Delta Vocabulary 3 Teaching Vocabulary

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Vocabulary Practice Activities

Decision-making tasks
Task 1
Label the examples of the following task types below.

Identifying

Selecting

Matching

Sorting

Ranking and sequencing

A
Put these adjectives into 2 groups: positive and negative.
emotional friendly outgoing ambitious rude self-centred polite
egotistical competitive cooperative
B
Find eight adjectives in the word square below.
q
f
s
l
z
v
j
o
n
k
g
r
t
n
n

e
l
b
a
e
g
d
e
l
w
o
n
k
i
q

c
e
d
n
i
e
l
s
d
n
l
i
u
w
a

u
z
o
s
n
u
n
c
a
u
n
y
m
x
u

m
m
y
r
g
p
o
h
d
t
c
b
o
s
k

l
j
a
r
z
m
s
o
e
t
r
a
l
h
j

u
e
y
b
e
e
w
l
n
q
k
q
t
p
x

l
z
c
j
j
n
l
a
i
e
i
c
f
e
e

s
g
c
m
l
e
h
r
a
v
s
e
a
c
d

b
c
m
o
c
h
e
l
r
m
q
i
t
w
y

r
t
f
t
v
v
d
y
t
p
b
u
w
r
u

m
s
u
b
p
w
z
z
r
f
m
g
r
a
w

y
a
e
r
u
d
i
t
e
u
m
v
j
e
v

l
q
z
l
f
k
w
i
e
n
d
g
f
x
v

w
e
m
e
x
x
u
h
n
c
a
y
i
c
v

C
Work in pairs. Choose five words to describe yourself:
confident
quiet
generous

quick
interesting
careful

reserved
caring
open-minded

CELT Athens (GV) 2010

attractive
selfish
daring

Delta Vocabulary 3 Teaching Vocabulary

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D
Find the odd one out:
trousers socks jeans T-shirt
skirt shorts jeans shirt
hat cap bandana bra
E
Match the words on the left with the definitions on the right.
able to do something because you have the knowledge or skills required
literate
knowing a lot about many different subjects or about one particular subject
qualified
knowledgeable well-educated and interested in art and literature
able to read and write
intellectual
with a lot of experience and knowledge of life
worldly-wise
F
Unscramble the anagrams (nnetis = tennis)
nnetis tennis
olpo
ndahallb
cecors
G
Put the following words in the order in which they typically happen in your
country:
graduate be born get divorced get married get engaged die retire
leave home have children re-marry start school
Games
Task 2
How might you use the following gapfill exercise to play a game of bingo?
Which area(s) of vocabulary knowledge does it focus on?

The family watched in _____ as their house burned.

I was _______ sitting around doing nothing all day, so I joined a yoga class.
People have been getting sick at an _______ rate.
Watching the planes crash into those building was a _______ experience.
I was _______ to hear what she had to say, so I went to hear her speak.

scare, horror, surprise, scary, terrible, shocking, shocked, terrifying, terrified,

bored, boring, alarmed, alarming, interested, interesting,

CELT Athens (GV) 2010

Delta Vocabulary 3 Teaching Vocabulary

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Taboo
Task 3
How would you use cards like the ones below to practise vocabulary? Which
area(s) of vocabulary knowledge would you be focusing on?
obstreperous

repossess

perspicuous

irritable
moody
bad-tempered
ill-tempered

deprive
seize
pay
unable
bank

clear
lucid
easy
understand

Task 4
What might be the learning objectives of the games below? What levels of
students would you use them with?
Idiom Charades
The teacher prepares one card for each student with idioms that the class has recently
learnt. The class is divided into two teams. One member of each team is called upon to
mime the idiom for the other members of their team to guess. If their team guesses first,
they score a point; if the opposite team guesses first, they lose a point.

Noughts and crosses

T puts the following on the board. Class is divided into two teams (noughts and
crosses). Team A (noughts) chooses a square (e.g. friends) and decide whether it
goes with make or do. If they make the right choice, they put a nought in the friends
square and play again. If not, a cross is put in that square and it is Team Bs turn to play.

exercises

friends

haste

housework

the beds

money

homework

amends

the laundry

CELT Athens (GV) 2010

Delta Vocabulary 3 Teaching Vocabulary

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Domino
Played in groups. Cards are dealt out. Player 1 puts the first card on the table and the
next player has to put down a card that fits either to the right or the left of the card on
the table. If he/she has no suitable cards, he/she must pass. The other players can
challenge if they think the card put down is not appropriate and the teacher (or the
dictionary) can act as the referee. The winner is the student that first gets rid of all of
their cards.

pretty

up

come

girl

party

boy

hat

birthday

CELT Athens (GV) 2010

Delta Vocabulary 3 Teaching Vocabulary

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Further reading
Gairns, R and S Redman. 1986. Working with Words. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
McCarthy M. 1990. Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nation, I S P. 2001. Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Schmitt N and M McCarthy. 1997. Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and
Pedagogy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schmitt N. 2000. Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Thornbury, S. 2002. How to Teach Vocabulary. Harlow: Longman

CELT Athens (GV) 2010