Teaching Techniques and Strategies (TTS)

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Teaching Techniques and Strategies(TTS)

• Session 6
• Teaching Vocabulary

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Objectives

• By the end of this lesson, you will be able to
• provide your own definition of the term
  vocabulary
• describe the strands of a well-balanced course
  and learning techniques and strategies across the
  four learning strands in a language course
• apply the principles to the teaching of new
  vocabulary items in our context.

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Procedures

• A. Checking reading
• B. Observing
• C. Performing

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A. Checking reading

• Questions
• What do we mean by vocabulary?
• What is the core meaning of a vocabulary item?
• Can you give your own examples of multiword
  units?
• Can you give your own examples of a word family?

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Core meaning

• e.g. Neutral (I. S. P. Nation, in Nunan
  2003132)
• a country that does not officially support either
  side in a war
• a position not supporting either side in an
  argument
• not showing emotions or preference
• a neutral voice does show emotions
• not causing change because its equal on both
  sides
• a position between the gears of a car
• CM Not taking a particular side or position

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Multiword units word family

• Multiword units/lexical phrases/chunks/???????
• groups of words like
• absolutely fantastic, at once, in a minute,
  portable TV, the United States of America, etc.
• Word family
• different forms of the same word belong to one
  word family
• walk, walks, walking, walked

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Background to the teaching of vocabulary

• What are the four strands of a language course,
  the broader framework of which vocabulary
  teaching and learning should fit into?
• What do you think the key words are for each
  strand?

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The four strands of a language course

• Learning from meaning-focused input
• Deliberate language-focused learning
• Learning from meaning-based output
• Developing fluency

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Learning from meaning-focused input

1. What language skills does the strand involve?
   (listening and reading)
2. How many percent of the running words do learners
   need to know? (98)
3. How can a learner learn a new word? (through
   guessing from context. The new word should not
   stop comprehension of the text.)
4. What kind of source should be provided for
   learners to learn? (Simple written and spoken
   texts. Graded readers.)

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Learning from meaning-focused input

1. What language skills does the strand involve?
   (listening and reading)
2. How many percent of the running words do learners
   need to know? (98)
3. How can a learner learn a new word? (through
   guessing from context. The new word should not
   stop comprehension of the text.)
4. What kind of source should be provided for
   learners to learn? (Simple written and spoken
   texts. Graded readers.)

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Deliberate language-focused learning

1. Any other terms for this? (form-focused
   instruction, language focused learning, or
   language study)
2. What does deliberate learning involve? (It
   involves paying deliberate attention to language
   features such as sounds, spelling, vocabulary,
   grammar.)
3. How much time should be given to this strand? (no
   more than 25 of the course time)

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Deliberate language-focused learning

1. Any other terms for this? (form-focused
   instruction, language focused learning, or
   language study)
2. What does deliberate learning involve? (It
   involves paying deliberate attention to language
   features such as sounds, spelling, vocabulary,
   grammar.)
3. How much time should be given to this strand? (no
   more than 25 of the course time)

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Learning from meaning-based output

1. What language skills does the strand involve?
   (speaking and writing)
2. What is the learners main attention on?
   (communicating messages)
3. Why should learners learn vocabulary through
   using vocabulary productively according to Swain
   (1985)? (Using vocabulary productively can
   strengthen learning and can push learners to
   focus on aspects of vocabulary knowledge that
   they did not need to attend to when listening and
   reading. )

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Learning from meaning-based output

1. What language skills does the strand involve?
   (speaking and writing)
2. What is the learners main attention on?
   (communicating messages)
3. Why should learners learn vocabulary through
   using vocabulary productively according to Swain
   (1985)? (Using vocabulary productively can
   strengthen learning and can push learners to
   focus on aspects of vocabulary knowledge that
   they did not need to attend to when listening and
   reading. )

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Fluency development

1. What does this strand aim at? (It aims at helping
   learners make the best use of what they already
   know. )
2. What language skills should it be related to? (It
   should be related to each of the four skills of
   listening, speaking, reading, and writing.)
3. What should fluency development activities
   involve? (should involve only known language
   items, should be message-focused, should involve
   substantial quantities of input and output, and
   should involve some pressure to perform faster
   than usual.)

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Fluency development

1. What does this strand aim at? (It aims at helping
   learners make the best use of what they already
   know. )
2. What language skills should it be related to? (It
   should be related to each of the four skills of
   listening, speaking, reading, and writing.)
3. What should fluency development activities
   involve? (should involve only known language
   items, should be message-focused, should involve
   substantial quantities of input and output, and
   should involve some pressure to perform faster
   than usual.)

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Principles for teaching vocabulary(I. S. P.
Nation, in Nunan 2003 135-41)

1. Focus on the most useful vocabulary first.
2. Focus on the vocabulary in the most appropriate
   way.
3. Give attention to the high frequency words across
   the four strands of a course.
4. Encourage learners to reflect on and take
   responsibility for learning.

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B. Observing

• Task 1
• Observe Extract 1 and 2(p. 145), and then
  brainstorm
• What difference(s) can you see?
• Task 2
• Observe Extract 3 (p. 146), and then brainstorm
• What do you learn from the extract?

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Task 3

• Watch the clip (0-1140) of ???????????????(The
  old man and death)
• http//v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjYzODg3NzM2.html
• (Pw scnusfs)
• and think
• What vocabulary items did the students learn?
• How did the teacher get the students to learn
  these words?
• What was the nature of the input? Did the teacher
  present the new words in an isolated way, or did
  she provide any context?

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C. Performing

• Look at the following example, and
• practice your own teaching in your microteaching

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??????????????????

• ??????????
• ????,?????
• Presentation (????)
• Consolidation (????)
• Extension (????)

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(No Transcript)
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(No Transcript)
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Presentation

• Stage 1
• Ice-breaker (Cold today, isnt it?)
• Warming up (Could you name some natural
  calamities?)
• Prediction (What will happen if a volcano
  erupts?)
• Listening/Reading for the main idea. (What is
  Christine talking about?)

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Words that could be handledat this stage

• volcano, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, cyclone,
  typhoon, thunderstorm, snowstorm, tsunami, fire,
  flood,
• erupt, tremble, swallow
• eruption, peak, lava, ash, bungalow, wave, fog,
  rainbow,
• molten, spectacular,

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Presentation

• Stage 2
• Listening/Reading for specific messages
• Words that could be learned
• Those that hinder the students from
  getting/understanding the messages
• e.g.

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An example

• Trapped by the Flood (p. 72)
• T What did Sara see when she looked at the back
  door?
• She looked at the back door. Water was flowing
  in underneath. Turning round she saw dirty brown
  water fountaining out of the drain and filling
  the sink.

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Presentation

• Stage 3
• Listening/Reading for language focus
• Words that could be handled
• All the new words and expressions occurring in
  the material could be listed together for the
  students to have a deeper impression.

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Consolidation

• The listed vocabulary items could be drilled.
• Related exercises could be done.
• Categorization could be used for the words
  already learned.
• The form should be focused based on the
  understanding of the meaning.

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Extension

• small contexts Single sentences could be used.
• Association
• Synonyms absolutely, definitely, certainly,
  completely spaceman, astronaut
• Antonyms precious, valueless, worthless,
• Derivatives volcano, volcanic, volcanology,
  volcanologist ash, ashy evaluate, value,
  evaluation
• multiword units/lexical phrases/chunks,
• word family erupt, erupts, erupted, erupting
• word network

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Word network
molten, hot, scorching, blazing burning
?
burn down to the ground
?
lava

• volcano

?
eruption
ash
?
ashy, like a fog/cloud, swallow
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Reading assignments

• 1. Read Chapter 4 of Success in English Teaching
  by P. Davies and E. Pearse (2000)
• 2. Read Chapter 8 Grammar by D. Nunan (2003)
• Next issue Grammar