Developing Vocabulary in the
Classroom
EAL Co-ordinators’ Meeting
30th June 2010
Urchfont Manor
I adore blueberry flavour
yoghurt.
I’ve devoured every one of
your novels.
I’m not sure what current
thinking is on this issue.
The grass really wants
cutting.
She’s brought to school every
morning by her big sister.
large
big
older
Vocabulary – a “large problem space” (Snow
and Kim, 2007)
Target of “75,000 words to graduate high
school”
= about 15 words a day between 2 and 16
EAL learners:
• Find it relatively harder to develop
productive vocabulary in comparison to
receptive;
• Find it hard to attach more than a single
meaning to each word;
Best predictors of a wide vocabulary:
• Quality of speech heard by learner;
• Exposure to a wide variety of words;
• Encountering words in semantically rich
and recurring contexts;
(Snow and Kim 2007)
For EAL learners:
• Meaningful texts (including bilingual texts);
• A variety of contexts;
• Spelling is important;
• Teach how words are formed;
• Teach multiple meanings;
• Teach how to derive meaning from context;
• Focus on mechanisms for learning rather than
word lists;
• Encourage learners to compare English and L1.
(Carlo et al, 2003)
Using L1
What do these Spanish words mean in
English?
compromiso
compromiso matrimonial
advertencia
embarazada
agreement
engagement
warning/advice
pregnant
antonyms
soil erosion
coastal erosion
erosion by: wind
X build up
X strengthen
rives
synonyms
animals
glaciers
waves
weathering
erosion
erosion
+ gradual
erode, eroded, eroded
The gradual erosion of the
river bank…
The action of the waves
progressively erodes the
coast…
eating away
Forms and inflections
modifiers
+ progressive
wearing down
eroding
other uses
erode + confidence
Lack of goals has eroded his confidence.
A Frayer model
Essential characteristics
Examples
Non-essential characteristics
Non-examples
Essential characteristics
Non-essential characteristics
Erosion
Examples
Non-examples
Essential characteristics
Non-essential characteristics
involves making something
smaller or less
happens gradually, not all at
once
Erosion
Examples
Non-examples
Essential characteristics
involves making something
smaller or less
happens gradually, not all at
once
Non-essential characteristics
can be done by water
often causes problems
sometimes confidence erodes
Erosion
Examples
Non-examples
Essential characteristics
involves making something
smaller or less
happens gradually, not all at
once
Non-essential characteristics
can be done by water
often causes problems
sometimes confidence erodes
Erosion
the gradual erosion of the cliff
made our house unsafe
Examples
Non-examples
Essential characteristics
involves making something
smaller or less
happens gradually, not all at
once
Non-essential characteristics
can be done by water
often causes problems
sometimes confidence erodes
Erosion
the gradual erosion of the cliff
made our house unsafe
Car tyres wear down, they don’t
erode
You nibble a biscuit, but you
don’t erode it
Examples
Non-examples
Concept questions
Questioning designed to test where the limits of a
word’s “footprint” are.
Where would you see ____________?
Would you see ___________ in a _______?
What causes it? What effects does it have?
Can ________ happen to a person? An animal? A
plant? A rock?
When is _________ a problem?
Is ____________ an example of __________?
Headlines
• vocabulary is the largest single element in language
acquisition (able users of English tend to have receptive
vocabularies of about 75,000 words);
• many vocabulary items are only likely to be acquired
through reading;
• EAL learners in general find it disproportionately harder
to acquire productive than receptive vocabulary;
• all learners need to explore the “footprint” of new
vocabulary and build a mental map of the way
vocabulary items link and work together.