Chapter 7: TEACHING
VOCABULARY AND
LEXIS
By Lec. Samarnh Pang
• The knowledge of words is the
gate of scholarship.---John Milton
Aims of this unit
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What are some of the assumptions about
vocabulary?
What does knowing a word involve?
How can we present new vocabulary
items?
What are some effective ways to
consolidate vocabulary?
How do we help students develop
vocabulary learning?
Understanding vocabulary and
vocabulary learning.
• Although grammar is usually integrated
with the teaching of vocabulary, we still
consider it necessary to introduce ways to
present and consolidate vocabulary.
The teaching of vocabulary has been
studied for many decades, there are
still many uncertainties regarding:
• What constitutes a vocabulary item;
• Which vocabulary items should be
taught and learned;
• How vocabulary can be taught and
learned most effectively.
1. Vocabulary does not just mean single
words: compounds, phrases and even
on occasion, whole sentences can be
items of vocabulary.
2. Most words in one language can be
translated into another language, but
not every single word and an equivalent.
The article “the” in English, for example,
has no exact equivalent in Chinese.
3. Students can be consciously taught
about ways of learning vocabulary so
that they become keenly aware of
every opportunity for vocabulary
expansion.
4. If teachers and students know the
difference between active and passive
vocabulary, they can treat them differently.
5. Translation is not the best way to explain
new words.
6. English-English explanation is better than
translation, but again it is not the best for
vocabulary teaching. There are many other
more effective ways.
7. An English-English dictionary can be very
helpful, though beginners may find it more
comfortable to use a bilingual dictionary.
8. It is more effective when words of related
meaning are taught and learned together.
9. Studying vocabulary in language contexts
are more effective.
10. Forgetting is inevitable. But if words are
frequently used, they are less easy to forget.
II. What does knowing a word involve?
knowing a word means knowing:
• its pronunciation and stress;
• its spelling and grammatical properties;
• its meaning;
• how and when to use it to express the
intended meaning.
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1.What does it mean to know a word?
Learning a word involves learning more
than just the word itself.
e.g. post office, mother-in-law
There are multi-word units, such as:
phrasal verbs, compound words
According to Hedge (2000),vocabulary
learning involves at least two aspects of
meaning:
the understanding of its denotative and
connotative meaning;
understanding the sense relations among
words
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Denotative meaning
Denotative meaning of a word or a lexical item
refers to those words that we use to label things
as regards real objects, such as name or a sign, etc.
in the physical world. E.g. apple
connotative meaning
A connotative meaning of a word refers to ‘the
attitudes or emotions of a language user in
choosing a word and the influence of these on the
listener or reader’s interpretation of the word.
This words that may express a positive or negative
attitude or subtle feelings towards something.
E.g. running-dog, dragon, big apple.
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collocations
Collocations refers to words that co-occur with
high frequency and have been accepted as
ways for the use of words. It is believed that
teaching word collocations is a more effective
way than just teaching one single word at a
time.
synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms
Synonyms refer to items that mean the same,
or nearly the same. Antonyms refer to items
that mean the opposite of a word. Hyponyms
refer to words which can be grouped together
under the same superordinate concept.
Receptive and productive vocabulary
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Receptive/Passive vocabulary/: the words
one is able to recognize and comprehend in
reading or listening but unable to use
automatically in speaking or writing.
Productive/Active vocabulary: the words
one is not only able to recognize but also
able to use in speech and writing .
Native speaker:
Passive vocabulary: up to 100,000 words,
Active vocabulary: between 10,000 and 20,000.
Learners of intermediate to upper intermediate level
Active vocabulary:3000 to 5000 words
Passive vocabulary:5000 to 10,000 words
For the teacher: guide and help students to add active
vocabularies. At the beginning of language learning, all
the words which are taught must be acquired for
active use, later, for passive use.
The implications of the English lexical system
• Both denotative and connotative meaning need to be
learned:
• Words are better understood in context.
• A group of related words is likely to be more memorable
than a list of unrelated items, i.e. words learned with
synonyms, antonyms or hyponyms;
• Knowledge of word formation is a useful source for
developing vocabulary.
• Exploring sense relations among/between words kelp
learning and remembering words.
• Teachers and learners need to be aware of the difference
between receptive and productive vocabulary
Ways of presenting new words
1. Some suggestions for the teachers
Different teachers have different ways to present
new words. Whatever methods are used, the
following suggestions may help teachers:
1) Try to provide a visual or physical
demonstration whenever possible.
2) Provide a verbal context to demonstrate
meaning.
3) use synonyms or antonyms to explain
meanings.
4) Use lexical sets pr hyponyms to show
relations of words and their meaning.
5) Translate and exemplify, especially with
technical words or words with abstract
meaning.
• 6) Use word formation rules and
common affixes to build new lexical
knowledge on what is already know.
• 7) Teach vocabulary in chunks.
• 8) Think about the context in real life
there the word might be sued.
• 9) Think about providing different context
for introducing new words.
• 10) Prepare for possible
misunderstanding or confusion that
students may have.
• (Look at Task 5 on P125)
• Task 6:
Choose four items and give a mini
demonstration.
2. Words are best taught in groups.
Language is a system and each word has its meaning
defined in relation to other words. This insight leads to
an easier, more effective and sounder way of explaining.
It is helpful to explain difference of meaning rather than
meaning itself.
An individual word in a language acquires a meaning
because of the relationship between it and other words.
Awareness of certain kinds of relationship makes
explaining vocabulary easier for the teachers, and
learning it simpler for the students. Here are some
relationships.
(1) synonyms. Big-large
(2) Antonyms. Hot—warm—cool—
cold
(3) Complements. single/married.
(4) Converse. parent/child,
employer/employee.
(5) Hyponyms. Car, van, bus ,lorry are
hyponyms of vehicle.
Ways of consolidating vocabulary
• 1. Libeling. Students are given a picture. They
are to write the names of the objects indicated
in the picture.
• 2. Spotting the differences. Students are put
into pairs. Each member of the pair receives a
picture which is slightly different from his
partner’s.
• 3. Describing and drawing. The student having
the picture must tell his partner what to draw
so that the drawing ends up the same as the
original picture.
• 4. Playing a game. Students are shown a
picture or a tray with many objects on it,
or a series of different flash cards or
magazine pictures. They have to tell what
they saw, or write everything they can
remember seeing.
• 5. Using word thermometers. These are
useful for indicating different degrees in
size, speed, age, distance, emotion etc.
Students are given a list of words in
jumbles order. They have to place these
words in the correct place on the
thermometer.
• 6. Using word series. Students construct
the series following the
example. Cutlery: knife, fork, spoon
• 7. Word bingo. Students draw nine
squares on a piece of paper and put nine
words connected with shopping in the
squares. The first student who cross out
a line of three words either horizontally,
vertically or diagonally should shout out
“ Bingo” and he or she will be the winner.
• 8. Word association. The teacher says a
key word, e.g. traveling. The students
have to write down all the words they
can think of connected with the traveling.
• 9. Odd man out. The teacher writes a
set of words on the blackboard and ask
students to find the “odd man out”. For
example, in the set: cheese eggs oranges,
bread soap and meat, the word “soap” is
the “odd man out”.
• 10. Synonyms and antonyms. The
students are given a list of words and
ask students to find pairs of words,
either synonyms or antonyms.
• 11. Using word categories. Students
put the jumbled words in the middle
into the box marked with different
categories.
• 12. Using word net-work. Students fill
in the blanks in a network with words
that are under the same category or
sub-category.
Developing vocabulary building strategies
Due to the limitations of time, students
cannot learn all the necessary vocabulary in
the class. We need to help students develop
their own vocabulary building strategies so
that they can effectively acquire more
vocabulary on their own.
1. Review regularly. Evidence shows that
regular review helps students to maintain
largest amount of recall. Look at the
following figure.
龙岩学院外国语学院
精品课程--《英语教学法》
Practice!!!
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Form
Grammar
Collocation
Denotation
Connotation
Synonym, Antonym, Co-hyponym…
Academic Vocabulary Examples
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analysis
approach
area
assessme
nt
assume
authority
available
benefit
 concept
 environme
 consistent
nt
 established
 estimate
 evidence
 export
 financial
 formula
 function
 constitution
al
 context
 contract
 create
 data
 definition