5 Presenting vocabulary 2 Discuss what it means to ‘know a word: For example, what do you need to know in orderto use a word productively (in speaking or writing)? 3. What are the implications of the above for the teaching of vocabulary? Learning about form and meaning Dictionaries are an effective way of learning vocabulary, particularly when learners are working outside the class, but there are many other ways that teachers can teach words and phrases. 1 Read these lesson transcripts and complete the table below. a Beginners’ class (1) [Teacher holds up a picture of a doctor] T Listen: doctor—doctot. Say it Class: Doctor [Teacher holds up a picture of a nurse] T: Listen: nurse— nurse. Now you. Say it for me. Class: Nurse. [Teacher writes doctor and nurse on the board.] b Beginners’ class (2) T: [Teacher points to the door] Look - the door is open — open, [Teacher closes the door.] Now the door is shut - shut. [Teacher opens the door.] Open. (Teacher closes the door, Shut. Now you. Say it, Sl: Open. T — No-look. Shut. Sl: Shut T: — Good-everyone. Class: Shut [Teacher opens the door.] Tr Now. Class: Open. {Teacher writes open and shut on the board.] ¢ False beginners’ class {Teacher holds up a picture ofa pilot.) T. Do you know what job this is? What does this person do? SI: Inaplane. Yeah, good, he fies a plane, but what is the word for his job? 82: Driver. 1: That's good —we can say that for a car or a train, but for a plane? $2: Pilot. T: _ Good-thar’s right — he’s a pilot. [Teacher writes pilot on the board.) Elementary class Sl: What means fruit /frist/? T: Pronunciation — /frust Sl: Fruit /frust/ T: — Good~apples, oranges, bananas are types of fruit. Sl: Oh, yeah, OK~thank you. like boot—can you say it?B Classroom teaching 22 € Intermediate class $1: Sorry, what does enormous mean? 7: Does anyone know that word — enormous? 2: Big, T Yeah, OK, just big? Or very big? $3: Very big. 1 Thar'sright-very big. [Teacher writes enormous on the board] {Advanced class Sl: Itsays flattery here. What's that? Te Ivewhen you say nice things to someone ~ usually because you want something from them. Howisthemeaning | Isthespokenform | Howisthewritten conveyed? practised? form made clear? ‘2 Beginners’ class (i) | by usingpictures yes “The teacher writes it onthe board. Beginners’ class (2) False beginners class 4 Elementary class Intermediate class f Advanced class 2 answerthe questions. 1 Aswell as pictures, what other ways of illustrating the meaning of a word could a teacher use? 2 Inthe intermediate class (e), a learner asks a question but the teacher doesn’t answer it immediately. Why not, do you think? 3, Work together. How would you teach these groups of words? You can use mare than one method per group. Group l:apet toput down (a pet) to vaccinate (intermediate class) Group 2: to dig to paint to saw (pre-intermediate class) Group 3:grape cherry strawberry (elementary class) Group 4:slap smack punch (upper-intermediate class) Eliciting vocabulary 1 Workin pairs. Describe the different ways the teacher teaches the words doctor, nurse and pilot in section Ci(aand o. Explain why the teacher uses different strategies. 2 Read this advice foreliiting vocabulary. Which points are helpful? a Try totrick the leamers or they will find it too easy. b Plan how you will elicit things before the lesson.