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Teaching English Vocabulary 10 Fabulous Ways to Teach New Words

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TeachingEnglishVocabulary10FabulousWaystoTeach NewWords
Didyouknowthatastudentneedstoencounteranewword10to16 timestoeffectively"learn"itaccordingtorecentresearch?

Consideringthenumberofnewwordsstudentshavetolearnpercourse,this meansusteachershaveourworkcutoutforus.Weallknowthatalthoughitis importantforstudentstousecorrectgrammarandstructures,wordsarethe maincarriersofmeaning.Thismeansthatthemorewordsstudentsareable tohandleaccurately,thebettertheirchancesofunderstandingEnglishand makingthemselvesunderstood. Toeffectivelyacquirenewvocabulary,studentsmustgothroughfouressentialstages: first,theynoticeanewwordwithhelp secondly,theyrecognizethewordatfirstwithhelp, thenlaterontheirown andlastly,theyareabletobothrecognizeandproducetheword. Itisessentialthatyou,astheteacher,makeuseofactivitiesthattargeteachofthesestagesmoreoften thannot,wemakethemistakeofmerelyintroducingnewvocabulary,andwedontgivestudentsthe opportunitytoputthesenewwordstouse.

So,hereare10greatwaystoteachEnglishvocabulary,outlinedforeachofthe stagesofvocabularyacquisition:
Stage1:Noticingandunderstandingnewwords
Introducingnouns,things,objects,animals,etc Visualelementsworkbestwithconcretenouns,buttrytogobeyondflashcardsandillustrations.Try touserealobjectswheneverpossible,orevensounds,smells,andtastes.Appealtoallofyour studentssenses! Introducingadjectives Opposites,likebigandsmall,longandshort,areusuallyillustratedwithpictures,butheres anothercasewhererealiawillhelpyouteachnewadjectivestheuseofreallifeobjectsiswonderful

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1/23/13

Teaching English Vocabulary 10 Fabulous Ways to Teach New Words

forwordslikesoftandrough,adjectivesthatmaytakepreciousminutesofclasstimetoexplain.Formore advancedadjectives,likestunning,gorgeous,spectacular,huge,orimmense,bringinphotosof famoussightsfromaroundtheworldliketheLouvre,Egyptianpyramids,theEiffelTower,etcthenuse thesenewadjectivestodescribetheseplacesinwaysthatclearlyillustratetheirmeaning. Introducingabstracts Therearethingsyousimplycannotteachwithaflashcard.Whatworksbestinthesecasesare synonyms,definitions,substitutions,orsimplyplacingstudentswithinagivencontext.Considerthis simpleexample:Toteachthedifferencebetweenearlyandlate,remindstudentswhattimeclassbegins, thenstatethatthosewhoarrivebeforethistimeareearlywhilethosethatarriveafterthistimearelate.

Stage2:Recognizingnewwords
Bingo BingoisoneofthemostversatilegamesemployedbyESLteachers.Foryoungerlearners,make bingocardswithillustrations,andcallouteachword.Forthosewhocanread,dotheopposite,make thecardswithwords,thendrawtheflashcardsfromabag.Forteensoradultlearners,youcanmakecards withthedefinitionandcalloutthewords,orviceversa. Matching Anothertypeofexercisewithcountlesspossibilities.Studentsmayberequiredtomatchopposites, synonyms,orawordwithitsdefinition,aswellasapicturetoaword. Fillintheblanks(withoptions) Handoutapieceofwrittentext(anythingfromadescription,song,letter,toevenashortstory)with blankspacesthatmustbefilledinfromalistofwords.Youcanadaptthistolongertexts,andalso havelongerwordlists.

Stage3:Producingvocabulary
Descriptions Fromanewspaperphotoofarecenteventtoapersonalaccountofarecenttrip,therearecountless thingsstudentscandescribewhileputtingnewvocabularytogooduse.Thisgoesforbothoraland writtendescriptions.Youmaygivethemsomeguidance,likeindicatingthattheyhavetouseatleastfive adjectivesintheirdescription,orfivewordsrelatedtosports,weather,etctonoguidanceatall. Fillintheblanks(nooptions) Supplystudentswithapieceofwrittentextwithblankspacesthathavetobefilledinwithanyword thatfits.Youmaygivethemindicationsforeachspace,likenoun,adjectiveoradverb,iftheyre advancedstudents.Youcanthenreadseveraloutloudtocomparethedifferentwordsusedtofillineach blank.

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1/23/13

Teaching English Vocabulary 10 Fabulous Ways to Teach New Words

Mindmapsorbrainstorming Tellstudentstheyneedtothinkofwordstheycanusetodescribetheweather.Writeweatheratthe centerofablackboardorwhiteboardandcircleit.Writeeverywordsuppliedbystudentsasraysthat shootoutthiscircle.Theyshouldreplywithpreviouslytaughtwords,likechilly,scorching,ormild.You mayevenhavesubcirclesshootingofftothesideforwinter,summer,etcwords.Thisworksgreatfor vocabularyreviewlessons. GuesswhatI'mthinking Studentstaketurnsdescribingsomething,likeaplace:Imthinkingofaplacethatissohugeittakes visitorshourstoseeallofit.Ithasstunningworksofart.Itisabreathtakingbuilding,veryold,butwith amodernglasspyramidinthefront.Studentschoosetobeasobviousorascrypticastheylike.Evenlittle onescandothiswithsimpledescriptions:It'sananimal.Ithasaverylongneckandbigbrownspots.Or simplystateaseriesofwords:Africa,blackandwhite,stripes. Itsbettertoteachvocabularyincontext,inotherwords,teachhighlydescriptiveadjectiveswhenthelesson isabouttravel.Orclothesandaccessorieswhenyouretalkingaboutshopping.Neverteachalistofwords justbecause,orstudentswonthaveachancetopracticethisnewvocabulary.

Onafinalnote,remembertocatertodifferentlearningstylesormultiple intelligences.
Usesongsandmusic,reallifeobjects,orpuzzles,butthemoreyoumixthebetter.Rememberthedifference betweenrecognizingandproducingwords:topracticerecognitionthewordshavetobesuppliedbyYOU thenstudentsusethemtofillinblanksormatchthem.Forstudentstoeffectivelyandaccuratelyproduce vocabulary,theyhavetospontaneouslyrecallthewords. Ratethisarticle: wasthisarticlehelpful? ratedby11teachers byClaudiaPesce,47729views|5outof5,ratedby11teachers 151points ClaudiahasbeenanESLteacherfor20yearsandhastaughtawidevarietyofstudents frompreschoolerstoseniorcitizens,completebeginnerstoadvancedstudents.Thisvast teachingexperiencehashelpedherwriteover100articlesforBusyTeacher.org.When sheisnotteaching,sheisalsoafreelancetravelwritercontributingreviewsforV!VA TravelGuides'upcomingUruguayedition,aswellastravelarticlesandblogpostsfora varietyofonlinepublications.SheiscurrentlylivinginBuenosAires,Argentinawithher spunky7yearolddaughterandcrabby10yearoldcat,Ulysses.Google+. morebyClaudiaPesce

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