[0:03]Welcome to session five. Before following this session on teaching vocabulary, please consider the following questions and discuss them with colleagues if you have the opportunity. What does it mean to know a word? And what ways can you think of of presenting vocabulary to a class? New words should be introduced in context, either within a text, listening or speaking activity. This will allow the student to associate the word with certain situations and help build up their chunks of language. If the word is outside of an activity, an example phrase or sentence should always be given. The spelling should also always be emphasized. Even if it seems obvious, some learners may not make the connection between the sound and spelling. As students advance, more terms and conditions associated with the word can be introduced. Ultimately, each word could have seven tags, seven things you need to know in order to understand the word. One, the meaning or meanings, definition of the word. Two, spelling. Three, pronunciation. In English, many words are not spelled the way they sound. Four, word type and word formation by using prefixes and suffixes. Five, word pattern or colligation. Does it go with any particular prepositions or is the verb followed by two or ing? Language is mainly lexically driven and words generally come with their own connected grammar. Six, is the word used in any collocations? Collocations and patterns go with other collocations and patterns in limited ways, so chunks can be learned. For example, it's really worth seeing that film. There are several factors which can account for the situation, or I feel I need to take issue with you on this. Seven. Is the word used in any idiomatic expressions? And beware of connotation or cultural references for native speakers. Some words are taboo and not socially acceptable. Or if said to native speakers, I have a cunning plan, their reaction would probably be laughter, as it's a phrase often used by a character in a TV comedy series. The MFP technique that we use for teaching grammar can also be used when introducing new vocabulary. M. First introduce the meaning of the word. F. Introduce the form, such as spelling and any collocations or common phrases. P. Introduce the pronunciation of the word. If you introduce the word when speaking, rather than in a text or writing, don't write it down immediately. Encourage the students to listen and copy, and then try to write it down themselves. Otherwise, the students will just read the word and miss things, like stress and intonation. Similarly, in listening, the new word will probably be heard in a context, so learners can suggest if the word is a verb, or noun etcetera, and guess meaning. So, let's focus on these seven things a bit more and put it into practice. Look at these words on the slide and discuss them in relation to the seven things. What would you focus on? Muscle and receipt have a silent letter, so we'll need a focus on pronunciation and spelling. Action. Think of affixation for the word reaction. Collocation, action packed. Idiom, in on the action. Rhythm gives an example of a consonant cluster, which can be problematic for some students. Use it in a phrase for pronunciation and connected speech, link it with the next word, usually a preposition. Mountain. Think of idiomatic language, to make a mountain out of a molehill, or metaphor, I've got a mountain of work to do. Think of recording vocabulary appropriately to help learners.
[5:41]This is particularly important when it comes to learning collocation. Collocations, words that occur together, come naturally to native speakers, but not necessarily for learners. This is because there isn't always a logical meaning when looking at the words separately. For example, if we say, I like strong coffee. A learner may get confused, as their knowledge of the word strong is likely to be related to physicality. They may be able to decipher meaning if the collocation was powerful coffee, and even though the meaning is essentially the same, we do not use this phrase in English for no real reason. So, native speakers learn collocation from birth, not by inherent wisdom, but by practice and repetition. Look at these other examples of common student errors. Why do you think students make these errors? How can we help them understand collocations that they encounter? What strategies can we use for teaching collocation? Context is important. Learning chunks of language in general, and more so in context, can help students read better, write better, speak better, and listen better. On the Imperial English courses, vocabulary is dealt with in a number of ways, both explicitly, as vocabulary tasks, and embedded in other skills. Doing both provides a good balance to a course, teaching explicitly when students need particular vocabulary to complete subsequent tasks, and teaching implicitly when building vocabulary is beneficial but not the only focus. There are some topics that have specific vocabulary tasks. These might deal with categorizing vocabulary or phrases into their function or form, like here for example, level three, topic one, task five. Another example could be matching two halves together to form collocations. It's important to get students to build the collocations themselves, so that they notice patterns or grammar. Another exercise could be a gap-fill task that can focus on spelling, sounds, or collocations etcetera, like this. This gap-fill exercise gets students to think about spelling, while also building their vocabulary bank by learning or revising the negative form. Vocabulary is also introduced through other skills, like in a reading text or listening task. While the main focus may be on scanning or listening for detail, vocabulary can't be ignored. Words have more value than grammar. Here's an example. Students are focusing on reading skills. Here, they are scanning for gist and matching information to the text. Then, the follow-up vocabulary analysis requires students to scan to check their understanding by building synonyms. We have seen how lexical items are introduced in the GES. But how can they be learned? Vocabulary is best recorded under topics. A well-established way to learn is to have a place to note vocabulary down, like a notebook or in the vocabulary bank on the app. That can be carried around and referred to when you have a free moment. When you feel like you're familiar with the word, you can tick the item off or delete it. Both students and teachers are responsible for learning. You should encourage students to use the vocabulary function on their app to record vocabulary.
