Module 8 - Teaching Vocabulary

20/07/2022, 19:41 Module 8: Teaching Vocabulary
Module 8: Teaching Vocabulary
How to teach Vocabulary
Site: TEFL Fullcircle

Course: Advanced 160 Hour TEFL Course
Book: Module 8: Teaching Vocabulary
Printed by: Anastasia Ushakova
Date: Wednesday, 20 July 2022, 6:41 PM
https://www.teflfullcircle.com/onlinecourses/mod/book/tool/print/index.php?id=1104 1/16
Table of contents
Introduction
Unit 1: Lesson Structure
Unit 2: Teaching Vocabulary and Video 23
Unit 3: Meaning
Unit 4: Usage
Unit 5: Form
Unit 6: Pronunciation
Unit 7: Concept Checking Questions
Introduction
Remember: Integration of skills is
paramount!
Teaching new
words to students is a vital part of language teaching but it's not that
straightforward as
many words in the English language have more than
one meaning. For example, the words 'top' and
'bottom' both have more than
one meaning.
There are also

many idioms in the English language, which need to be taught. For example, 'it
costs an
arm and a leg', 'a piece of cake' and 'break a leg.'
Idioms are
difficult because they cannot be understood from the meanings of the words
alone. They
need to be taught in context with the situation where they are
used.
Many different
elements need to be considered when you teach vocabulary.
Let's now explore

the best ways to teach vocabulary.
Take the Quiz: PPP Review
Unit 1: Lesson Structure

Let's consider
the basic structure of a vocabulary lesson before we examine it in more
detail.
You will follow

this structure when you teach a vocabulary lesson.
Introduction:
Introduce
yourself and write the lesson aims on the board and explain clearly what your
plans are for
the lesson.
Warmer:
Use a warmer to
get students acclimatised to the lesson.
Presentation:
Present your new

vocabulary.
Practice:
You will now

practise the new words with some controlled practice activities.
Production:
This is the stage

of the lesson where you give students a chance to practise without the control.
The
aim of this part of the lesson is to let your students try to extend their
knowledge and use the target
language in a freer, more creative way.
Summary and Reflection:
Summarise your
lesson and reflect on the lesson by asking students what they enjoyed or what
went
well.
Cooler:
End the lesson

with a fun, positive activity.
Let's now have

closer exploration of each of these parts of a lesson.
Unit 2: Teaching Vocabulary and Video 23
04:16
When we teach new

vocabulary we need to consider the following:
Teach and practise words in the

spoken form first or students will attempt to pronounce the
words as they
are written.
New vocabulary needs to be introduced in

context and also practised.
Teach the students about syllables in words

and the intonation of a word.
Practise the spelling of words.
Revision of words so that words are not

forgotten. This is termed 'recycling'.
Use concept-checking questions to
check the understanding of a new word.
Present new vocabulary in a memorable and

fun way so that students can remember the words.
Ways to
introduce new words memorably and in a fun way:
You can introduce

a new word by speaking it, by showing it visually by using an image or drawing,
by
using realia or by kinaesthetically using your body or gestures to
illustrate it.
Remember: You
will have many different types of learner in the classroom, so you should try
all the
different ways of introducing the new word.
Draw a picture on the board and ask 'What is

it?'
Bring in real objects (realia)
Mime or act it or get one of your students

to mime it.
Say it.
Use a synonym or similar word. For example: 'What

word has a similar meaning to 'broad'?'
Use an antonym (opposite) word. For example:

'What is the opposite of the following: 'short',
'thin', 'old'?'
Use a gap fill sentence. For example:

We fly to different countries in a________.
Get students to look it up in a bi-lingual

dictionary or a monolingual dictionary.
All of these
different ways to introduce new words give you the opportunity to
play games with your
students, which they and you will enjoy. This is
also an excellent way for checking if the students have
understood the new
word.
It's also crucial

to use different methods of checking from the ones you used to illustrate the
example.
Here are tried

and tested ways to check the understanding of new words:
Word games and puzzles
Picture compositions
Word sets
Filling in tables
Learning new
vocabulary is crucial to the success of speaking a language. Many of the
textbooks you
will be using will contain much of the basic vocabulary you will
need. However, new vocabulary will
arrive each time you teach.
We would like you

to confidently present the new vocabulary, let students practise using it and
then let
them get creative with it in your fun and safe learning environment.
You can use your
reflection techniques to
create a deep learning classroom.
Gestures and Mime
We mentioned
gestures and mime in the section above. Let's examine these in more depth.
When teaching a
class, on many occasions you can use simple phrases to direct the learners: That's
right. That's not right. Who's next?
But you can also

convey many instructions, requests, invitations and corrections by using
various
types of gestures and mime.
Gestures and mime

spark interest and encourage participation. So, in addition to your voice, you
could
use your hands, your eyes or, more frequently, a combination of both.
Such gestures and

mime can be simple and effective and will encourage the students to speak,
thereby
reducing teacher talking time (TTT), and they will also save time.
Obviously the set

of gestures and mime that you develop will have to be recognisable to the
learners to
avoid confusion, so they will need to learn them.
Gestures and mime can

be used very effectively in teaching certain words. For example, the difference
between 'shy' and 'confident' would be quite difficult to explain in simple
language to a beginner class
but could be demonstrated very simply in a few
seconds with mime.
Students generally
enjoy seeing their teacher acting out a word or miming an expression and it can
add
a sense of enjoyment to a class. If they laugh at your mime or gesture, all
the better, because it will be
more memorable!
Using gestures and

mime is important when it comes to vocabulary. You can use them to elicit
certain
words and phrases.
If you teach very

young students, it is also common to associate gestures with words to help
students
remember vocabulary better. Using the same gesture every time you say
a particular word or phrase
will help these students associate the two.
Gesture/mime example:
If you have just

finished a section on feelings, make a list of feelings on the board and have
students
choose a slip of paper from a hat.
Each slip of paper

should contain a sentence such as You are happy or sad or confused etc. Students
should keep their
sentences a secret.
Have one volunteer at a time mime the chosen sentence while the rest of
the class tries to guess it.
To check individual
comprehension, you can use the same basic idea but instead turn it into an
interview activity where students have a sheet of paper with all the emotions
listed as well as their
secret emotion.
The idea is that

students go around the classroom miming and guessing emotions in pairs and
getting a
student signature for each emotion.
When you go through

the worksheet as a class, you can have students read aloud from their
worksheets sentences like Jane is sad and ask Jane to mime being sad for
the class.
Some gestures you could use to encourage

speaking and participation:
Encouraging a
response from the student group: with a smiling, open-eyed look, draw your
hands to yourself as you would when asking a group to come closer to you
Instructions:
Gestures for giving instructions might include, for example, a finger moved
from
left to right to show that something is wrong with the sentence, and that
the student should try to
correct it. This might be accompanied by a slight screwing
up of the eyes.
Listen: The
gesture for listen might involve cupping a hand around one ear with a raising
of the
eyebrows to denote a question.
Quieten down:
Quietening the class down could be achieved by moving both hands up and
down
with the palms facing downwards, again with the eyebrows raised.
Correction:
Gestures can be equally useful when giving immediate corrections to learners'
speaking errors.
A letter T made with both hands

can indicate the wrong tense has been used or that the article the is
missing.
An inverted V made with the

index and middle fingers of one hand with the index of the other used as
a bar
across it to form an A
could mean wrong subject-verb agreement (e.g. he live here).
One very common set of gestures is

used by teachers to show the required tense - pointing forwards
with one finger
means a future tense, pointing down to one's feet means present tense, while
indicating
over one shoulder with the thumb means past tense.
All of these
different gestures can initially be taught by giving the instruction orally
along with the
gesture - learners will soon get the point.
Of course, you can

add to these and develop your own catalogue of gestures.
Be careful with some gestures:
Very few gestures

are universally understood and interpreted. What is perfectly acceptable in the
UK
or Thailand may be rude, frowned upon, or misleading in other cultures. Here
are some useful
examples:
Beckoning with your index finger. This means come here in the UK but not in the Middle or Far
East, Portugal,
Spain, Latin America, Japan, Indonesia and Hong Kong. It is more acceptable to
beckon with the palm down, with fingers or whole hand waving.
Pointing at something in the room using your

index finger. It is
impolite to point with the index
finger in the Middle and Far East. Using an
open hand or your thumb is more acceptable.
Making a V sign. This means Victory in most of Europe when you make this sign with your palm
facing away from you. If you face your palm in, the same gesture means get lost or worse.
Forming a circle with fingers to indicate

OK. Although this gesture
may mean OK in the U.S.A.
and other countries around the world, there are some
notable exceptions. In Brazil and Germany, this
gesture is obscene. In Japan,
this means money. In France, it has the additional meaning of zero or
worthless.
Patting a student on the head. This is very upsetting for some Asian
students. The head is the
repository of the soul in the Buddhist religion.
Children from cultures which are influenced by
Buddhism may feel uncomfortable
if their head is touched.
Passing an item to someone with one hand. In

some Far East countries, this is very rude. Even a
very small item such as a
pencil or business card must be passed with two hands. In many Middle and
Far
Eastern countries it is rude to pass something with your left hand, which is
considered unclean.
Nodding your head up and down to say Yes. Take care in some countries. In
Bulgaria and Greece,
nodding your head up and down means 'No'.
Let's look at
how you can teach vocabulary using the PPP technique:
Introduction:
Introduce
yourself and write the objective on the board, telling the students what they
are going to
learn in today's lesson.
Warmer:
You will start

the lesson with a warmer activity to engage the students and get them feeling
more
relaxed.
Present:
Present the new

vocabulary and add context. You can present new words using any of the
following:
Realia
Miming it
Drawing it
Using a flash card
Using synonyms or antonyms
Putting the word in a sentence
Defining it
Getting the students to look it up in a

mono-lingual dictionary or bi-lingual dictionary
Checking understanding using CCQs
Presenting new
words to a class of students can be lots of fun. Some people like to do it
visually, some
aurally and some kinaesthetically (by moving around). Let's consider
some solid ways to present new
words and elicit information from the
class.
Realia: Realia means using real life objects

to introduce new words. You can bring in a few
objects or you can use the
physical objects that you can see in the room like your watch,
clothing, school
bag, table, etc.
Mime: This is huge fun. You can act out a

word. It's good for presenting abstract words like
'happy' or 'sad' or 'thinking'.
Flashcards and Images: Flashcards have

images on the front and the meaning on the back of the
card. They are
good for all levels.
Drawing it on the board: Draw a picture on

the board or get the students to draw a picture on the
board. Pictionary is a super
activity for this stage of the lesson.
Making a sound: This is just what it is and it's

great fun. Good for animals.
Antonyms and synonyms: These are words which

have the opposite and similar meaning,
respectively.
Putting the new word in a sentence: completing

a sentence with a missing word.
Looking it up using mono-lingual or

bi-lingual dictionaries.
Giving the students a text and getting them to

read and highlight words they don't know. This is
a good way for students to
understand new words from context.
Working in pairs, ask students to try to

identify new words from a text.
Don't forget to use positive language when you are eliciting

information.
Practice:
How can we practise

new vocabulary?
Drilling:
Model and drill

the word.
A good way to practise

a new word is by using drilling. You can choose to do a whole class drill
or
you can go around the class and get a student to repeat after you individually.
Then it's time

for your students to record their work in their notebooks. Most of the time
students will
do this automatically. However, it's a good idea to remind them
and get them to make notes of any
board work, especially new words.
Production:
Let the students

get creative, using a freer form of practice activity in real life
scenarios.
Summary:
End of lesson,
and a reflective element creating the process for deeper learning.
Cooler:
Cooler to finish.
When we teach a
new word we need to consider the following:
Meaning
Usage: how is it used?
Form: is the word a noun or an adjective?
Pronunciation: how do we say it?
Stress and intonation. We will explore this fully in the next

module.
Let's explore
these.
Unit 3: Meaning
There are 4 different
types of word in the English Language which you will have to explain.
Concrete words can be identified through one of the five

senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing,
smell). These words are quite straightforward
to teach because you can show students these
words visually or give them an
object to touch. These words are specific.
Abstract words cannot be identified using the five senses;

they represent ideas or feelings.
Therefore, in order to teach abstract words
you will have to act or mime or show specific images
and video to convey
their meaning.
For example, when explaining

the meaning of 'sadness' or 'happiness' you could draw happy and
sad
faces or act out these feelings.
Words with more than one meaning: In English, words with more than one meaning are
common and are confusing for learners. Being able to tell the difference will
depend on you
adding context to your lessons.
Generic words: These are words that give a

general meaning to a collection of items like
'furniture'.
You will have to

teach all of these meanings. It's worth noting that the more specific words a
learner
uses, the more descriptive and detailed his language will become.
Therefore, teaching more specific
words will enrich a learner's vocabulary.
Unit 4: Usage
The words,
functional expressions and grammar structures we choose to use are determined
by the
situation we are in and/or what we want to communicate to our
listener(s). Usage is interconnected
with meaning.
Usage answers the

question: When or why is the vocabulary, functional expression or grammar
structure used?
Unit 5: Form
Your learners
must be able to understand the meaning of a word, the usage of a word
but also
the form of a word.
With regards to
form, this means that a student must understand whether the piece of vocabulary
is a
verb, a noun, and adjective or something else.
Teaching your
learners the difference between words will depend on two things:
Position:
Position and use in a sentence: Let's look

at an example with the word 'show', which can be used
as a verb or a noun:
The teacher showed the
student how to answer the question.
The teacher took the students

to a Broadway show, 'Sleep No More'.
Prefixes and
suffixes:
If you add a group of letters to the

beginning or end of a word, this will change the meaning of
the
word.
For example:
The word 'appears' becomes 'disappear' when the prefix 'dis' is added.
The word 'comfort' becomes 'comfortable' when the suffix 'able' is

added.
The best way to

teach the form of a word, similar to the way for
teaching meaning, is to add context to
your lessons and activities.
Unit 6: Pronunciation
One of the most
difficult parts of learning English is the pronunciation of a word
because sometimes a
word looks nothing like how it should be said. When
teaching the pronunciation of new vocabulary,
you should try to teach stress
and intonation, and use phonemic charts.
Stress and Intonation
We will discuss this fully in the next Module.
We will focus on
Phonology in the next module 'Teaching Phonology'.
Unit 7: Concept Checking Questions

You will need to
ask Concept Checking Questions to check if your students have understood a
new
word.
As you know, it's

really important to ask more than 'Do you understand?'
Let's consider
some examples:
New words:
1. Shirt
2. Chair
3. Hair
Let's see what

sort of Concept Checking Questions you could ask to check whether
your students have
understood these words.
1. Shirt
Teacher: Am I wearing a shirt?
Student: Yes.
Teacher: Is it blue or white or another colour?
Student: It's blue and white.
Teacher: Does it have long sleeves or short sleeves?
Student: Long.
2. Chair
Teacher: Can I sit on it?
Student: Yes.
Teacher: How many legs does it have?
Student: 4.
Teacher: What colour is it?
Student: Blue.
Teacher: What is a chair for?
Student: Sitting on.
Teacher: How many chairs are in this room?
Student: 25.
3. Hair
Teacher: What colour is my hair?

Student: Brown.
Teacher: What kind of hairstyle do I have?
Student: Short.
Teacher: What do I wash my hair with?
Student: Shampoo
Teacher: How many times a week do I wash my hair?
Student: Never, once, everyday...
Concept checking
questions are for checking students' understanding when you are presenting
any new
material.

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20/07/2022, 19:41 Module 8: Teaching Vocabulary

Module 8: Teaching Vocabulary

How to teach Vocabulary

Site: TEFL Fullcircle

There are also

Let's now explore

Take the Quiz: PPP Review

Unit 1: Lesson Structure

You will follow

Present your new

You will now

This is the stage

Summary and Reflection:

End the lesson

Let's now have

Unit 2: Teaching Vocabulary and Video 23

When we teach new

Teach and practise words in the

New vocabulary needs to be introduced in

Teach the students about syllables in words

Practise the spelling of words.

Revision of words so that words are not

Present new vocabulary in a memorable and

You can introduce

Draw a picture on the board and ask 'What is

Bring in real objects (realia)

Mime or act it or get one of your students

Use a synonym or similar word. For example: 'What

Use an antonym (opposite) word. For example:

Use a gap fill sentence. For example:

Get students to look it up in a bi-lingual

It's also crucial

Here are tried

We would like you

Gestures and Mime

But you can also

Gestures and mime

Such gestures and

Obviously the set

Gestures and mime can

Using gestures and

If you teach very

If you have just

Each slip of paper

The idea is that

When you go through

Some gestures you could use to encourage

A letter T made with both hands

An inverted V made with the

One very common set of gestures is

Of course, you can

Be careful with some gestures:

Very few gestures

Pointing at something in the room using your

Forming a circle with fingers to indicate

Passing an item to someone with one hand. In

You will start

Present the new

Using a flash card

Using synonyms or antonyms

Putting the word in a sentence

Getting the students to look it up in a