Student-Centered Techniques for Teaching Vocabulary

to Facilitate Retention and Use in Authentic Contexts

For the staff of Modern Languages, Social Sciences,

Science, and Math departments at MUIDS

Presented by Charles Oestreicher on April 22, 2021

Title Slide
 Project and Presentation Objectives:
Colleagues will be able to teach subject-specific vocabulary using ESL-oriented techniques
and methodology that increase retention and facilitate use in authentic, real-world contexts.
Standards Addressed:
ISTE 1a. I set professional learning goals; explore and apply pedagogical approaches made
possible by technology; and reflect on my effectiveness.
ISTE 2c. I model for colleagues the identification, exploration, evaluation, curation, and
adoption of new digital resources and tools for learning.
NBPTS Proposition 2: Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those
subjects to students.
TLMS Domain 3: Promoting professional learning for continuous improvement
TLMS Domain 4: Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning

Presentation objectives and standards addressed

 (I)f you give a man a fish he is hungry
again in an hour. If you teach him to
catch a fish you do him a good turn.

Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie

Mrs. Dymond 1885

Educational Hook slide 1

 Eliciting knowledge is a way of
teaching learners to catch fish.

Educational Hook slide 2

 elicit
verb

to draw or bring out or forth; evoke

What is eliciting?
 eliciting as a technique:
Instead of giving information to
learners, get them to provide it.
In other words, “Ask, don’t tell.”

Eliciting in teaching
 Eliciting is consistent with inquiry-based
curricula like California Common Core.

Eliciting and CCC

Premises of eliciting:
● The teaching of new knowledge is often based on what the
learners already know.
● Learners have funds of knowledge, of the language and the
real world, that can be activated and used constructively.
● Questioning assists in self-discovery; it makes information
more memorable and allows students to retain it better.

Three premises of eliciting

 ways to elicit vocabulary
● images
● realia
● antonym or synonym
● examples
● mime/performance
● contextualize
● comparison
● collocation
● cline

ways to elicit vocabulary

 cline
a scale of language items that goes from one extreme to another

Cline illustration 1
Cline illustration 2
Cline illustration 3
 collocation
two or more words that usually go together

have a drink catch a ball

have a good time catch a bus
have a problem catch a cold
have lunch catch fire
have sympathy
take a chance
break a promise take a look
break a record take a rest
break a window take a seat
break someone's heart take notes
 contextualize
tell a story

Contextualize: tell a story

 examples

target language: sticky

examples: honey, gum, glue

target language: mammal

examples: tiger, whale, human, elephant

target language: future perfect

examples: By eight p.m., he will have arrived
In four years, she will have graduated college.
They will not have left Japan when the Olympics begin.
I will have finished this book by the end of the semester.

Examples: sticky, mammal, future perfect (verb tense)

 realia

Realia w/illustration
 comparison

● restaurant vs. club

● book vs. magazine
● clock vs. watch
● house vs. apartment
● website vs. app
● laptop vs. tablet vs. phone
● UK: flat vs. USA: apartment

Comparison w/examples
 mime/performance

mime/performance w/illustration
 Now you try:
Look in your PDF handout at the list of ways to elicit
vocabulary. For each one of the methods, think about
and then describe in a Google Doc how you would use
it to teach the word cow. Look online for resources
(images, sound files, collocations, cline, etc...) and
include those in your response.

Progress Monitoring Question #1

 concept check questions (CCQs)
designed to check learners’ understanding of a language
item (word, term, phrase) or idea (grammar, punctuation)
Language item: oven
CCQs: Can you cook food in it? (yes)
Does it have a door? (yes)
Is there an open flame? (no)
Language item: The homework is optional for extra credit.
CCQs: Do you have to do the homework? (no)
Can you earn points for doing the homework? (maybe)
Will you lose points if you don’t do the homework? (no)

CCQ intro and examples

 concept check questions (CCQs) should…
● be yes or no or a choice between two possibilities.

concept check questions (CCQs) should not…

● use complicated language.

● be long-winded or verbose.
● use the target language.

CCQ shoulds and shouldn’ts

 CCQs shouldn’t use the target language.
target language: I was eating dinner when you called.
CCQ using the target language:
● Was I eating dinner before you called?
*The question is about an aspect of the meaning (the action started
before you called) using the language which we’re trying to check
their understanding of.*
CCQs not using the target language:
● Did I start eating my dinner before you called? (yes)
● Did I stop eating my dinner when you called? (maybe)

CCQs shouldn’t use the target language

 Now you try:
How many CCQs can you think of to check whether they
understand what is a cow? Write down three or four.

Progress Monitoring Question #2

 the steps of elicitation in teaching vocabulary
1. Convey the meaning of the new vocabulary with one of the techniques
described.
2. Elicit the vocabulary; if the learners don't know it or how to pronounce it, say
it yourself.
3. Concept Check (CCQ) the meaning of the new vocabulary.
4. Model the vocabulary orally.
5. Write the new vocabulary on the board with its part of speech (noun,
adjective, etc…) and mark its stressed syllable. This should be the last step.

Steps in eliciting
 Try to avoid…
● asking what the word means
● defining the word before eliciting it from them.
● writing the word until the very last thing.

Try to avoid
Research shows that the maximum number of new
vocabulary words that most learners can absorb and
retain from one class period (45-55 minutes) is 6 to 8.

How many words can be effectively taught in one class period

 Now you try:
1. Based on what’s been discussed in this presentation, how would
you elicit past tense? Think of a way to use each method on the
list from the handout to convey what past tense is. Search online
for images and any other relevant resources and include those in
your response.
2. Write three CCQs to check that they understand the meaning of
past tense.

Culminating Activity/Question
 References and Resources
Supporting Vocabulary Acquisition for English Language Learners

RESEARCH-BACKED WAYS TO TEACH ESL VOCABULARY WORDS

Elaborating Funds of Knowledge: Community-Oriented Practices in International Contexts - Luis C. Moll, 2019

ESL Eliciting Techniques

Eliciting

Checking Understanding

Teaching techniques: Concept questions

Clines in Language Teaching

Collocations | Vocabulary

References and Resources

 Satisfaction Survey
Teaching by Eliciting: Feedback Survey

Link to Google Form satisfaction survey