Top 10 Ways to Introduce Vocabulary
January 17, 2008
Top 10 Ways to Introduce Vocabulary
From Tania Iveson
Teachers often explain new vocabulary to learners. Lexical items can include single words (house), collocations (make a bed) and longer chunks (once in a blue moon).
To illustrate meaning, our default mode is often to give a definition. With definitions, drawbacks include a lack of context, a need to use equally complex terms, and the temptation to provide other meanings of new words.
As teachers, we can add other ways of teaching lexis to our “teaching tool belt.” For students, the method we choose to illustrate is often the key to making the item meaningful and useable. Here are ten ways to illustrate lexis.
1. Synonyms
Using items with a similar meaning can be useful. Adjectives such as intelligent have several synonyms: bright, smart, clever. Phrasal verbs usually have a non-phrasal verb equivalent: go off – explode. Teachers should be wary of saying that items have the same meaning. Often, the meaning is close, but there are differences in formality, connotation, and grammatical usage.
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2. Antonyms
Opposites are a common way to present and learn the meaning of new lexis. At lower levels, items such as rich and poor are obvious examples. Again, teachers should be mindful of making generalizations. Rich people and poor people are opposites, but rich food and poor food are not. Collocations are helpful here. At higher levels, prefixes and suffixes are excellent for vocabulary building through opposites e.g. helpful and unhelpful.
3. Drawing
The most basic sketch or stick figures can provide the perfect medium to illustrate certain items. Some good examples include geographical terms like estuary or peninsular, statistical features of graphs like peak, trough, or go through the roof, and physical terms such as back-to-back. Artistic skills are not required!
4. Points on a scale
A scale is an excellent way to illustrate the meaning of several gradable items at the same time. Common examples include adverbs of frequency: never-rarely-occasionally-sometimes, or adjectives of fear: apprehensive-nervous-scared-terrified. Less common items such as petrified can be added to the scale at higher levels. Where appropriate, teachers can add useful information such as prepositional usage on the scale. For example: nervous about and scared of.
5. Cuisenaire rods
These coloured blocks are wonderful teaching aids, and are especially useful for certain lexical areas. Key examples include prepositions of place: on, under, between, among, comparison of adjectives: bigger than, the smallest, twice as big as. Blocks can also represent items in a narrative to act as a visual aid to comprehension.
6. Pictures
For pre-planned teaching of lexis, taking pictures to class can convey a great deal of lexical information very quickly. Nouns and verbs relating to specific places such as kitchens, airports or offices work well with pictures. Parts of machines or living creatures show well in picture format too. Of course, having internet access in the classroom will provide many pictures through sources like Google images.
7. Mime
Mime, often overlooked by teachers, is extremely effective for many items. Instead of defining proud, fold your arms as if carrying a newborn, puff out your chest and whisper, “My son”. Then ask the class how you feel and provide the word if necessary. Another useful exercise is to mime an everyday routine such as getting ready for work, driving, or preparing a meal. Ask students to jot down any verbs they see. This is an excellent test of recall and a good needs-analysis activity.
8. Sound
Making the sound is a quick and easy illustration of many words: whistle, groan, howl, clear one’s throat, snap your fingers etc. Recordings of sound effects are an evocative way of bringing less familiar lexis into the lesson. Listening to a sequence of sounds such as rustling, scratching, tapping, and tinkling glass provides clear illustration, a need to describe the sound, and an effective way of fixing the concept in the student’s mind.
9. Total physical response (TPR)
Aspects of this approach to language learning can help students take control of new language. After illustrating physical lexis such as stare, peer, glance, and blink, the teacher can ask students to perform the action after the words are given. This can be used for more complex items such as peel an apple and change a tire.
10. Realia
Where practical, bringing the actual item to class provides an unmistakeably clear illustration of an object. This can also provide a useful stimulus to a lesson. On a slightly more ambitious scale, asking students to teach other students how to perform a task using realia can be very motivating and memorable. Examples include how to prepare a salad, how to send a text message using a particular cellphone, and how to play a card game.
This is not an exhaustive list. The most important thing is to anticipate what lexis you might have to clarify and then choose the technique(s) that best helps illustrate meaning.
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