Studies lexical material of English

Studies lexical material of English

Contents

Chapter I. How is Vocabulary learned?

1.1 How important is vocabulary

1.2 How are words selected

1.3 Conveying the meaning

Chapter II. How to present vocabulary

2.1 Presenting vocabulary

2.2 How to illustrate meaning

2.3 How to explain meaning

Chapter III. How to put words to work

3.1 Decision - making tasks

3.1.1 Identifying words

3.1.2 Selecting tasks

3.1.3 Matching task

3.1.4 Sorting activities

3.1.5 Ranking and sequencing

3.2 Games

Chapter IV. Teaching word parts word chunks

4.1 Teaching word formation and word combination

4.2 A lexical approach

4.3 Teaching lexical chunks

4.4 Teaching phrasal verbs

4.5 Teaching idioms

Conclusions

Bibliography

Chapter I. How is Vocabulary learned?

1.1 How important is vocabulary

Teaching English vocabulary is an important area worthy of effort and investigation. Recently methodologists and linguists emphasize and recommend teaching vocabulary because of its importance in language teaching. Vocabulary is needed for expressing meaning and in using the receptive (listening and reading) and the productive (speaking and writing) skills. "If language structures make up the skeleton of language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh" (Harmer)

Vocabulary is not a syllabus, i.e., a list of words that teachers prepare for their learners to memorize and learn by heart. Memorizing may be good and useful as a temporary technique for tests, but not for learning a foreign language. Language students need to learn vocabulary of the target language in another way. If we are really to teach students what words mean and how they are used, we need to show them being used together in context. Words do not just exist on their own; they live together and they depend upon each other. Therefore, teaching vocabulary correctly is a very important element in language learning. Correct vocabulary instruction involves vocabulary selection, word knowledge and techniques.

1.2 How are words selected

In the past, teachers used to select and present vocabulary from concrete to abstract. Words like 'door', 'window', 'desk', etc., which are concrete, used to be taught at beginning levels. However, words like 'honesty', 'beauty' etc., which are abstract words, used to be taught at advanced levels because they are not "physically represented" in the learning/teaching environment and are very difficult to explain.

Nowadays methodologists and linguists suggest that teachers can decide and select the words to be taught on the basis of how frequently they are used by speakers of the language. That is, the most commonly used words should be taught first (Harmer).

We can get information about which words will be most useful for learners of English by looking at frequency counts of vocabulary. Usually a vocabulary count is done by making a list of the words in a particular text or group of texts and counting how often and where they occur. Some of the more recent counts have used computers to list the words and count their frequency (Nation).

Besides that, teachers can decide which words are useful and should be taught to their learners on the basis of semantics. This means, that the word is more useful if it covers more things than if it only has one very specific meaning. For example, the word 'book', which is taught at beginning levels, has wider usage than the words 'notebook', 'textbook', etc. Furthermore, Nation says that frequency and coverage are not enough to be used when teachers select and prepare a word list for learners of English. So he suggests other criteria, such as language needs, availability and familiarity, regularity and ease of learning or learning burden.

Teachers can help their learners enrich and increase their vocabulary. They can also help the learners to build a new store of words to select from when they want to express themselves. If any learner can handle grammar correctly, that does not mean that he can express himself fluently unless he has a store of words to select from. Therefore, teachers are a very important factor in selecting and teaching English vocabulary, and they have to design vocabulary syllabi according to their learners' needs. As a result, “teachers vocabulary work can be directed toward useful words and can give learners practice in useful skills".

The selection of words which are to be taught to the students is a very important procedure in the language learning process. However, the word selection process doesn't mean that the students will be fluent in expressing themselves in English upon learning that list, i.e., what students need to know regarding vocabulary is the word meaning, the word use, the word formation and the word grammar.