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Teaching
Vocabulary to English Teacher Trainees
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In non-English speaking countries, the vast
majority of college students preparing to become English teachers are nonnative speakers
of the language. In order for them to become proficient readers and writers, they need to
enrich their vocabulary in addition to building their rhetorical skills. The following
procedure was designed to help them learn additional vocabulary within the framework of
the oral skills and writing courses they are required to take. The system has proved to be
both efficient and successful efficient in that it demands a minimal amount of class time,
and successful in that the students can remember and use the new vocabulary with ease.
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Step one: Assessing the needs of a specific class
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This can be done by the teacher, the students,
or as a collaborative effort by both parties. The first step is to compile a vocabulary
list with the same number of words as students in a given class. The words should be taken
from both literary sources and methodology readings that the students will have to read in
the upcoming academic year. Whenever possible, the words should be given in the context in
which they appear (either in a phrase or a sentence.)
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The criteria for accepting a word are:
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- its usefulness in nonprofessional as well as professional contexts
- its frequency of usage in literature and spoken language
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Step two: Checking the list with native speaker students (optional)
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Where possible (and if desired), the list may be
checked with students who are native speakers of English, in order to identify and define
the words on the list that they know. Their reactions should indicate the suitability of
the vocabulary for students who are non-native speakers.
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Step three: Preparing a transparency
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The list should be written on a transparency for
projection onto a screen. The students are then asked to identify each word they know.
Hopefully, they should recognize some of the words or be able to guess their meanings.
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Step four: Assigning responsibility for each word
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Next, each student is assigned a word to look up
and present to the rest of the class. To guide their efforts, a "word profile"
is suggested. Some of the items are mandatory (indicated by stars) while others are
optional.
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- Definition*
- Part of speech*
- Pronunciation*
- Synonyms and/or antonyms
- "Scale" (more than, equal to, less than)
- "Chunking" (i.e. putting the word in a short, meaningful phrase)
- Personal associations
- A defining sentence*
- Derivatives (i.e. different forms of the word)
- Connotation (This is often a problem for foreign learners to do by themselves. I view
the role of the teacher as providing this kind of cultural information.)
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Step five: Vocabulary reports
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In each class session, one student is
responsible for presenting a vocabulary item. The reports take about five minutes, and are
usually given at the beginning of the lesson. Students are encouraged to recall contexts
in which they have encountered the word.
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Step six: Review and self-checking
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Every few weeks, the students review the
vocabulary items that have been presented in class. Several procedures can be used for
reviewing, depending on the aspect of vocabulary that the teacher wants to emphasize.
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- Provide a worksheet with sentences in which one vocabulary item is missing. The students
go over their vocabulary lists and fill in the missing word. This is a simple word
recognition activity.
- Provide a worksheet with partial sentences which need to be completed. In each partial
sentence, one of the vocabulary items is mentioned. The task of the students is to
complete the sentence in any way that is meaningful. This reviews the vocabulary and
provides more writing practice.
- If there is a strong literature component in the students' program, it is advisable to
ask students to write down the vocabulary items that they have found citing the literary
context for some of these words.
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It takes about fifteen minutes for the reviewing
and checking activity. No grading is involved. Sharing ideas and opinions is encouraged.
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The procedure described above is efficient and
requires very little time. Each student learns all the new vocabulary items, but has to
look up only one word. Each student has an opportunity to give an oral presentation, which
strengthens their oral skills and reinforces methodology that they will use as teachers.
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This approach heightens the student teachers'
level of awareness of vocabulary, and they begin to notice these words in their readings.
They begin to read with greater understanding, and to use the words in their academic
papers the ultimate purpose for which the activity was designed.
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The following is a list of ten vocabulary items
that I have used in several classes. It may be of interest to other teachers.
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| redundant |
tenacious |
| vacillate |
instigate |
| eclectic |
flourish |
| detrimental |
credibility |
| recurrent |
stagnant |
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Leslie
Cohen is a English teacher trainer at the Arab Teachers Training Seminary in
Haifa. She also teaches English at Oranim College of Education. |
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