards (have copies ready if you have a large class) so that each pair gets about 5 or 6 each Working together the students have to make up a very short story using the verbs Use the same verbs from the story They can write the story down if they want

When they have finished students have a few minutes to remember their story so that they can tell it to somebody without looking

When the students have finished swap partners and get them to take it in turns to tell their story The students should not be looking at their stories just remembering them The listener can listen out for which phrasal verbs are being used

For consolidation/revision you can make a matching verb and definition exercise with the more difficult verbs:

to call (somebody) out to have no more

to run out (of) to leave suddenly, quickly, unexpectedly

to pop out to telephone somebody in order to get help

You can also provide a speaking activity that personalizes the verbs:

+ How long should you go out with somebody before getting married?

+ Does you teacher sometimes pop out of the class? Why?

3.6.14 Word guessing games

(cited from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/spot-vocabulary) The following games can be played throughout the school year but are also very useful as a round up at the end of term You can play them a few times First play with the whole class and then try in groups (good for mixed ability groups)

Guess the word (can be used for abstract nouns) Choose five words relating to recent conversational themes Write sets of clues to help students guess the words Play with whole class or teams Use one word per lesson over five lessons or use all words in one session as a longer game

Example clues:

I am a noun but I am very important

I begin with the letter ‘f’

People in prison have lost it and want it back

People demand it when it is taken away by dictators

First, split your class into different teams (two is best, but if you have a large class, any number could be used)