CERTIFICATE FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

PROPOSAL FOR TEACHING VOCABULARY

Teresa Vzquez

Module 4 About Language

Dr. Teresa Castineira September 8, 2013

The teaching of English as a second language has been evolving rapidly reflecting changes toward a more efficient use of techniques and methods. Among the many changes this evolution has brought about we can see that we have moved from grammar-oriented approaches to more lexical-oriented ones. Not that grammar is not taught anymore but lexis has gained more attention, this partly due to the effect its teaching has in second language learners automaticity. Therefore this proposal seeks to provide teachers with ideas that would help the development of the lexical competence. The ideas in this proposal find their origin in the research findings of Professors Alan Hunt and David Beglar as well as my own insight on the use of these principles. Starting from the fact that the main purpose of learning a language is to be able to communicate both orally and in a written form, our learners need to develop linguistic and communicative competence and the use of lexical resources in their speech and writing plays an important role. Hence Teachers face the challenge of developing these competences both inside and outside the classroom and because of this three approaches should be considered: Incidental Learning, Explicit Instruction and Strategy Development. 1.- INCIDENTAL LEARNING. This approach requires teachers to provide opportunities for extensive reading and listening as this will expose learners to graded language following a sequence for learning which starts with noticing new words, collocations, lexical chunks, idioms, etc. Several studies have confirmed that incidental L2 vocabulary learning through reading does occur (Chun & Plass,1996; Day, Omur, & Hiramatsu, 1991; Hulstijin, Hollander, &Greidanus, 1996;Knight, 1994; Zimmerman, 1997). The incidental learning of vocabulary through extensive reading can benefit language curricula and learners at all levels (Woodinsky & Nation, 1988).

To give an example of the implementation of this approach at the Centro de Idiomas del Instituto Tecnolgico de Chihuahua a proposal of having a Self-access center with different relevant materials (graded readers among others) was made this has provided extensive work on receptive skills, helping learners incidentally building up their vocabulary.

2.- EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION Knowing approximately 3,000 high frequency words and general academic words is significant because this amount covers a high percentage of the words on an average page. The 2,000 high frequency words in Wests (1953) General Service List (GSL) cover 87% of an average non-academic text (Nation,1990) and an 80% of an academic text (P.Nation, personal communication, September 18,1997). For second language learners entering university, Laufer (1992) found that knowing a minimum of about 3,000 words was required for effective reading at the university level, whereas knowing 5,000 words indicated likely academic success. Because of this the second language teacher should be first aware of the kind of English learners need, in order to choose the best corpus to be used or as in many cases the syllabus which already integrates corpora. Once this is provided the next step is for teachers to develop strategies to make vocabulary comprehensible for learners, this can be done using realia, synonyms, word families, denotations, gestures, images, context, even L1 followed with practice with L2 exercises. Learners should develop an understanding of words or lexical chunks that go further than knowing its pronunciation and spelling but also their denotations and collocates. According to Pimsleur (Pimsleur,1967) it is more effective to study words regularly over several short sessions than to study them for one or two longer sessions. As most forgetting occurs immediately after initial exposure to the word, repetition and review should take place almost immediately after studying a word for the first time.

3.- INDEPENDENT STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT This approach is very important especially nowadays in which education has shifted its focus from a teacher-centered classroom to a learner-centered one, therefore our job as teachers goes further than providing content since this can be easily obtain from the many sources internet offers but to develop learning strategies, in this case for the acquisition of vocabulary. One important strategy that helps independent development is guessing meaning from context; Nation and Coady propose the following five-step procedure: 1-Determine the part of speech of the unknown word. 2-Look at the immediate context and simplify it if necessary. 3- Look at the wider context. 4- Guess the meaning of the unknown word. 5- Guess that the guess is correct. Training learners in dictionary use has proven to be effective for independent development as well. Bilingual dictionaries have been found to result in vocabulary learning (Knight,1994; Luppescu & Day,1993) Hulstijin, Hollander and Greidanus (1996) showed that, compared to incidental learning, repeated exposure to words combined with marginal glosses or bilingual dictionary use leads to increased learning for advanced learners. In my experience apart from the previously mentioned strategies, the keeping record of vocabulary on a designated section on learners notebooks has been helpful, this record includes information about the word(part of speech, pronunciation, collocates, denotations, synonyms,register,etc.) As a conclusion I would like to say that the combination of these three approaches with its different proposed strategies can greatly benefit the learning of

vocabulary as they not only deal with one or two aspects but they are integrative of the many complexities learning a second language involve.

References: Coady, J. (1997b). L2 Vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Es.), Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (pp.225-237) Cambridge; Cambridge Uiversity Press Hulstijin, J., Hollander, M., & Greidanus, T. (1996). Incidental Vocabulary Learning by advanced foreign language students: The influence of marginal glosses, dictionary use, and reoccurrence of unknown words. Modern Language Journal,

80, 327-339.
Knight,S. (1994). Dictionary use while reading: The effects on comprehension and vocabulary acquisition for students of different verbal abilities. Modern Language

Journal, 78, 285-299.

Lewis, M. (1993) The Lexical Approach. Hove, UK:Language Teaching Publications. Nation, I.S.P. (1990). Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. New York: Newbury House. Richards,J., Renandya, Willy.(2008). Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. Reforma Integral De La Educaccin Bsica. Cambridge University Press.