developing student vocabulary : fun ways to learn words

Developing Student Vocabulary:Fun Ways to Learn Words

Katie Bainwww.elfellowkbain.wordpress.com

ktbain53@gmail.com

ObjectiveParticipants will learn, interact

with, and apply new ways of learning and teaching English

vocabulary.

What are the challenges for teaching vocabulary?

Challenge 1: The large number of words

1. The number of words that students need to know. • 2,000 – 3,000 word families to understand spoken

communication• 8,000 – 9,000 word families for reading authentic texts!• 4,500 – 5,000 word families for a C2 Level of proficiency!

Example of Word Family:• stimulate• stimulated• stimulates• stimulation• Stimulative

(Schmidtt, 2008)

Challenge 2:Depth of Knowledge Needed

• Students must know a lot about a word in order to understand it well and use it correctly.

• What is involved in knowing a word?– Form– Meaning – Use

(Schmidtt, 2008)

Form – Meaning – Use suburbs

Form – Spelling– Pronunciation (stressed syllables)– Word parts (roots, prefixes, suffixes)

Meaning– definition, part of speech, connotation

Use – How do you use it in a sentence?– What other words usually come near this word in sentences (collocation)?

InstructedSecondLanguageVocabularyLearningSchmittNorbert.pdf

Five Types of Vocabulary Learning

1. Single Words2. Set Phrases3. Variable Phrases4. Phrasal Verbs5. Idiomatic Expressions

(Folse, 2008)

Single Words

Single words express one single concept.

roomliving roombedroom

(Folse, 2008)

Set Phrases

Set phrases consist of more than one word and cannot be changed at all.

Example: “On the other hand”

NOT

“On the other hands”“On the other fingers”

(Folse, 2008)

Variable PhrasesIn Variable Phrases, most of the phrase stays

the same, but some parts may change.

Examples:“It has come to our attention.”“It has come to my attention.”

(Folse, 2008)

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb = verb + particle

put uptake downcome onmake upgo awayget over

(Folse, 2008)

Idioms(Idiomatic Expressions)

In an idiom, the meaning of the whole phrase is different than the meaning of the

individual words

Example:“Who let the cat out of the bag?”

means

“Who told the secret?”

(Folse, 2008)

Multiple Meanings(Polysemy)

• Hammer (noun or verb?)

• Table– furniture– set of numbers– action of stopping conversation– description (table cloth)

(Folse, 2008)

Connotation

Positive Neutral Negative

purebred dog mutt

youngster child kid

pass away die kick the bucket

(Folse, 2008)

Part of Speech

noun – amazementverb – to amaze

adjective – amazingadverb - amazingly

(Folse, 2008)

Frequency

usualcommon• “Smith” is a common last name.

discardthrow away* I’m going to discard my old books.

(Folse, 2008)

Collocation

co = togethertogether + location

Collocation has to do with a word or phrase that naturally or frequently occurs near another word in context.

• squander….money/resources• commit… murder, suicide, fraud, grand larceny

(Folse, 2008)

How do we select words to teach?

• What are my students’ ability levels?• What words are most frequently used?• Which words are necessary for communication?• Which words are relevant to my students’

contexts or lives?• What are the demands of the class or course?• What are my students’ language goals and/or

needs?

Tools to Help You Determine Which Vocabulary Words to Teach

• West General Service List• Academic Word Lists• Lextutor Vocabulary Profiler• Readability Score

Lextutor Key

• Blue – K1 – Top 1 – 1,000 most-frequently used words in English

• Green – K2 – Top 1001 – 2,000 most-frequently used words in English

• Yellow – Academic Word List• Red - Offlist

Articlehttp://www.lextutor.ca/vp/eng/output.pl

K-2 Level Words

absences afraid agricultural aims bottom coffee comparative education education education education

education education education education education education education educational educational educational educational educator encourages

encourages foot forward government government guide guide guides imagine improve information international internationally model model model

multiple overcome parents prize prize prize program program repeat repeat self self self string telephone

Academic Wordsacademic achievement annual area areas benefiting co-

ordinator communities communities communities community contribute contributions conventional culture decades designed

designed expanded exposed financial flexible flexible foundation foundation founded funded generations grade grade

grade grades implemented implemented inadequate income innovation innovative instructor invisible isolated isolated

method method method method method ministry motivated motivated paradigm philosophy policy primary process promote

region relevant resources resources resources revolutionary schedule specifically strategy team teams text theories tradition

traditional traditional traditional transforms

Readability Score

www.readability-score.com Grade LevelsA grade level (based on the USA education system) is equivalent to the number of years of education a person has had. Scores over 22 should generally be taken to mean graduate level text.Readability Formula GradeFlesch-Kincaid Grade Level11.6Gunning-Fog Score12.5Coleman-Liau Index12SMOG Index10.1Automated Readability Index11.2

Audio/Text

K-2 Words

asleep brain brain brain brain brain brain brain brain brain brain brain brain brain brain brains brains brains brains brains brains connected connections connections cure drum electrical electrical electrical electricity electricity

formal frequency frequency fun health information information instrument instrument instrument instrument instrument instrument instrument instrument instrument instrument lessons lessons lessons lock locking lot noisy noisy program programs purple pushing quick restaurant

sadder screen screen screen smoke sports urges wires worse

Academic Words

administrators adults affects affects analogy areas automatically benefits challenging classical classical communication communication complex computer

computer computer computer computer confer devices domain economic elements elements energy function

fundamental fundamental identifying inherently instance instruction investigates major major minor participated

passively physically physically processed processed research researchers researchers respond respond responded responding response responses responses task task

volunteer volunteers volunteers volunteers volunteers volunteers

Readability Score

So what do we do?

• Successful vocabulary activities help students to …

–Focus on the vocabulary–Experience the words many

times–Develop good learning

strategies(Folse, 2008)

Goal 1: Focus on the Vocabulary

• How do we make students NOTICE words? – write them on the board– keep a section of the board or chart paper for

vocabulary– word walls– Students mark key vocabulary

(Folse, 2008)

Goal #2: Experience the Word Many Times

• Students have to see, hear, and use a word multiple times to understand and know it well.– matching– writing– spelling– naming/identifying– writing it in a sentence

(Folse, 2008)

Goal #3: Develop Successful Vocabulary Learning Strategies

• Teachers show students many different ways to acquire and memorize vocabulary.

• Students eventually pick and choose what works best for them.

(Folse, 2008)

Activities and Ideas1. Keep a running list of words2. Vocabulary Cards3. Ranking Vocabulary Items4. Scrambled vocabulary envelopes5. Word Sorts (Lexical Sets)6. Dialogues7. What’s missing8. Erase9. Smack10. Listen and Draw11. Taboo12. Collocations Matching13. Word Comparisons (Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)

#1: Keep a Running List of Words

(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)

#2: Vocabulary Cards

(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)

#3: Ranking Vocabulary Items

(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)

#4: Scrambled Vocabulary Envelopes

(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)

#5: Word Sorts(Lexical Sets)

(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)

#6: Dialogues

(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)

#7: What’s Missing?

(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)

#8: Erase!

(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)

#9: Smack!

(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)

#10: Listen and Draw

(Folse, 2008) (Schindler, 2006)

# 11: Taboo

#12: Collocations Matching

#13: Comparing Words

• Positive and Negative Connotation Scale

#13: Comparing Words

• Synonyms and antonyms• Discuss how certain words have different “hidden

meanings” (Use examples from Spanish!).– He’s frugal.– He’s cheap.

• When you encounter words in various different readings or contexts, make note of it! Make connections between readings and discuss how words were used in a previous reading compared to a current reading.

What are your ideas?

Sources• Folse, Keith S. "Myths about Teaching and Learning Second Language Vocabulary: What Recent Research

Says." TESL Reporter. 37.2 (2004): 1-13. Web. 14 May. 2013. <http://api.ning.com/files/6jocxzFU7kaIe5Zr-7tGPjFfR4UU882*VrN2OvUu3k5McnMv0n1TAtnyYhSkyQ21XFaralZovXUY4qI0hxyOmdLfCywAVFtB/MythsaboutTeachingandLearningSecondLanguageVocabularyFolseKeith.pdf>.

• Folse, Keith. "Six vocabulary activities for the English language classroom." English Teaching Forum. 1.3 (2008): n. page. Web. 15 May. 2013.

• "Lexical Profiler." Compleat Lexical Tutor: VocabProfile. N.p.. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://www.lextutor.ca/>.• Nan, Yao, and Zuo Mingfang. "Using VOA Special English To Improve Advanced English Learners’ Productive Use of

High Frequency Words." English Teaching Forum. 1.3 (2009): 26-37. Web. 14 May. 2013.• Readabilityscore.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.readability-score.com/• Ryan, Katie. "Activating Vocabulary: Creating a Way With Words." Shaping the Way We Teach English Webinar

Series. U.S. Department of State. Washington, DC. 17 Oct 2012. Lecture.• Schindler, Andrea. "Channelling Children's Enercy Through Vocabulary Activities." English Teaching Forum. 1.2

(2006): 8-12. Web. 14 May. 2013. • Schmitt, Norbert. "Review article Instructed second language vocabulary learning." Language Teaching Research.

12.3 (2008): 329–363. Web. 14 May. 2013. <http://api.ning.com/files/NYB1ymk6ME*n7N5NiQMFl5p5BS0MMK8z-B-8b0SIA9bcKlAHL3R53TTqMlUe7q7l8QF1IGOmSjbZ24cdlQ9vPhiahGW7Qkas/InstructedSecondLanguageVocabularyLearningSchmittNorbert.pdf>.

• Schmitt, Norbert. "Six vocabulary Activities for the English Language Classroom." English Teaching Forum. 1.3 (2008): 12-21. Web. 14 May. 2013.

THANK YOU!

Katie Bainktbain53@gmail.com

elfellowkbain.wordpress.com