Teaching Vocabulary Summary Erin Cathey Middle Tennessee State University 1
Teaching Vocabulary Summary Introduction: Learning vocabulary is the basis for understanding any language. The ability to connect words with meaning brings sense into our realizations of the world. As in the life story of Helen Keller, when she first connects that the symbols for w-a-t-e-r mean the cold, wet, fluid that she feels on her hand, she explains, That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free (Keller, 1887). Without this realization of meaningful connections, we are not completely conscious of what is really happening around us. Of course, in our world today there are many reasons to study vocabulary. Specifically, some feel that, An impressive vocabulary makes an impression (H.P., 1998). You also need to understand what you hear in order to meet your basic needs for security and safety. The need for a rich vocabulary is primitive and complex at the same time. When teaching English language learners (ELLs), it is important to consider the difference between a student s social and academic vocabularies. There is a huge difference between the two, but often, the ability for a student to speak and interact socially is misjudged for a student s ability to understand the language of academics and instruction. Second language acquisition theorist, Professor J. Cummins, explains this dichotomy in vocabulary as the difference between basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS), and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP), (Shoebottom, 2011). We must help teachers realize that assuming that a student is proficient based on his or her ability to communicate socially, is a common misconception and is not a good indicator that a student has gained academic vocabulary proficiency. Therefore, it is important to look at assessment data to really gauge how to better teach our students vocabulary. There are many great vocabulary teaching strategies that can be used to make vocabulary more comprehensible and easier to recall for English language learners. 2
Summary of Findings- Strategies and Techniques for Teaching Vocabulary Teaching vocabulary entails much more than simply introducing new words to a student for the first time. Studies have shown that students need to read independently to expand word knowledge, receive modeled language instruction from the teacher, receive word learning strategies, and develop word consciousness through word-play activities that enhance learning (Diamond & Gutlohn, 2006). These components will help a student learn vocabulary more effectively. When a student reads independently, he or she will come across new or unfamiliar words in the text. Without outside instruction, a person is forced to look at the context around the word to figure out the meaning. This practice may allow a student to expand his or her knowledge of vocabulary words, especially if the student uses a dictionary to look up the word meanings. Using a dictionary further expands understanding of vocabulary because the student may need to understand if the word is being used as a noun, verb, or adjective. There are also many words with multiple meanings in English and the student could also have to determine which meaning in the dictionary best fits into the context (H.P., 1999). This is honestly one of the main strategies I used when learning Spanish to expand my academic vocabulary. The vocabulary of academia is one of the difficult types for students to gain and yet they are tested in this often unfamiliar language. For this reason, it is necessary for teachers to teach content specific vocabulary to students (Diamond & Gutlohn, 2006) to make the content comprehensible. A student also needs word-learning strategies to help them learn new vocabulary. By focusing on suffixes, prefixes, and root words on a regular basis, students will begin to recognize the word parts and it will serve to help expand their understanding of unknown words (Pikulski & Templeton, 2004). When a teacher is able to foster an appreciation of words, or word consciousness, students will begin to see language in a new light. Famous Writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote, Words, so innocent and powerless as they are, standing in a dictionary; how potent for good and evil they become in the 3
hands of one who knows how to choose and combine them (Pikulski & Templeton, 2004). There is a certain magic behind using word-play activities that helps develop a creative and innovative way for students to begin looking at words. Free-writing journals are a great way to encourage experimentation with words (H.P.,1999). Other important strategies for teaching vocabulary include repetition of the word or words, using technology, experiential learning, a variety of assessments, and meaningful contexts in which to learn the new words (Diamond & Gutlohn, 2006). A teacher should use many different strategies and experiences to teach vocabulary because the use of only one is not effective (Diamond & Gutlohn, 2006). Suggestions for Teachers: Teachers should try to incorporate as many of the strategies mentioned above into their lessons. They should reinforce the use of the vocabulary words in multiple contexts and as often as possible. Teachers should use visual representations of words whenever available as well as onomatopoeic representations that reinforce the meaning of individual words. Teachers of ELLs need to teach idioms and expressions (Diamond & Gutlohn, 2006) and phrasal verbs because many of these phrases do not translate literally. Teachers should link spelling and phonemic awareness to vocabulary instruction to increase language development (Pikulski & Templeton, 2004). By incorporating these components of learning into vocabulary instruction, students will be able to more effectively develop and expand their academic vocabulary and will therefore have better success in the content areas. 4
References: Diamond, L. & Gutlohn, L. (2006). Teaching Vocabulary. Retrieved on Feb. 15, 2012 from: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/9943/. H. P. (1999). How to teach vocabulary. Retrieved from: http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/vocabularyapproach.htm#lessons. Keller, H. (1887). The story of my life. Retrieved from: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/keller/life/life.html. Shoebottom, P. (2011). Second language acquisition - essential information. Retrieved on Feb. 18, 2012 from: http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/cummin.htm. Pikulski, J. & Templeton, S. (2004). Teaching and developing vocabulary: key to long-term reading success. Retrieved on Feb 17, 2012 from: http://www.eduplace.com/marketing/nc/pdf/author_pages.pdf. MTSU Honor Statement This assignment/assessment was solely written by me. In no way have I plagiarized (represented the work of another as my own) or otherwise violated the copyright laws and academic conventions of fair use. I know that violations of this policy may result in my being dismissed from Middle Tennessee State University and/or appropriate legal action being taken against me. Signed: Erin B. Cathey 5