Vocabulary Expansion: Going Beyond the Textbook Penny Ur ETAI 2011

Vocabulary Expansion: Going Beyond the

TextbookPenny Ur

ETAI

2011

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The textbook

Essential because:

Language syllabus

Texts

Activities

Coverage of four skills

Interest and motivation

Cultural aspects

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The textbook

Even the best textbooks need supplementing because

May not always be interesting enough

May not be relevant to my class

Some bits may be too difficult / easy

May not provide enough vocabulary

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Not enough vocabulary?

Sheer quantity

Words and chunks

Selection

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Quantity

To read and understand a Bagrut-level text you need:

95%-98% comprehension

between 5,000 – 8,000 word families

Which means …

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Some numbers:

We teach English for about ten years

About 35 weeks a year

So …

Each week between 15-22 new words

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Words and chunks

This does not include

added meanings for single words

chunks (Martinez and Murphy, 2011)

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Selection

Students need the most useful and important items

So we should try not to waste time on unimportant and (relatively) useless ones

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Examples

Rare items

eraser

purple

toe

gray

Common items

something

need

know

feel

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Frequency as a criterion for selection

The main criterion

Though not the only one!

Easy to check out

http://www.wordfrequency.info/free.asp

http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/bnc/

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An added complications!

Books at the High School level may provide a lot of vocabulary through texts

But…

They may not give enough focused vocabulary work.

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Need for focused vocabulary work

Incidental learning of vocabulary through reading is not efficient (Laufer, 2003)

You need to ‘notice’ (Schmidt, 1990)

And engage with new items

(And review… lots of times)

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Bottom line

We need to supplement the textbook with focused vocabulary expansion activities

These need to be a regular feature of lessons

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Vocabulary expansion activities

Aspects of design

Not too long and heavy: one to six new items at a time

Easily prepared

Interesting / fun / enjoyable

Some examples

Teach new vocabulary based on …

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1. Your own initiative

‘Word of the day’:

A new word or phrase you want to teach

a proverb, an idiom, paired expressions

A new word or phrase a student wants to know

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2. Items students already know

Words they know connections

Words they know opposites

Association chain

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Connections

intelligent

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Opposites

know

complain

admit

dream

objective

interesting

reflect

http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-synonyms/

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3. Words students teach each other

‘Show and tell’

‘Experts’

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Pass it round

You can break

an egg

a cup

a vase

a bottle

a leg

a promise

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Further ideas for ‘pass it round’

Elementary

You can eat

You can enjoy

You can listen to

You can hold

You can sit on…

More advanced

You can suffer from

You can allow

You can organize

You can book

You can oppose…

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And more…

Adjectives (add nouns)

a hard… (for example, question)

a long… (for example, way)

a bright… (for example, colour)

Nouns (add adjectives)

a/an … book (for example, interesting)

a/an…animal (for example, dangerous)

a/an…suggestion (for example, useful)

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4. Items students discover themselves

Dictionary: derivatives

Thesaurus, internet or ‘Word’: synonyms

Chunks and collocations

What other meanings does it have?

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Derivatives

NounVerbAdjectiveAdverb

useuseuseful

useless

usefully

uselessly

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Synonyms

know

complain

admit

dream

objective

interesting

reflect

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Collocations

range

chance

officer

honest

enjoy

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look it up!

http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/

http://www.forbetterenglish.com/

COCA

COCA (range)

ForbetterEnglish

ForbetterEnglish (range)

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What other meanings does it have?

table

blue

run

work

train

branch

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Another part of speech?Objects with a

function

hammernailspoonbrakeclippinApplying a

substance

oilgreasewatersugarpaperpaint

People and their functions

nurse

doctor

guard

boss

pilot

cook

judge

Containersbottlepocketcanboxshelf

Parts of the bodyheadhandelbowskin

Techological functionsgoogleblogtext emailphotoshopchattwitter/tweet

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Another part of speech: more advanced

Objects with a function

mask

gear

shovel

motor

thread

Containers

bin

file

crate

slot

drain

People and their functions

pioneer

coach

father

mother

author

referee

queen

slave

apprentice

broker

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Phrasal verbs

Find a one-word verb that means the same as…

Find a two-word verb that means the same as…

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Examples back up support break down collapse come across encounter come together congregate consist of comprise get up give back give up, give in go away go back go down go up, let down make up

pile up put off put out run away set up sort out, speak to take apart take away talk about throw away turn round wait for work together

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Examples back up support break down collapse come across encounter come together congregate consist of comprise get up rise give back return give up, give in surrender go away depart go back return (intransitive) go down descend go up ascend, mount, let down disappoint make up compose

pile up accumulate put off postpone put out extinguish run away flee set up establish sort out classify, solve speak to address take apart dismantle take away remove talk about discuss throw away discard turn round revolve wait for await work together collaborate

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5. Items students create on their own

Students are invited to make up their own new words

by combining two words to make a compound word

by adding a prefix or suffix

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Prefixes and suffixes

email amoral automatic cyberspace non-existent subway telecommunications semi-final deforest prearrange

upgrade monologue philanthropy antiseptic postdated counter-attack outplay overdo underline

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To summarize: in teaching vocabulary we should

Use the texbook as a basis, but add more!

Base vocabulary expansion activities on… Things you teach yourself (e.g. ‘Word of the day’)

Items the students already know (e.g. ‘Brainstorming’)

Items they teach each other (e.g. ‘Show and tell’)

Items they discover themselves (e.g. Collocations)

Items they create (e.g. Prefixes and suffixes)

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References

Laufer, B. (2003). Vocabulary acquisition in a second language: do learners really acquire most vocabulary by reading? Some empirical evidence. Canadian Modern Language Review, 59(4), 567-587.

Martinez, R., & Murphy, V.. (2011). Effect of Frequency and Idiomaticity on Second Language Reading Comprehension. TESOL Quarterly, 45 (2), 267-290.

Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in SLL. Applied Linguistics, 11, 129-158.

Thank you for listening and participating

pennyur@gmail.com