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2. VOCABULARY TEACHING

2.1. Stages in teaching vocabulary.

According to Wower (2005) and Thornbury (2002), there are three basic
stages in teaching vocabulary namely presenting, practicing and consolidating.

2.1.1. Presenting.

Presenting is the first stage to introduce vocabulary to students. According to

Adrian Doff, (p. 11) he emphasized that the aims of presenting vocabulary are
to establish the importance of teaching meaning of new vocabulary as well as
the form, to show how words are used in context. Moreover, Thornbury also
suggested that learners, at the very least, need to learn both the meaning and
the form of a new word. Therefore, as Thornbury claimed, it’s worth pointing
out that both these aspects of a word should be presented in “close conjunction
in order to ensure a tight meaning-and-form fit” (p.75). He also indicated that
“the gap between the presentation of a word’s form and its meaning” so that
learners could possibly be at ease to make a “mental connection between the
two”. He raised the question of how many words to present. This depends on
these factors:

- The learners’ level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced)

- Learners’ likely familiarity with the words (learners may have met the words
before even though they are not part of their active vocabulary)
- The difficulty of the items (whether, for example, they express abstract rather
than concrete meaning or whether they are difficult to pronounce)
- Their “teachability”, which means whether they can be easily explained or
demonstrated within the context of the classroom.
- Whether items are being learned for production (in speaking and writing) or
for recognition only (as in listening and reading). Since more time will be needed
for the former, the number of items is likely to be fewer than if the aim is only
recognition.
After having choice a number of items to teach , Thornburry mentioned
the choice of sequence of presentation.
• Meaning first, then form,
• Or form first, then meaning.
As he mentioned in his book How to teach vocabulary ( 76 ) that there is an
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argument that presenting the meaning first creates a need for the form,
opening the appropriate metal “files”, and making the presentation both more
`efficient and more memorable. On the other hand, “form first” presentation
works best when the words are presented in some kinds of context, so that
learners can work out the meaning for themselves. Finally, he listed the
techniques to present the meaning of vocabulary whether it is in spoken form
or written form. The techniques used in this stage is going to be mentioned in
later part.

2.1.2. Practice

As Thornbury (23) stated that “in fact, learning is remembering. Unlike the
learning of grammar, which is essentially a rule-based system, vocabulary
knowledge is largely a question of accumulating individual items.”
Researchers into the working of memory customarily distinguish three basic
types of memory (23):

- Short-term store – some information is held in memory for a very short

time (a few seconds). Students are able to repeat a word that they have just
heard from their teacher.

- Working memory – it is a space, where a student first places information

for later usage to recall a word repeatedly. It lasts about 20 seconds.

- Long-term memory – to compare working memory, where the capacity is

limited with long-term memory, where the capacity is wide and its contents
are lasted over time.

After the presentation of new vocabulary items, vocabulary items will

be practiced repeatedly and mechanically. Thornbury (2002) underlined the
popular belief that “practice makes perfect” (p.93). Additionally, he
emphasized the action of moving words from short-term memory into
permanent memory. He indicated that “new knowledge – i.e. new words –
needs to be integrated into existing knowledge – i.e. learner’s existing network
of word associations, or what is called the mental lexicon.” (p.93). This means
in order to ensure the long-term retention and recall, words or lexical items
need to be put to work, or into practice as it is often understood in many other
contexts. He proposed that vocabulary need to be placed in “working
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memory” and subjected to different operations which would be mentioned
intricately in the later part of techniques in practicing vocabulary.

2.1.3.Vocabulary consolidation.

This is the final important part of stages in teaching vocabulary . As in

this stage, students are checked their comprehension and they can revise the
vocabulary they have learned. Students are advised to complete high-level
tasks namely production tasks (Thornbury, p.100). These tasks help to
transform vocabulary from the quickly forgotten ( short-term store) to the
never forgotten store ( long-term store) and to turn passive knowledge of
vocabulary into an active form. Research into memory suggests that, in order
to ensure that information moves into permanent long-term memory, a number
of principles must to be followed. One of them is Use: “Putting words to use,
preferably in some interesting way, is the best way of ensuring they are
added to long-term memory. It is the principle well-known as Use it or
lose it ” (Thornbury, 24). As a result, a lot of techniques are used in
vocabulary consolidating stage and the researcher will present later.

2.2. Techniques in teaching vocabulary.

2.2.1. What is technique?

Language teaching is sometimes discussed in terms of three related

aspects: approach, method and technique. Different theories about the nature
of language and how languages are learned ( the approach ) implied different
ways of teaching language ( the method ) and different methods make use the
way of different kinds of classroom activities ( the technique). Examples of
techniques used in particular methods are drills, dialogues, role-plays,
sentence completions, ect. ( Longman dictionary of language teaching and
applied linguistists ). A method of doing something that needs skill, especially
in art, music, literature, teaching, ect. ( Longman dictionary of contemporary
English, 1992).

2.2.2. Techniques applied to present vocabulary.

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As mentioned above in the presenting vocabulary, Thornburry ( 77 )
introduces many techniques to present vocabulary and these techniques are
popularly used in language classes in Viet Nam .

Realia: Real objects are brought into class. They are interesting to see and
easy to understand. Besides, pupils can touch and feel these real things.

Visuals: Magazine pictures and photos from calendars are readily available
and illustrative of meaning. Drawings, stick figures and flashcards are also
helpful

Body language: When it is impossible to present vocabulary by using realia

or visuals. Teacher can use mimes, gestures or facial expressions to
demonstrate the vocabulary items, and this time teacher is like an actor or
actress who makes the lesson more interesting and motivates students’ interest
in learning target language. For example:

- Mimes: stomachache, backache etc.

- Gestures: limp, totter, etc.

- Facial expressions: surprise, bored, angry etc.

Definition: This is another way to present the meaning of vocabulary. It is

often used to teach difficult words or abstract words: concepts, happiness,
friendship, revenge, etc.

Situation: A situational presentation involves providing a scenario which

contextualizes the target word.

2.2.3. Techniques applied to practice

Presenting a word in the class is not enough for students to remember

for a long time. There are many practice activities that include repeating of the
new vocabulary to fix the new words in the learners´ memory. Thornbury
(2002: 93), there are many different tasks that teachers use in order to help
students move words into long-term memory. Some of these tasks will require
more brain work than others. Those tasks, clarified by him, require learners to
make decisions about words and they can be divided into different types in
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order of least cognitively demanding to most demanding. He also calls the
decisions – making tasks receptive tasks (the learner does not really produce
the target words) include these types:

1) Identifying – means finding words in a text or listening, e.g. underline

specific words or expressions in the text, or tick, put in the correct column or
list items that you hear.
2) Selecting – means recognizing words and making choices among them, e.g.
circle the odd word in the line.
3) Matching – includes recognizing words and then pairing them with their
synonym, antonym, definition, pictures to words etc. It can be intended to
match parts of lexical items to create collocations (there is a very popular
memory game based on matching called Pelmanism).
4) Sorting – means putting the lexical items into different categories, e.g. put
these adjectives in two groups – positive and negative.
5) Ranking and sequencing – means putting the lexical items in some kind of
order, e.g. ordering items chronologically, ranking items according to personal
preference etc.

2.2.4. Techniques applied to consolidate.

It is not always possible for students to remember all words they have
learnt once. Students need to use them again and again, play with them and
hear them in context. As mention above, in the final stage students are
advised to complete high-level tasks namely production tasks (Thornbury,
p.100). These tasks require learners to incorporate the newly studied words
into some kinds of speaking or writing activity. Moreover these tasks help
learners turn words from receptive tasks to products of their own and put
words into long – term memory. These tasks can be classified by Thornburry
into two main types namely completion and creation

- Completion tasks: (context is given), often called gap-fills, are widely used
not only in practice but also in revision stages. They include open gap-fills or
closed gap-fills (multiple choice activities). The open type is one where the
learner fills in the gaps by drawing on their mental lexicon. In the closed gap-
fill, on the other hand, the words are provided, in the form of a list at the
beginning of the exercise.
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- Creation tasks: require learners to create the contexts for given words. Here
are some typical task instructions suggested by Thornburry.
• Use each of these words to make a sentence which clearly shows the
meaning of the word.
• Choose six words from the list and write a sentence using each one.
• Use each of these words to write a true sentence about yourself or
someone you know.
• Write a short narrative ( or dialogue ) which includes at least five words
from the list.
He also added that tasks such as these lead naturally into speaking
activities: reading aloud, performing dialogues, comparing or explaining
sentences in pairs or in groups. These activities involve many of the processes
that serve to promote retention in long-term memory, such as rehearsal,
repetition, and explanation.
In another book named English Language Teacher Training Project,
The Methodology Course, Book One, Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary
(2001) There mentions some techniques which teachers apply to consolidate
vocabulary in English classes. Here are some of the common techniques:
- Rub out and Remember: The purpose is help students to memorize new
vocabulary. To do this teachers build a list of words on the board and after
each word teachers put in it the mother tongue translation. Ask students to
copy the wordlist in their notebooks. Then close their notebooks. Next
teachers erase the English words once at a time. Each time teachers erase a
word teachers point to the mother tongue and ask students “ What is it in
English?”. When all the English words are erased, teachers point to the mother
tongue and ask students to call out the word in English. If there is time left,
teachers get students come to the board to write the English words
- Jumbled words: to get students to practice spelling of new words. Teacher
writes 5 or 6 words with jumbled letters on the board and show the students
with an example ( nabaan – banana). Ask students to write the words in their
books. Then write on the board for everyone to check.
- Ordering: to get students recognize pronunciation of new words and give
them listening practice. To give students an example of how to use the words
in context, Teacher teaches the new words and writes them on the board in the
wrong order. Get students write the words in their books. Read or tell a story
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with the words in it. Get students put the words in the right order by
numbering them.
- Bingo: to get students listening to new words and match sounds with
spelling. To do this the teacher asks students brainstorm a list of 10 to fifteen
new words and put it on the board. The students copy five and write them in
their books. The teacher reads out the words – no in order. Each time students
have one of the words that the teacher reads, they put a stick next to the word.
The first student has the first five words says “ Bingo”.
- What and where: help students memorize new vocabulary or revise
vocabulary. Teacher elicits the words from the students. As the students give
the teacher new words, the teacher writes them on the board inside a circle-
not a list. When all the words are on the board, rub out the word but do not rub
out the circle. Get students repeat the words including the rubbed out word by
pointing to the circle. Rub out another word but leave the circle point to the
word or the empty circle. Students repeat and remember the words. Continue
until all the circles are empty. The students now have to remember all the
words. Get students ( six or eight at the same time) go the board and fill in the
empty circles with the correct words.
- Matching: This game helps student to guess the meaning of the words
through definitions or pictures. Teacher writes a list of new words in left side
of the backboard and definitions or pictures in right side of the backboard.
Students come to backboard and match the words with its definition or picture.

- Slap the board: The aim is to get students recognize the vocabulary through
listening and check students understanding the meaning of new vocabulary.
To do this teacher puts all the new words on the board - not in a list. If teacher
wants to check understanding, put the L1 translation of the new words or
pictures on the board. Teacher can set this technique into a game. Call two
students to the front and ask them to stand at equal distance from the board.
Call out one word in a loud voice. The two children have to run to the board
and slap the word on the board. The one who slap the word first is the winner.
The winner stays standing, the loser returns to sit down. Call another student
to replace the loser. After two or three times, teacher asks different students to
call out the words to be slapped.
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