Vocabulary Teaching Techniques
Paul Nation
LALS, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Where does vocabulary teaching fit in a course?
The four strands
Activities and techniques
Meaning focused input
Reading graded readers, Listening to stories, Communication activities
Language focused learning
Direct teaching of vocabulary, Direct learning, Intensive reading,
Training in vocabulary strategies
Meaning focused output
Communication activities with written input, Prepared writing, Linked skills
Fluency development
Reading easy graded readers, Repeated reading, Speed reading, Listening to
easy input, 4/3/2, Rehearsed tasks, 10 minute writing, Linked skills
What are the features of a good vocabulary teaching technique?
Psychological processes
Does it involve normal language use?
Does each activity set up useful conditions for vocabulary learning?
Does the activity motivate the learners to pay attention?
Does the activity involve retrieval?
Receptive or productive?
Recognition or recall?
Does the activity involve generative use?
Receptive or productive?
What degree of generation?
Does the activity involve imaging or instantiation?
Does the activity involve a useful focus of effort?
Does the activity result in new learning?
Does the activity avoid interference?
Involvement load
Involvement load involves three factors, each of which may be absent (-), present with moderate strength
(+), or with full-strength (+ +). Need is a motivational factor. Is the unknown word needed to complete the
task? Search -- does the learner need to search for or retrieve the meaning or form of a particular word?
Evaluation -- does the task involve having to compare the form or meaning with other possible words or
meanings to choose the most suitable one for the context? The sum of the strengths of these three factors
represents the involvement load of the task. The greater the involvement load, the better the learning.
Researching teaching techniques
There are three major ways of researching vocabulary teaching techniques - (1) by doing
technique analysis such as looking at involvement load (need, search, evaluation) (Laufer
and Hulstijn, 2001), or by analysing the goals, learning conditions, signs, and design
features of techniques (Nation, 2001), (2) by getting the learners to think aloud during or
after they have done a vocabulary learning activity (Hosenfeld, 1976), or (3) by doing
experimental comparisons of vocabulary learning activities (Hulstijn and Laufer, 2001).
spoken form
written form
form
word parts
form-meaning connection
concept and reference
meaning
associations
grammar
use
collocates
constraints on use
Pronounce the words
Read aloud
Word and sentence dictation
Finding spelling rules
Filling word part tables
Cutting up complex words
Building complex words (Word-making & word-taking)
Choosing a correct form
Matching words and definitions
Find the words in the text
Discussing the meanings of phrases
Drawing and labelling pictures
Peer teaching
Comprehension questions, True/False
Discussion
Dictionary use*
Guessing from context
Using word cards*
Riddles
Finding common core meanings
Choosing the right meaning
Semantic feature analysis
Answering questions
Word detectives*
Finding examples
Finding substitutes
Explaining connections
Making word maps
Classifying words
Finding opposites
Suggesting causes or effects
Suggesting associations
Odd-one-out
Matching sentence halves
Reword the sentences
Fill the blanks
Analysing concordances*
Putting words in order to make sentences
Write a sentence
Matching collocates
Finding collocates
Identifying constraints
Classifying constraints
* involves several aspects
Hosenfeld, C. (1976) Learning about learning: Discovering our students= strategies. Foreign Language
Annals, 9(2), 117-129.
Hulstijn, J., & Laufer, B., (2001). Some empirical evidence for the involvement load hypothesis in
vocabulary acquisition. Language Learning, 51(3), 539-558.
Laufer, B., & Hulstijn, J., (2001) Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: the construct of
task-induced involvement. Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 1-26.
Nation, I.S.P. (2001) Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.