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Tema 11 e
Tema 11 e
Tema 11 e
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INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, the teaching of a foreign language has focused on the
teaching and learning of grammar as well as of vocabulary. The first thing
children do in their mother tongue, once they are able to, is to say words.
These words will be isolated, they wont say sentences, but they are words
which come from their surrounding and which have meaning anyway. At the
same time that the children are more aware of reality, they learn more and
more words.
In the process of learning a foreign language, the teacher must take into
account the natural process of language learning. The 4 skills are naturally
acquired in the following order: LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING and
WRITING . Therefore it seems to be quite logical to learn a foreign
language in the same way.
However, as it was mentioned above, the teaching of a foreign language has
been always based on both grammar and vocabulary aspects. The reason for
this is that a child that can already read and write in his/her own language
would feel frustrated if he/she could only produce isolated words.
The first of them was based on the frequency of use . This means there
are words which are used more frequently than others due to
determined circumstances. Some works have been published, trying in an
attempt to show the most frequently used words in written English.
The second trend is based on the fact that there are some words that
are more necessary than others due to their direct relationship with
learning aims. It is very difficult to establish which words are necessary
and which words are not because many different factors and realities
can vary the criteria. That is why the teacher has to take into account
the students world and interests. As well as this , the vocabulary cannot
be presented in isolation but within real situations or linguistic contexts.
This will facilitate both comprehension and production. The important
factor is that they are useful words for communication. Thus teachers
should look for these interesting contexts, for instance:
a) informal conversations with classroom mates
b) phone calls
c) children stories
d) instructions for the functioning and organisation of the
classroom, house , work... .
e) descriptions of objects, people or animals
f) jokes and games
g) interviews
h) penfriends
c) using social formulae: Happy birthday!, How old are you?, Good
morning!,...
d) asking questions in class for information: How do you spell it?,... .
Our main task as teachers is offering the students a series of resources
that allow them to communicate in a foreign language. That is why, apart
from the teaching the above-mentioned vocabulary and structures, we must
make them aware of the fact that a great deal of new words can be
formed, as in their mother tongue, by means of:
WORD FORMATION
3. COMPOUNDING
This process consists in putting two bases together forming a syntactic
unit. There are different types:
4. BACK FORMATION
Formation of a new word by the removal of ( real or apparent ) affixes
from a existing word. The majority of back-formations in English are
verbs.E.g.:
-Burgle (from burglar) = to robe
-housekeep ( from housekeeping)
5. REDUPLICATION
Reduplicatives are compounds with two or more constituents which are
identical or slightly different. Most of reduplicatives are taken from the
language of nursery. E.g.: walkie-talkie, criss-cross, goody-goody (very good,
delicious), ping-pong, hocus-pocus ( abracadabra), wishy-washy ( when
someone uses a very academic language.). Uses of reduplicatives:
6. CLIPPING
It denotes he subtraction of one or more syllables of a word. Clippings
are normally familiar words which are often shortened to a single
syllable ( especially in informal language). The shortening may occur:
a) at the beginning of the word: telephone-phone
b) at the end of the word: photograph-photo
c) both at the beginning and end of the word: influenza-flu.
Another examples could be: ad ( advertisement), exam ( examination ),...
7.BLENDING ( blends or portmanteau words)
Especial type of compounds in which at least one of the elements is
fragmentary. E.g.:
9.WORD-MANUFACTURE/ COINAGE
When a word is invented by someone and it can defining something. For
instance: GOOGOL ( a number that is equal to 1 followed by 100 zeros).
10.BORROWING
Linguistic forms can be taken by one language or dialect from another. E.g.:
restaurant, caf, pizza, patio... .