24.11.

2020

Teaching vocabulary Reflection

to young learners
What makes vocabulary learning easy for
you?
What makes vocabulary learning difficult for
you?

Kristel Ruutmets
2020

What do we have to know about a word?

Appropriateness Connotation
Vocabulary or lexical items include: Frequency
Meaning
• single words, like a cat, a table; (denotation) Word class
• two or three words that go together, Words,
Spelling Derivatives
including collocations (e.g. blonde hair), words,
compounds (e.g. a washing machine), Pronunciation words Antonyms
phrasal verbs (e.g. come up with), idioms
(e.g. under the weather);
Synonyms
Translation
• multi-word phrases or chunks of Lexical
language (e.g. by the way, I’d rather not Grammar Collocation sets/word fields
say).

Spelling rules
1) One-syllable words with one consonant and one We can talk about:
vowel at the end – double the consonant before
adding –ed, -er, -est, -ing, -ish, -y, except for after 1. Receptive (passive) vocabulary =
w and x (e.g. rowing, boxing).
able to understand but unable to use
2) If y follows a consonant, change it to ie; if y
follows a vowel, there is no change; there is also no 2. Productive (active) vocabulary =
change in the case of –ing endings (e.g. carrying).
both able to understand and use
3) British English vs American English (e.g. –our vs
– or ending). A) Explicit vocabulary teaching and learning
4) i before e except after c (achieve vs receive) or B) Incidental vocabulary learning
when sounded like a (neighbour), ite (height).

1
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Presenting vocabulary (I) Presenting vocabulary (II)

4. synonyms/antonyms
1. objects/realia
5. example sentences
2. visuals or situations
(flashcards, pictures,
drawings, posters) 6. definitions, explanations

3. demonstration 7. guessing from context

(mime, gestures, (listening or reading)
facial expressions)
8. translation

Remember! Practising or revising vocabulary

1. _ H R O A _ 11. _ K I I N _
Present isolated countable nouns with the indefinite
2. _ A T U R _ 12. _ I G H T _
article (e.g. an apple, a plum).
3. _ A L L E _ 13. _ I G E O _
Try to elicit the meaning/form from students.
4. _ A U C E _ 14. _ A W Y E _
Whenever possible, present new words
5. _ A B B I _ 15. _ U I T A _
•in sentences to give a context;
6. _ P I D E _ 16. _ E P H E _
•in vocabulary networks;
7. _ I L L O _ 17. _ I Z A R _
•in collocations (e.g. blonde hair)
8. _ A L M O _ 18. _ A D I S _
or chunks (e.g. It’s up to you.).
9. _ A N I S _ 19. _ E T R O _
Drill pronunciation chorally (and
10. _ L O U S _ 20. _ U T T E _
individually).

Stages of learning vocabulary Analysis of vocabulary practice tasks

1. Meeting new lexical items, understanding
them and their use (presenting) • Target group
• Suitability for initial practice or revision
2. Practising using them (orally, in writing; in
isolation and in context) • Focus on pronunciation, spelling and/or meaning
• Based on individual, pair, group or whole-class work
3. Memorising and storing them
• Attractiveness of the task
4. Recalling and using them (recycling)
• Length of the task
5. Testing them

2
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Fruit-vegetable monsters Scavenger hunt with smartphones

Throw the dice and draw a fruit-vegetable monster. Take pictures of the following things. The pictures should
contain only a detail/fragment of the thing.

Cucumber Carrot • Something you like

• Something you dislike
• Something that starts with p
Tomato Pumpkin • Something rectangular
• Something made of metal
• Something that has a vertical line
Pear Apple
• Something …

Criteria for analysing vocabulary What do the words have in common?

worksheets
Appropriateness and attractiveness of the tasks for the oikos
target group dom
Number and variety of the tasks, incl types of tasks,
focus on both the receptive and productive use of the ty
words, on using the single words and the words in domus
context
spiti
Wording of the instructions
hus
Language correctness of the worksheet ev
Layout and creativity of the worksheet
namas casa talo
A key to the worksheet

Test your memory

Look at the pictures and words on the next slide

for one minute. Individually, try to remember as
much as possible without taking any notes.

3

I Memory strategies
a) Mechanical strategies
i.e. oral and written repetition of new words
b) “Deep” strategies
i.e. students associate a new word with
something they already know
* linguistic mnemonics (the keyword method, RWT)
* spatial mnemonics
* visual mnemonics
* physical mnemonics (TPR)
* vocabulary networks
* spaced practice
III Social strategies
i.e. learning words by communicating with other
people (teachers, fellow-students, friends, etc.)
IV Metacognitive strategies
i.e. planning your learning of vocabulary (e.g. self-
testing your knowledge, deciding which
strategies are effective for you)
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Vocabulary learning strategies
Actions that learners take to help themselves
understand and remember vocabulary
(Cameron, 2001).
II Cognitive strategies
a) Dictionary use strategies
b) Note taking strategies
c) Word guessing strategies
Storing vocabulary
Picture vocabulary books (incl. labelling)
Vocabulary notebooks (What/how to record?)
Vocabulary cards and flashcards (e.g. Quizlet)
Mind maps, vocabulary networks,
diagrams
Posters and collages
Taking photos of new vocabulary
Recording new vocabulary on a mobile
device
4

Meaningful integration of technology
Using digital cameras (e.g. for scavenger hunts)
Creating word puzzles and quizzes (e.g.
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker/)
Creating flashcards and playing related games (e.g.
https://quizlet.com/)
Creating memory posters (e.g. http://www.canva.com/)
Using online dictionaries (e.g. www.wordhippo.com)
Using vocabulary games (e.g.
http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/word-games)
Youtube videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fUlS_aGQ1I – introducing new
vocabulary (Herbert Puchta)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diFqsHkMksw – revising words
(Herbert Puchta)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF7wpZslNRE – vocabulary drilling
(Herbert Puchta)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9KebTgfLJI – using flashcards
(Carol Read)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4z6vUq5Ov0&list=PL4215444C0541
C21C&index=5 – word bags 1 (Joanna Budden)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8FOGIkzJJ4&list=PL4215444C0541
C21C&index=6 – word bags 2 (Joanna Budden)
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Sources used
Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching English to Young Learners. Cambridge: CUP.
Hadfield, J., & Hadfield, C. (2008). Introduction to Teaching English. Oxford: OUP.
Harmer, J. (2012). Essential Teacher Knowledge. Harlow: Pearson Education
Limited.
Hughes, J. (2014). ETPedia. 1,000 Ideas for English Language Teachers. Hove:
Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd.
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning Teaching. 3d edition. Oxford: Macmillan Education.
Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2005). The Teaching Knowledge Test
Course. Cambridge: CUP.
Stanley, G. (2013). Language Learning with Technology. Cambridge: CUP.
Thornbury, S. (2002). How to Teach Vocabulary. Harlow: Pearson Education
Limited.
Some useful resources for vocabulary
practice tasks
Hadfield, J. (2004). Elementary Vocabulary Games. Harlow: Longman.
Lindstromberg, S. (2004). Language Activities for Teenagers. Cambridge:
CUP. (See chapter 7).
Morgan, J., & Rinvolucri, M. (2004). Vocabulary. Oxford: OUP.
Pesti, M. (Ed.) (2001). Keelepildid. Tallinn: Ilo. (12 different topics like Fruit
and Vegetables, Birds and Animals, etc.)
Read, C. (2007). 500 Activities for the Primary Classroom. Oxford:
Macmillan Education. (See section 3)
Saks, K. (1997). Mänge võõrkeeletundideks. Tallinn: Koolibri.
Seymour, D., & Popova, M. (2005). 700 Classroom Activities. Oxford:
Macmillan Education. (See the chapter on vocabulary)
Slattery, M. (2004). Oxford Basics for Children. Vocabulary Activities.
Oxford: OUP.