Vocabulary Teaching in Junior Middle School
Yusheng Li /Marko
Outline
1. Introduction: the current situation of vocabulary teaching in the Junior Middle School
2. A literature review
2.1 Several aspects of lexis and vocabulary teaching
2.2 Memory and storage systems
3. How to organize vocabulary teaching in Junior Middle School
3.1 The characteristics of vocabulary teaching of Junior Middle School
3.2 The procedures of vocabulary teaching
3.3 Four principles in vocabulary teaching
4. Vocabulary teaching strategies
4.1 The strategy in the presentation stage
4.2 Strategy in the application stage
4.3 Strategy in the assessment stage
5. Conclusion
Vocabulary Teaching in Junior Middle School
Abstract: It is well known that vocabulary plays a very important role in language study
because it is the essence of a language. Without vocabulary, there would be no sentence,
no text and no language. Therefore, in order to master a language well, it’s necessary for
language learners to learn vocabulary well, and teachers should pay much attention to
vocabulary teaching. But in fact, it seems very difficult to do the job well. Learners are
always troubled in memory comprehension of vocabulary. The same phenomenon also
appears in Junior Middle Schools. Many students would have difficulties in studying the
English vocabulary and that has become one of the main reasons which restricts their
English improvement. In this paper, the author focuses on vocabulary teaching in Junior
Middle School and tries to find some more effective ways in vocabulary teaching in
Junior Middle School.
Keywords: Vocabulary teaching; denotation and connotation; memory and storage
system; strategies
1. Introduction: the current situation of vocabulary teaching in the Junior Middle
School
Most Junior Middle School students (at the age of 12-15) have been learning English
since Elementary School, so they have already got some basic knowledge of English.
They have mastered 300-500 words before they enter the Junior Middle School. But
English learning in Junior Middle School is much different from that in the Elementary
School. Students are required to learn 300-400 words every term (about 30-40 new words
in a unit), so here comes the problem for the young learners – the expansion of
vocabulary. Many students devote a large amount of time and energy to the learning of
vocabulary, but they still complain that it is hard to memorize the words and there is no
way to avoid forgetting. Generally speaking, there are two problems: one is that students
treat vocabulary items indiscriminately; the other is that students learn vocabulary in an
ineffective way, such as learning a word in isolation. They often lack skills to learn
vocabulary.
English teachers of Junior Middle Schools are paying much more attention to
looking for proper teaching methods to organize their classes. They have made great
effort and have some valuable experience in vocabulary teaching. But in recent years, we
specially emphasize listening and speaking respectively in English teaching, which
separates vocabulary from listening and speaking. Many English teachers hold the wrong
view that vocabulary is the simplest thing in English learning and students can deal with
it themselves, so they ignore vocabulary teaching all the time. Usually, they would teach
vocabulary in such a rote way: teaching new words before explaining the text, explaining
new words by simply translating them into Chinese, giving some examples using the
very new word and asking students to follow reading the new words. What’s worse,
teachers seldom teach the skills of learning vocabulary, and few of them have a clear
mind to have the students develop vocabulary awareness and vocabulary building
strategies.
2. A literature review
2.1 Several aspects of Lexis and vocabulary teaching
Cairns and Redman (1986: 17-38) published their work Vocabulary and Language
Teaching in which they pointed out there are several aspects of lexis that need to be taken
into account when teaching, i.e.
Boundaries between conceptual meanings: knowing not only what lexis refers to,
but also the boundaries of words. (e.g. pen, bag, desk)
Polysemy: distinguishing between the various meanings of a single word with
several closely related meanings (e.g. head of a person, head of a line, head of the
government)
Homonymy: distinguishing between the various meanings of a single word which
has several meanings but not closely related (e.g. a file: ① used to put papers in ②
a tool that is used for cutting)
Homophony: understanding words that have the same pronunciation but the
spellings and meanings are different (e.g. some, sum)
Synonymy: distinguishing between the different shades of meaning that synonyms
have (e.g. happy, glad, pleased, excited)
Affective meaning: distinguishing between the attitudinal and emotional factors
(connotation), which depend on the speakers’ attitude or the situation. The
socio-cultural association of lexical items is another important factor.
Style, register, dialect: being able to distinguish between different levels of
formality, the effect of different context and topics, as well as differences in
geographical variation.
Translation: awareness of certain differences and similarities between the native
and the foreign language
Chunks of language: multi-word verbs, idioms, strong and weak collocations,
lexical phrases.
Grammar of vocabulary: learning the rules that enable students to build up different
forms of the word or even different words from that word (e.g. sit, sat, sitting;
possible, impossible)
Pronunciation: ability to express items in speech.
The implication of these aspects is the goal of vocabulary teaching so that vocabulary
teaching must be more than simply covering a certain number of words on a word list.
We must help learners realize this global concept of what it means to know a lexical item.
Peter Strevens (1997: 34-36) stated his theory in his book that teachers should have the
task of vocabulary teaching involved in five aspects, and the effect of teaching in a class
is closely related to these five aspects:
To teach the meaning of the lexis. As English is much different from our mother
language, the denotation and connotation of some English words might not be the
same between the two languages. The main task of vocabulary teaching is to make
the students understand the meaning of the word.
To teach how to use the word. It involves the collocation between words and
words, idioms, lexical phrases, styles, and register. Different words should appear in
different places. Take register, for example. Lexis can be classified into formal and
informal, commendatory and derogatory. So “children” is neutral, “kids” is informal,
and “offspring” is the formal form.
To teach the information of the lexis. The information of the lexis involves the
function of the word, prefix, suffix, spelling, pronunciation, etc. These are the basic
knowledge for English learners.
To teach the grammar of the lexis. The grammar of lexis means the rules to build
up different forms of the word, and also the countable noun or uncountable noun,
transitive verb or intransitive verb, and what object(s) should go after “to do” or
“doing”; whether it can have a subordinate clause or not, etc.
To teach the strategies of learning vocabulary. English teaching is not only the
teaching of English knowledge, but also training students in the capacity of learning.
That is to say, teachers should focus on the training of learning skills and learning
strategies. Some people say vocabulary cannot be taught, but it can only be learned
by students themselves. This is perhaps partially true.
2.2 Memory and storage systems
Understanding how our memory works will help us create more effective ways to
teach vocabulary. Cairns’ book (1986: 56) can offer us some insights into this process:
“It seems that new items involves storing them first in our short-term memory, and
afterwards in long-term memory. We are unable to control this process consciously but
there seems to be some important clues to consider. First, retention in short-term memory
is not effective if the number of chunks of information is over seven. This suggests that
in a given class we should not aim at teaching more than this number.”
Research also suggests that our “mental lexicon” is highly organized and efficient,
and that semantically related items are stored together. Word frequency is another factor
that affects storage, as the most frequently used words are easier to retrieve, so we can
use this theory to facilitate the vocabulary teaching by grouping vocabulary in semantic
fields.
Oxford (1990: 67-68) suggests memory strategies to help learning, and his theory
can be divided into four steps:
(1) Creating images and sounds: grouping, associating, placing new words into
context
(2) Applying images and sounds: using imagery, semantic mapping, using keywords
and representing sounds in memory
(3) Reviewing well in a structured way
(4) Employing action: physical response or sensation
These techniques can be used to greater advantage if we can make students aware of
different memory strategies.
Forgetting seems to be an inevitable factor in vocabulary learning, unless learners
regularly use the words they have learned. That means review and recycle is important,
and it would be ideal if it happens one or two days after learning the new words. After
that, weekly or monthly tests can check on them. In Wang Qiang’s book (Wang Qiang
2002: 27), she presented some figures to prove that regular review helps to maintain the
largest amount of recall:
According to the above figures, regular review helps consolidate vocabulary, and
vocabulary learning without regular review is ineffective.
Some research also shows that the learning efficiency will be better if the learner
tries to memorize words isolatable. To memorize a group of new words in six times (each
time for ten minutes) is much better than to keep on memorizing them for 60 minutes.
In addition, it would be very interesting that the memory and storage system are
closely related to learners’ emotion. The more actively the learners act in the activities,
the better the teaching effect we would have. And learners’ own need and interests play a
very important role during the learning and storing. Those things that they do not need or
are not interested in would make the learning become rote, so that those lexical items are
also difficult to store in the memory.
3. How to organize vocabulary teaching in the Junior Middle School
3.1 The characteristics of vocabulary teaching of Junior Middle School
We may summarize the characteristics of vocabulary teaching of Junior Middle
School mainly in two aspects: the learning level of the students and the textbook used in
class. The Junior Middle School students (about 14-15years old) usually have some basic
English knowledge but lack vocabulary strategies of their own, which we have discussed
in the previous part (part one). Here we go on to focus on the English textbook used in
the Junior Middle School. The English textbook we are using now would have several
characteristics as follows:
The text book provides about 300-400 new words a term, 30 new words in a unit,
that is to say, about seven new words will be taught to the students in an average class.
According to Gairns’s theory of memory and storage system, seven new words is just the
proper number, for at one time student might not have difficulties to master them.
The semantic field theory of vocabulary is widely used in the textbook. According
to the topic of different units, it provides different semantic fields. Take the textbook
“Success with English” (SE for short) for example; there is a job field which includes
“nurse, footballer, reporter, driver, photographer” in Unit 1, Lesson 3, and another food
field, which includes “Coke, French fries, potato, tomato” in Unit 3, Lesson 9.
Antonyms. The two opposite words are put together, such as “win” and “lose” in
SE 3A, Unit 2, Lesson 6.
Lexical phrases are adopted for helping learners to master them well, such as “hear
about” is put together with “hear from” in SE 3A, Unit 7, Lesson 25. No doubt this
enables the students to know the use of “hear” well.
Prefixes and suffixes. Students can also learn some formation of vocabulary from
the textbook, like “polite, politely, impolite, impolitely” in SE 3 A, Unit 4, Lesson 15.
Grammar teaching and vocabulary teaching are combined together sometimes. On
Page 16 of SE 3A, there is a grammar lesson of learning the infinitive and the –ing form
after verbs, and it’s a vocabulary lesson to learn the use of these verbs at the same time.
From all the above, we can find many familiar elements of Junior Middle School
vocabulary teaching while comparing to the theory in 2.2, which warns us that
vocabulary teaching should not be taught in such a rote way, but shall be part of the
syllabus and taught in well-planned teaching and on a regular basis.
3.2 The procedures of vocabulary teaching
According to Paulston and Bruder (1976: 35-61), vocabulary teaching is usually
processed as the following three steps:
(1) Present the lexis. The presentation aims to make the students know the meaning,
structure and use of the word. The method to present these three aspects should be
different. Here is the classification.
Meaning: real objects, gestures, pictures, make definitions, guess the meaning from
the text, forms, translation, ask and answer questions, etc.
Structure and use: make examples, do explanation, ask and answer graphic method,
etc.
(2) Apply the lexis. To apply the words as if to master them: participating in using
the word can make the words turn to the learners’ own vocabulary. Vocabulary teaching
activities should be designed to offer as many chances as possible to have the students
use the words they have just learnt. These activities should be set in a proper language
situation in order to make the students more active and avoid listening and reading in a
rote way.
(3) Estimate. After the training, it is necessary for the teachers to measure and test
the learning effect of the students. Students can summarize their learning strategies from
it and make a preparation for the later vocabulary learning.
3.3 Four principles in vocabulary teaching
While teaching vocabulary, there are four principles that we should follow, according
to Solange Moras (2002). The four principles play a role as a guide and measurement.
Selection of vocabulary. The selection of vocabulary should be based on the
students’ demand and interest. Words related to the students’ life and experience would
make it easier for students to master them. While teaching a text, teachers should select
the important words or the keywords of the text. Meanwhile, we should choose the words
that are more frequently used.
The application principle. Vocabulary teaching shouldn’t be presented only in two
aspects --- the meaning and the use of lexis. The more important aspect is the application
of vocabulary. The application activities should be based on the characteristics of
students themselves and we should have the student master the words by using them.
Furthermore, we should encourage students to build up their own awareness of
vocabulary links. To control the frequency and quality of application practice is also
useful.
The feedback principle. It means that the assessment and test of the vocabulary
learning should be on time. The way of testing should be various, and the assessment of
learning strategies is as important as the assessment of learning effect.
Group work. Working in groups helps foster learning independence. And specially
in vocabulary work, learners can exchange knowledge and ask each other to explain
unknown items.
4 Vocabulary teaching strategies
According to the three steps of the vocabulary teaching process, which were stated in
3.2, the strategy of vocabulary teaching should be classified as three different kinds.
4.1 The strategy in the presentation stage
In the presentation stage, the main task of vocabulary teaching is to make learners
know the new words well and form a deep expression. Here are some examples:
Word net-work
Word net-work is a funny game to present words. Learners can learn new words and
review the old words at the same time. The game has three procedures:
(1) Choose a topic, such as “house”
(2) Let the students present all the vocabulary that is related to “house”
(3) Help the students classify the words in different semantic fields and clarify the
connection of these words.
Find the new words
It means we should have the students learn the new words and the use of them when
they read the very text. There are a few points:
(1) Show the text to students
(2) Provide the students with the exercise which could help them master the
collocation use of words
(3) Students read the text and finish the exercise
(4) Check the students’ exercise and summarize and explain the words or phrases in
the teaching plan.
Ask and answer
The teacher can guide students to learn the new words or phrases by asking questions,
and all the questions are connected with the very new words or phrases. Here is the
example:
T: Have you ever done any shopping?
S: Yes, certainly.
T: Where do you often shop?
S: (supermarket)
T: Who serves you?
S: (Salesgirl / shop assistant)
T: What do they usually say to you?
S: (Can I help you? / What can I do for you?)
T: How do you ask the price?
S: (What’s the price ------ ? / How much is ----- ? / How much does ----- cost?)
T: Where do you pay?
S: (The cashier’s)
Using the thermometers
These are useful for indicating different degrees in size, speed, age, distance, emotion,
etc. Students are given a list of words in jumbled order. They have to place these words
in the correct place on the thermometer. Spratt’s example (1985: 227) in his book can
give us a vivid description：
4.2 Strategy in the application stage
Activities of applying vocabulary are helpful for storing the words in memory. The
words can turn out to be the students’ own words only in this way.
Labeling
Students are given a picture. They are to write the names of the objects indicated in
the picture. A competitive element can be introduced by making the student who finishes
first to be the winner.
Spotting the differences
Students are put into pairs. Each member of the pair receives a picture, which is
slightly different from his partner’s. Students hide the pictures from one another and then,
by a process of describing, questioning and answering, discover what the differences are.
Playing a game
Students are shown a picture or a story with many objects in it, or a series of
different flash cards or magazine pictures. They have one or two minutes to memorize as
many of the objects as they can. The cards, pictures or tray are then taken away and the
students have to say what they saw, or write down everything they can remember seeing,
then compare their answers with the rest of the class.
Using word series / semantic groups
Students construct the series following an example which is taken from Wang
Qian’s book:
Example:
Cutlery: knife
fork
spoon
Transport: _______
________
______
_______
Vehicles: ________
________
______
_______
Furniture: _______
________
______
________
Buildings: _______
________
______
________
Word association
The teacher says a key word, e.g. traveling. The students then have to write down all
the words they can think of connected with traveling. They have a time limit, e.g. two
minutes. When time is up, the person with the largest number of acceptable words is the
winner.
Odd man out
The teacher writes a set of words on the blackboard and asks the students to find the
“odd man out.” For example, in the set of “cheese, eggs, oranges, bread, soap, and meat,”
the word “soap” is the “odd man out.”
Synonyms and antonyms
The students are given a list of words and asked to find pairs of words, either
synonyms or antonyms. The words in the box below are six pairs of synonyms and six
pairs of antonyms. Ask the students to find them out. Here is an example from Bo Bing’s
book (薄冰 1998: 326)
full
jumper
optimistic
go on
choose
awake select
wait a minute
pullover pessimistic
clean continue hang on
empty
asleep
4.3 The strategy in the assessment and test stage
awful hard-working impolite
terrible
thin
dirty
rude
lazy
thick
We have several ways to assess and test the students’ learning effort besides doing
exam papers.
Drawing and describing
First, the teacher designs a picture according to the vocabulary and gives it to the
students. Then the teacher asks the students to write the suitable vocabulary in the right
place in the picture. We might pay attention to the form and grammar of the words.
Word puzzles
The game is familiar to us, and it’s thought to be useful in the vocabulary teaching
of junior middle school. Here are some examples in Liu Ruicheng’s book (2004: 56－57)
Self-estimate
Here are the standards for vocabulary self-assessment, and it has four degrees:
I
can
correctly.
use
it I
the I think I know the I don’t know it.
know
meaning,
but
can’t use it yet.
I meaning, but I am
not sure.
Teachers might ask the students to estimate and summarize their learning effort.
Students are divided into pairs, and they can help each other to solve the problems and
the difficulties. Then those who have solved their problems should join in other groups to
help them.
The teacher’s job is to check the general effort and solve problems that students
cannot deal with.
Ask the students to design and do the very text themselves
(1) Students are divided into groups of four members
(2) Each group should design some questions using the vocabulary they learnt
before. Group members work and discuss together to present the questions. Here
is the sample of the questions:
·What’s the meaning of the phrase “as thick as thieves”
·The adjective for the noun “energy” is ?
·The negative of “helpful” is _____.
·The opposite of “careful” is ______.
·Lemons taste ______.
·In order to cook the dumplings, we have to _____ them in the hot water.
(3) Group A shows the questions, Group B tries to answer it, and the other groups
play a role as the judge. Then Group B asks Group C their questions, Group C
asks Group D, etc.
(4) The teacher selects and announces the best group; at the same time, he should
solve the problems and difficulties in the game.
5. Conclusion
People attach great importance to English learning nowadays and more and more
English teaching methods have been adopted in China. However, vocabulary teaching is
still in an inconspicuous place. We have held a wrong view for a long time that
vocabulary is the simplest part of learning English. But actually vocabulary is the most
difficult job for most students. It’s too often that we hear students complain that they
keep learning and forgetting new words. But few teachers are aware of this teaching
problem and most haven’t thought much about how to improve their teaching strategies
to make teaching more effective.
Vocabulary teaching is not an easy subject. Our English teachers should refresh their
minds and learn more about it to improve their teaching activities. There is much work
for us to do in order to make vocabulary teaching more reasonable and more effective.
This research paper is far from solving all the problems, but I hope it can offer some
useful resources to the vocabulary teaching in junior middle school. And I hope more
research work will be done to make our English teaching more and more effective.
References
[1] Christina B. Paulston & Mary N. Bruder. Teaching English as a Second Language:
Technique and Procedures [M].Winthrop Publisher, 1976
[2] Gairns, R & Redman, S. Working with Words-----A guide to Teaching and Learning
Vocabulary [M], 1986
[3] Oxford, R. Language Learning Strategies [M], Newbury House, 1990
[4] Peter Strevens. New Orientation in the Teaching of English [M].Oxford University
Press, 1977
[5] Solange Moras. Teaching Vocabulary to Advanced Students: A Lexical Approach [A].
http://www.chinaetr.com/Article_Show.asp?ArticleID=702
[6] Spratt, M. Consolidating Vocabulary [M], Cambridge University Press, 1985
[7] Majian，Phrase-Approach to Vocabulary Teaching[A],
http://www.17net.net/Article/Class2/Class43/200407/466_3.html