Transcript 词汇、词汇习得与课堂教学 南通大学外国语学院 吴 兴 东

词汇、词汇习得与课堂教学
南通大学外国语学院
吴 兴 东
词汇、词汇习得与课堂教学
1 词汇
 2 词汇的习得
 3 词汇的课堂教学

Description of vocabulary

Vocabulary is the key aspect of learning a
language.
Vocabulary requirements in
language use

It should be mentioned that language use
requires not only knowledge of words, but also
mastery at a level of automaticity that allows their
use in real-time. In fact, in order to describe
adequately a person’s vocabulary, at least three
dimensions are necessary: the number of words
known (vocabulary size or breath), the amount of
knowledge present for each word (depth of
knowledge), and how quickly this knowledge can
be utilized (automaticity).
Vocabulary size












最常用单词（C.K.Ogden 和I.A. Richards列出） 850
高中英语课程标准 （八级）
3300
高中英语课程标准 （九级）
4500
初中英语课程标准 （五级）
1300--1600
LONGMAN（词典后附表）
2000
大学非英语专业
5000
EPT （公派出国人员考试）
7000
TOEFL （赴美留学）
7000--8000
GRE （赴美读博）
10000
SHAKESPEARE
NATIVE
2000--3000
TOTAL（1979柯林斯英语词典3000000）
5000000
“标准”词汇量确定的依据
1. 在语言界，一个普通的共识是，学习
者掌握3000单词才能进行较好的交流；
 2. 根据其他国家和地区的教学大纲。
 3.按照我国历史和现实发展的要求。

Vocabulary frequency

Low frequency words
 High frequency words

Spoken language vocabulary
 written language vocabulary
 Spoken corpora
 Written corpora

Vocabulary consists not only of single words;
lexemes are often made up of strings of more than
one word.
 Chunks are especially prevalent in spoken
discourse, and largely operate virtually
independent of grammar.
 In spoken discourse, the mind focuses on lexis,
using prefabricated chunks when possible, with
grammar being the last resort to ensure
comprehensibility.
Content matter and world
background knowledge

If a reader is very familiar with the content
matter, then guessing becomes easier.
 If the context is rich with clues, it will
likewise be easier to guess. Clues nearer the
unknown word are easier to use than clues
further away.
 Word background knowledge is one of the
most important keys to successful guessing.
Receptive vs productive
knowledge

We all have experienced words which we can
understand perfectly well in a conversation or in a
text, but are totally unable to remember when we
want to use them productively.
 Most of us have probably had the opposite
experience as well’ an uncommon word we have
heard, learned, and can use perfectly well in
spoken discourse, but whose unusual spelling is
deceptive enough that we don’t recognize it on the
written page.

It is also useful to bear in mind that many of
words in even a native-speaker lexicon are
only partially known, without a complete
and confident knowledge of their
collocational and stylistic subtleties.
Acquisition of vocabulary
Theories of second language
acquisition








The habit-formation theory
The Universals Hypothesis
The acculturation theory
Accommodation Theory
The discourse theory
The monitor theory
Variable Competence Model
The neurofunctional Theory
The habit-formation theory

Behaviorism
 Acquisition of language
 Function of imitation and practice
 Positive transfer
 Negative transfer
 Attitude towards error
 Function of contrastive analysis
Behaviorism

Origin of behaviorism
 Principles of behaviorism
 Contribution of B.F.Skinner
 Classical conditioning and operant
conditioning
Origin of behaviorism

In1913, the American
psychologist John B.
Watson 华生(1878-1958)
published an article
entitled “Psychology as
the Behaviorist Views It”
which was regarded as a
formal introduction to
behaviorism in the
psychological world
Contribution of B.F.Skinner



B. F. Skinner(1904—1990)
was regarded as the leader
of behaviorism.
New kind of apparatus for
studying learning in animals
and a new way of describing
the learning process.
Further development and
modifications of Watson’s
learning theory
Classical conditioning
One kind of learning processes is now
called classical conditioning, by which a
stimulus that did not elicit a response comes
to elicit a response after it is paired several
times with a stimulus that already elicit a
response.
Acquisition of language
The process of second language
acquisition is regarded as a process
of habit formation.
Function of imitation and practice
Imitation and practice play an important role
in the process of habit- formation, because the
behaviorists maintained that imitation will help
learners identify the associations between stimuli
and responses while practice will reinforce the
associations and help learners to form the new
linguistic habits.
Positive transfer
If the mother tongue and the target language
have the same linguistic habits, then positive
transfers will occur and the target language
learning process will be facilitated.
Negative transfer
When the mother tongue and the target
language share a meaning but express it in
different ways, the learner will transfer the ways
of expression in the mother tongue to the target
language . This is called negative transfer and the
results of such transfers are realized by errors
made by the learner.
Attitude towards error
Errors should be avoided
and should be corrected if they
have been made, because they
are indication of non-learning
and have the danger of
becoming bad linguistic habits.
Function of contrastive
analysis
If a careful and detailed
comparison between the mother
tongue and the target language is
done, then all the errors in second
language learning process can be
predicted and avoided
基本全等

收音机=radio 这种词义全等的词语在汉
英语言系统中为数不多，大多是一些专
业术语。
部分对等

汉语中的“打” 绝非就等于英语中的“strike”
打搅
打气
 打拳
 打包
 打赌
 打扮
 打击

disturb
inflate
box
pack
bet
make up
strike
打针
打算
打岔
打架
打嗝
打雷
inject
intend
interrupt
fight
hiccup
thunder
汉语中的“开” 绝非就等于英语中的
“open”
 开门
open a door
 开车
drive a car
 开飞机
fly a plane
 开会
have a meeting
 开刀
operate

词语空白





如汉语中的“笠”，英美人没有类似之物用于
挡雨，就形成词语空白．可表达成：a large
bamboo or straw hat with a conical crown and
broad brim, 最多可以译成calamus rain hat．
其它例子：大锅饭，五讲四美
strong point, weak point
the blind man, the sighted man
a deaf person, a hearing person
The Universals Hypothesis

Two approaches to the study of linguistic
universals
 Core grammar and peripheral grammar
Contribution of Noam
Chomsky(乔姆斯基）

The year 1957 saw the
publication of Noam
Chomsky’s book Syntactic
Structures, which started a
revolution in the linguistic
world and ushered in a
new school--- the
transformational
generative linguistics
Language acquisition device
Chomsky assumes that children are born with
a language acquisition device( LAD). This
LAD is made up of a set of general
principles called universal grammar. These
general principles can be applied to all the
languages in the world.
Universal grammar

Cook(1985) summarizing the Chomskyan
position, defines ‘universal grammar’ as
‘the properties inherent in the human mind’.
Universal grammar consists of a set of
general principles that apply to all language
rather than a set of particular rules.
Two approaches to the study
of linguistic universals
One is taken by Noam Chomsky, who is
making a detailed study of a particular
language in order to reveal the universals of
language;
the other is taken by Joseph H. Greenberg,
who studies and compares different
languages in an effort to determine the
linguistic universals.
Core grammar and peripheral
grammar
The core grammar of a natural language
agrees with the inborn set of general principles
while the peripheral grammar can not be governed
by the language acquisition device.

The core grammar of the learner’s mother
tongue will facilitate the development of the
learner’s interlanguage and will exert a positive
influence on the acquisition of the target language.
Interlanguage




Interlanguage is the term coined by Selinker(1972) to
refer to the systematic knowledge of a second language
which is independent of both the learner’ first language
and the target language. The term has come to be used with
different but related meanings:
1) to refer to the system that is observed at single stage of
development (i.e. an interlanguage).
2) to refer to the series of interlocking systems which
characterize acquisition, (i.e. the interlanguage continuum)
3) to refer to paricular mother tongue/target language
combinations (e.g. French mother tongue/English target
langue vs German mother tongue /English target language)
Nemser – approximative systems Corder---idiosyncratic
dialects, transitional competence
The assumptions underlying interlanguage theory -Nemser(1971)

1) at any given time the approximative
system is distinct from the L1and L2.
 2) the approximative systems form an
evolving series.
 3) in a given contact situation, the
approximative systems of learners at the
same stage of proficiency roughly coincide.
Five principal processes operated in
interlanguage--Selinker

1) language transfer
 2)overgeneralization of target language
rules
 3) transfer of training
 4) strategies of L2 learning
 5) strategies of L2 communication
Fossilization

Selinker noted that many L2
learners( perhaps as many as 95 per cent)
fail to reach target language competence.
That is, they do not reach the end of the
interlaguage continuum. They stop learning
when their interlanguage contains at least
some rules different from those of the target
langue system. He referred to this as
fossilization.
The acculturation theory
Meaning of acculturation
Social distance
Social factors that create good language
learning environment
Psychological distance
Psychological factors increasing the
psychological distance
Nativization vs Denativization
Definition of acculturation
Acculturation is defined by Brown
(1980a:129) as ‘the process of becoming
adapted to a new culture’.
The Premise of the Acculturation
Model

…second language acquisition is just one
aspect of acculturation and the degree to
which a learner acculturates to the target
language group will control the degree to
which he acquires the second language.
(Schumann 1978c:34)
Factors Determining
Acculturation

Acculturation, and hence SLA, is
determined by the degree of social and
psychological distance between the learner
and the target language culture.
Social distance
Social distance is created by the
relations between the learner and
members of the target social group.
Social factors that create good
language learning
environment
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The target language group and L2 groups view each
other as socially equal.
The target language group and L2 groups are desirous
that the L2 group will assimilate.
Both the target language group and L2 groups expect the
L2 group to share social facilities.
First language group is small and not very cohesive.
The L2 group’s culture is congruent with that of the
target language group.
Both groups have positive attitudes to each other.
The L2 group envisages staying in the target language
area for an extended period.
Psychological distance
Psychological distance is the result of various
affective factors of the learner.
Psychological factors
increasing the psychological
distance
Language shock, culture shock, low
motivation and high ego boundaries are
negative psychological factors that will
increase the psychological distance

The result of social and psychological
distance is the continued pidginization and
fossilization.

Nativization









Growth independent
of the external norm
Restricted access
to input
Pidginization
creation of a unique
first/second language
acquisition
Denativization
Accommodation
Growth towards an
assimilation
external norm
adequate access
to input
Depidginization
First/second language
as increasing approximation
towards external target norm
Assimilation同化 and accommodation适应
(P19)

Assimilation refers to the process by which
new items are added to a concept or schema

Accommodation refers to the process by
which the existing concept or schema is
changed on the basis of new information.


ASSIMILATION:)
EXAMPLE: A child who knows what a dog is sees another
four-legged animal that she or he has never before
encountered, such as a cow, and not recognizing it, uses
previous schema to call it a dog.
ACCOMMODATION:
EXAMPLE: After the child calls the cow a dog, his or her
mother tells him or her that this new four-legged creature
is a cow. The next time the child sees a cow he or she
identifies it as a cow, indicating that the child’s previous
schema of four legged creatures had been expanded to
include cows.
Accommodation Theory



Accommodation Theory derives from the research of Giles
and associates into the intergroup uses of language in
multilingual communities such as Britain.
His primary concern is to investigate how intergroup uses
of language reflect basic social and psychological attitudes
in inter-ethnic communication.
As an offshoot of this, has also considered SLA from an
intergroup stance and it is the resulting view of SLA which
has become known as Accommodation Theory.
Differences from Acculturation Model






Acculturation Model
Actual social distance
Accommodation Theory
perceived social distance
Social and psychological
Distance as absolute phenomena
Intergroup relationship static
dynamic
motivation
The Discourse Theory
Halliday’s view
Main points of the discourse theory
Contribution of M.A.K.Halliday
（韩礼德）

M.A.K.Halliday （韩
礼德）(1925-- ) is the
founder of systemicfunctional linguistics.
He made the London
School of Linguistics one
of the most competitive
linguistic theories in the
world.
Three primary levels of linguistic
events
Substance: the material of language which can be
phonic or graphic
form:
the organization of the substance into
meaningful events
context:. the relation of the form to non-linguistic
features of the situations in which language
operates , and the relation of form to
linguistic feature other than those of the item
under attention
Definition of discourse

Discourse is the language in use.
What is discourse theory?

It follows from a theory of language use,
in which communication is treated as the
matrix of linguistic knowledge (as proposed
for instance in Hymes’s description of
communicative competence) , that language
development should be considered in terms
of how the learner discovers the meaning
potential of language by participating in
communication.

In a study of how his own child acquired
language , Halliday shows that the
development of the formal linguistic
devices for realizing basic language
function grows out of the inter personal use
to which language is put. Because the
structure of language is itself a reflection of
the functions it serves, it can be learnt
through learning to communicate.

As Cherry (1979:122)puts it:
 Through communicating with other people,
Children accomplish actions in the world
and develop the rules of language structure
and use.

It is because the L2 learner is similarly
motivated to ‘accomplish actions’ (at least
in informal SLA) that a parallel can be
drawn between first and second language
acquisition. In SLA this view of how
development takes place has become known
as the Discourse Theory.
Main principles of the Discourse
Theory proposed by Hatch
SLA follows a ‘natural’ route in syntactical development.
2.
Native speakers adjust their speech in order to negotiate meaning
with non-native speakers.
3.
The conversational strategies used to negotiate meaning, and the
resulting adjusted input, influence the rate and route of SLA in a
number of ways.
(a) the learner learns the grammar of the L2 in the same order as the
frequency order of the various features in the input;
(b) the learner acquires commonly occurring formulas and then later
analyses these into their component parts;
(c) the learner is helped to construct sentences vertically; vertical
structures are the precursors of horizontal structures.
4. Thus, the ‘natural’ route is the result of learning how to hold
conversation.
1.

Vocabulary is not necessarily learned word
by individual word, but is often learned
initially in ‘lexical phrases’ several words
long. Lexical phrase are sequences of words
which the mind learns as wholes and
attaches a single meaning to. They are
single lexical items which are cognitively
processed much the same as single words.
Contextual variability in linguistic context

Variability as a result of the linguistic
context occurs when two different linguistic
context induce different forms even though
in the target language they require the same
form. e.g.
 Mr Smith lives in Gloucester.
 Mr Smith who live in Gloucester married
my sister.
The Monitor Model
Krashen’s Monitor Model consists of five
central hypotheses.
The acquisition-learning hypothesis
The monitor hypothesis
The natural order hypothesis
The input hypothesis
The affective filter hypothesis
The acquisition-learning
hypothesis
Acquisition which refers to the subconscious process
in which they develop their language proficiency
through natural communications in the target
language and it id very similar to the process
children use acquiring their first language.
Learning refers to the conscious process in which
they acquire the explicit knowledge of the rules of
the target language.
The monitor hypothesis
The only function of which is
to monitor or edit what has been or
is going to be produced according
to the norms of the target language
Three conditions for the use of
monitor
The first condition is that the speaker must have
sufficient time to monitor his productions.
The second condition is that the language performer
must have his focus on form.
The third condition is that the language performer
must have an explicit knowledge of the rules of
the target language , otherwise, the language
performer won’t be able to monitor his production.
The natural order hypothesis




This hypothesis claims that there is a predictable, natural order for the
acquisition of grammatical structures in a second language, irrespective of
age differences and language backgrounds of acquirers. foreign language
learners acquire the rules of the target language in the same order.
Grammatical sequencing is not desirable nor necessary when our goal is
language acquisition. But when our goal is conscious learning, sequencing
is necessary and unavoidable. Krashen suggests three requirements for
presenting rules:
Learnable: Simple rules which can be learned more easily should be
presented first;
Portable: Rules that can be carried around in the learner’ head should be
presented;
Not yet acquired: Rules that our students have already acquired need not be
taught. Only rules that have not been acquired need to be taught.
The input hypothesis
Language is acquired by
people’s comprehension of input
that is slightly beyond their current
level.
The affective filter hypothesis
Language acquirers with a low affective filter will
get more input containing i+1 and they are able to
make a better use of the input in their acquisition
process.
Learners with a high affective filter which will block
the input will get less input and they won’t be
able to make the full use of the input in their
language acquisition process.
Variable Competence Model
1.There is a single knowledge store containing variable interlanguage
rules according to how automatic and how analysed the rules are.
2. The learner possesses a capacity for language use which consists of
primary and secondary discourse and cognitive processes.
3. L2 performance is variable as a result of whether primary processes
employing unanalysed L2 rules are utilized in unplanned discourse , or
secondary processes employing anlysed L2 rules are utilized in
planned discourse .
4. Development occurs as a result of
(a) acquisition of new L2 rules through participation in various types of
discourse (i.e. new rules originate in the application of procedural
knowledge);
(b) activation of L2 rules which initially exist in either a non-automatic
unanalysed form or in an analysed form so they can be used in
unplanned discourse.
Acquisition
Acquisition

automatic
Unplanned
discourse
Knowledge
Planned
discours
analytic
use
use
Primary
processes
Secondary
processes
Lamendella’s
neurofunctional Theory

Premise: connection between language
function and neural anatomy
 Right hemisphere: holistic processing
 Left hemisphere: analytic processing

Lamendella distinguishes two basic types of
language acquisition:
 (1) Primary Language Acquisition (is found
in the child’s acquisition of one or more
languages from 2 to 5 years).
 (2)Secondary Language Acquisition
 (a) foreign language learning
 (b) second language acquisition

1. The communication hierarchy: this has
responsibility for langue and other forms of
inter personal communication.
 2. The cognitive hierarchy: this controls a
variety of cognitive information processing
activities that are also part o language use.

Lamendella claims that SLA can be
explained neurofunctiohnally with
reference to (1) which neurofunctional
system is used—the communication or the
cognitive—and (2) which level within the
chosen neurofunctional system is engaged.
Ellis:
Vocabulary is not necessarily learned word by
individual word, but is often learned initially in
‘lexical phrases’ several words long. Lexical
phrases are sequences of words which the mind
learns as wholes and attaches a single meaning to.
They are single lexical items which are cognitively
processed much the same as single words.

Peter(1983) believed that these unanalyzed chunks
can eventually become analysed into individual
words, through a segmentation process.

First, the lexical phrase is learned, then comes
a partial analysis. Later, the remaining unanalysed
section may also be segmented down into
individual words plus grammar.


How are you today?
A learner hears the sequence often enough to learn it as
whole with the meaning of ‘a pleasant greeting’. The
learner uses it in this context for a while, but may
eventually notice that variations exist, such as How are you
tonight?, How are you this evening? Or How are you this
fine morning? At this point, the learner realises that the
words in the time phrase are not a ‘frozen’ part of the
lexical phrase, but consist of individual words which can
be replaced by others. The words how, are, and you can
eventually be analysed as individual words as well. Much
of our vocabulary is derived through just such a
segmentation process.




Formulaic speech consists of ‘expression which are
learned as unanalysable wholes and employed on particular
occasions’.
Formulaic speech contributes indirectly to the route of
SLA by providing raw materials for the learner’s internal
mechanisms to work on.
It serves as the basic for creative speech. That is, the
learner comes to realize that the utterances initially
understood and used as wholes consist of discrete
constituents which can be combined with other
constituents in a variety of rule-bound ways.
The process is examined in the following:











‘I don’t know’
1) built on
e.g. That one I don’t know.
I don’t know what’s this.
2) broken down
e.g. I don’t understand.
I don’t like.
3) ‘know ’ is used without ‘don’t’
e.g. I know this.
4) subject other than ‘I’ began to occur
e.g. You don’t know where it is.

The mind uses lexical phrases not only to learn new words,
but also to produce language fluently. Crick(1979) claims
that the mind has a limited processing capacity, but a vast
storage capacity. Thus the mind uses an abundant resource
(memory to store prefabricated chunks of language ) to
compensate for a limited one (processing capacity). The
mind can use these ready –made language sequences with
a minimum of processing expenditure, freeing up cognitive
resources for other tasks, like organization of topic content.
This is one reason why native speaker are fluent, they have
a store of prefabricated and memorized lexical phrases, and
do not always have to rely on assembling strings of words
on-line via syntactical rules

According to Ellis, many aspects of
language and vocabulary are learned
implicitly through exposure: word structure
and form, collocations, word class, and to
certain extent, meaning. This suggests that a
great deal of exposure to a target language
is necessary for learning.


Laufer advances the important tenet that words with a
similar form should not be taught together at the same time.
It is not unusual for even native-speakers to confuse
similar-looking words, such as effect/affect. This principle
is known as cross-association and applies to meaning
similarities as well.
If one teaches words together that have similar meanings,
such as synonyms, antonyms, etc., students may remember
the meanings well enough, but might not be able to match
each meaning to its corresponding word. For example, if
students are taught left and right together, they will
probably remember the directions, but perhaps not which
is which.

Nation(1990)suggests that 25 per cent of the
words will typically be cross-associated in
cases like this. He believe one solution is to
teach the unmarked or most common word
first, and then after it is secure in the
learner’s mind, teach the other.

Swan suggests teaching the L1-L2
background knowledge which can make
students more aware of the differences and
similarities between the languages, and
therefore enable them to use L1 knowledge
judiciously and effectively.
Emphasis on form





1 Ryan shows us that students from certain culture may have a similar
problems with word form, simply from the influence of their habitual
L1 language processing patterns.
2 Another reason why form is important is because, as Laufer points
out, unknown words may be mistaken for known words with a familiar
form. Thus, accurate decoding of form is also essential.
3 Not all language display the same morphological typology. For
instance, ‘isolating’ languages (languages where one morpheme
characteristically equals one word, e.g. the Chinese language), are
different from inflected of agglutinative language ( where words are
usually complex units built up of several elements). Either could cause
problems in word form recognition, as well as many other languages.
4 additionally, the nature of orthographic systems is by no means
universal: written symbols may ‘mean’ ideas, syllables, or sounds in
different orthographic traditions, thus adding further potentially
problematic dimensions to word recognition in an L2.
Work-attack skills can and should be taught to learners from specific
L1 groups, forcing us to rethink the generalisability of much current
thinking about reading skills pedagogy.
Pedagogy of vocabulary

Explicit teaching and learning through reading and
inferencing from content are not competitors, rather they
are two sides of the same coin, each with its own strengths,
depending on the immediate purposes of the learning.
 Explicit attention may be an excellent way to meet the
word, and to gain some initial information about it. But
gaining the more complex aspects of collocational
knowledge, frequency intuitions, and register constraints
would probably take a massive amount of exposure ,
something which would only come from reading in all
likelihood.
Learner independence

We should show our students a variety of
ways to learn and then let them decide for
themselves which is best for them. This
independence can also extend to what they
learn in addition to how they learn.
Individual learner differences

The purpose of studying individual learner
variables is to see how they affect SLA.
 Facilitative personal and general learner
factors in SLA

Personal factors


L2 proficiency
General factors
Personal factors

1) group dynamics
 2) attitudes to the teacher and course
materials
 3) individual learning techiques
General factors

General factors
 Age
 Intelligence and aptitude
 Cognitive style
 Attitudes and motivation
 personality
Bottom-up and top-down
processing

Researchers are increasingly becoming
aware that decoding is the key skill, and that
top-down processing is not fast and accurate
enough.
Functional /task-based syllabus

Traditionally, grammar was the scaffold around which all
other langue knowledge was attached, but this was more
for teaching convenience than any understanding of how
language are learned; we simply did not know any better,
so we taught grammar points that we felt we could
sequence in some order of difficulty. Now scholars like
Lewis (1993) suggest a completely different approach; we
should teach langue sequences which are immediately
usable (because they are the realizations of functional
needs) and then let students wok with these pieces of real
language.
Focus lesson
shopping
Comparing prices and
quality of different brands
of the same product
Reading
Comprehension
Grammar
Focus
Using connectors in
making an evaluation
Presenting new words









Realia
Pictures
Mime, action and gesture
Contrast (Synonym or antonyms)
Enumeration
Explanation
Translation
Context clues
Symbol
Numerals
Lexical sets
Word formation
Realia

This is the word we use to refer to the use of
real objects in the classroom. Thus the
words ‘pen’, ‘ruler’, ‘ball’, ‘postcard’, etc.
can be easily explained by showing students
a pen or a ball or a ruler, etc. This is clearly
satisfactory for certain single words, but the
use of realia is limited to things that can
easily be taken into the classroom.
Pictures


Pictures are clearly indispensable for the language teacher since they
can be used in so many ways.
By pictures we mean blackboard drawings, wall pictures and charts,
flash-cards etc. Pictures can be used to explain the meaning of
vocabulary items: the teacher might draw pens, rulers and balls on the
blackboard, or have magazine pictures of cars , bicycles , and trains
stuck onto cardboard, The teacher might bring in a wall picture
showing three people in a room which could be used for introducing
the meaning of the sentence ‘There are three people in the room’. The
same language could be introduced with a large street map (e. g.
‘There’s a church in Green Street’) . A picture can also be used to
create a situation or context.
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. Thus concepts like running and
smoking are easy concepts to explain if the
teacher pretends to run, or takes a drag on
and etc..
Contrast (Synonym or antonyms)

Sometimes a visual element (e.g. realia, picture,
mime, etc.) may not be sufficient to explain
meaning and contrast can be used. Thus the
meaning of ‘full’ is better understood in the
context of ‘empty’, ‘big’ in the context of ‘small’,
etc. The meaning of the past continuous is often
explained by contrasting it with the past simple,
e.g. ‘I was having a bathe when the telephone
rang’.
Enumeration

The word ‘vegetable’ is a difficult word to
explain visually. If, however, the teacher
rapidly lists (or enumerates) a number of
vegetables the meaning will become clear.
The same is true of a word like ‘clothes’.
Explanation

Explaining the meaning of vocabulary items can be
extremely difficult just as grammatical explanation can be ,
especially at elementary levels. It will be important, if
giving such explanations, to make sure that the explanation
includes information about when the item can be used. It
would be unsatisfactory just to say that ‘mate’ was a word
for ‘friend’ unless you also pointed out that it was
colloquial informal English and only used in certain
contexts. ‘Do’ means to perform, but information would
have to be given about what words it is used with(as
opposed to ‘make’).
Translation


It seems silly not to translate if by doing so a lot of time
can be saved. If the students don’t understand a word and
the teacher can’t think how to explain it, he can quickly
translate it.The big danger, though, is that not all words
and phrases are easily translated from on e language to the
other, and it takes a communicatively efficient speaker of
both languages to translate well.
Translation, then, seems a useful measure if used sparingly,
but it should be used with caution.
Context clues

Techniques for guessing vocabulary from
context include activating background knowledge
from the topic of a text, obtaining clues from
grammatical
structure,
pronunciation
and
punctuation, and using the natural redundancy of
surrounding words. For example, the reader
should be able to guess the meaning of
‘workaholic’ in the following sentence: ‘My father
was a workaholic. He worked so long and so hard
that we rarely saw him.’
Symbol

Hospital

custom
Numerals

2+5=7
Lexical sets

Cook: fry, boil, bake, grill, stir-fry
Word formation

Form—formation--formal
Consolidating vocabulary

Labelling
 Spotting the difference
 Describing and drawing
 Playing a game
 Using word thermometers
 Using word series
 Word bingo
 Word association
 Odd man out
 Synonym and antonym
 Using categories
 Using word net-work
shop
seller
price
goods
money
client
receipt
pay
bargain
Using dictionaries and corpora

Corpora have also been the source of authentic
example phrases and sentences which now grace
learner dictionaries.
 Combining the bilingual and monolingual
dictionary (perhaps most easily achieved in
electronic form) into one single resource.
 Computerized dictionaries, both for desktop and
hand-held computers, offer very speedy look-up
and have the advantage of being able to give
information normal dictionaries cannot, for
example, a sound recording of a word
Comprehensive test of
vocabulary

Various kinds of word knowledge are
learned in a development order (e.g. one
would intuitively feel that meaning and
spelling would be mastered before
collocation and register)
 vocabulary size , vocabulary knowledge
automaticity.
Thank you!