2.2. Teaching vocabulary 2.2.1.

Overview Harmer (1997: 153) metaphorically says that if grammatical structures are the skeleton of a language, then it is vocabulary that provi es the vital organs an flesh! "n the tra itional mo el, ho#ever, vocabulary #as seen as inci ental to the main purpose of language teaching$ namely the ac%uisition of grammar! &hus, vocabulary #as not the main focus for learning itself! &eaching vocabulary use to be re uce to learners' having to look #or s up in the ictionary, #rite efinitions, an use #or s in more or less conventionali(e sentences! )or lists, teacher e*planation, iscussion, memori(ation, vocabulary books, an %ui((es #ere often use #ith a vie# to facilitating stu ents to learn ne# #or s! +s a rule, the teaching of vocabulary above elementary levels #as limite to presenting ne# items encountere in rea ing or sometimes listening te*ts! &his in irect teaching of vocabulary #as premise by the i ea that vocabulary e*pansion #oul happen through the practice of other language components, #hich has been prove not enough to ensure vocabulary e*pansion! 2.2.2. Theories of teaching vocabulary 2.2.2.1. Components of meaning ,ne #ay of analy(ing vocabulary is to break up the meaning of a #or into smaller, separate components! &hus the meaning of -girl. is ma e up of -female., -human., an -non$a ult. (or -young.)/ the #or -boy. has components -human., -male. an -young./ the meaning of -apple. is ma e up of -fruit., -e ible., -roun . an so on! 2.2.2.2. The prototype theory of vocabulary "n the Prototype theory, #or s have #hole meanings ivi e into basic level (-table.), superor inate (-furniture.) an subor inate (-coffee table.)! 0rototype theory also claims that chil ren first learn #or s that are 1basic' because they reflect aspects of the #orl , prototypes that stan out automatically from the rest of #hat they see! chil ren learn the basic level terms like - og. before they learn the superor inate term -animal., or the subor inate term -labra or.! &hey start #ith the most basic level as it is easiest for the min to perceive! ,nly after this has been learnt o they go on to #or s that are more general or more specific! prototype theory ties in #ith the au iovisual metho of language teaching that intro uces ne# vocabulary #ith a picture of #hat it represents, in an appropriate cultural setting! &his theory has particular implications for teaching vocabulary at the beginning stages! The lexical approach: &he 2e*ical +pproach puts vocabulary ac%uisition in a central role in language ac%uisition i! &he principle of 3rammaticalise 2e*is "n recent years it has been recognise that native speakers have a vast stock of le*ical chunks #hich are vital for fluent pro uction! &here are t#o types of le*ical chunks: $ le*ical chunks that are not collocations: if I were you, by the way, upside down, up to now; $ le*ical chunks that are collocations: totally convinced, terrible accident, sense of humour;

+ccor ing to 4! 2e#is, the basic principle of the 2e*ical +pproach is -2anguage is grammaticalise le*is, not le*icalise grammar. (2e#is, 1993)! "n other #or s, le*is is central in creating meaning, grammar plays a subservient managerial role! "f one accepts this principle then the logical implication is that #e shoul spen more time helping learners evelop their stock of phrases, an less time on grammatical structures! ii! 5ollocation in action 5ollocations might be escribe as the #or s that are place or foun together in a pre ictable pattern! 6*amples of collocations range from t#o #or combinations such as problem child to e*ten e combinations such as Hes recovering from a major operation! +nother important aspect of the 2e*ical +pproach is that le*is an grammar are closely relate ! 5onsi er the sentences belo# #here several #or s can be complete : (a) &he theory has ha a strong !!7!on me! (b) &hey77!to try out the theory! "f #e look at the e*amples above, #e #ill see in (a) that 3 semantically relate #or s 8 impact, influence, effect 8 behave the same #ay grammatically: have a/an impact, influence, effect on somebody/something! "n (b) verbs connecte #ith initiating action 8 encourage, persuade, urge, advise, etc! all follo# the pattern verb 9 ob:ect 9 infinitive! 2.2.3. Techniques used in teaching vocabulary "n this section #e #ill look at some of the techni%ues use in teaching vocabulary, namely, 0resentation techni%ues, "nteraction #ith #or s, ;iscovery techni%ues! 2.2.3.1. resentation techniques <ot all vocabulary can be learnt through interaction an iscovery techni%ues! &here are many occasions #hen some form of presentation an =or of e*planation is the best #ay to bring ne# #or s into the classroom! &here are several types of presentation techni%ues: realia/ pictures/ mime, action an gesture/ contrast/ enumeration/ e*planation/ translation Realia is a term use to refer to certain real$life ob:ects! ,ne #ay of presenting #or s is to bring the things they represent into the classroom! )or s like 1pen', 1ruler', 1postcar ', etc! can obviously be presente in this #ay! &he teacher hol s up the ob:ect (or points to it), says the #or an then gets stu ents to repeat it! Pictures: >ringing a pen into the classroom is not a problem! >ringing in a car, ho#ever, is! ,ne solution is the use of pictures! 0ictures can be boar ra#ings, #all pictures an charts, flashcar s, maga(ine pictures an any other non$technical visual representation! ?uch pictures can be use to e*plain the meaning of vocabulary items, even of more abstract concepts such as 1above', 1opposite', 1smiles', 1fro#ns', etc! Mime, action and gesture: it is sometimes impossible to e*plain the meaning of #or s either through the use of realia or in pictures! +ctions, in particular, are probably better e*plaine by mime! 5oncepts like 1running', 1#alking' or 1smoking' are easy to present in this #ay/ so are prepositions (1to', 1to#ar s', 1on')! Contrast: )or s e*ist because of their sense relations an this can be use to teach meaning! )e can present the meaning of 1empty' by contrasting it #ith 1full', or 1col ' by contrasting it #ith 1hot', 1big' by contrasting it #ith 1small'! )e may present these concepts #ith pictures or mime, an by ra#ing attention to the contrasts in meaning #e ensure our stu ents' un erstan ing

Enumeration: +nother important sense relation is represente by hyponymy: grouping #or s into general an specific! )e can give a superor inate #or (or hypernym 8 the general #or ) such as 1clothes' an e*plain this by enumerating or listing various items (hyponyms $ specific) inclu e in it! &hus, one can intro uce the item 1appliances' (superor inate or hypernym) an then illustrate by enumerating items such as refrigerator, micro#ave oven, ish#asher, an such! &he same is true of other hypernyms such as 1vegetable' or 1furniture'! Explanation: one of the most common presentation techni%ues is e*planation! 6*plaining the meaning of vocabulary items can be very ifficult, especially at beginner an elementary levels! >ut such a techni%ue can be use #ith more interme iate or a vance stu ents, #ho are able to grasp the e*planation! )e shoul remember that #hen #e e*plain the meaning of a #or #e also have to e*plain aspects of use #hich are relevant for that #or ! &hus, if #e are e*plaining the meaning of 1mate' (@ frien ) #e have to point out that it is a collo%uial #or use in informal conte*ts an that it is more often use for males than for females! Translation: translation is a commonly use presentation techni%ue! "t is a %uick an easy #ay to present the meaning of #or s but it is not #ithout problems! "n the first place, it is not al#ays easy to translate #or s (culturally comple* concepts are often ifficult to accurately translate), an , in the secon place, even #here translation is possible, it may make it a bit too easy for stu ents by iscouraging them from interacting #ith the #or s! )here translation can %uickly solve a presentation problem it may be a goo i ea, but #e shoul bear in min that using the mother tongue as little as possible is helpful for both teacher an stu ents! Pronunciation: +ll of these presentation techni%ues, either singly or in combination, are useful #ays of intro ucing ne# #or s! )hat must be remembere #ith vocabulary presentation, too, is that pronunciation is :ust as important here as it is for structural material! )e shoul not intro uce #or s #ithout making sure that stu ents kno# ho# they are pronounce ! <ot only #ill this mean that they can use the #or s in speech, it #ill also help them to remember the #or s! &here are a number of #ays of presenting the soun s of #or s: i! &hrough mo elling: Aust as #ith structures, the teacher can mo el the #or an then get both choral an in ivi ual repetition! )hen the teacher is mo elling the #or s=he can use gesture, etc! to in icate the main stress in the #or ! ii! &hrough visual representation: )hen teachers #rite up ne# #or s on the boar they shoul al#ays in icate #here the stress in the #or is! &eachers can o this in several #ays: $ they can un erline the stresse syllable, e!g! photograph $ they can use a stress mark before the stresse syllable, e!g! 1photograph, photographic iii! &hrough phonetic symbols: some teachers get their stu ents to learn the phonetic symbols, at least for recognition purposes! e!g! photograph B1fCutCgra:fD, photographic BfCutC'grEfikD 5ertainly for more a vance stu ents a basic kno#le ge of the symbols #ill help them to access pronunciation information from their ictionaries! &here are several stages o presenting vocabulary i! setting up a conte*t, #hich is relevant to learners' interest an age, buil s on or incorporates learners' e*perience!

ii! elicitation of the target vocabulary item (i!e! trying to get the target item from the learners first) in or er to enhance their involvement as #ell as to help them fit the ne# item in their e*isting vocabulary kno#le ge! iii! choral an =or in ivi ual repetition (this may be optional at higher levels) in or er to stan ar ise pronunciation! iv! consoli ation=concept check %uestions, #hich are aime to check #hether meaning has been properly un erstoo an to provi e further meaningful opportunities for learners to use the item in conte*t! v! boar recor for later reference 2.2.3.2. !nteraction with words: 6*periments on vocabulary seem to suggest that stu ents remember best #hen they have interacte #ith the #or s they are learning! &here is a efinite a vantage in getting stu ents to o more than :ust repeat them! &asks such as changing the #or s to mean their opposites, changing a noun into an a :ective, putting #or s together, etc!, help to fi* the #or s in the learners' min s! ?omeho# or other, then, it seems that #e shoul get stu ents to interact #ith #or s! )e shoul get them to 1a opt' #or s that they like an that they #ant to use, so that they may become properly ac%uainte #ith them! Focabulary learning nee s the 1 eep e*perience'! !earning and remembering vocabulary: Gesearch con ucte by Harry >ahrick ( emantic memory content, 19HI) suggeste that a #or is remembere best if it is practice every 3J ays rather than at more fre%uent intervals! &his contra icts the belief common among teachers that every #or shoul be practice as often as possible #ithin a short time span! "t is ho" the #or is practice that is important rather than ho# often! ! 2.2.3.3. "iscovery techniques go beyon simple mo elling, e*planation, mime an translation! 6specially at interme iate levels an above, as an appropriate alternative to stan ar presentation techni%ues, iscovery techni%ues -aim to give stu ents a chance to take charge. (Harmer, 1997: 71) an ask stu ents to iscover ho# language #orks, instea of simply furnishing meaning! ?tu ents #ill often be aske to 1 iscover for themselves' #hat a #or means an ho# an #hy it is being use , they #ill have to #ork out rules an meanings for themselves rather than being given everything by the teacher! +t interme iate levels #e can assume that stu ents alrea y have a consi erable store of vocabulary! Gather than teach them ne# #or s #e can sho# them e*amples of #or s in action (in te*ts, etc!) an ask them to use their previous kno#le ge to #ork out #hat #or s can go #ith others, #hen they shoul be use an #hat connotations they have! 6ven at beginner levels, ho#ever, #e may #ant to ask stu ents to #ork out #hat #or s mean, rather than :ust han ing them the meanings: #hen stu ents have 1ha a go' #ith the #or s #e can lea fee back sessions to see if they have un erstoo the #or s correctly! ;iscovery techni%ues isplay from simple matching tasks to more comple* un erstan ings of connotation an conte*t! ;iscovery techni%ues use #ith vocabulary materials allo# stu ents to activate their previous kno#le ge an to share #hat they kno# (if they are #orking #ith others)! &hey also provoke the kin of interaction #ith #or s!

;iscovery techni%ues shift the emphasis from the teacher to stu ents an invites them to use their reasoning processes an problem solving skills to learn the subtle nuances of the language an , hence, to mimic the psycholinguistic approach utili(e by native language learners! &he conclusions #e can ra# from this iscussion are best summe up by a %uote from + rian Kn erhill: -engaging the learner is essential to any activity that is to have