Os c hildren often measure their own language learning process in terms of “how many words they know". Young children are ‘© quick to learn new words and, as they grow older, they develop the ability to make ‘meaningful connections between words. Therefore, itis vital to give children plenty of opportunities to memorise, practise, recycle and extend their vocabulary. What Is vocabulary? According to Penny Ur (1996), vocabulary can be defined as “the words we teach in the foreign language” What to teach? ‘% Pronunciation and spelling: how to say and write a word, 4» Grammar: information about variation of form in certain contexts (the past of an irregular verb, the plural of an irregular noun, the preposition that follows an adjective, etc.) ‘4% Collocation: two or more words that often go together and sound natural to native speakers (fast food instead of quick food, make a decision and not take a decision). ‘ Aspects of meaning: denotation (definition given in a ictionary), connotation (associations or symbolic meaning of a word), appropriateness (whether a particular item is adequate in a certain context) 4 Meaning relationships (how the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others) + Synonyms + Antonyms, + Hyponyms +Co-hyponyms ot co-ordinates + Superordinates, “Translation 4% Word formation: how a word is formed (prefixes, suffixes, compound words). Ways of presenting new vocabulary # Concise definition (as in a dictionary) ‘% Detailed description (of appearance, se, qualities, et.) Examples (hyponyms) ® Picture, photograph or drawing ‘4 Realia (showing the real object) ‘# Demonstration (acting or miming) ® Context (situation in which the item is used) 4 Synonyms and antonyms ‘# Translation ‘ Associated ideas or collocations ih ost Vocabulary learning strategies Here are some useful strategies that students can apply to i 1. Keeping a picture dictionary (especially with young learners). ‘They may draw the pictures themselves or take the time once a ‘week to cut out pictures and stick them next to the words they have learnt that week, branch | 2. Creating vocabulary networks cite (associating words with a topic, ‘word or expression). | 3. Making groups of hyponyms related Si tere | | 4, Making a list of the new words = in ; [Ef aogena| | including 2 synonym and an * | antonym. Goro | vswenm | avout | | eee Sreawe | orem rae ‘| courageous cowardly | 5. Writing two or three examples for each new word learnt Example 4 Tere te Example 2 hat ree | the ran hs topped at as RELIEF 6. Keeping a vocabulary poster. Whenever new vocabulary is dealt with in the English class, one of the students is asked to write the new words and their definitions in a poster. This may be done as homework and the following class the student may share their work with their mates. The poster will be displayed on a classroom wall and used for future reference, 7. Keeping a vocabulary box. Whenever new vocabulary is dealt with in the English class, the teacher will create slips of paper with the new words and place them inside the vocabulary box. Once a week, students may take turns to take out a slip of paper from the box and provide a definition, an example, a synonym, an antonym, ete. This may be done as a ‘warm-up activity or a game,Activities to practise vocabulary Guess the words Prepare cards with words you want your students to revise. They will take turns to come tothe front and pick a cara They should say as many words as they can think of that are associated with that word (without mentioning i) to let their classmates guess the word, The student that guesses the word will win their turn to come to the front and repeat the process. Example WINTER Student: “Cold, July, snow, frozen, holidays!” Guess the words (2) Students are given a text with some words deleted and in theit place some pictures representing them, Odd one out Students are given small groups of words where there is one that does not belong to that group, Examples: cat, fish, flower, dog (theme) cat, dog, hat, fat (sound) jump, think, swim, fast (grammar) Ten things Students are divided in teams and choose someone to come to the board to write, The teacher calls out a category. Each team should think of ten things that fit into that category. The students chosen by each group then come ta the front to write their list. The first team to write the list wins a point. Possible categories (depending on the level): + Animals that swire + Animals that fly 8 that are i sible buy ss that move fast vou find in a hospital eicnpncnnrinnaieasanesssullaialaiaaaaa AtoZ Students are divided into groups of four and they take out a piece of paper. They should write the letters of the alphabet, fon it one letter below the other. The teacher calls out a category example, Food and Drink, and the students have three minutes to write a list of as many items of food and drink as they can think of starting with the leters of the alphabet. The group that writes the biggest number of words wins a point. Examples: Apple - Banana - Coffee - D... - Egg - F.. - Grape - Hamburger Ieecrearn - Juice -K... - Lemon - Mayonnaise - Nut - Oil - Pizza Q...- Rice Soup - Tea -U...- V...~ Wine -X... - Yoghurt - Z. Suggested categories: animals - food and drink - action adjectives - at school ites - jobs nationalities. sports rooms andColours Students are divided in teams. They have three minutes 10 write a list of things that are the colour the teacher says. The group that writes more words wins a point. Example: White: snow, paper, golf balls, milk, etc Noughts and crosses Students are divided into two groups (could be boys vs girls) and they are assigned noughis or crosses, Draw on the board a chart similar to the one given below. Use words from the unit you have just been working with, They will take turns to Selecta square but to win that square they should provide either the definition for that word or an example using it. Example: personality adjectives GENEROUSHE: {SMART FRIENDLY} Knowledge race ‘Students work in groups of four and choose one person as the secretary. The teacher names a country, They have three minutes to write as many notes as they can about that place (the notes should not be longer than three words). The group that writes more about that country wins a point. Example: China: big, a billion people, Great Wall, Beijing. Suggested countries: USA ~ India ~ Greece ~ Spain ~ Brazil ~ ‘Australia Creating crosswords, word snakes and letter soups ‘Students work in small groups and create a erossword, a word snake ora letter soup including 10 words related to the topic of the unit they have just been working with. Once they have finished, they will pass on their work for other students to solve. Word tennis Students take turns to come to the front of the classraom in pairs. The child who starts pretends to serve the ball and says ‘a word in a lexical set the teacher specifies. Example: places in the city: cinema, park, supermarket, hospital, bank, zoo, etc Memory Divide your students in pairs. Stick a poster or a group of flashcards on the board for everyone to see. Cive your students afew minutes to look at the board and try to memorise as many elements as they can, Remove the flashcards or poster and ask them to work in pairs on a lst of the things that were on the poster or lashcards. Give them three minutes to do this. The pair of students that writes the biggest number of correct words is the winner, Micaela Emilia Bertoya Bibliography Us, P, (1996) Teaching Vocabulary. In A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. + Phillips, S. (1993) Vocabulary and Grammar. In Young Learners. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. + Seymour, D. & Popova, M. (2003) Vocabulary. In 700 Classroom Activites. Oxford, United Kingdom: Macmillan. 1, C. (2008) Vocabulary and In 500 Activities for the Primary Classroom. Oxford, United Kingdom: Macmillan.O =m to write better to speak. fluently to play with words to improve your descriptions to understand more Gam aes to inforn clearly A, ihe advantages of good study un Bey to learn faster =m 7 “ expand your vocabulary Poster 1 presents several reasons for students to expand y it on a wall and use it Flowers memo game > In the same poster you will find 20 cards showing, different Nowers and thelr names to play a memo game. ‘This is a fun way for students to celebrate the coming of |¥ spring while they learn and practise vocabulary, It ean be played in pairs, or in groups of three or four players. Mix up the eards and lay them face down on the floor or desk. Students take turns to pick up two cards at the 4 same time and find the right par If there is a match, they the cards. If there is no match, they return the cards face down to the same places. The next student tries to find the next pair The game continues until there are no cards left and the winner isthe student with most cards Incase you want to use the game for assessment \ purposes, you can detach the lower part of the card and make new cards with the names of the flowers, separated from the pictures, Students should match the pictures with the corresponding names. In this way you will be abe to cheek if they remember the vocabulary