Children Learning English as a Foreign Language

Teaching Vocabulary Effectively

BY DIANE PINKLEY EFL AUTHOR FOR PEARSON LONGMAN

Language teachers all over the world

acknowledge vocabulary items as the basic bricks in the

house of language, but not all teachers approach the presentation and practice of vocabulary in ways that favor more systematic, long-term retention of useful vocabulary items on the part of their learners. A listener in conversation with teachers may hear questions and comments such as: But why dont you know it? I taught it to you two days ago! and Why is it that my students know words for the test but forget them just a few days later? and When I ask students to use a target word in an original sentence, the sentence doesnt show the meaning of the word or even make sense! and The other day, a student asked me why we say tomar una decisin in Spanish (take a decision) but make a decision in English; I couldnt even explain why. In addition, some teachers are not sure how to choose vocabulary words to teach, how to select the number of words to teach, and how to practice and recycle them in a systematic and meaningful way. In order to teach vocabulary effectively, a number of considerations must be addressed.

Vocabulary
Direct & Indirect Instruction

Recycling

Lexical Sets

Strategies

Collocations

Prefixes, Suffixes, Roots

What are the most useful criteria for vocabulary selection?

Teachers must first consider the types of vocabulary items to target: single words, multi-word items in the form of collocations, fixed expressions, and semi-fixed expressions. Second, they should select items according to usefulness. Because teaching situations are different, words relevant in one context may not be so in a different context. Items may be targeted as receptive (learner recognition of the form and meaning of a word encountered in listening and reading), or productive (learner retrieval of the form and meaning of an item and its production for expression in speaking or writing). Third, teachers should consider the frequency of an item, referring to documents such as Wests General Service List, of 2000 words, the Council of Europes List, of 1500 words, Coxheads

Academic Word List, of 750 word families, and corpora such as the Birmingham Corpus, of multi-millions of words. Fourth, particularly with children, they should weigh factors such as learners personal interest and relevance to content areas of the school curriculum. Fifth, teachers need to be mindful of learners ages and levels of cognitive development. And sixth, they need to consider expediency: Will it be helpful to teach common classroom language? The language of instruction? Grammatical terminology such as word class (parts of speech)? Phonological terminology such as the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)?

Which types of instruction and activities facilitate teaching vocabulary?

Vocabulary instruction may be described as planned and unplanned (Seal), as formal and informal (McKeown & Beck), or as direct and indirect (Carlo, et. al.). Some experts include incidental learning (Kerka) as a type as well. In general, a variety of studies show the benefit of both planned/formal/direct vocabulary instruction and unplanned/informal/ indirect vocabulary instruction, particularly for school-age learners. Direct instruction, as its name implies, refers to the deliberate teaching of a group of target vocabulary items and their meanings. An example might be the pre-teaching of several key items learners will later encounter in a dialogue or reading, either through TPR, mime, picture cards and posters for younger learners, or through matching, multiple-choice, and fill-in-the-blank exercises for older children. Indirect instruction may take several forms, from leading students to notice prefixes and suffixes that can help them figure out the meanings of other new words, to the inclusion of a few new items in a game to arouse curiosity, to the creation of a word wall. Regardless of the instruction type, it is important to put into operation what Seal calls the 3 Cs: Convey meaning, Check understanding, and Consolidate learning.

I. Convey meaning through:

1. Visual Aids
I I I I

pictures drawings mime videos

I I I I

posters wall murals word mobiles objects

2. Word Relations
I I I I

synonymy antonymy lexical sets cause/effect

I I I I

part/whole locational relations L1/L2 translation pairs collocations

3. Pictorial Schemata
I I

grids Venn diagrams and other graphic organizers clines

I I

word maps stepped scales

4. Definitions
I I

by synonym by negation

by class

5. Context
I I

oral written

graphic

6. Word Roots and Affixes, and Pronunciation

I I

Latin, Greek prefixes

suffixes

7. 2

Pronunciation
I I I

rhythm intonation patterns sentence stress

I I

word stress contrastive stress

II. Check understanding through:

1. Concept Questions
I I I

Can I buy shoes in a grocery store? Where is a grocery store near here? What can you buy in a grocery store?

2. Fill-in-the-blank
I I

from word list open-ended

3. Matching Pairs
I I I I

item with synonym antonym definition picture

I I I

example translation collocation

4. Category Sorts
I I

by synonym by lexical sets (furniture, toys)

I I

by rhyme by part of speech

5. Pictorial Schemata
I I I

grids word maps Venn diagrams and other graphic organizers

I I

stepped scales clines

III. Consolidate learning through:

1. Tasks
I I I

Problem-solving Projects Values Clarification ranking for/against cause/effect

2. Story or Dialogue Writing,

I I I

reading work in class act out make a class book

3. Discussion
I I I I

guided discussion with slips of paper board games and card games conversation cubes free discussion

4. Role Plays: real life

I I

Doctor/patient grocer/shopper

5. Role Plays: creative

I I

visitor from Mars talking dog

EXAMPLES OF SELECTED VOCABULARY ACTIVITY TYPES

WEATHER WORDS

sunny

c l o ud y
windy

sn o w y

r a in y

Conversation Cube from Backpack by M. Herrera & D. Pinkley

Word Mobile from Letters to Parents: ESL by D. Pinkley

Suffix Train from Spin D by D. Pinkley & G. Kocienda

Scales and Clines from Spin F by D. Pinkley

Should vocabulary teaching for children focus primarily on single words?

Some teachers and course book writers tend to emphasize single words (mostly nouns and perhaps a few verbs), especially for younger children. A collection of related nouns within a category makes up a lexical set, such as furniture (sofa, chair, table, rug, lamp, bed) or toys (ball, doll, teddy bear, boat, train, yo-yo, puzzle, video game, jump rope), which is useful and relevant to the childrens world. As these learners grow older, they are slowly introduced to multi-word items and other parts of speech. But current thinking supports the controlled introduction of collocations, fixed expressions, and semi-fixed expressions, as well as a wider range of parts of speech, even for younger children. Children learn single words, but they can also learn in meaningful multi-word chunks (single unanalyzed units) of different types. Collocations are predictable word combinations or word partnerships, and types suitable for children include adjective + noun (sunny day, favorite food, little sister, easy test), noun + noun (soccer game, baseball bat, science project, TV reporter, paint brush, ice cream), verb + noun (wash dishes, make cookies, do homework, tell stories, add numbers), verb + adverb (walk slowly, jump high, talk fast, read quietly, write carefully, study hard), and verb + preposition + noun (turn on the light, make up a story, get off the bus, turn down the volume, put away the toys). Fixed expressions include proverbs and sayings (An apple a day keeps the doctor away; Finders, keepers), idioms (Its raining cats and dogs; Get cold feet), and social language (How are you; See you). Semi-fixed expressions can be expanded and partially substituted (Happy birthday/Easter/anniversary; Thats a nice watch/backpack/jacket/ pair of sunglasses; I really hate hiking/green beans/snow/loud music/homework).

What are some useful strategies for developing and reinforcing vocabulary?

According to Schmitt (1997), vocabulary strategies can be divided into several types: determination strategies, social strategies, cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, and memory strategies, among others. Examples of determination strategies include analysis of parts of speech; analysis of word prefixes, roots, and suffixes; noticing cognates; figuring out meaning from context; and using a dictionary properly. Social strategies include asking classmates or the teacher for help with meaning by means of a synonym, example, or L1 translation; working with a study group; and interacting with English speakers. Cognitive strategies include making word lists; verbal and written repetition; labeling real objects with English equivalents; and keeping a vocabulary notebook. Metacognitive strategies include working with English songs, chants, poems, movies, and newspapers; selftesting; and using spaced word practice. Memory strategies include relating new material to previous knowledge; personalization; visualization; vocalizing; and using physical movement.

What role does recycling play in learning and retaining vocabulary?

Research shows that recycling plays a very important part in achieving long-term memory storage. Nagy (1997), for example, found that a one-time exposure to a word in a reading led to a retention rate of only 5% to 14%. Other studies show that it takes from 7 to 12 or more repetitions of an item before it is learned. An items multiple exposures should be framed in meaningful but different contexts so that deep processing takes place. These repetitions help consolidate lexical aspects of the item already seen and provide new opportunities to learn more information about the items collocations, additional meanings, and other details over time. Teachers, then, should make sure they work in a structured way to reintroduce target items repeatedly in activities both inside and outside the classroom. A teaching and recycling system for children could include:

INITIAL TEACHING OF NEW VOCABULARY ITEM

FOLLOWED
BY

SPACED RECYCLING ACTIVITIES

Review with picture cards. Assign reading or dialogue containing item. Do exercises requiring the item. Include the item in a spelling lesson. Play a board game containing the item. Include the item in a pronunciation lesson. Listen to spoken dialogue to identify the item. Sing a song containing the item. Add the item to the word wall and occasionally review it. Draw and label the item in an appropriate scene. Have group discussions requiring use of the item.

Do crossword puzzles containing the item. Assign a project requiring use of the item. Do role plays requiring use of the item. Stick labels to objects in the classroom or at home. Do a chant containing the item. Include information about the item in a vocabulary notebook. Include the item occasionally in tests during the rest of course. Play a memory game requiring the item. Have the learner teach the item to someone else.

To sum up, effective teachers thoughtfully select target vocabulary using sound criteria, and then employ both direct and indirect instruction to teach those items to learners. These teachers are aware that even younger learners can benefit from presentation of more than lexical sets, and carefully introduce appropriate multi-word items in collocations, fixed expressions, and semi-fixed expressions. They provide students with useful vocabulary learning strategies, and support long-term retention of vocabulary items through spaced recycling activities. And yes, there is a word for all thissuccess!

References

Carlo, M.S., August, D., McLaughlin, B., Snow, C.E., Dressler, C., Lippman, D., Lively, T., & White, C. (2004). Closing the Gap: Addressing the vocabulary needs of English Language Learners. Reading Research Quarterly, 39.2. Coxhead, A. (2000). A New Academic Word List. TESOL Quarterly, 34:213-238. Kerka, S. (2000). Trends and Issues 2000. Alert No. 18. Incidental Learning. Herrera, M., & Pinkley, D. (2009). Backpack K-6. White Plains, NY: Pearson Longman. Linse, C.T. (2005). Young Learners. New York: McGraw Hill. McKeown, M.G., & Beck, L. (2003). Direct and Rich Vocabulary Instruction, in Vocabulary Instruction: Research to Practice. J. Baumann & E. Kameeum (Eds.) Nagy, W. (1997). On the role of context in first- and second-language vocabulary learning, in Vocabulary, Acquisition, and Pedagogy. N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy (Eds.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pinkley, D. (2000). Letters to Parents: ESL Letters and Activities to Send Home in English and Spanish. Goodyear Books. Pinkley, D. ((2003). Spin F. White Plains, NY: Pearson Longman. Pinkley, D. & Kocienda, G. (2003). Spin D. White Plains, NY: Pearson Longman. Seal, B. (1991), in Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.) Boston, MA. Heinle & Heinle. Schmitt, N. (1997). Vocabulary Learning Strategies, in Vocabulary, Acquisition, and Pedagogy. N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy (Eds.)Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. West, M. (1953). A General Service List of English Words. London. Longman, Green.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Diane Pinkley is the former Director of the TC TESOL Certificate Program and full-time faculty member in the TESOL Program, and the Department of Arts and Humanities, at Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York. A well-known teacher trainer, educational consultant, and author in ESL/EFL, she has trained teachers and presented papers at conferences around the world. In addition, she has made major contributions to several bestselling ESL and EFL textbook programs for both children and adults. Formerly the Director of the Institute of North American Studies in Badalona, Spain, and Curriculum Coordinator at the Michigan Language Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she has taught all levels of ESL/EFL from kindergarten through college, in addition to American culture, and American and British literature.