Introduction

Vocabulary is central to English language teaching because without satisfactory level of

vocabulary, students cannot understand others or perform their own thoughts. Wilkins (1972)
wrote that “. . . while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing
can be conveyed” (pp. 111–112). This point reflects the experience that most students and
teachers of different languages; even without grammar, with some useful words and expressions,
can often manage to communicate. Lewis (1993) went further to argue, “Lexis is the core or
heart of language” (p. 89). Particularly as students develop greater fluency and expression in
English; it is significant for them to acquire more productive vocabulary knowledge and to
develop their own personal vocabulary learning strategies.

When we introduce new vocabulary, there is always a chance, that it is not new to some of the
students in the class. That is way elicitation is so important. By the time students gets to upper
intermediate level or beyond, we can be sure that some of them will know some of the words we
are asking them to focus on. Jeremy Harmer (4ed, 1988-229). So, in this paper we will have a
look to how teach vocabulary to students. There are some techniques of teaching words, such as
Bring in realia ( real objects), Mime it, Draw a picture, Show a flash card, Make a sound, Use a
synonym ( a similar word)Use an antonym ( an opposite way), Put the word in a sentence and
others.

The present paper is organized into introduction, teaching vocabulary, some techniques of
teaching words, six steps to success-the sequence of teaching vocabulary, Vocabulary game and
some examples of vocabulary teaching methods, conclusion and bibliography.
Teaching vocabulary

Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language. However, a
new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: for example, post office and mother-
in- low, which are made up of two or three words that express a single idea. There are also multi-
word such as, call a day, where the meaning of the phrase cannot be deduced from an analyses of
the component words. A usefull convention is to cover all such cases by talking about
vocabulary “items” rather than “ words”. Penny (1996-60).

Introducing vocabulary

When we introduce new vocabulary, there is always a chance, of course, that it is not new to
some of the students in the class. That is way elicitation is so important. By the time students
gets to upper intermediate level or beyond, we can be sure that some of them will know some of
the words we are asking them to focus on. Jeremy (1988-229)

What needs to be taught in vocabulary?

Form: pronunciation and spelling

The learners has to know what a work sounds like ( its pronunciation) and what it looks like ( its
spelling). These are fairly obvious characteristics, and one or the other will be perceived by the
learner when encountering the item for the firs time. In teaching, we need to make sure that, both
these aspects are currently presented and learned. Jeremy Harmer(4ed, 1988-230)

Grammar

The grammar of the new item will need to be taught if this is not obviously covered by general
grammatical rules. An item may have an unpredictable change of form in certain grammatical
contexts or may have some idiosyncratic way of connecting with other words in sentences;
iwhen we teach a new verb, for example, you might give also its past form, if this is irregular (
think, thought), we might not if it is transitive or intransitive similarly, when teaching a noun,
we may wish to present its plural form, if irregular ( mouse, mice), or draw learners attention to
the fact that it has no plural at all ( advice, information).
Collocation

The collocation typical of particular items are another factor that makes a particular combination
sound “ right” or “wrong” in a given context. So, this is another piece of information about a new
item which it may be worth teaching. Example of collocation: to do work or to make a bed.

The most common ways of processing words are visually, aurally and kinaesthetically (through
movements). Most people use a combination of all three. For this reason it is helpful for learners
to hear, see and relalte words to memorable contexts.

Some techniques of teaching words

 Bring in realia ( real objects);

 Mime it;
 Draw a picture;
 Show a flash card;
 Make a sound;
 Use a synonym ( a similar word);
 Use an antonym ( an opposite way);
 Put the word in a sentence, e.g. “you drive to work in a…”
 Define it-explain the word in English-remember to avoid language that is more
complicated than the word you are trying to explain. Avoid complex grammar and keep
your sentences short.
 Encourage students to use a monolingual dictionary;
 Explain the word in the studentsʹ language (or ask them to look it up in their bilingual
dictionary).

Realia

One way of presenting words is to bring the things they represent into the classroom - by
bringing 'realia' into the room. Words like 'postcard', 'ruler', 'pen', 'ball', etc. can obviously be
presented in this way. The teacher holds up the object (or points to it), says the word and then
gets students to repeat it.
Pictures

Bringing a pen into the classroom is not a problem. Bringing in a car, however, is. One solution
is the use of pictures. Pictures can be board drawings, wall pictures and charts, flashcards,
magazine pictures and any other nontechnical visual representation. Pictures can be used to
explain the meaning of vocabulary items: teachers can draw things on the board or bring in
pictures. They can illustrate concepts such as above and opposite just as easily as hats, coats,
walking sticks, cars, smiles, frowns, etc.

Mime, action and gesture

It is often impossible to explain the meaning of words and grammar either through the use of
realia or in pictures. Actions, in particular, are probably better explained by mime. Concepts like
running or smoking are easy to present in this way; so are ways of walking, expressions,
prepositions ('to', 'towards', etc.) and times (a hand jerked back over the shoulder to represent the
past, for example).

Six steps to success-the sequence of teaching vocabulary

If you are presenting a new word, or group of words to your class, consider using the following
methods:

1. Present: present the word using an appropriate technique, e.g. Picture, mime, etc.
2. Elicit: elicit the word (extract the information from your students-do not just tell them).
3. Feed: if the students do not know the word, feed it to them.
4. Concept check: check that all the students understand so far by asking concept check
questions.
5. Drill: drill the class after you have repeated the word /s a few times. ( ask them to repeat
the word over-both chorally, that is, all together, and individually).
6. Write: write the word on the board and highlight the grammar and pronunciation.
Additional vocabulary activities

Always try to think of new ways to teach vocabulary to your students, taking into account that
what works for one class may not work another. Your students will enjoy some variety, as well
as a few regular and familiar methods. Consider the following activities:

a) Brainstorming
Write the key word in the middle of the board and write new vocabulary around it. You
can use this as a ‘warmer’;

b) Underlining
After a reading comprehension activity, ask students to underline, for example, ten
words, or five nouns or six adjectives, etc, that they know in the reading passage ( other
than those taught before the reading). Then in the pairs and small groups they check the
results-if a group member does not know word, the person or people who have
underlined it explain the meaning to them.

c) Mix and match

Match unfamiliar words from one column with definitions from another column. The
new or unfamiliar words are numbered in column one and the definitions are mixed up
and lettered in column two.

d) Memory Card
Maintain a card system and rotate the cards so that unfamiliar words are constantly
reviewed. Each card can include collocations, antonyms, different grammatical forms and
meanings. Sentences on the card can illustrate when meaning differ according to the
context.

2. Vocabulary game

Memory Games – One good game is called “in my suitcase”

Students sit in circle and the teacher “puts something in the suitcase” beginning with A
(avocado). Then the student to her left says “avocado, book”. The next student continues
“avocado, book, car”, etc.

Affixation

Using prefixes and suffixes to make new words. Affixation games work well in groups so the
students can support each other. You can give the students a root, such as happy, and then have
the students brainstorm all the words they can make with that root, for example: unhappy,
happiness, happily, unhappily, happier, etc.

Gap fill exercises

This means selecting appropriate words to insert in sentences. Many students think that this is
too difficult for beginner or for children but you should be able to adapt it if you ensure you use
familiar language and provide clear context. Don’t include too many spaces as it make the task
harder. For children you can put pictures in the gaps to help them.

Consider using multiple choice options to help students consider similar words. (this activity is
frequently used on international exams so it's a good one to use in class). You can use this
activity at sentence level or at paragraph level. The bigger the text the more context you give the
students and the easier it should be to do.

Matching word games

Match the beginner and ends of words together like dominoes. This is great task that helps with
spelling and can be linked with affixation. It helps students to recognize syllables in English too.
It can also be used to work on compound words, for example grand/mother or foot/ball.

Matching pictures to words can be good for beginner or young learners. Use either a worksheet
or cards. If you create the worksheet list the vocabulary on the left and the pictures on the right.
They should not be in the correct order. Students then match the pictures and the words.
Antonyms and Anagrams

Learning vocabulary in pairs can help students memorize the words, for example: black and
white/beautiful and ugly. You can then use these words for other activities, such as matching
tasks or an antonym dictation. (The teacher dictates small and the students write small + an
antonym, e.g. big.)

Anagrams are a great filler and can be done on the board to review vocabulary you have been
working with. For example, if you have been working on the family you could write the
following throem (mother) or sno (son). Hibert(2005)

Word searches

Students have to find a specific number of words in a square of letters. You can give the students
the words they must look for or just tell them how many words they are looking for and the
subject.

They are also easy to make. Use squared paper and mark out a large square of 10 by 10. Write in
the words you want tour students to find. They can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal. Copy this
part so you know what the answers are. Then fill in the blank squares with random letters you are
ready!

Testing Vocabulary

There are many different types of vocabulary – testing techniques, selected examples of which
are shown above. Some are written out as they would be presented to the learners; others are
described.
Vocabulary- testing techniques Grade 8.

Example 1

Choose the letter of the item which is the nearest in meaning to the word in italic:

He was reluctant to answer.

a) Unprepared b) unwilling c) refusing d) slow

Example 2

Choose the letter of the definition which comes closest in meaning to the word elated

a) Ready and willing b) tense and excited c)tending to talk a lot d)in high spirits

Example 3

Draw lines connecting the pairs of opposites

A B

Brave Awake

Female Expensive

Cheap Succeed

Asleep Cowardly

Fail Male
Conclusion

Vocabulary knowledge plays a central role in oral and written language development and our
ability to communicate effectively. Comprehension of words emerges around a child's first
birthday. Shortly thereafter, most children begin to produce words and expand their speech from
one-word to two-word utterances. Their vocabularies explode with typically hundreds of new
words a year, and they demonstrate use of language for different functions. By the time they
begin school, most children are producing well-formed simple, compound, and complex
sentences to communicate their ideas and to accomplish many different communicative
functions.

New words are learned through speaking, listening, reading, and writing. They provide labels for
our ideas and emotions. We know from research and from our own experience those children’s
interactions with others in the early years impact their language growth. In particular, the word
base children build up prior to school entry sets the stage for reading success (Hart & Risley,
1995).Some researcher author describes a strong connection between readers' vocabulary
knowledge and their ability to understand what they read. Vocabulary is learned from repeated
exposure to words in a variety of contexts. The largest gains in vocabulary and reading
comprehension are made when a variety of word-learning experiences and strategies are
available to students.

In brief vocabulary is inner to English language teaching for the reason that without a great level
of vocabulary, students cannot understand others or perform their own thoughts.
Bibliography

PENNY, Ur. A course in language Teaching (practice and theory), Cambridge New York.
Cambridge University Press, 1991.

HARMER, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching, China, Person Education
Limited, 4ed, 2007.

HIBERT, Elfrieda H. KAMIL, Michael L. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary, Mahwah New
jersey, Lawrence Elbraum Associates, 2005.