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Elt 2

This document discusses teaching vocabulary and provides guidance in 3 key areas: 1. It outlines the different types and amounts of vocabulary a learner needs to know, including core, defining, academic, and multiple meaning words. 2. It explains different approaches to teaching vocabulary, including incidental learning through reading/listening, explicit teaching of selected words, and developing independent strategies. 3. It provides examples of vocabulary activities teachers can use, such as translation, studying words in sets, and using dictionaries, as well as a link to more activity ideas.

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Ilaf Aziz Amin
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39 views12 pages

Elt 2

This document discusses teaching vocabulary and provides guidance in 3 key areas: 1. It outlines the different types and amounts of vocabulary a learner needs to know, including core, defining, academic, and multiple meaning words. 2. It explains different approaches to teaching vocabulary, including incidental learning through reading/listening, explicit teaching of selected words, and developing independent strategies. 3. It provides examples of vocabulary activities teachers can use, such as translation, studying words in sets, and using dictionaries, as well as a link to more activity ideas.

Uploaded by

Ilaf Aziz Amin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE BASICS OF

TEACHING VOCABULARY
THINK-PAIR-SHARE

◼ Do you remember any language teaching methods focusing on vocabulary


learning?
◼ Think about this sentence, and share your idea:
“without grammar little can be conveyed, without vocabulary
nothing can be conveyed.” David Wilkins
Vocabulary bank of a native speaker

◼ By the age of five, a native speaker has acquired 5000 words.


◼ An educated native speaker knows around 20,000 words by the age of 20.
◼ “a classroom learner would need more than 18 years of classroom exposure
to supply the same amount of vocabulary input that occurs in just one year in
natural settings.” (Thornbury, 2002)
How many words does a learner need to know?

◼ Core vocabulary = 2000 words that most native speakers use in daily
conversation.
◼ Defining vocabulary = words and suffixes used in the dictionary’s
definitions
◼ Most frequent words = 2000 words that provide learners with
familiarity with 90% in most written texts
◼ Academic words = 570 word families that account for 90% words of
academic texts.
What makes a word difficult?

1. Pronunciation
2. Spelling
3. Length & complexity
4. Meaning (e.g. multiple meaning words)
5. ??
What we mean by “knowing a word”

Spelling Connotation
Pronunciation Form Meaning Denotation
Word class Multiple Meaning

Use
Formal context
Informal context
Social context
Celce-Murcia (2001)
How to teach “vocabulary”?

1. Incidental vocabulary teaching


2. Explicit vocabulary teaching
3. Independent strategy development
How to teach “vocabulary”?

1. Incidental vocabulary teaching


◼ This means teaching vocabulary from other language skills (e.g. reading &
listening).
◼ The teacher provides a lot of opportunities for reading & listening
activities to teach new words.
◼ Extensive reading and graded books are assigned to the students from
which they learn new words.
How to teach “vocabulary”?

2. Explicit vocabulary teaching


◼ This means teaching vocabulary on purpose = carefully choosing specific
words to teach = intentional vocabulary teaching
◼ Start with frequency word lists
◼ 2,000 high-frequency words cover 87% of nonacademic texts and 80% of
academic texts (e.g. West’s (1953) GSL & Nation’s (1990) Vocabulary Level Test)
How to teach “vocabulary”?

2. Explicit vocabulary teaching


◼ Useful for beginner students with limited vocabulary knowledge
◼ Translation of the words can help students remember the words.
◼ Study 5-7 new words at a time
◼ Use vocabulary activities to help students use the words
How to teach “vocabulary”?

3. Independent vocabulary development

◼ This means guessing the words from context


◼ To do this, students need to know 3,000 most frequent words
◼ Useful for higher level students
◼ focus on different types of dictionaries and teach how to use them (e.g.
bilingual & monolingual dictionaries)
Some vocabulary activities

Check the web address below to see hundreds of vocabulary activities

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/vocabulary-games-and-activities.pdf

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