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Chapter six
Teaching vocabulary to young learners
What is vocabulary? Vocabulary is the collection of words that an individual knows. Very young children learn vocabulary items related to the different concepts they are
learning. Vocabulary can be number, colors, verbs, adjective, adverbs, preposition and noun. Course books for young learners often emphasize nouns because they are easy to
illustrate and because they don’t have literacy skills.
Background to the teaching of vocabulary A variety of studies have proven that appropriate vocabulary instruction benefit
language students, especially school-age learners Teacher should facilitate vocabulary learning by teaching learners useful words and by
teaching strategies to help learners figure out meanings on their own. Learners need to acquire vocabulary learning strategies in order to discover the
meaning of new words The strategies should be useful The strategies should help children acquire new vocabulary words that they hear and
see
Principles for teaching vocabularyEmphasize both direct and indirect teaching
Direct instruction : teaching the words and their meaningExample : pre-teaching vocabulary items students will encounter in a reading selection
Indirect instruction : helping children learn appropriate strategies so they can figure out the meaning of the words in their ownExample : teaching prefixes uni, bi, and then ask them point to picture unicycle, bicycle.
Teach vocabulary words before a new activity It benefit students in two ways:
- They are better able to comprehend the activity- Teaching vocabulary words in advance makes it more likely that students will
actually require the target vocabulary words.
Teach how they use context clues appropriately This is a strategy that learners can use when they encounter unfamiliar words Students also need to be taught that context clues do not always help readers to
understand the meaning of unfamiliar words.
Present multiple exposures to new vocabulary Young learners make educational gains when they are exposed to vocabulary items
repeatedly in rich context. Remember that a new word should reappear many times and in different situations for
the next several weeks of instruction.
Give opportunities for deep processing of vocabulary items Deep processing is working with information at a high cognitive and/or personal level. Part of deep processing is having students establish connections between new words
and their prior knowledge. Deep processing refers to using words in context which are especially meaningful to the
learner. Personalizing vocabulary lesson will greatly help student’s deep processing.
Teach students to use dictionaries
Young children (under 6 years old) can use a picture dictionary when where words are grouped into different categories.
Children who are at the beginning stages of language and literacy development can also use picture dictionaries to help them increase their vocabulary knowledge and their use of context clues.
Learners with English-language literacy skills can use dictionaries where the words are placed in alphabetal order.
Have students keep vocabulary notebooks Children who are at the beginning stages of language and literacy development can
create their own picture dictionaries Older learners can make more sophisticated notebooks and dictionaries. Young learners can be given old address books written with Latin letters.