The introduction of the new items can be done through the use of visual techniques,

verbal strategies, demonstration through mime and gesture, translation, procedures which
are teacher-centred, and through the use of a dictionary and contextual guesswork, which
are more student-centred.
1 Visual Techniques
Visuals are important in language teaching because they not only convey
meaning but also build interest and reduce teaching time. These include realia, pictures,
flash-cards, cue cards, wall charts, photographs, transparencies, slides, magazine cut-outs
and blackboard drawings. They are extensively used for conveying meaning and
particularly useful for teaching concrete items of lexis such as food or furniture and
certain areas of vocabulary, such as professions ,descriptions of people or animals, places,
actions and activities(such as sports and verbs of movement). They often lend themselves
easily to practice activities involving student interaction.
2. Verbal Techniques
These include explanation of words through semantic mapping, through the use
of descriptions, synonyms, contrasts and opposites, songs. Since vocabulary is stored as
concepts in scripts that contain semantic networks of interrelated words, and we know
that individuals tend to recall items according to the semantic fields in which they are
conceptually mapped, explaining the new item by relating it to other words in the same
lexical field as itself, e.g. word families is a valuable way of teaching lexis and it should
be exploited in classroom activities.
One of the most common ways of explaining a new word is by describing or
defining it. Objects, people, animals can be easily described. Definition alone is often
inadequate as a means of conveying meaning and clearly contextualised examples are
required to clarify the limits of the item. Definition accompanied by pictures could
provide a better clue to meaning.
Teachers often use synonyms with low level students, where inevitably they
have to compromise and restrict the length and complexity of their explanation.
The introduction of new vocabulary through songs proves to be a most vivid
and enjoyable way teaching a foreign language , providing a break from the textbook
routine. The main difficulty in using songs as a teaching procedure lies in choonsing the
most suitable ones from the maze of those available.
3. Demonstration through Mine and Gesture
This is often used to supplement other ways of convening meaning. Mime,
gesture, performing are particularly useful for actions, but they can also involve objects
connected with these verbs.
4. Translation

Translation can be an effective way of conveying meaning. It can be a quick

way to dispose of low frequency items that may worry the students. It is also a valid
approach for highlighting the danger of false cognates. There is less objection to
translating individual words than doing this with idioms or structures. If you translate
vocabulary, make sure you then exemplify the item in context and co-text, or your
students will forget it easily. A real danger with translation is that if students continue to
use the mother tongue as a framework within to attach the target language items, they
will not develop the necessary framework to take account of sense relations between
different items in the new language. I think that if teachers rely too often on the use of
translations, their students are likely to miss out the essential spirit and atmosphere of
being in a language learning classroom.
There has been a trend in recent years to shift the focus away from the teacher
and concentrate on more student-centred activities. This not only makes the student more
responsible for his own learning but also permits greater attention to individual needs. It
is important to equip students with the necessary strategies for dealing with vocabulary
activities. In the teaching /learning of lexis this involves using a dictionary and contextual
guesswork.
Profesor Ana Nagy, Liceul de Arte Plastice Timioara