Diploma in Early Childhood Education

English for
Communication
Lecture 2

Conducted by:
Imali Kularatne
Today’s lecture,
Learning Outcomes:
➢ ILO2: Value the importance of English as a means of communication
➢ ILO3: Engage in communicative activities to improve fluency and accuracy.

Lesson Aims:
❏ Formative and summative assessment format and guidelines
❏ Develop vocabulary using word categories: Synonyms & Antonyms,
Compound Words, Word formation (-Affixes)
❏ Use strategies for developing vocabulary: Word clues, Dictionary reference,
Word games, Word roots and affixes prefixes,suffixes, Vocabulary
journal,Riddles
Assessments
Formative Assessment (50%):
● E-Portfolio - Google Drive folder containing in class work
submitted each week.
○ Each week we will do one activity in class that you will need
to upload to the E-Portfolio.
○ The documents must be saved in sub-folders named according
to the lecture, e.g. Lecture 2, Lecture 3, etc.

Summative Assessment (50%):

● An written test conducted in class or an online test that must be
completed within a given period of time.
(Approx. 2 hours)
Assessments Guidelines
Formative Assessment (50%):
● Every week the documents must be submitted before the next
week’s lecture (format will be shared for each document).
● Google Drive link must be shared with me this week. (Please grant
access to kularatne.imali22@gmail.com )
● The E-Portfolio must be labelled according to the following format.
○ E-Portfolio - ‘Student Name’ - ‘Student ID’
e.g. E-Portfolio - Imali Kularatne - DECDE-N-2236-29
Word riddles
I am taken from a mine and shut in a wooden case, from which I am
never released. I am used by almost everyone. What am I?

a pencil
Word riddles
I am a word of letters three. Add two, and fewer there will be. What
word am I?

Answer: few

few —> fewer

Word riddles
I am an odd number. Take away one letter, and I become even.
What number am I?

seven
Word riddles
The more of me you take, the more you leave behind. What
am I?

footsteps
Word riddles
I have cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and rivers but no
water. What am I?

a map
Come up with your own!
Make a word riddle in your groups. Let’s see if the class can guess.

The most creative riddles gets extra points!

Guess the other teams’ riddles to win more points!

No
devices!
 Synonyms and Antonyms
Let’s play another game!

I will give you a list of words. Write as many synonyms as possible for
each one within the time limit. You can use a dictionary.

Remember! The goal is to find at least one synonym for each word, so
don’t waste too much time on one word.

The group with the most number of synonyms is the winner.

On your marks. Get set. Write the synonyms!

1. Car 9. Write
2. Dog 10.Beautiful
3. Book 11.Happy
4. Smile 12.Brave
5. Run 13.Intelligent
6. Eat 14.Small
7. Speak 15.Cold
8. Dance
Note: Synonyms aren’t words with exact meanings. Rather they are words
that are very close in meaning.
Possible answers
1. Car: Automobile, vehicle, motorcar, ride, wheels.
2. Dog: Canine, hound, pup, pooch, mutt.
3. Book: Novel, tome, publication, manuscript, volume.
4. Smile: Grin, beam, smirk, simper, smil
5. Run: Sprint, dash, jog, race, hasten.
6. Eat: Consume, devour, ingest, dine, feast.
7. Speak: Talk, communicate, converse, articulate, utter.
8. Dance: Move, groove, sway, twirl, jig.
9. Write: Compose, pen, inscribe, jot down, record.
10. Beautiful: Gorgeous, stunning, lovely, attractive, pretty.
11. Happy: Joyful, delighted, content, cheerful, pleased.
12. Brave: Courageous, fearless, valiant, heroic, bold.
13. Intelligent: Smart, clever, brilliant, wise, knowledgeable.
14. Small: Little, tiny, petite, minuscule, compact.
15. Cold: Chilly, freezing, icy, frigid, frosty.
And another…

Game: Opposites Attract!

Choose any five words. Write them on five pieces of paper.
On another five pieces of paper write their antonyms.

Give your word sets to the other groups and let them match the
synonyms to the antonyms.

Remember!
All words have synonyms but not all words have antonyms.
Break Time (10 minutes)
 Word Families

● A word family describes the relationship between different

forms of the same root word. The different forms are made by
adding a prefix, suffix or both.

For example:
national, nationalise, international, nationality etc. which are all
forms of the same root word.

What’s the root word?

nation
Source: https://www.eltconcourse.com/training/tkt/tktmodule1/tkt_m1_lexis.html
 Lexical Sets

● A lexical set describes the relationship between words of the

same kind and type.

For example:
lion, tiger, jaguar, lynx, panther

What’s the lexical set?

Big cats

Source: https://www.eltconcourse.com/training/tkt/tktmodule1/tkt_m1_lexis.html
 Semantic Fields

● A semantic or lexical field describes the words that commonly

come together in one text.

For example:
ill, doctor, painful, life-threatening, hospital, treat, nurse,
ambulance etc.

What kind of text would they be a part of?

A text about medicine or healthcare.
Source: https://www.eltconcourse.com/training/tkt/tktmodule1/tkt_m1_lexis.html
 Word family, lexical set or semantic field?

Smartphone
lexical set:
Laptop
Internet technology
App
Social media
Computer
Wi-Fi

Source: https://www.eltconcourse.com/training/tkt/tktmodule1/tkt_m1_lexis.html
 Word family, lexical set or semantic field?

Sustainability semantic field:

Recycling
topic - environment
Renewable energy
Climate change
Conservation
Pollution
Eco-friendly

Source: https://www.eltconcourse.com/training/tkt/tktmodule1/tkt_m1_lexis.html
 Word family, lexical set or semantic field?

know, knew, knowing, knowledge, known, knows,

unknown, knowledgeable, knowingly

word family:
root word - know

Source: https://www.eltconcourse.com/training/tkt/tktmodule1/tkt_m1_lexis.html
Word families practice
Choose one of the colours. Behind each one is a root word.
In your group, write as many words as you can to make a
word family.

under help learn

word well

room discover
child
Lexical sets
Brainstorm examples of lexical sets you might teach in an
early years classroom.

e.g.
Insects - bee, ant, fly, mosquito, beetle, butterfly, ladybird,
dragonfly, caterpillar, cockroach, wasp, moth, mantis,
grasshopper.

(Early years do not start writing so you can think of words

you might teach meaning for.)
Homework
Find a text (video, audio, written) on any topic and make a list of a
semantic field that is related to the main topic of the text.
Homework Example

Notice how I’ve highlighted

words that would generally
appear in any article about
conservation.
To be continued…
Homework: Vocabulary Journal
This must be included in your E-portfolio in the sub-folder Lecture 2.

However, this is an ongoing task. Every week you must include 5 new words
that you came across while reading, listening, watching TV, surfing the
internet, etc.

Write the word, the definition in your own words and where you came across
the word.
e.g.
promulgate (v.) - To declare an idea or cause publicly in order to make it
known to a large number of people. (Ellen Carmichael, National Review, 30
Aug. 2022 )