How to Teach Vocabulary to

Young Learners
Why we should teach vocabulary to YL
• Vocabulary of a language is just like bricks of a high
building. Despite quite small pieces, they are vital to
the great structure (Innovative Techniques of Teaching Vocabulary at the
Intermediate Level in the Second Language Classroom Prashant Subhash Mothe, Adarsh Senior
College, Omerga Dist.Osmanabad (MS) India)

• Good vocabulary range increasing reading

comprehension, ability in technical subjects and
written ability.
• According to Cameron (2001:73) “Vocabulary
is about learning words, children are not only
expected to know the word but also they have to
know what the meaning of that word.”
 How to Teach Vocabulary to YL
1. Make it interesting
2. Keep it relevance
3. Set achievable goals
– The words we are targeting - are they suitable for
the students ability
– The amount of time we give students to learn
them
– The number of words we set
4. Teach words in context

(http://emmainindia.hubpages.com/hub/Teaching-Vocabulary-to-Young-Learners)
 Techniques to teach vocabulary for YL
1. Pointing
Teacher can use flashcard or power point
presentation to show the item that they want
to teach.
2. Substitution
There are two ways to substitute the
words
• Synonyms : We substitute one word students are familiar
with or another new one
Example: When you call someone, do you sometimes
have to wait?
You have to hold.

• Antonym : We substitute one word they are familiar with for

its opposite.
Example : Is a Ferrari a cheap car? No it’s an expensive car.
3. Naming
This technique is similar to substitution,
but in this case, we set a scene or
situation and then substitute it with a new
word or phrase, thus effectively naming the
scene
Example :
» The steak I ordered last night was not
cooked enough. It
was undercooked/rare/bloody.
» The hotel accepted too many reservations. The
hotel is overbooked.
4. Miming and TPR
This technique works great with
kinesthetic learners. TPR works well with
parts of the body (I’m touching my nose!
Touch your nose!), actions (I’m walking to
the door), and the imperative
commands (Sit down! Stand up!)
5. Realia
The using of realia can motivate the YL to
learn. It’s fun and sets a more natural
learning environment
 Vocabular Sparkle
y Puzzle

Spelling Bulls-
Kind of eye
Activities
Guess the Word to Teach
Vocabular
y to YL

Word Ladder

http://emmainindia.hubpages.com/hub/Teaching-
Vocabulary-to-Young-Learners
 Sparkle
• Before we do this activity have all members of
the class stand up
• Choose a spelling word and have each student
say one letter to spell out the word.
• After the last letter has been said the
next student say sparkle and the next
student in line is out of the game
• For example: Word = Cat, Student 1 - 'C',
Student 2 - 'A', Student 3 'T', Student 4 - '
Sparkle', Student 5 is out!
 Spelling Bulls-eye
• Divide the class into 2 groups
• Each member of the group try to spell the
target word one by one
• The winner is the group which can spell the
word correctly and fast.
• The winner use a soft ball (or scrunched up
paper) and throw it a bulls-eye (circular
target) and make points for their team
 Word Ladder
• Write the target words on large cards and place
them on the floor in a line to make the ladder.
• Divide the students into 2 groups and ask them
to stand up at the opposite of the ladder
• 1 student from each team start (at the same
time), before they can go forward one step on
the ladder they must tell us the meaning of the
word
• If they get it right the step forward.
• Do it until each member of the group meet in
the middle of the ladder
• Do rock, scissor, paper to decide who can stay
on the ladder
• The winner continues, the loser has to go to
the back of their teams line, and a new team
member starts from the beginning of the
ladder.
• First team to the end of the ladder get a
point.
 Guess the Word

• Let the students sit in their chairs.

• Give each one a list of
words, student A gives a definition or
sentence but does not say the target
word.
•
Student B has to guess what
the word is
 Vocabulary Puzzle
• Write some words on a large cards
and put it random
• Teacher give the definition of one
word
• Students should find a word with the
definition that the teacher already
given