Unit 8 Teaching Vocabulary Aims of the unit:1.Assumptions about vocabulary and

vocabulary building2.What does knowing a word involve?3.Methods for presenting new vocabulary

items4.Ways to consolidate vocabulary5.Ways to help students develop vocabulary

building strategies

8.1 Understanding vocabulary & vocabulary learning

People have different understandings of: What a vocabulary item is;How an item can be learned and consolidate;Which items should be learned;To what extent the items should be learned

and practised. (p. 117, Task 2)

8.2 What does knowing a word involve?

A simple answer would be (1)knowing its pronunciation & stress; (2) knowing its spelling & grammar; (3) knowing its meaning; (4) knowing how & when to use it to express the intended meaning.

According to Hedge (2000), vocabulary learning involves at least two aspects of meaning. The first aspect involves the understanding of its denotative and connotative meaning. The second aspect involves understanding the sense relations among words.

denotative meaning( 外延意义 )

词的意义一般包括语法意义和词汇意义，前者指词与词之间的相互关系，后者指词所表达的意思，通常分为外延意义（ denotative meaning ）和内涵意义 (connotative meaning) 两类。词的外延意义即所指意义（ referential meaning ）或认知意义（ cognitive meaning ），它是以客观世界的特定所指以及约定俗成的意义为基础的，也就是词典中所给出的定义。

connotative meaning 内涵意义 所谓内涵意义 (connotative meaning) ，是隐含

于或附加在概念意义上的意义。社会、群体或个人都可以使一个词具有内涵意义，有时还是很不相同的内涵意义。这种差异既可以存在于两种语言、两种文化之间，也可以存在于一种语言和一种文化的亚文化之间。如英语中的 goose 有 " 愚蠢 " 的内涵意义，但汉语中的 " 鹅 " 却没有这种不好的内涵意义。

Collocative meaning 搭配意义 Collocative meaning consists of the associations

a word acquires in its collocation. 搭配意义是词语与其可能或必须同时出现的词语搭

配时所产生的特殊联想意义，是长期使用过程中形成的语言习惯。

词语搭配包括词语搭配（ Lexical Collocations ）和语法词语搭配（ Grammatical Collocations ）。前者主要包括“动词 + 名词”、“名词 + 动词”、“形容词 + 名词”、“副词 + 动词”及“名词 + 名词”等搭配，掌握好它们就可增强语感，准确道地地表达出要说或者要写的语言信息。后者包括“介词 + 名词”、“名词 + 介词”、“形容词 +介词”、“动词 + 介词”及“介词 + 名词 + 介词”等

Synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms

synonyms 同义词 ----synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning or we can say that words that are close in meaning. 指意义相同或相近的词 .

antonyms 反义词 ---words that stand opposite in meaning are called “antonyms”, 反义词是指那些在意义上既相互对立又相互联系的词。

Superordinate 上坐标词 : the upper term in hyponymy.

hyponyms 下义词 ------the lower terms in hyponymy居于下位的是成员，叫做下义词。

Passive & active vocabulary(p.120)

Receptive/Passive vocabulary 被动词汇 : refers to words that one is able to recognize and comprehend in reading or listening but unable to use automatically in speaking or writing.

Productive/Active vocabulary 主动词汇 : refers to words that one is not only able to recognize but also able to use in speech and writing.

8.3 Ways of Presenting new words (p.124) Different teachers have different ways to present new words.

Some suggestions: Try to provide a visual or physical demonstration to show meaning Provide a verbal context to demonstrate meaning. Use synonyms, antonyms etc. to explain meaning. Use lexical sets or hyponyms to show relations of words and their

meaning. Translate and exemplify. Use word formation rules and common affixes to build new lexical

knowledge on what is already known. Teach vocabulary in chunks. Think about the context in real life where the word might be used. Introduce new words in real-life context.

A comparison between 2 teachers

Teacher A:a) wrote “grumble” on the blackboard;b) said “grumble means to complain about

someone or something in an annoyed way”;c) translated the word into the students’ native

language;d) gave more examples (sentences) for the

students to translate into their native language.

Teacher B:

Said “some people grumble about everything. For example, they grumbled about the weather. If it is sunny, they say it is too hot. If it is cool, they say it is too cold. They are never happy with the weather. They always grumble about the weather”.

Then set out to check the students’ understanding by asking “So what does ‘grumble’ mean?”

Which of the above do you think is more effective? Why?

Some more suggested ways Use pictures, diagrams and maps to show the

meaning; Use realia (plural of realis); Use pantomimes or actions; Use lexical sets, superordinate and hyponymy;

e.g. cook: fry, boil, bake, grill, roast Translate and exemplify( 举 例 说 明 ), esp. with

technical or abstract words; Use word formation rules and common affixes.

e.g. deduction, induction

8.4 Ways of consolidating vocabulary

Since learning is subject to forgetting, it is normal that we hear students complain that they keep learning and forgetting, especially when they do not understand the meaning of the vocabulary item.

When students study vocabulary individually, very often it is rote learning.

Group learning through various activities and under the teacher’s supervision can be more fun and effective.

Some vocabulary consolidation activities:

Labelling. Use pictures. Write down the names.

Spotting the differences. Use pair work and pictures. e.g.:

Describing and drawing. Use pair work. One describes while the other draws.

Playing a game. Show the students some

words/objects, and then ask: “What did you see just now?”

Using word series. e.g. Example: Cutlery: knife, fork, spoon

Transport: , , ;

Vehicles: , , ;

Furniture: , , ;

Buildings: , , ;

Word bingo.

e.g. Suppose you have learned the following words that are related to shopping:

shopper, customer, seller, sale, shop, store, market, supermarket, discount, goods, price, sell, bargain, buy, pay, receipt

Now make a table of 9 blocks. Write 9 words of shopping in the table, then listen to me. When you hear the word that you have written, cross it out in your table. e.g.:

Now make a table of 9 blocks. Write 9 words of shopping in the table, then listen to me. When you hear the word that you have written, cross it out in your table. e.g.:

seller market shop

price buy receipt

shopper sale supermarket

If you have crossed out all the 9 words in your table, say “Bingo!” If you are the first one to say “Bingo!” in your group, you are the winner.

Word association. The teacher says “travelling”, and then the students write some words connected with travelling.

Odd man out. e.g.

cheese, eggs, oranges, bread, soap, meat Synonyms and antonyms. e.g.

e.g. Find Synonyms and antonyms.

full jumper optimistic go on choose dirty

awake select wait a minute

pullover pessimistic rude

clean continue hang on empty asleep lazy

Awful hard-working

impolite terrible thin thick

Using word categories

Using word net-work toothpaste, TV, alarm clock, stove, video, towel, cupboard, sofa, dressing table, wash-basin, slippers, mirror, shower

Using the Internet resources for more ideas

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/vocabtry/vocab-activities.shtml#bus

8.5 Developing vocabulary building strategies

Vocabulary building strategies are very important outside the class.

Review regularly.

•Guess meaning from context. e.g.:

1. The captain asked the seamen to throw the anchor

2. Let’s synchronize our watch so that we can start the game at exactly the same time.

3. Susan went to the shop and bought some bananas, mangoes, and chirimoyas.

Organize vocabulary effectively.

Use a dictionary.

Manage strategy use

How do we teach the new words, e.g., 20 new words, in a unit of a

textbook? Do we teach all the 20 word at a time in an

isolated way, i.e., without context? or: Do we use context and allow the new words

to occur in a natural way?

A possible way Before reading the text: T: We are going to read a story about Nelson Mandela, the

first black president of South Africa. Which of the following words do you think may be used in the story?prison, rights, violence, lawyer, youth, league, position, matter, fact, president;vote, accept; continueblack, equal, poor, young, wrong, worriedMake a guess.

While reading the text:

The students can guess the meaning of some new words from the context.

After reading the text:

The teacher can ask the students which words in the text they don’t know, and help them to know the meaning of the words, and if necessary the teacher can translate the words into Chinese.

SummaryTwo problems in vocabulary learning: Students treat vocabulary items

indiscriminately, or without context.Many students learn vocabulary in

ineffective ways such as rote learning.

The teacher should help the students to use the context in vocabulary learning.

Besides, the teacher should also help the students to develop vocabulary building strategies.

Homework

1. What does knowing a word involve?

2. How can we present new vocabulary items effectively?

3. What are some effective ways to consolidate vocabulary?