MASARYK UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
PRESENTING VOCABULARY TO CHILDREN
(Bachelor work)
Written by: Lucie Kristenová
Supervisor: Mgr. Světlana Hanušová, Ph.D.
Brno 2006
I declare that I worked on the following thesis on my own and that I used all the
sources mentioned in the bibliography.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Mrg. Světlana Hanušová, Ph.D. for her comments on my
work, for her kind help and valuable advice that she provided me.
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Content
Introduction
I. Theoretical Part
1. Vocabulary teaching
1. 1. What is vocabulary?……………………………………...…...……………………7
1. 2. The importance of vocabulary ..………………………………....…………...…….7
1. 3. The Lexical Approach …………………………………….….……….………...…7
1. 4. Principles in teaching vocabulary ……………………………...…...…………..….8
2. Presenting the meaning of the words ………………………………...……………….9
2. 1. Using translation …………………………………………………...….………….10
2. 2. Using realia ………………………………..…………..….………………………11
2. 3. Using pictures ……………………………………………………...…………..…11
2. 4. Using actions and gestures …………………………………….…....…..….…….12
2. 5. Using definitions and situations ……………………………………….…………13
2. 6. Guessing the meaning from the text ………………………….…….………….…13
3. Vocabulary within the classroom language ……………………………..…..………14
3. 1. Presenting new vocabulary within the classroom language …………..………….14
4. Teaching children …………………………………………………………………...15
4. 1. Motivation …………………………………………………………………..……15
4. 2. Teach children how to learn ………………………………………….....……..…15
4. 3. Change the activities ………………………………………………………….…..16
II. Practical Part …………………………………...…………………………..……….17
1. Using Translation
1. 1. 4th form – topic Describing people ……………………………………...………..17
1. 2. 6th form – topic Collocations ………………………………………….…...……..18
1. 3. Evaluation …………………………………………………………...…...……….18
2. Using realia
2. 1. 4th form – topic Toys …………………...……………………………………..….19
2. 2. 6th form – topic Clothes ………………………………………………………..…20
2. 3. Evaluation …………………………………………………………...…………....21
3. Using pictures
3. 1. 4th form – topic Rooms in the house …………………………………...…………21
3. 2. 6th form – topic Fruit …………………………………..……………………...…..22
3. 3. Evaluation ……………………………………………..………………………….23
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4. Using actions and gestures
4. 1. 4th form – topic Adjectives …………………….…………………………..……..23
4. 2. 6th form – topic Body language ……………………………………………..……24
4. 3. Evaluation …………………………………………………...……………...…….25
5. Using definitions and situations
5. 1. 4th form – topic Lucy’s room ……………………………………………...…...…26
5. 2. 6th form – topic Places …………………………………………………...…….....26
5. 3. Evaluation ………………………………………………………………………...27
6. Guessing the meaning from the text
6. 1. 4th form – Sport …………………………………………………...………………27
6. 2. 6th form – Sports ………………………………………………..……………...…28
6. 3. Evaluation …………………………………………...…………………...……….28
Conclusion
Resumé
Bibliography
Appendices
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INTRODUCTION
There has been an increased focus on teaching vocabulary in recent years. But
there are still many teachers who do not teach vocabulary or who just introduce it to
pupils by repeating or reading it in the lesson. Such teachers think that dealing with
vocabulary takes a lot of time and it is something that pupils can learn on their own at
home.
The main goals of my work are to emphasize the importance of teaching
vocabulary and to introduce ways and techniques of presenting the meaning of the
words. There are many methodology books for language teachers in the bookshops and
libraries that contain many activities for practising, revising or testing vocabulary items.
But I want to introduce techniques how language teachers can present or explain the
meaning of the words. To present the meaning I will choose the most common
techniques: using translation, realia, pictures, actions and gestures, definitions and
situations and guessing from the text. I will try to show how to use these techniques in
an enjoyable and playful way.
Section one will contain the theoretical background in vocabulary teaching and
sets the principles for presenting vocabulary within the classroom.
Section two, the practical part, will offer a collection of activities for presenting
vocabulary based on the techniques identified in section one.
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THEORETICAL PART
1. Vocabulary teaching
1. 1. What is vocabulary?
According to the Macmillan English Dictionary, the word „vocabulary“ means
„all the words in a particular language“.
„ Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign
language. However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: for
example, post office and mother-in-law, which are made up of two or three words but
express a single idea. A useful convention is to cover all such cases by talking about
vocabulary „items“ rather than „words“. (Ur, 2003, p 60)
1. 2. The importance of vocabulary
„It is experience of most language teachers that the single, biggest component of
any language course is vocabulary. No matter how well the student learns grammar, no
matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wide
range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful
way.“ ( McCarthy, 1990, p iix)
It is generally known that for communication, neither written or spoken, the vast
knowledge must be in grammar and vocabulary. These two areas of language
acquisition must go hand in hand in the teaching process. In spite of this, vocabulary is
the building stone in learning foreign language. One can communicate with a little
grammar, but it is almost impossible to communicate with a little vocabulary.
1. 3. The Lexical Approach
In 1993, Michael Lewis published book with new method called The Lexical
Approach and it was, and still is, a new method of language teaching. It is focused on
lexical items more than grammar. Lewis says that „language consists not of traditional
grammar and vocabulary but often of multi-word prefabricated chunks.“ (Lewis, 1997,
p 3) He also summarises the lexical approach as development of current thinking by
invalidating the grammar and vocabulary distinction and placing lexis in all its forms at
the centre of language presentation and practice.
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According to the lexical approach, learners should not be taught words alone and
then communicate through grammar rules. They should learn lexical chunks like
collocations, phrasal verbs, idioms, social formulae etc.
1. 4. Principles in teaching vocabulary
Each language teacher should bear in mind two basic principles:
1. adapt your presentation and choice of vocabulary to the level of the learners
2. teach new words in groups
When teaching new vocabulary items, each teacher should bear in mind the level
of his or her learners. Teaching beginners would be different than teaching advanced
learners and teaching nine year olds would require different ways of presentation and
aids than at fifteen year olds. These aspects are very important when choosing the
technique for the presentation. For instance, teaching the word „love“ should need quite
different ways for different level of the learners. When presenting this word to nine
years olds, the best way would be to draw two young people smiling at each other, or
kissing each other, and to put them in a heart. This technique can be used among fifteen
years olds but the appropriate definition can be used as well. Love is „a very strong
emotional and sexual feeling for someone“ ( Macmillan English Dictionary, 2002, p
851).
If possible, new words should be taught in relations to each other. Vocabulary
items should be presented in topics, e.g. Family, Animals, Food etc. If words like a
mother, a father, a brother and a sister are presented in one lesson and words like a dog,
a cat, a hamster and a pig are presented in the other one it would be easier for the
learners to remember and recall them because they are associated with a certain topic.
Whereas teaching expressions like a mother, a dog, a tree and a school altogether in one
lesson would be quite difficult for learners to remember and later on to recall.
There are some other relationships in which vocabulary items could be taught:
a) „Synonyms. These are words with similar meaning. E.g. „Enormous“ means the
same as „very large“.
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b) Antonyms. These are words with opposite meaning. E.g. day-night, malefemale.
c) Complements. One word is defined by being not the other. E.g. „Single“ means
„not married“.
d) Converses. One word is the converse of the other. E.g. parent-child, buy-sell.
e) Hyponyms. These are words that belong to one superordinate. E.g. car, van, bus,
lorry are hyponyms of the superordinate word vehicle. (Lewis, Hill, 1992)
2. Presenting the meaning of the words
Language teachers are responsible for creating conditions that encourage
vocabulary expansion, and a well-chosen way of presenting the meaning can help the
learners acquire new words better.
The teacher may introduce new words in two ways:
1. the meaning and then the word
2. the word and then its meaning
Add 1. The way of introducing meaning and then the word is typical for pictures and
visual aids. Learners first see the meaning, e.g. a picture of an apple, and then they hear
the word, an apple. The attention is focused on meaning, then on the word itself.
Add 2. The way of introducing word and then the meaning is common for written texts.
In the sentence „My dog plays in the garden.“, the word in the garden is presented first
and then the explanation follows. Learners should guess the meaning first and then the
picture or drawing or simple definition could be used. This time learners focus on the
word first and then they develop its meaning.
Both these ways are relevant to spoken and written form and it is up to the
teacher which way he or she chooses. The choice also depends whether the meaning is
being explained „on purpose“ as a part of presentation of new words or whether the
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meaning is being explained „by chance“ as an unknown word that has appeared during
the lesson.
2. 1. Using translation
Translation is traditional way of explaining the meaning of words. It could be
done by the teacher or with using a dictionary. The advantage of translating the word by
the teacher is that this method saves time. On the other hand, this is not very effective
way of acquiring new words because learners are just passive recipients.
Using bilingual dictionaries could be rather tricky. Before starting to use
bilingual dictionaries, learners should be taught how to use them. Most of young
learners have never worked with a dictionary and even do not know that the dictionary
is divided into two parts: English-Czech, Czech-English. The Czech alphabet is quite
similar to the English one but learners may forget that there is no letter CH in English
alphabet and so they must find words beginning with ch- at letter C. It has been already
mentioned that using bilingual dictionaries could be rather tricky. This means that
learners usually take the first meaning they find and do not look at the other meanings.
This could be misleading when they find an unknown word from a text.
There are several kinds of learner dictionaries:
1. Dictionaries organised alphabetical.
2. Dictionaries organised according to meaning categories. These are classed as a
thesaurus. Each category includes only a limited number of words and their
definitions are provided in the learner’s mother tongue.
3. Picture dictionaries. These are organised either alphabetically or thematically.
4. Specialised dictionaries. These are, for example, dictionaries of idioms,
collocations or phrasal verbs, business dictionaries, technical dictionaries etc.
(Thornbury, 2002)
Children may need dictionaries for the whole period of their language learning
and so teachers cannot leave the dictionaries work to children but they should teach
them useful strategies.
1. Look at the organisation of the dictionary.
2. Look at the list of abbreviations and entries.
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3. Each dictionary has written first and last word of the page above each page. If
we need, for example, find the word „sweep“ and we have opened the dictionary
at page with word „red“, we know that letter S is after R, so we have to browse
through the dictionary forwards.
4. Before looking for the unknown English word, think about its word class, e.g.
noun, verb, adjective etc.
5. After finding the word, check the word backwards. E.g. after finding the word
„odplatit“ – pay back, find in the English-Czech part „pay back“ and check if the
meaning is the same.
6. Go through the example sentences and expressions to learn about the usage of
the word.
2. 2. Using realia
Using realia, or real objects, is very effective way of presenting meaning of new
words. This is the way how learners learnt their mother tongue. They simply saw an
object, touched it and heard its name. A minor disadvantage is that as realia can be used
only concrete nouns. On the other hand, realia are everywhere. Lots of helpful objects,
e.g. door, windows, clock etc., are in the classroom and the teacher can just point to
them. Realia are not only this equipment, but also maps, postcards, souvenirs etc.
The best way of using realia is when learners can not only see them, but also
touch them or even taste them. It is excellent when the teacher speaks about, for
example, Christmas pudding and he or she brings a picture of it and describes how it
tastes, how it is being eaten, how it is prepared and all these things. But it is more worth
when the teacher makes the Christmas pudding and brings it into the classroom so that
everybody can see it, touch it and finally eat it.
Realia should be used whenever possible. Firstly, it saves time when the teacher
just points to an object instead of drawing a picture or thinking of a suitable definition.
Secondly, the best way how to learn the foreign language is the way how we learnt our
mother tongue.
2. 3. Using pictures
Pictures are very worth materials for language teachers. There are lots and lots
of various pictures in magazines and newspapers that teachers can cut. Teachers can
also make his or her own pictures by drawing or he or she can just ask pupils to draw
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them. Using pictures in the language classroom as such, can be divided into two basic
areas:
1. pictures like magazines and newspapers cut-outs and drawing on the paper
2. drawings on the blackboard
Paper pictures are well worth because they can be easily stored and reused
whenever we will need them. The advantage of cut-outs from magazines is that they are
colourful. They look realistic and we can teach a various range of vocabulary on them.
E.g. colours, shapes, actions, seasons etc. On the other hand the black-and-white
pictures, either cut-outs from newspapers or paper drawings, can explore learners´
fantasy because they can simply imagine the colours.
Drawings or sketches on the blackboard are usually used when there is no real
object or an appropriate picture at hand. The teacher does not have to be an artist to be
able to draw basic objects and learners, usually young ones, are able to recognize the
object after drawing few lines. While drawing, the teacher can describe what is he or
she drawing. When drawing, for example, a house, the teacher can say: „This is a door,
here are two windows, a roof and a chimney.“ Such drawings on the blackboard can
help the teacher quickly to show the meaning of a word. They are also very economical
because they are washed after the lesson is over.
2. 4. Using actions and gestures
As I have already mentioned, realia are limited in the choice of words that they
can express. These are concrete nouns. Actions are also limited as they can only express
verbs. Some can argue that mime belongs to the category of actions as well and through
mime we can also show a house or a ball. For purpose of explaining the meaning of an
unknown word in foreign language teaching, however, there are much more better ways
to express concrete nouns than mime. Further, also gestures are limited in adjectives. I
have put actions altogether with gestures in one category because the teacher usually
uses just his or her body.
Total Physical Response
The main method that is used, when explaining the meaning through actions, is
Total Physical Response (TPR). „Total Physical Response Method was developed in
order to reduce the stress people feel when studying foreign languages.“ (Larsen12
Freeman, 1986, p 116) The main principle of TPR is to reach learners to understand by
listening first and start speaking when they feel ready. TPR is aimed for commands. The
basic commands are, for example, Open your books! Sit down! Stand up! Don’t speak!
etc. Not only these commands used within the classroom language are taught through
TPR, but also those such as Play the piano, Kick a ball, Sleep, Smile etc. The teacher
says, for example, „Kick a ball“ and then shows its meaning by kicking an imaginary
ball. Learners then can kick also an imaginary ball after the teacher says to do it.
TPR is successful mainly within young learners because they have feeling they
are playing a game.
2. 5. Using definitions and situations
Using definitions and situations to explain the meaning requires certain
knowledge of the language as well as general knowledge. Learners also have to have an
appropriate lexicon to be able to identify described word. To be able to understand
definition of the word „uncle“ – my mother’s or father’s brother – learners have to
know who this brother really is. They also have to have basic knowledge of
relationships within the family.
Situations do not just describe the target word but they use it in certain situation.
E.g. „Yesterday, I got up at 3 o’clock. I went to Brno by train. I spent eight hours at
seminar and two hours shopping. The train was delayed so I had to wait for another one
in the rain. The travelling was very TIRING. I finally got home at half past eleven and I
was so TIRED that I immediately fell asleep.“ It is much more easier to learners to
remember a word when they have this word accompanied by some situation.
2. 6. Guessing the meaning from the text
Guessing is a very useful way of learning phrases and structures. Learners will
always meet words that they will not understand but when they develop the skill in
guessing the meaning from the context their communication will be easier. Learners
may also learn a lot of grammar rules, as they will analyse the sentence.
Guessing is best done when the text or situation has a familiar topic and there are
logical relationships in the text. When reading the text, there appear lots of clues that
can help the learner guess the meaning. The two most important are general knowledge
and knowledge of the subject.
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3. Vocabulary within the classroom language
Classroom language is the language that is being used in the lessons. In English
lessons the English language should be used whenever possible. There are some
situations when the mother tongue is really needed but there are situations when the
mother tongue should not be used at all. These are for example instructions, commands,
assessments and comments.
3. 1. Presenting new vocabulary within the classroom language
Young learners have highly developed the ability to be able to understand what
is being said to them even they do not understand the individual words. Intonation,
gesture, facial expressions and actions all help to tell them what the message probably
mean. By understanding the message in this way they learn new words, concepts,
expressions and they start to understand the language. This skill should be support and
developed through classroom language. We can do this by making sure we make full
use of intonation, gesture, actions, demonstration and facial expressions to convey
meaning parallel to what we are saying.
Even at beginner’s stage, if learners get used to hearing mostly English during
their lessons, they will very soon understand the words they have not directly been
taught. Learners are being taught many words and expressions unconsciously through
classroom language. This way of learning is called indirect method. We do not need to
teach words like a book, an exercise book, a pen, a pencil, open, close. When the
teacher says: „Open your books, please.“ And he or she takes his or her own book and
opens it, learners are able to understand what they are supposed to do.
I use lots of handouts in my lessons and pupils always stick them into their
exercise books. The first lesson I took glue and showed them that I wanted them to stick
their handout. The other lesson I just said: „Please, take your glues and stick your
handouts into your exercise books.“ Few pupils did it and few of them did what they
saw doing their classmates. A few lessons later everybody knew what to do when I
asked them to take their glues and stick their handouts. They have learnt what words
like glue, stick and handout mean.
Classroom language is an important part of language teaching. Learners learn
many new words and expressions in a natural way. They also have the feeling of
success because they are able to understand what the teacher wants them to do.
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4. Teaching children
Teaching children is not the same as teaching teenagers or adults. Each age has
its own difficulties and specific needs. It is proclaimed that children learn better and
faster than adults but on the other hand children have the short-term memory. It means
that they are able to store the items of information for short period of time. We will now
focus on nine to ten and eleven to twelve year olds as these groups of age will be dealt
in the practical part with.
4. 1. Motivation
Children are motivated quite easily in their first years of language learning. In
addition, they are able very early to understand basic commands and expressions and
they can also respond to them. They feel immediate success and are eager to learn more
and more. Foreign language is new for them and they like trying new things, it is an
adventure for them.
4. 2. Teach children how to learn
When children come to the language classroom, they already have experience
with learning writing, reading or Maths. But as the language learning is new for them,
they do not have any strategies how to learn vocabulary, how to learn to speak etc. The
teacher should tell children how to learn this and that and teach them and show them
some strategies or techniques. When learning, for example, vocabulary:
•
Cut pieces of paper and write on one side the English word with pronunciation
and Czech equivalent(s) on the other side. When you will see the Czech word
„maminka“, you will say the English word aloud, turn the piece of paper over
and check it. You can practice Czech-English or vice versa.
•
Keep vocabulary notebooks. Divide each page into three columns. In first
column write English word, in the middle one pronunciation and in the last one
Czech equivalent. Then cover the first column and as you see Czech word you
will say it in English. Again, you can practise Czech-English or vice versa.
•
Record the vocabulary onto a CD or a cassette and listen to it as often as
possible.
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4. 3. Change the activities
Children need a variety of activities. They have short concentration span and
when they do one activity for a long time they get bored. It does not mean that the
teacher must not use the same activity more than once. „Children benefit from knowing
the rules and being familiar with the situation. Use familiar situations, familiar
activities.“ (Scott, Ytreberg, 1991, p 6) The teacher should use the same activities but
with little change. Children love playing Bingo. They could play it almost every lesson
but the teacher must change the topic. One lesson, for example, the items can be
numbers, but the other lesson they should be colours or clothes items but not numbers!
Children learn by doing things and they should be active and involved in the
learning process as much as possible. Teachers should not forget that children are also
physically active. They like physical movements of any kind. Songs, chants and rhymes
can be used also altogether with movements, e.g. dancing, clapping hands etc.
Teachers also should not forget games. They are important part of a
child’s world and children love anything that makes fun. Many teachers regard games as
a waste of time or they use them just as fillers at the end of the lesson. But games
provide an opportunity for the real using of language while the mind is focused on the
„task“ of playing the game. Furthermore, they are also helpful because learners feel that
certain words are important and necessary. There are lots and lots of games like Bingo
or Word football that do not take a lot of time and make children feel good in the
language classroom.
Children like learning foreign languages in general. They consider it exciting
and it is quite easy for them to acquire the pronunciation and new words. They live in
their own world where fantasy is endless and speaking foreign language is adventure for
them. Working with children is profit for the teacher, because they can lead the
activities their own way and they can surprise the teacher by their creativity almost
every time. Children are able to follow the set rules but the teacher should not be strict
every time and he or she should let children choose the technique they will deal the
problem with. They also feel responsible when they are directly involved in the learning
process and their results are better then.
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PRACTICAL PART
In the practical part I will use activities for presenting vocabulary based on the
techniques identified in Theoretical part. I will deal with children aged 9-10, fourth
form, and 11-12, sixth form. I have been teaching both classes since September, 2005.
Some children from the 4th form have been learning English for two years, some
have started in September, 2005. They have been learning according the textbook Start
with Click1 by Šádek and Karásková (Fraus, 2002). There are 11 pupils in the group.
One boy has dyslexia. All children like English and I have no problems with
motivation. I speak mostly English in the lessons and children are used to it. They also
speak mostly English.
Children from the 6th form have been learning English for three years. First two
years they learnt according to Chatterbox 1 and 2 by Strange (OUP, 1989) and since
September 2005 they have been using Project 1 by Tom Hutchinson (OUP, 1999).
There are 14 pupils in the group and four of them have dyslexia. I also try to use mostly
English language in the lessons but children are not used to it because their previous
teachers spoke only in Czech. The lessons are pretty demanding to me because most of
the children do not have any motivation and as they have been learning English for
three years they do not see any progress. In spite of the fact that they have been learning
English for three years, they are nearly at the same level as children in the 4th form.
1. Using translation
1. 1. 4th form – topic Describing people
Aim: to teach and practise using the bilingual dictionary
Aids: various kinds of dictionaries, an English-Czech, Czech-English dictionary for
each, the handout for each (Appendix I)
Activities: finding in the bilingual dictionary, finding out the odd words
Age: 9-10
Level of English: beginners
Adapted from: How to Teach Vocabulary, Thornbury (2004)
I introduced to children various kinds of dictionaries the way I described in
theoretical part. I told children to find out three vocabulary items to practise the finding.
Then I said words “mother, window, father” and I asked children which one is the odd
17
one. They answered correctly so I distributed handouts (Appendix I). I told children to
find these words in the dictionary, translate them and circle the odd ones. I let them
work in pairs so each child was founding only two lines. Then we controlled the
exercise together. I said the English words, children translated and told me the odd ones.
As homework they had to think of three more lines, in Czech first and then they
translated them into English (Appendix II).
1. 2. 6th form – topic Collocations
Aims: to teach and practised using the bilingual dictionaries, to introduce collocations
Aids: various kinds of dictionaries, an English-Czech, Czech English dictionary for
each, the handout for each (Appendix III), blackboard, chalk
Activities: finding in the bilingual dictionary, matching words that collocate
Age: 11-12
Level of English: elementary
Inspired by: Lexical Approach
I introduced to children various kinds of dictionaries the way I described in
theoretical part. We practised collocations on word table. Children found out table and I
asked them to find out “ubrus”. We practised two more words and then I distributed the
handouts (Appendix III). Children worked in pairs and each of them was finding first or
second half of the words. I wrote the left column on the blackboard. When most of
children were finished they started dictating to me which pair they had found out
altogether with the Czech equivalents. After all pairs were done, I read the collocations
and children repeated. The next lesson children worked in pairs and they wrote a short
paragraph where they had to use at least half of the collocations (Appendix IV).
1. 3. Evaluation
I must admit that I did not expect that teaching using the dictionaries would take
so much time. It was the first time for the children in the 4th form, when they used
dictionaries but children in the 6th form had already had some experience with
dictionaries. I thought that I would manage the follow up activities in the lesson but
finally I had to set them as homework in the 4th form and pairwork in next lesson in the
6th form. I think that finding in dictionaries took so much time because children were
not so familiar with the alphabet.
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Children in the 4th form understood the activity immediately but children in the
6th form started translating each word separately, so I had to help them. Firstly, I was in
a bad mood that the activity did not work from the very beginning but then I was glad
because most children translated word “pine” as borovice and I could show them how
collocations work. I told them: “O.K. pine really means borovice and apple means
jablko. Find out word pine in your dictionaries and there is also written –apple. As you
can see pine plus apple mean ananas.” After this example children were more interested
in finding and they understood the purpose of finding the pairs.
2. Using realia
2. 1. 4th form – topic Toys
Aims: to teach toys items, to find out information by eliciting questions
Aids: toys
Activities: describing toys, asking questions
Age: 9-10
Level of English: beginners
I asked children to bring their favourite toy the next lesson. I also brought my
own toys. These were a doll, a ball, a train, a bus, an aeroplane, a soft toy, a car and a
bike. I had the toys in the bag and I told children that I wanted to show them my
favourite toys. When I took each toy out I said its name in English and gave it to one
children to looked at it and pass it around. While they were passing the toy around I was
describing it. „ This is a doll. She’s pink. I love her! This is my doll.“ After introducing
all of the toys I put them in a line and I pointed to them and said their names in English.
For the first time children just listened. Then I asked them to repeat after me. We
practised this several times. I pointed to the toy, said it in English and children repeated
after me. We did it from right to left and vice versa and then I pointed to the toys by
chance and children said the English names. After that, children started introducing their
own toys. I let them say what they wanted and what they know, like colour of the toy,
its name, and its kind. For example: „This is my favourite toy. It’s a soft toy. It’s a dog.
He’s brown. His name’s Bobik.“
After this, children were divided into pairs and one of them was describing some
toy from the line and the other one was guessing.
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2. 2. 6th form – topic Clothes
Aims: to teach items of clothes, to practise finding in dictionaries
Aids: clothes items, washing line, clothes pegs, box
Activities: finding new words in dictionaries, shopping game
Age: 11-12
Level of English: elementary
I gave to each child one clothes item and asked them to take a dictionary and
find and learn their item. I gave them shorts, a skirt, a T-shirt, a shirt, a sweater, a
sweatshirt, a jacket, a cap, gloves, a watch, sunglasses and an umbrella. After children
found their words I told them what I was wearing and I pointed to these clothes: „ I am
wearing sock, jeans and a sleeveless top.“ Then I told them that they were shop
assistants and I was a customer. I would tell them where I was going or why I needed
something and they had to sell their clothes to me. I also wrote them a construction
What about…on the blackboard.
T: It’s summer and it’s very hot.
Ch1: What about shorts?
T: O.K. I’ll take shorts. (I put the shorts on and I told children again what I was
wearing.)
T: I want to go to the disco.
Ch2: What about a skirt?
T: Well, yes, I’ll take a skirt. (I put the skirt on and again told children what I was
wearing.)
We continued this way until nobody had a clothes item. I told children that
clothes were dirty and they needed washing. I sketched the washing machine on the
blackboard, put a box under it and I pulled the washing line. I took off the gloves and
said: „ The gloves need washing.“ I put the gloves into the box and I continued with the
rest of clothes the same way. After having all the clothes washed I started hanging them
out on the washing line and I said: „My new skirt is clean.“ Then I repeated all the
clothes items together with children the same way as in the 4th form and children then
described clothes they were wearing to their classmates.
20
2. 3. Evaluation
Children in the 4th form were involved in an active way and highly motivated in
the learning process. As they were describing their favourite toy and showing it to the
others they felt that the new vocabulary item – the name of the toy, e.g. a soft toy – is
extremely important to them to be able to tell somebody something about themselves.
They really felt that they would need this particular vocabulary because they were
speaking about something they speak about in real life. They were happy because they
could introduce their favourite toy in foreign language.
The 6th form enjoyed the activity as well. I personally think that the main reason
was that I, their teacher, was acting like a doll that they were dressing up. Children
firstly found and learnt the new word on their own and then introduced it to the others.
This time it was not the teacher who introduced and taught something new as first but
children. They felt responsibility to find the right word in the dictionary and they
achieved success when they offered some item of clothes to me and I understood them.
When I was planning this activity I was afraid of children being bored after „selling“
their things but I was greatly surprised. If this had happened, I would not have repeated
all clothes I was wearing after dressing a new one.
3. Using pictures
3. 1. 4th form – topic Rooms in the house
Aim: to teach rooms in the house
Aids: flashcards of rooms – kitchen, living room, dining room, bedroom, toilet, hall,
bathroom. Blackboard, blutack
Activity: write down the number of the one you hear
Age: 9-10
Level of English: beginners
Adapted from: Teaching English in the Primary Classroom, Halliwell (2004)
I showed children flashcards of the rooms saying: „A hall, a bedroom, a dining
room, etc.“ Children just listened. For the second time I let children repeat after me.
After that I again started showing flashcards, children repeated after me and I put the
flashcards on the blackboard. We practised two more times. I wrote numbers next to
each picture and asked children:
21
T: What’s number one?
Ch: It’s a kitchen.
T: Perfect! What’s number three?
Ch: It’s a living room.
We practised all numbers this way. Then I said „kitchen“ and I wrote 1 on the
other part of the blackboard. I said „living room“ and wrote 3. I did three more rooms
this way and then I asked children to open their exercise books and write numbers
according to the room they would hear. We did this activity two times and then I let
children practise in pairs. One of them dictated rooms to his or her neighbour but both
wrote the number of the room, so that they could control later.
3. 2 6th form – topic Fruit
Aim: to teach fruit, simply descriptions and to revise colours
Aids: flashcards of fruit – an orange, an apple, a banana, a lemon, a pear, a cherry, a
strawberry, an apricot, a plum, a blueberry. Blackboard, blutack
Activity: memory game
Age: 11-12
Level of English: elementary
Inspired by: Mrs NaděždaVojtková – methodology teacher in the English department
I showed children flashcards of fruit and said their English names. Children first
listened, then repeated after me. I told children that I was going to show them flashcards
and I would name them. If I would be right they would repeat after me, if not, they
would be silent.
T: (flashcard of a lemon) A lemon.
Ch: Lemon.
T: (flashcard of an apricot) A pear.
Ch: (silence)
We practised several times and I stuck the flashcards on the blackboard. I started
naming each fruit one after another and let children repeat. Before the next round I
turned one flashcard over but I continued naming the items of fruit with the one that
was turned over. I did this every time and finally there were then flashcards on the
22
blackboard that could not be seen and children had to remember the order. I turned the
flashcards back so that everybody could see them and I started describing one of the
fruit item. E.g. „It’s round and green. I usually eat it for snack.“ Children guessed. I
invited one child to choose one of the fruit item and describe it the same way. Then I
divided children into pairs and they described and guessed items of fruit.
3. 3. Evaluation
In both classes children did not have any problems to understand the activities.
Children in the 4th form practised more listening comprehension. They had to listen to
me, later on their neighbours, understand the word, match to an appropriate picture and
write its number. They were teaching names of the rooms both themselves and their
neighbours. The advantage of this activity is, that when one child is not very successful
he or she does not have to feel embarrassed by the others.
The first activity in the 6th form, when children had to remember and say the
items of fruit, aimed children to develop their memory, as they had to remember all the
items and pictures without seeing them. The second activity, when children described
one of the fruit and his or her neighbour had to guess which one, let even the weaker
children achieve success because ii was quite easy to guess just according to the colour.
In the fourth form children used this vocabulary the other lesson and when
seeing the picture they could recall the vocabulary quite easily. Children in the sixth
form did not have English lesson for a week at all and after this period of time they
were able to remember the order of the fruit items.
4. Using actions and gestures
4. 1. 4th form – topic Adjectives
Aims: to teach adjectives, physical co-ordination
Aids: none
Activity: Simon says
Age: 9-10
Level of English: beginners
I firstly practised already known commands, e.g. Stand up! Sit down! Open your
books! Write! etc. Then I told children „I’m happy“ and I smiled and looked happy.
Then I said: „I’m sad.“ and I made sad face. The same way, I continued with
23
expressions I’m bored, I’m scared, I’m asleep, I’m ill, I’m blind and I’m deaf. I did the
whole activity once more but I told children to do with me. Then I just said commands
and children made gestures. We practised several times until I was sure that everybody
was familiar with all expressions. Then I explained the Simon says game: „I will tell
you Simon says Stand up! and you will stand up. Simon says Sit down! and you will sit
down. BUT if I don’t say Simon says you mustn’t do anything. If you do, you’ll get a
point. A pupil with the less points is the winner.“ As I was explaining the rules I was
doing what I was saying. I first started with expressions such as Stand up! Sit down! etc.
and then I used the new ones.
T: Simon says Stand up!
Ch: (Stand up)
T: Simon says Sign!
Ch: (Were singing some melody)
T: Sit down!
Ch: (Did not do anything)
T: Simon says Be asleep!
Ch: (Started yawing)
The other lesson I asked for one volunteer to say sentences instead of me:
Ch: I’m sad.
Class: (Made sad faces)
Ch: I’m happy.
Class: (Made happy faces)
I changed the child saying expressions several times and then I asked the
volunteer to be Simon and we again played the game Simon says. I changed the
children after while so that everybody tried to give commands.
4. 2. 6th form – topic Body language
Aims: to teach some new commands, to practice acting skills, to put together language
with movements
Aids: CD player, CD with the song, the handout for each child (Appendix V)
Activities: listen to the song and acting
24
Age: 11-12
Level of English: elementary
Adapted from: Project 2 – Student’s book
I invited one volunteer in front of the class and told her to do what I would say. I
started again with already known commands like Take a pencil! Open the window! Sit
down! Come here! etc. Then I told her new commands like Clap your hands! Nod your
hear! Wave your arms! Scratch your nose! Stamp your feet! When I said each of the
new commands I showed them for the first time as well, because the girl did not know
them. We practiced these commands twice and them I ask the whole class to act. When
I was sure that everybody had already acquired all the new commands I handed the
handouts (Appendix V) and we went through them. I pre-read each sentence and
children repeated. Then I played the tape and children just followed the text and listened
to get familiar with the melody. When I played the tape for the second time, some
children started sing. For the third time I told children to sing and for the fourth time
children sang and acted. We practiced several times, but I changed the technique.
Children took turns: first stanza sang boys, second girls, boys, girls etc.
4. 3. Evaluation
In the 4th form, I used well-known commands as a warm-up. When I introduced
and practised new expressions I used only English language. I asked children at the very
end of the lesson about the Czech expressions just to check if they understood all the
expressions and they translated all of them correctly. Simon says activity put language
into actions. Children also learnt discipline because they have to pay attention to catch
the command. As they were competing, they were more active because each of them
wanted to be the winner. At the end of the next lesson I asked children if they liked the
activities or not. They told me they liked them very much but the best one was when
they gave commands and the others had to do them.
Children in the 6th form were not so involved in the process as children in the
fourth form did but they also had to put their English into actions. Their activity was not
so easy as in the fourth form because they had to sing and demonstrate what they were
singing. I firstly thought that some girls would consider the activity as embarrassing and
boring but they did not. Unfortunately, two boys did not like it and they did not
demonstrate the song at all.
25
5. Using definitions and situations
5. 1. 4th form – topic Lucy’s room
Aims: to find out the meaning of unknown words by describing situations, to revise
colours, to practise prepositions of place
Aids: book with the picture (Hello Children!, Lacinová, 1994) or copy of the picture for
each (Appendix VI), the handout for each (Appendix VII)
Activities: reading, finding out the meaning of unknown words according to situations
in the picture, describing things
Age: 9-10
Level of English: beginners
I told children that they were going to get a book with a picture and a piece of
paper with sentences. In each sentence there was an unknown word that was underlined.
Their task was to read the sentences and guess the meaning of the underlined words
according to the picture and write the Czech equivalents next to the words in the right
column. Then one child read one sentence and translated altogether with the underlined
word and the other checked. Then children described colours of the new words into
their exercise books (Appendix VIII).
5. 2. 6th form – topic Places
Aims: to get children thinking, to learn to recognize words by definitions, to revise
spelling, to learn describing things
Aids: blackboard, chalk, the handout for the teacher (Appendix IX)
Activities: recognizing words by definitions, spelling, describing things
Age: 11-12
Level of English: elementary
I told children that I was going to describe seven places and their task was to
guess which place it was and write it down. As children did not know the English words
they were allowed to write in Czech. I read all the definitions and I let children to check
with their neighbours. Then I read each definition again and children told me their
suggestions. I did not say the English names this moment. After having read all
definitions I told children that I was going to tell them the English names of the places
but I would spell them. I spelt each word and then I wrote it on the blackboard for
26
children to control. Then I asked them to think out their own definitions. I let the
weaker children to work in pairs. Then each child read his or her own definition and the
other guessed (Appendix X). I always told children the English word and wrote it on the
blackboard.
1. 3. Evaluation
Instead of definitions I used situations in the 4th form and children liked the
activity very much. They did this kind of activity for the first time but they did not have
any difficulties with understanding the task. Few children were not sure if the Building
set in the sentence was really the box on the carpet and one girl thought that the cake
was the present. I told her that we had already learnt present at Christmas and she
corrected herself.
Children in the 6th form guessed all the described words correctly. The problem
was with definitions number two and five because four children did not know word
“legs”. I let children firstly check their results with neighbours so that the weaker ones
could correct some words and they did not feel embarrassed about not knowing any
definitions. Children enjoyed thinking out new definitions very much. Some of them
made more than two definitions. I did not correct mistakes in their definitions but
sometimes I had to help them with pronunciation. I also helped the weaker children with
the definition. Children were very eager for guessing because everyone wanted to guess
the word first.
6. Guessing the meaning from the text
6. 1. 4th form – topic Sport
Aims: to practise guessing the meaning from the text, to draw the picture according the
description, to teach about tennis
Aids: the handout for each (Appendix XI)
Activities: reading, guessing the meaning from the text, drawing the picture
Age: 9-10
Level of English: beginners
Inspired by: Young Learners, Phillips (1994)
I told children that they were going to read the text about my favourite sport.
The text would be in Czech but there were words in English that needed translation. I
27
distributed the handouts and children worked on their own. Then I read the words aloud
and children told me their suggestions. Then I asked children to take their exercise
books, draw all words used in the text and labelled them (Appendix XII).
6. 2. 6th form – topic Sports
Aims: to practise the meaning from the text, to teach about sports, to practise finding in
dictionaries
Aids: the handout for each (Appendix XIII), dictionaries
Activities: reading, guessing the meaning from the text, finding in dictionaries,
describing sports
Age: 11-12
Level of English: elementary
I told children that they were going to read about my favourite sport. There were
some unknown words in the text and their task was to guess their meaning and write
Czech equivalents. I distributed the handouts and children worked on their own. I let the
weaker ones work in pairs. When children were finished I read the English words and
they told me their suggestions. Then I divided children in groups of three or four and
asked them to think of their favourite sport and write short text about it. Children took
dictionaries this time. At the end of the lesson each group read its text (Appendix XIV).
6. 3. Evaluation
Tennis is not so easy sport for description as it looks like. Children had to have
some knowledge in their mother tongue. In both classes there were problem with tennis
court. Children in the 4th form translated it as tenisové hřiště or tenisové místo but half
of them knew that it was tenisový kurt. In the 6th form there was only one boy who
knew that tennis was played on tenisový kurt. The others did not know it and two
children translated it as tennisový klub.
When children in the 4th form were drawing the picture, they were very
interested and some of them did the headline or wanted to know more words, e.g. line.
When drawing the picture, children learnt about the sport – tennis and they immediately
used new words by labelling the picture with them.
28
Children in the 6th form did not learn only about tennis but also about other
sports. They had to be aware of the differences, e.g. the place where tennis is played is
called tennis court but football is played on pitch.
29
Conclusion
In my thesis I have looked at techniques of presentation vocabulary to children. I
have tried to prove that teaching vocabulary within the classroom is not wasting time
but a contribution to both, the teacher and learners. Through the presentation the teacher
does not teach only separate words but he or she teaches also listening, speaking,
reading and writing altogether with grammar and pronunciation. In any activity,
presented in the practical part, the teacher does not work only with vocabulary but also
all four skills mentioned above are involved.
In the Theoretical part I have mentioned the Lexical Approach. When teaching
vocabulary as well as foreign language on its own, lexical approach cannot be
neglected. It emphasize the importance of teaching language through lexical chunks, i.e.
not teaching words and grammar rules separately but teaching chunks of language in
order to communicate. Children are nowadays taught foreign languages to be able to
communicate and lexical approach, altogether with combination of suitable technique, is
able to fulfil this demand. The work is focused on presenting the meaning of the words.
I have introduced six basic techniques, i.e. using translation, realia, pictures,
actions/gestures, definitions and situations and guessing from the text. All these
techniques I have examined in the Practical part. All of them can be applied to the target
age group, 9-12 year olds, and all of them should be also used within these children.
The most suitable techniques for that age group are realia, pictures, actions and gestures.
Children fix meaning of the word better when they can „see or touch the word“. The
other techniques are more suitable for older learners but they can and should be used
within children as well. Children like change and it is good changing the presentation
from time to time.
30
Resumé
Hlavním cílem této práce je představit učitelům anglického jazyka na základních
školách výukové metody pro prezentování významu nových slovíček. K těmto metodám
patří překlad, reálie, obrázky, pohyb a gestikulace, definice a situace a hádání z textu.
V teoretické části jsou popsány tyto výukové metody a jsou zde zdůrazněny
hlavní důvody pro užití určité techniky. V praktické části jsou potom tyto výukové
metody vyzkoušeny formou zábavných aktivit přímo ve třídě. V praktické části jsem
vyzkoušela každou z výše uvedených metod na žácích čtvrtého a šestého ročníku.
Všechny metody je možno aplikovat na této věkové skupině, ale nejvhodnějšími jsou
reálie, obrázky, pohyb a gestikulace.
31
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ALLEN, Virginia French. Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1983
GARDNER, Bryan; GARDNER, Felicity. Oxford basics: Classroom English. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2000
CARTER, Ronald; McCARTHY, Michael. Vocabulary and Language Teaching. Essex:
Longman, 1991
HALLIWELL, Susan. Teaching English in the Primary Classroom. Essex: Longman,
2004
HUTCHINSON, Tom. Project 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999
LACINOVÁ, Eva. Hello Children! Havlíčkův Brod: FRAGMENT, 1994
LARSEN-FREEMAN, Diane. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986
LEWIS, Michael. The Lexical Approach. Hove: Language Teaching Publications, 1993
LEWIS, Michael. Implementing the Lexical Approach. Hove: Language Teaching
Publications, 1997
LEWIS, Michael; HILL, Jimmie. Practical Techniques for Language Teaching. Hove:
Language Teaching Publications, 1997
MACMILLAN English dictionary for Advanced Learners. Oxford: Macmillan
Publishers Limited, 2002
McCARTHY, Michael. Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001
32
PHILLIPS, Sarah. Young Learners. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994
SCOTT, Wendy A.; YTREBERG, Lisbeth H. Teaching English to Children. Essex:
Longman, 1991
SLATTERY, Mary. Oxford basics for children: Vocabulary Activities. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2004
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WRIGHT, Andrew. Pictures for Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge
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33
Appendix I
Find out the odd one:
beautiful
–
pretty
arm
–
friend
light
nose
–
–
–
hair
–
curly
–
–
terrible
dark
leg
wavy
34
Appendix II
35
Appendix III
Match these pairs together and translate:
police
keeper
table
mind
scrambled
eggs
team
step
road
apple
pine
cloth
never
work
news
station
pass
mother
go
an examination
cross
goal
paper
on
36
Appendix IV
37
Appendix V
38
Appendix VI
39
Appendix VII
Translate the underlined words:
Bananas are in the basket.
basket =
The bear is on the chair.
bear =
The elephant is in the book.
elephant =
The Building set is on the carpet.
carpet =
The T-shirt is on the bed.
T-shirt =
Flowers are in the vase.
flowers =
The cake is on the table.
cake =
Five candles are on the cake.
candles =
40
Appendix VIII
41
Appendix IX
1. It’s a room in a house. You usually brush your hair, clean your teeth and
have a shower there.
2. It has got four legs. It’s a place where you sleep.
3. It’s a room in a house where you eat.
4. It’s a room in a house where you watch TV. There is a sofa and there are
armchairs.
5. It’s got four legs and you sit on it.
6. It’s a room in a house where your mother cooks.
7. It’s a place in a house where your car sleeps.
42
Appendix X
43
Appendix XI
Guess what the English words mean:
Ráda sportuji. Můj nejoblíbenejší sport je tennis. Při tomto sportu potřebuji
racket a tennis ball. Tennis se hraje na tennis court. Je to hra pro dva nebo
čtyři players. Uprostřed tennis court je natažena net.
sport =
tennis =
racket =
tennis ball =
tennis court =
player =
net =
44
Appendix XII
45
Appendix XIII
Read the following text and guess the meaning of underlined words:
I like sports. My favourite sport is tennis. When I play it I need racket and tennis
ball. I play tennis on tennis court. Tennis is a game for 2 or 4 players. There is
a net on tennis court. The net is in the middle.
tennis =
racket =
tennis ball =
tennis court =
player =
net =
in the middle =
46
Appendix XIV
47