Activating Vocabulary 2

January 5, 2018 | Author: Ahmed Mahmoud Yassin | Category: Vocabulary, Language Education, Recall (Memory), Learning, Memory
Share Embed Donate


Short Description

Activating Vocabulary...

Description

ICELT DISTANCE UNIT 7 Activating vocabulary

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Contents Introduction …………………………………………………………

3

Aims ………………………………………………………………..

3

Reading ……………………………………………………………

4

Section A – Reflection …………………………………………….

5

Section B – Approaches to teaching grammar …………………

8

Section C – Presentation techniques …………………………..

19

Section D – Practice techniques ………………………………..

29

Section E – Grammar in the young learner classroom …………

34

References …………………………………………………………

35

Feedback on unit ………………………………………………….

36

British Council, Bogotá 2006

2

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Introduction In many traditional language classrooms, grammar was viewed as the most important aspect of language learning. Methodology was concerned almost solely with ways of having learners practise the grammar with vocabulary and pronunciation slotted in. Nowadays most teachers would not recognise that situation – there has been a growing acceptance that there is much more to a language than grammar. In the 1970’s, the communicative approach mostly abandoned this emphasis on grammatical form in favour communicating the message successfully, despite inaccuracies. More recently, however, the importance of focussing on form has been addressed again. In this unit we will be considering different approaches to teaching grammar and whether we need to make form (or structure) rules explicit to learners. We shall evaluate a number of presentation and practice techniques.

A Aims and Objectives In this Unit we look at what it means to teach vocabulary and how we can help learners to learn vocabulary effectively. There are 3 sections: 1. Section 1 - Reflection. This purpose of this section is to get you to think about what is involved in teaching and learning vocabulary. 2. Section 2 - Input. This section looks at • active and passive vocabulary • memory and why we forget things • ways of presenting vocabulary in a meaningful way • different activities through which learners can practise and recycle vocabulary. 3. Section 3 - Storing vocabulary, looks at ways of helping learners record vocabulary in a personally meaningful way

ims By the end of this unit you should:

British Council, Bogotá 2006

3

ICELT distance unit 7

• • • • • • • •

Activating Vocabulary

Have a clearer understanding of deductive, inductive and guided discovery approaches to grammar teaching Have analysed lessons in relation to these approaches Have analysed the learning process within a guided discovery lesson Have planned a sequence of activities using a guided discovery framework Have evaluated a number of presentation techniques Have a clearer understanding of the notion of controlled and free practice activities Have planned controlled and free practice activities for particular language points Have considered the place of grammar in younger learner classrooms

British Council, Bogotá 2006

4

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Essential Reading Cameron, L. 2001 Teaching Languages to Young Learners. CUP Chapter 4 – Learning Words Nunan, D. 1991 Language Teaching Methodology. Longman Chapter 7 – Teaching Vocabulary

Recommended Further Reading ELT Forum Teacher Development Pack: Vocabulary

British Council, Bogotá 2006

5

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Section A – Reflection Task 1 (taken form Thornbury, 2004) Try to match the first half (1-5) with the second half (A – E) of each extract. They are all on the subject of learning vocabulary. Then, think about the implications of these statements in terms of teaching vocabulary. Try to do this task with a colleague. 1. ‘The human lexicon is believed to be a network of associations, a web-like structure of interconnected links.’

2. ‘The act of successfully recalling an item increases the chance that the item will be remembered.’

3. The more one manipulates, thinks about, and uses mental information, the more likely it is that one will retain information.’

4. ‘When words are met in reading and listening or used in speaking and writing, the generativness of the context will influence the learning.’

5. ‘A learner’s active/productive vocabulary is always smaller than his or her passive/receptive vocabulary.’

British Council, Bogotá 2006

A. ‘That is, if the words occur in new sentences contexts in the reading text, learning will be helped. Similarly, having to use the work to say new things will add to learning.’ Nation, 2001 B. ‘In the case of vocabulary, the more one engages with a word (deeper processing), the more likely the word will be remembered for later use.’ Schmidt, 2000. C ‘When students are asked to manipulate word, relate them to other words and to their own experiences, and then justify their choices, these word associations are reinforced. Sökmen, 1997. D. That is, learners might be able to recognize a given lexical item when it is presented to them to they may be able to infer its meaning, but this is not at all the same thing as recalling items for use.’ Carter, 1998 E. ‘It appears that the retrieval route to that item is in some way strengthened by being successfully used. Baddeley, 1997.

6

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Commentary KEY: 1– C; 2 – E; 3 – B; 4 – A; 5 – D Some of the implications of these statements are: • •

• • •

It is important to provide activities for learners that require them to retrieve words form memory. It is important to provide task that require learners to make decisions about words involving increasing degrees of cognitive depth, such as manipulating them, relating them to words they know, and personalising them. The more and the ‘deeper the’ the decisions, the more likely it is that the words will be learned. It is important to provide activities that require the learners to produce words – rather than just recognise them, if the words are to become part of the learners’ active vocabulary. It is important that learners meet and re-meet words frequently and in different contexts in order for learning to take place.

As an EFL teacher you have probably had a great deal of experience in learning new words in a foreign language especially if your mother tongue is not English. Task 2 Think about these questions and make a few notes: 1. Do you have any systems for learning new words? 2. When you wee learning English (or another foreign language), did the teachers give you any help with learning vocabulary? What kind of help? 3. Have you ever compared the way you learn new words with the way someone else learns them (e.g. a friend or a colleague)? If so, did you notice any differences?

If you answered YES to question 3 then you are probably already aware that people learn words, just as they do everything else, in their own personal way. Our aim as teachers should be to give learners as much chance as possible to: • • • •

understand new words when they first meet them, remember new words and use them efficiently, that is, make them part of their active vocabulary.

British Council, Bogotá 2006

7

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Section B – Knowing words Task 1 Look at the question in the box below and list as many different points as you can think of. Try to do this task with a colleague and when you have finished compare your ideas with those in the commentary. What does it mean when you say you know a word? For example, knowing how to spell it

Commentary 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6.

7. 8. 9.

What the word means in context. That is to use it with the correct meaning. (Context). e.g. He spent the afternoon reading. I’ve spent all my money. How to spell it correctly. (Spelling). How to pronounce the word correctly with the correct stress (Word stress and pronunciation). e.g.record (n) record (v) How to use it with other words. (Collocation). e.g. we tell a lie/a joke/the truth but we recite a poem. We make a cup of tea but we do our homework. The associations that a word has, i.e. does it have positive or negative associations. (Connotation). e.g. spinster v single. Both words are used to describe a woman who is not married but spinster has negative connotations and implies that a woman has not married for some reason or other, whereas single implies that the woman has not married out of choice. When to use it, whether the word is polite or rude or formal or informal. To use it in the right situation. (Register). e.g. With your family or friends you could say ‘Do you fancy a drink?’ whereas in a more formal situation e.g. to a visitor in an office it would be more appropriate to say ‘Would you like a drink?’ To understand it when it is written and/or spoken. To recall it when you need it. To use it in a grammatically correct way. e.g. news in English is an uncountable noun even though it appears to be in a plural form, so you cannot say ‘Are there any news?’ but need to say ‘Is there any news?’

All the above points may not be equally important. Their importance will depend on whether you need to recognize a word passively or whether you need to use it actively.

British Council, Bogotá 2006

8

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Now that you have looked at what it means to really know a word do the following short task. Task 2 1. Write down five or more words or phrases that you have recently learnt in a foreign language or that you remember learning in a particular situation in the past. Words which you have really learnt and always remember. 2. Write down the reasons you learnt those particular words, and perhaps not others that were introduced to you at the same time. What made the experience memorable and effective? 3. Ask some of your colleagues or friends or learners(!) for similar experiences and compare them with your own.

Commentary Here is what some other teachers said: Seamus I always remember the Italian word for stupid (scemo) because it sounded a lot like my name Ricardo I remember chickenshit. We learnt it when we were doing a song in class and I remember it because it sounds rude. Betty Jo I always remember the Greek word for 'yes' , which is 'nai' because, in English, it sounds like the opposite of yes - nay. Bronwen I always remember the word for up/upstairs in Hindi because it sounds so similar to English - ooper (phonetic spelling) and because I liked the sound of it I used it as often as I could.

British Council, Bogotá 2006

9

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Task 3 Look at the account of the classroom vocabulary teaching below and consider the following; y y

why the learner was having problems how you think the teacher could help the learner more

‘Every lesson the teacher drew a white line down one side of the board and wrote 'Vocabulary corner’ at the top of the space. When we came across a new word the teacher translated it for us and wrote it, in English, with its translation next to it in the box. At the end of the lesson we copied down all the words into our notebooks in alphabetical order, like a dictionary. I never seemed to remember many of the words except from the ones that sounded funny or rude. Learning vocabulary was a real effort for me.’

Commentary Let’s think about what’s involved in learning and teaching vocabulary. Three aspects that need to be focussed on are; context activation personalisation 1. Context. This is probably the most important aspect of any vocabulary teaching. All words take their meaning from the other words around them and the situation in which they are used. If you look back at task 2 you will see that points 1,4, 5 and 6 all relate to context. In this class the learner can’t remember the words easily because the way that they have been recorded does not provide any context. Words that have connections (e.g. car, drive, traffic lights, traffic jams, roundabout etc.) are not recorded together but in alphabetical order. The words are not put into sentences to remind the learner how they were used in the lesson, they do not have pictures next to them to stimulate memory. The words are simply a list with nothing to help recall. 2. Activation. This is the process of helping the learner to guess the meaning of a new word (from the context), putting her brain into action, stimulating learning and remembering. In this lesson the learners were not activated at all. They were not invited to try and guess the meanings of the words, everything was given to them, like spoon-feeding a small baby. Consequently the information went in one ear and straight out of the other! 3. Personalisation. All learners are different, as you may have seen if you did Task 1. Some learners respond to visual stimuli, others to audio and others

British Council, Bogotá 2006

10

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

to kinaesthetic stimuli. They also have different techniques for remembering and recording vocabulary and in our classes we should aim for a variety of presentations to help different kinds of learners. The teacher in this situation did not allow the learners the chance to use their own techniques in class, but used the same system every week for every new word. The vocabulary notebooks were all the same and the format was dictated by the teacher, so they were not personalised.

Task 5 Here is a list of terms describing how words relate to each other. Match each one to its definition. Can you think of examples for any of them? superordinate

Words that are spelt the same way but have different meanings.

hyponym

A word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word.

homophone

Items that are members of a general concept,

synonym

A letter or a group of letters that are added to a word and change the meaning or function of that word.

antonym

Words that sound the same but are spelt differently.

affixation

A combination or two or more words that function as a single word.

compound

A general concept that covers specific items.

homonym

A word that is the opposite of another word.

British Council, Bogotá 2006

11

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Task 5 superordinate hyponym

homophone synonym

antonym affixation

compound

homonym

A general concept that covers specific items. e.g. animal is the superordinate of dog, mouse, elephant, lion, cat etc. Items that are members of a general concept, e.g. dog, mouse, elephant, lion, cat etc. are hyponyms of the superordinate animals Words that sound the same but are spelt differently e.g. know/no knew/new to/too A word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word. e.g. He hid the money in his shoe. He concealed the money in his shoe. It is important to note that there are sometimes differences between words. In the above example conceal is more formal than hid. A word that is the opposite of another word. e.g. hot/cold poor/rich A letter or a group of letters that are added to a word and change the meaning or function of that word. e.g. kind: kindness, kindly, unkind A combination or two or more words that function as a single word. e.g. headphones, teapot, car park, toothache etc. Words that are spelt the same way but have different meanings e.g. you should lie down. Don't lie to me!

British Council, Bogotá 2006

12

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Section C – Presenting and Recycling Vocabulary Learning Styles It would be useful for you to look again in Unit 1 in which we introduced the brain and learning styles. If we accept that everyone has their own style of learning: that is, some prefer to see information written down; others prefer to hear the information; and others prefer to do something with the information, then in our presentations we should aim to accommodate different learner styles. Task 1 Thinking about the above, can you think of what different methods of presenting vocabulary we could use to help different kinds of learners

Commentary To help the different kinds of learners we should aim to include different ways of presenting vocabulary so associations can be made: • With a mental image or picture • With a situation, topic or story • With some kind of need (personal significance) • With another word (of the same language) • With a positive or negative feeling • With a smell, sound or movement • By the specific word being memorable in itself for some reason

Memory - why we forget things. There are several different theories about why we forget some things and remember others, but below are some that are useful to bear in mind as language teachers: • The decay theory. This states that unless we periodically activate and revise information stored in the brain, it will gradually disappear. •

The fish tank theory. Sometimes the information is in the brain but we are unable to retrieve it. However, if we find the right association and link we can catch any information that is stored somewhere in our memory! Our brain is like a computer in lots of ways. We can categorise things that we need to learn and file them according to the topic, order of events, place where we first heard it, the person we first heard it from, etc. If we think of our brain as a fish tank full of different coloured and different sized

British Council, Bogotá 2006

13

ICELT distance unit 7



Activating Vocabulary

fish, then we should know how to catch them using the right associations. The garden path theory. Activities done before OR after a period of learning can also affect the quality of both the learning and retention. Therefore, associations, links and the order of events may help us to remember things. We can start from the last situation and trace them back to the first point - the thing we have forgotten.

Task 2 Now close your eyes and try to remember what you were wearing last Wednesday afternoon. Which theory best fits the process you went through to remember? Perhaps you used another method. What was the trigger? Share this activity with your students and see what made them remember. Maybe it was the weather, or where they went or what they were doing or who they were with.

Active and Passive vocabulary It's important to remember that each person's active and passive vocabulary is different.

Task 3 • •

What is the difference between active and passive vocabulary. Think about the differences between the active vocabulary of a doctor, a six-year-old boy and a language teacher.

British Council, Bogotá 2006

14

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Commentary ACTIVE vocabulary is the vocabulary we need to use and PASSIVE vocabulary is what we may need to recognise, but do not really need to use. It is obvious why this varies between individuals. Look at the active vocabulary of: • a doctor,(symptoms, dosage, antibiotic) • a six year old boy, (chicken nuggets, Mummy, bedtime story) • and a language teacher (noun, lesson plan, pairwork) As teachers it is important that we direct most of our vocabulary teaching towards words that the students need to use and they will come across very often (these are also called high incidence words). This does not mean that we pick out the words from the text, make a list and translate them, like our teacher in Task 4! Just that we try to direct our tasks or activities towards useful words.

Ways of Presenting Vocabulary. Task 4 Write down as many different ways as you can think of to present new vocabulary. Discuss with your colleagues, did they have any that were new to you?

British Council, Bogotá 2006

15

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Task 4 Below are some ways of presenting vocabulary that the teachers here came up with. • Realia and visuals. By realia we mean the actual object itself. So, for example, if you were introducing different kinds of fruit and vegetables to an elementary class, you could bring in actual examples of apples, oranges, pears, plums etc. Visuals would include pictures, flash cards or video images. • Matching. If you look back at Task 5, this is an example of a matching exercise. The students are given the words and their definitions and asked to match them up. In a classroom situation it can be quite a good idea to have the words and definitions cut up onto separate pieces of paper or card (especially suitable for kinesthetic learners). • Word-building. Use parts of words and affixes to help learners build words or to guess their meaning. • Guessing from context. Use the context surrounding a word to help learners to guess its meaning. This is a very important skill and as teachers we should do all we can to help learners to develop it. There is nothing more frustrating than reading a text in a second language and having to stop and check the meanings of every other word in a dictionary. • Pictograms. Draw the words to represent their meaning. Example:

huge

hot

tiny

cold

a. Name two things for each adjective b. How many more adjectives do you know. Write a list. c. Draw two of these adjectives. Give them to your partner. Can he or she say what they are and draw their opposites?

British Council, Bogotá 2006

16

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

6. Demonstrating. Act out or mime words. Example.

The class is going to listen to a song where they have to act out the following verbs: clap shake snap your fingers swing wiggle As an introduction the teacher acts out the words and asks the class to act too. As the words occur in the song the learners act out the words.

7

Synonyms. Use words learners already know to teach them similar words. However, be careful with synonyms because few words are truly synonymous. For example: • antique and old collate differently, that is you can use antique with furniture but not with house, you would say an old house. • They often have different grammar, for example: leave the station but depart from the station



• •

they may be particular varieties of English. For example the difference between American and British English, e.g. rubber (UK) / eraser (US) trousers (UK) / pants (US) handbag (UK) / purse (US) flat (UK) / apartment (US) They may be of a different style, formal (child) /informal (kid), archaic (wireless)/modern (radio), or different connotation skinny/thin, skinny is not very complimentary etc.

8 Situation/story. As it is not always possible to use realia or visuals, you might need to use a situation or story to contextualise the word. For example if you wanted to explain a concept, such as honesty,

British Council, Bogotá 2006

17

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

9 Categorising words. For example if you wanted to introduce vocabulary connected with people you may ask the learners to do the following: People around you. Categorise the following words under the headings below.

acquaintance neighbour stranger law boss pupil niece flat-mate partner head-teacher family

niece

friends

colleague best-friend mother-ingreat-grandparents ex-wife relative

work

school

other

10. Labeling a picture. For example, learners are given the picture of a human body and label all the different parts, arm, leg, back etc.

11. Call my Bluff. This is a game that used to be on British television but can work well in the classroom, especially with more advanced classes. The teacher divides the class into three groups of three. Each group is given some words that the teacher wants to introduce and a dictionary. Each group then has to check the definition of each word but also has to find two false definitions. When the groups have finished their definitions it is time to play the game. One group shows their word to the other two groups and then each member of the team gives a different definition of it. The other two groups then have to decide who is telling the truth and who is bluffing. If the other teams guess correctly they get a point. If not the team who gives the definitions gets a point.

Ways of re-cycling/revising vocabulary. Task 5 There are many fun ways of recycling vocabulary in the classroom. How many different activities do you use at the moment? Compare your ideas with your colleagues and then check the Commentary for some of our ideas.

British Council, Bogotá 2006

18

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Commentary 1

Backs to the board - useful as a warmer at the start of the lesson or before an activity where the students are going to be needing the vocabulary. The class is divided into half and one half of the students sit with their backs to the board and their partner sits opposite them facing the board. The teacher then writes a word on the board and the students facing the board have to explain the word to their partner for them to guess. When one pair gets the correct answer they put up their hands.

2

Pictionary - divide the class into two teams. One person from each team comes to the blackboard and the teacher shows them a word or expression. Each person then has to draw the object on the board for the rest of their team to guess. The first team to get the right answer gets a point. It's best to give them a time limit for each guess. 30 or 60 seconds is usually enough.

3

Crosswords - this is a great favourite with our students. Crosswords can also be used to present vocabulary in which case they are used in conjunction with a class set of dictionaries. Each student gets a crossword with half the words filled in. The students work in pairs and they have to explain the words that they have to their partner to enable their partner to complete the crossword. It is usually a good idea to have students with the same words work together first to write definitions of their words.

4

Flash cards/pictures. As a quick revision of words previously introduced. Show the students the picture or flash card and they give you the word.

5

Vocabulary bag. At the beginning of the term introduce the students to the vocabulary bag. The teacher and he students write any new words/expressions they come across during the lesson on pieces of card or paper and put them into the bag. Periodically during the term the words/expressions are picked out by the teacher or the students for revision. This can take any form, perhaps some of the ideas here!

6

Find someone who. There are many published versions of this activity. Each student gets a sheet of paper with different words/definitions of words or pictures of objects and they then go round the rest of the class to find someone who knows the meaning. This is an excellent form of peer teaching.

7

Mime. Similar to pictionary but the students mime the word rather than draw it.

8

Walking round the room - there are two possible ways to do this activity: • Students are given a number of post its or slips of paper on which they write the names of objects found in the classroom and then stick the pieces of paper on the objects. Afterwards they go round checking if the objects are labelled correctly or not. • In the other the students walk around the room and as they pass another student they point to an object and name it.

British Council, Bogotá 2006

19

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Section D – Storing Vocabulary Finally, let's look briefly at the written storage of vocabulary and at different ways that learners can record vocabulary in their notebooks. How you store vocabulary may not be the way your learners wish to store vocabulary. Therefore, it is important that the storage of vocabulary involves learners in the process. The following are examples of how this can be done. A Special Place With the aim of recording the following words: Comfortable old alone secure clear

warm hidden exciting imaginative quiet

soft round dry noisy dream

bright slippery high dangerous

cosy wet delicate cold

1. Provide the learners with a large piece of white paper and ask them to draw a place that they were happy in when they were children. 2. Give them a few minutes to think about this. Tell them that it doesn't matter if the drawing is not great. Encourage them to produce this drawing. 3. Now dictate the words in the above list and ask the learners to place the words on their drawing according to how they felt about the different parts of the place. 4. Ask the learners to now write in any other words of their own on their drawing. 5. Follow-up: ask the learners to do one of the following: • write a short description of the place that they were happy in when they were a child • talk to each other about the place • ask each other about their drawings and why they have put the words in the places that they have.

Word Webs This is another very useful way of recording vocabulary in that the associations are made on paper just as they might be made in the brain. For example: 1. Write the word POLITICS in the middle of the board and ask your learners to write the word in their note-books. 2. Make several balloons around the word POLITICS 3. Ask learners to think of all the different words that they associate with politics

British Council, Bogotá 2006

20

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

and write them in the balloons. 4. They now have a visual record of politics and the words associated with it.. E.g.

Polling station president politician

to vote election

ballot senator politics

Word Groups This is a useful activity to revise and record recently learnt vocabulary. Ask your learners to draw three columns in their notebook as shown: Nice Words

Neutral Words

Horrible Words

Explain what nice, neutral and horrible mean if needed. Now dictate a list of about 40 words. These can be words that you have taught them over the past few weeks. Ask the learners to put the words under one of the headings in the columns. Tell them that it is their choice which column they put them in. There is no right or wrong answer. After the dictation, ask them to compare their words and discuss in pairs or groups their reasons for seeing a word as nice or neutral or horrible. While the learners are discussing walk around listening to your learners' comments. There can be other headings for the groups eg sad words/ happy words, words I don't like in English/ Words I like in English etc.

British Council, Bogotá 2006

21

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

This activity involves the whole person. The learner has feelings towards certain words perhaps because of the sound of the word, mother tongue associations etc. The learner may like a word because of who used it, perhaps a favourite teacher or a singer, or because of where it was said and how the learner was feeling at the time. It is effective to tap into these emotions and help learners to use these associations to remember words.

Notebooks MAKE SURE that from time to time you collect your learners' notebooks and have a look at them. WHY? Because the way they record words will tell you: • Whether they prefer looking or listening (listeners make more spelling errors) • What their systems are for grouping words • How much they rely on translation and if the translations they write are correct. • If they are recording the lessons accurately. Why not collect the notebooks tomorrow!

Dictionaries And lastly a word about the biggest vocabulary storage of all. The Dictionary Learners love dictionaries. They hide them under the table, keep them in their pockets and believe everything they say about English rather than what you say. The kind of dictionary you can keep in your pocket is not detailed enough. They may even give one word translations which are often WRONG! You cannot tell your students never to look in the dictionary. But you can make sure that they are encouraged to: • Guess from context • Be suspicious about one word translations • Listen to the teacher's explanations • Use their ears, eyes and bodies in the classroom and • Use monolingual dictionaries of a suitable level.

So if you have a book budget at the place where you work, make your first priority a set of good English dictionaries that students can have access to both during and between lessons. We can find context in a good dictionary. British Council, Bogotá 2006

22

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Students can activate their brains working out meanings and comparing words in good dictionaries and there is a personal element in choosing which words they need to know and how to write down what they find out. So, dictionaries are very valuable but should be handled with care!

Reading and note taking Read: Cameron, L. 2001 Teaching Languages to Young Learners. CUP Chapter 4 – Learning Words Nunan, D. 1991 Language Teaching Methodology. Longman Chapter 7 – Teaching Vocabulary

British Council, Bogotá 2006

23

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Peer Observation 4 – Dealing with Lexis (from Wajnryb, 1992) In this task you are ask to research the different perceptions that teachers and learners may have about which lexis or vocabulary is difficult. Before the lesson 1. Arrange to observe a lesson, preferably one which includes a reading or listening text. 2. Meet with the teacher before the lesson to discuss which words the teacher thinks will be difficult for the learners (difficult here means that the learners do not know the words and they will hinder comprehension of the text). 3. Add the words that the teacher mentions to column one of the table on the next page. 4. Tell the teacher that you want to ask the learners to make a list of the words they found difficult and that this will take approximately 10 minutes. Confirm that the teacher aggress to this. 5. Analyse the text your self and write down which words you think the learners will find difficult. Write these in column two of the table. During the lesson 1. Monitor the learners carefully during the lesson and not down in column three which words they seem to have difficulty with. 2. At the end of the lesson, take ten minutes to ask the students to write a list of the words they thought were difficult. After the lesson 1. Collate the students’ list so that you can compare these better.

British Council, Bogotá 2006

24

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

Words perceived as difficult by: The teacher

British Council, Bogotá 2006

You

The learners

25

ICELT distance unit 7

Observer ……………………………….. ………………………

Activating Vocabulary

Candidate

number

Date of observation …………………… Level of class …………………………… • • • •

You should write between 100 and 200 words. This piece of writing is not assessed but it is an essential part of your portfolio. Use the following questions to help you evaluate the observation in terms of you own professional development. Continue on the other side of this page if necessary

1. How great were the differences between the teacher’s, the learners’ and your perceptions of difficult words. How do you account for this 2. Do you think we should ask students directly which words they find difficult and then focus on those instead planning which words to work on in advance? 3. How useful do you think it is to pre-teach vocabulary before a reading or listening text? 4. Are there any areas of your won teaching of vocabulary that you may consider changing in light of this observation? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

British Council, Bogotá 2006

26

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

References Baddelet, A. (1997) Human memory: Theory and Practice. Psychology Press Carter, R. (1998) Vocabulary: Applied Linguistic Perspectives. Routledge Nation, ISP. (2001) Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge University Press Scmidt, N. (2000) Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press Sökmen, AJ., in Schmidt, N & McCarthy, M (Eds) (1997) Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy. Cambridge University Press.

British Council, Bogotá 2006

27

ICELT distance unit 7

Activating Vocabulary

FEEDBACK on Grammar practice & presentation unit 1. How long did it take you to work through this unit? Less than 6 hours

About 6 hours

More than 6 hours

2. In general, how did you find the unit? Good

OK

Poor

3. Was the level of the material? Too challenging

About right

Too easy

4. Please assess the overall presentation of the unit. Good

OK

Poor

5. Please assess the clarity of the writing in the unit. Good

OK

Poor

6. Please write any other comments you have here. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Thank you for taking time to complete this form. We appreciate your comments.

British Council, Bogotá 2006

28

View more...

Comments

Copyright ©2017 KUPDF Inc.
SUPPORT KUPDF