UNIVERSITI PERGURUAN SULTAN IDRIS

PRESENTATION FOR METHODS IN TESL

TEACHING VOCABULARY
by
Tricia Hedge

prepared by,
Jeyanthi a/p Arumugam (M20091000684)
Roslina bt Muhamad Ramli (M20091000202)
 WHAT IS VOCABULARY?

 The words which make up a language.

 All the words that someone knows or uses in a language.

 The basic tools of a language.

THE LEXICAL SYSTEM OF ENGLISH

DENOTATIVE MEANING

o Referential meaning
o Relates words to an object, action or event
o Example : house is a dwelling-place
o Meaning remains in whatever context the word is used
CONNOTATIVE MEANING

 Affective meaning
 Relates a word to the attitudes and emotions
 Example : arrogant confident ambitious
 Positive or negative connotations
 Meaning vary according to speaker’s or learner’s
attitudes, experiences and situation
 Involve socio-cultural associations
 Example : red - prosperity, good luck, danger
or anger
 MEANING AMONG WORDS
SYNTAGMATIC RELATIONS
 Sequential relationship

 Relations between words as they occur in sequence

 Example : ‘a long road’ and ‘a ripe banana’ not

‘a tall road’ or ‘a mature banana’

PARADIGMATIC RELATIONS
 Complex relationship

 3 most common types : Synonyms

Antonyms
Hyponyms
HOW SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS
ACQUIRE VOCABULARY?
COGNITIVE
 Direct mental operations
 Understand, categorize and store words in mental lexicon.

 Making associations, learning words in groups and exploring

range of meanings.
 Using keywords

METACOGNITIVE
 Not direct mental operations
 Conscious efforts to remember words

 Consciously collecting words from authentic context, making

word cards, categorizing words into lists and reactivating
vocabulary in internal dialogues.
FACTORS AFFECTING VOCABULARY
ACQUISITION
FREQUENCY
o Most frequently occurring words will be most useful to

learners.
o West (1953) : compiled 2,000 most commonly used words

o Repetitions of words

o Kachru (1962) : learners remember words

appeared more than 7 times

PRONUNCIATION
o Pronunciation practice will enhance vocabulay acquisition

o Learners need to know the stress patterns of syllables

CONTEXTUALIZATION
o Words should be presented in context of a text

o Words should not be presented in isolation

DEPTH OF PROCESSING
o Learners remember words better if they have worked on its meaning actively

o Input will become intake

o Emotional response and active mental involvement – aids retention

CULTURAL FACTORS
o Different culture – different meaning of words

o Words are related to its cultural context

o Example : ‘dog’

‘snow’ and ‘spring’

HOW TO TEACH VOCABULARY?
DEVELOP A VARIETY OF TECHNIQUES
 Learners will encounter new words through:

Learning materials
Teacher’s language
Language of other learners
 Teachers need to explain new words

 Suggested techniques : Physical demonstration

Verbal explanation
Using synonym
Translation

DEVELOP EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES

 Vocabulary notebook

 Word-network
 place actor

film FAMOUS singer

book politician
TEACHING THE EFFECTIVE USE OF
DICTIONARIES
 An important classroom and personal source.
 A good monolingual dictionary can be a resource
for students to find meaning of unknown words.
 Dictionary has legitimate place in sequence of
strategies but is best not to use automatically as a
first resort.
 A monolingual dictionary has advantages over
bilingual one.
 It provides example of contextual use and stress
patterns.
 Materials prepared should introduce learners to the
format of monolingual dictionary entries and helps them
to find their way around the information a dictionary
offers.
 Example: Material 4.C and Material 4.D
 Useful to take learners through sample dictionary entries
to illustrate the kinds of meaning that are presented and
how.
 However, it is not practical to eliminate small bilingual
dictionaries from classroom.
 Teacher has responsibility to ensure learners aware of
the problems inherent in using these.
 EVALUATING THE VOCABULARY
COMPONENT OF COURSEBOOKS
 Teachers;
 Need to assess the vocabulary component of the book and
supplement it where necessary.
 Need to evaluate the particular lexicon and methodology in
relation to the needs of his or her learners.
 Need to think about the particular problems and dangers for the
class in the relationship of the first language to English.
 An evaluation checklist could ask,
 Does the book explain its selection of vocabulary?

 How is vocabulary presented?

 Is there a focus on how words are retained?

 How much guidance does the teachers’ book give on techniques

for teaching meaning?
 TEACHING VOCABULARY EXPLICITLY
THROUGH A RANGE OF ACTIVITY TYPES
 Besides indirect learning through handling the language
in classroom activities, direct vocabulary instruction is
useful.
 Teachers need to formulate principles for classroom
practice.
 First, vocabulary is well-contextualized, for example
through listening or reading material.
 Example: Material 4.E
 Second, use the opportunities created by students’ own
queries or attempts to use vocabulary and to focus on a
word and another words related to it.
 Third, allocate time in every lesson for vocabulary work and
build checklist for areas to be covered during the year’s
programme that include elements:
1. Sense relations
2. Rules of word formation
3. Collocations and idioms
4. Connotative meaning
5. Strategies for learning
 Example: Material 4.F, Material 4.G and Material 4.H
 Working to a set of principles mentioned ensure learners
receive exposure to a rich and varied range of vocabulary
which they can work in their acquisition preferences.
 DEVELOPING RESOURCES FOR
VOCABULARY TEACHING
 It can be of considerable value to develop different types of
resources for vocabulary teaching.
 First, a set of good monolingual dictionaries, sufficient for
pairwork in class.
 Second, a bank of word puzzles, which a group of interested
teachers can design themselves, for example topic-based
crosswords.
 CONCLUSION
 The discussion attempts to illustrate the complexities of
learning the English lexicon and the lack of clear
insights to inform teachers how they might best help
their learners.
 Teaching vocabulary develops greater importance in the
English language classroom although it has not reach
the level of consistency and sistematicity like teaching
grammar.
 Frequency, attention, practice and revision are necessary
for successful vocabulary learning as learners are
responsible for their own vocabulary development.
REFERENCE:

HEDGE, T. (2004). TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE LANGUAGE

CLASSROOM. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS: OXFORD

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

FREEMAN, D.L. (2003). TECHNIQUE AND PRINCIPLES IN LANGUAGE

TEACHING. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS: OXFORD

NESAMALA CHITRAVELU (ET. AL.). (1997). ELT METHODOLOGY –

PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. PENERBIT FAJAR BAKTI SDN. BHD.: SHAH
ALAM