LCB Teachers Training College Rodrigo Rouco

Taller Didáctico p. la Enseñanza de Inglés en Nivel Medio

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Teaching Vocabulary

Class: Level 2 No. of learners: 2 Age of learners: Young adults

Length of lesson: 45 min. Level: Beginner Teacher observed: C
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Questions (taken from T. Hedge’s Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom, OUP, 2000.)

a) Did the teacher have any specific aims for teaching vocabulary?
b) Was vocabulary dealt with explicitly?
c) How was new vocabulary presented? Through explanation? Through demonstration? Through
context?
d) What procedures were used to practise new vocabulary?
e) How much responsibility did learners take for acquiring new vocabulary?
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a) There was a specific vocabulary aim: Pre-teaching free time activities (camping, chatting online,
etc.) so that learners would be better-equipped for the reading activity that was to come in the
following lesson (which was the second part of that day’s class).
b) Vocabulary was dealt with explicitly: learners were directed towards carrying out the activity on St’s
Book p.64, ex. 1 (matching the activities and the pictures). Students did it individually and then the
whole class checked together.
c) The new vocabulary was presented by means of visual aids, the pictures in the book. For the sake of
this vocabulary set, the technique was effective as, first, the sts did not show any problems of
understanding, second, many words were transparent and similar to L1 items (camping, chatting,
shopping, DVDs) and third, many words drew on from the sts’ existing knowledge of the language
(they had been exposed to some of the verbs before: cook, fly, read, run, swim, watch). So the activity
relied heavily on learners’ prior knowledge of the world and personal experiences (the association
between the words and pictures, e.g. cycling and the bicycle, travelling and the suitcase, etc).
d) Actually, there wasn’t any specific practice of vocabulary in the lesson. The presentation of the
items was, in a way, practice in itself, as sts already had a knowledge of the activities and similar items
(as verbs). The book provides two points for further practice (b & c: listening to the words and
repeating and covering the words, looking at the pictures and saying them). In this lesson, the teacher
chose to check the activities as they would later move onto the text (point 2) in the following part of
the class, which would further expose learners to the activities. In fact, the vocabulary activity served
the purpose of pre-teaching necessary items for the next task, where learners would have more input.
So that’s why the teacher may have considered not to go on practising the vocabulary.
e) From what I observed, not much emphasis was placed on the role of learners’ responsibility for
acquiring vocabulary. Sts did the matching exercise and they would later move onto the reading task.
On the one hand, we could say that doing the matching on their own was, in a way, training a strategy
for vocabulary learning: sts would be making use of their previous knowledge (of language and the
world), making associations and discoveries by themselves. So, the activity demanded some
independence from the learners. However, no other activity prompted sts to take on other kinds of
responsibility. In any case, it is possible that the teacher might have trained learners in such strategies
for more independent learning: using the Workbook, CD ROM, course book website, reviewing the
course book,…

Reflection

This quick lesson on introducing new vocabulary brought up some key issues to my attention. Apart
from the presentation and practice of the new lexis, I’m particularly interested in the role learners can
play in their own vocabulary learning. According to Tricia Hedge, ‘an inevitable conclusion has to be
that learners need to take on a considerable measure of responsibility for their own vocabulary
development. This entails active involvement with new vocabulary in class-time and strategies for
acquiring vocabulary independently out of class.’ As for class-time involvement, I usually make sure
sts have several opportunities for being exposed to and, especially, for activating the new lexis. From
the first activities on vocabulary presentation and practice - which work at a more ‘recognition’ or
‘passive’ level - to games or discussions which ‘force’ them to put the new words into use. Sometimes
it just consists of a quick warm-up or filler, sometimes I explicitly ask them to use a certain number of
words when they have a discussion or dialogue. Thus in class, I (generally) plan for vocabulary
revision and activation. What I’d like to pursue further in future is teaching my sts strategies for the
other part: their independent learning outside the classroom. Sometimes, especially when a test is
approaching, I remind them of revising the vocabulary. But my guidance stays there: just going over
the vocabulary pages of the book, or some brainstormed word network in their notebooks. I know there
are many other strategies I could explore with my learners so that they choose their most effective
according to their learning styles. However, when I taught some of these (making vocabulary cards,
drawing word networks), it often implied neglecting class-time for work in other areas. What’s more,
only a few sts picked up and made use of the strategy later on, though I cannot ascertain this. Finally,
and as with all the other language systems and skills, I want to explore making use of new
technologies in assisting learners’ language development. In the case of vocabulary, I’ve seen a number
of interesting ideas (games, crosswords, mind-maps, etc) which could motivate our sts for trying out
new kinds of strategies for vocabulary acquisition.