ELTWeekly Issue#18 Contents
By Tarun Patel
Click Here to DOWNLOAD ELTWeekly Issue#18 in PDF Format
- Video of the week: Anecdotes in the ELT classroom: Sue Kay & Vaughan Jones
- Word of the week: extremophile
- Blog of the week: Alex Case’s TEFLastic Blog
- Article: Integration of Skills in English Language Teaching By Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi
- Article: 15 ways of combining listening and reading By Alex Case
Click Here to DOWNLOAD ELTWeekly Issue#18 in PDF Format
- Book of the week: Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: Differentiated Literacies
- Article: Word Structure By Dr.Pushpa Nagini Sripada
- Article: Learning-to-Learn: Vocabulary Mapping By Karenne Sylvester
May 3rd, 2009
ELTWeekly Issue#18, Request ELT Webinars
By Tarun Patel
Dr. Ranganayaki Srinivas has launched the ‘Webinar Course Just For You’ program. She designs each webinar on a specific topic based on participants’ needs.
Dr. Ranganayaki says, “What is the specific webinar course you are looking for? Post your questions on which I can conduct a webinar course specially for you. Vote for the questions submitted by others. I will conduct webinars on the most voted questions.
Please do not submit general questions. We are looking for specific questions that can be discussed in a 60-minute webinar session. You and 9 other people can participate in a webinar and discuss a very specific question for which you are trying to find the answer. ”
If you wish to have a webinar focusing English Language Teaching, please visit http://www.webinarreviews.org/webinar-request.html and submit your request.
About Dr. Ranganayaki Srinivas
Dr. Ranganayaki Srinivas, an ESL specialist, has been working online after VRS. She started with a teaching English site. She has been involved in projects with many online marketers. Webinars and web conferences appeal to her idea of distance learning and continuing education. Hence her latest projects have been related to gathering information about webinars, web meetings and web conferencing services.
ELTWeekly Issue#18, Article: Integration of Skills in English Language Teaching By Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi
By Tarun Patel
Integration of Skills in English Language Teaching
By Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi
Integration of skills is a very important practice in the teaching of any language. No skill can be taught in isolation and segregation. There exists a deep, profound and inseparable connection between language use and the context in which it is entrenched and embedded. A kind of connectedness exists in the way we use the primary skills of language, identified as listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The teacher faced with a set of predetermined and prearranged curricula and prescribed textbooks, what most of them do, is to place additional and extra emphasis on a specific skill designated for a specific class, while helping learners freely to use all the skills necessary for successfully carrying out a classroom activity. Even if the class is supposed to focus on one specific skill at a time, teachers and learners do the inevitable, namely, follow an integrated approach. By designing and using micro strategies that integrate language skills, we will be assisting learners to engage in classroom activities that involve a meaningful and simultaneous engagement with language in use. A discussion with examples from text can be initiated and participants can individually work on them. Let us take an example of teaching a poem to class I students, which is an authentic literary piece. It has not been simplified for the suitability of learners of primary section.
The skills of Listening and Speaking are the primary skills to be taught in the poem ‘Frogs at School”. But without mentioning to the pupils, the teacher can integrate so many other skills, which would be useful at a later stage to the students. When we begin the poem, the number system can be explained with twenty being linked to the plural form of‘s’. Such as ‘froggies’, coats, vests. The singular form like ‘pool’ can be easily linked to the use of the article ‘a’. Thus more examples at this point can be mentioned in order to drill the number system. The direct speech can be brought to attention at how when we talk, it must be put in quote marks. Adjectives such as ‘rushy’ ‘green’ ‘white’ etc can also be compared and contrasted with their opposites. Thus in this way the teaching of grammar is integrated while teaching this poem. I encourage you to look into many other aspects of grammar.
New vocabulary words such as pet name ‘froggies’, and then ‘rushy’ ‘vests’ and so on can be explained and pupils can be encouraged to give such kind of words.
Association of the poem and the picture must be developed by making the learners observe the following aspects. There are total 20 frogs in the picture too. It has been observed that the children actually count and they cannot be deceived, or made to doubt the teaching material as the base is being developed. There has to exist a kind of trust between the learner and the lesson. The ‘coats of green’ is not actually the coat but the outer skin of the frogs. Same goes with the inner white skin. Thus the aesthetic and creativity of the poet can be discussed with the pupils in a simple language and similie of such kind can be asked to vent the child’s imagination.
Last but not the least; we must draw the attention of the learner towards the good habits to be inculcated in them. Neatness of school uniform, punctuality, the rules to be followed, first the pupil studies and then only can play and so on. If the teacher gives moral lessons directly then they would not be so effective, but in this case the pupil would feel if froggies can do it then why can’t I??
The poem is of the same level of the child. It refers to a genuine problem faced by teachers, pupils and parents. It takes the learner outside the classroom and he can relate it to his own condition and situation. Thus this is a great opportunity of inculcating so many ideas and thoughts in the minds of the learners, beside tone, intonation, rhyming sounds, rhythm, and so on, which may be looked into while teaching the skills of Speaking and Listening. Reading will automatically come when the teacher and learner are reading and assimilating the whole poem. Later they can be asked to write too, if need be. Thus while teaching the feelings of the poet have to be transferred to the learners in order to gain maximum from the learning material.
[This has been practically practiced in the classrooms and with effective results. Do suggest any other ideas that come to your mind.].
Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi is the Deputy Director at Amity School of Languages. She has done a Project on “A Study of Verbal Interaction in Waiting for Godot” for the M.A. degree and has ompleted her PhD thesis on “A Study of Verbal Interaction in the plays of Samuel Beckett” for the Degree of Ph.D. at University of Lucknow, India. She has conducted over 75 workshops on ELT with St. Edmunds College in Shillong, with Ratna Sagar in Lucknow, with University of Yemen in Republic of Yemen and with Orient Longman and Macmillan in various parts of India for school teachers and principals.
** ELTWeekly would like to thank Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi for contributing this article.
ELTWeekly Issue#18, Article: 15 ways of combining listening and reading By Alex Case
By Tarun Patel
15 ways of combining listening and reading
By Alex Case
Copyright 2009 Alex Case/ TEFL.net, republished with permission.
1. Radio news
Many sites that offer streaming or downloadable radio news also have a short text summarizing the story. Reading this before listening will make comprehension easier, especially if students discuss what they read and/ or think about what they might hear before they listen. Reading first also allows students to look up some of the difficult vocabulary in their dictionaries. In class, tasks that combine the two include predicting what extra information will be given in the listening text, writing questions that they still want answered after reading the text and listening for the answers, and expanding the written text with the information in the listening text.
2. Graded reader plus CD
Most graded readers (= easy readers- simplified and shortened books of stories etc especially for language learners) nowadays have some kind of recording. I usually recommend that students read through the whole book without the CD, then read and listen at the same time to check the pronunciation, then just listen to the CD on their MP3 player as many times as they can bear. If the whole class has a set of one particular graded reader you could do more interesting things like playing the first part of the story before they start reading to get them interested in the whole story. With a range of different books, students could listen to a short extract of each book and decide from that which book they would like to take home.
3. Movie with subtitles
The advantages of having English subtitles include being able to easily look things up in a dictionary and learning the spelling and pronunciation at the same time. There is occasionally an argument for watching the film with subtitles in their own language, as understanding what is going on will make comprehension and so memorizing of the language easier the second time they watch it. The disadvantages with having any kind of subtitles are that students will come to rely on them and will get too used to being able to understand every word rather than pick out the message. In a similar way to the recommendation for graded readers above, I usually suggest watching the first time with English subtitles and the second time without. They will eventually need to work their way up to watching a film or episode of a TV series with no subtitles the first time too, and this can be made easier with careful selection of what they watch (e.g. the next episode of a series they know well or a film they already know the story of because they have read the book) or by turning the subtitles on every time they get completely lost and then back off when they know what is going on.
Read the remaining 12 ways at http://edition.tefl.net
Alex Case has been a teacher, teacher trainer, Director of Studies, ELT writer and editor in Turkey, Thailand, Spain, Greece, Italy, Japan, UK and now Korea, and writes TEFLtastic blog (www.tefl.net/alexcase)
*ELTWeekly would like to thank Alex Case for contributing this article.
ELTWeekly Issue#18, Cool ELT resources
By Tarun Patel
*** Teacher of English.com ***
Teacher of English.com is the UK’s premiere online PowerPoint based GCSE English resources website for teaching English at KS2, KS3 and KS4 GCSE English.
Teacher of English provides editable teaching resources, PowerPoint lesson plans and schemes of work for teachers of English Language and English Literature. All their resources are developed and produced by practising English specialists and, as an online resource, Teacher-of-English.com is continually expanding. Their resources include reading, (poetry, prose, drama, media, non-fiction) writing and speaking & listening.
Their extensive range of English and Literature resources cover coursework, examination and revision tasks on a wide range of set texts, authors, playwrights and poets. Users of Teacher of English have access to thousands of completely editable teaching PowerPoint resources covering all aspects of English at KS2, KS3 and KS4 GCSE English, so you can tweak, personalise and differentiate as much as you like. Why not come on in and take a closer look?
Based in Bolton, UK Teacher of English was established in 2008 with the intention to provide the finest ICT based English resources on the web. Including GCSE English Resources, KS2 English, KS3 English and KS4 English.
Explore Teacher of English.com at http://www.teacher-of-english.com
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*** ESLgold.com ***
ESLgold.com gives you the opportunity to practice your English language skills in many ways. If you’re a beginner, you can start by checking out our vocabulary pages, where you can see, hear, and say new words in English. If you need some help with grammar, listening, or reading, you can look through hundreds of pages of explanations, examples, and exercises or browse through the quiz links section. If you want some conversation practice, you can find a study buddy, tutor, or teacher in our speaking partner program.
Need some help with TOEFL or TOEIC*? Check out our TOEFL / TOEIC section. How aboutpronunciation or idioms practice? Want to improve your Business English speaking and writing skills? We have an extensive list of useful expressions for business encounters as well asphrases for conversation along with situations and topics for pair and group discussion.
All materials on ESLgold.com are free of charge and organized by skill and level for quick and easy access. In addition to its free online resources, ESLgold provides you withrecommendations for great textbooks, and even an online book exchange, where you can buy and sell used books.
Looking for a great place to study English? We have a huge list of schools in the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, and other areas, where you can find the perfect English course for yourself, your children, or your friends and colleagues.
Explore ESLgold.com at http://www.eslgold.com
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*** Teachable.net ***
Teachable.net delivers first-class resources to teachers on the front line who need extra material and don’t want to go searching ‘the web’ to find it. Whether it is a polished Powerpoint presentation or a worksheet and activity for a cover lesson, we hope you can find it on this site.
How does it work
You can browse and search for relevant resources by subject, topic, age group and ability level. All the most relevant resources are then displayed, clearly ranked by the “teachability” of the resource: the aim is to make it as quick as possible to find the best material.
Of course, there are lots of free sites out there with a mixed offering of downloads, but we think there are some good reasons to pay for the downloads here:
1. Good things don’t come for free: ever searched on Google for hours only to find you could have done better yourself. By paying you get the best quality.
2. Teachable.net net is very easy to use. One click to search and one click to download.
3. Costs less than the price of a coffee per downloaded lesson (and we’re not even factoring in a cappuccino!)… and half of that goes back to reward the contributing teacher.
You can preview everything before you download the full version, and when you do download the full version we grant you a Creative Commons license the right to copy and share the resource (for educational use). When you create an account we even store the downloads you have selected under My Downloads, so there’s no more searching around on your hard-drive for the file you downloaded last week.
Explore Teachable.net at http://www.teachable.net
ELTWeekly Issue#18, Book of the week: Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: Differentiated Literacies
By Tarun Patel
Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: Differentiated Literacies
By Socorro Herrera
Book Description
This is a practical, research-based text designed to guide teachers in the development and implementation of programs for second language learners. This text blends theory and practice to provide grade-level and ESL teachers with the tools they need to differentiate literacy instruction for ELL students. pre-service teachers.
From the Back Cover
Finally! A new and different guide to creating successful literacy programs for English language learners!
Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: Differentiated Literacies is a unique text that stresses meaning and relevance as the basis for all instructional activities and strategies for reading and writing instruction to be effective for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. Respected authors Herrera, Perez and Escamilla argue that if meaning is at the center, it is not necessary to delay literacy instruction in English while students are learning to understand and speak the language.
Practical and research-based, Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: Differentiated Literacies is organized around the major findings from the National Reading Panel Report and addresses a critical national need for teachers to have new and better information on addressing the literacy needs of ELLs. Eloquently, the authors tackle the need to move the field beyond the current ‘one size fits all’ paradigm and toward a broader view of how to create meaningful, relevant, and effective literacy programs for CLD students.
Features of the book:
- Discusses in detail how current techniques and approaches must be modified for ELLs.
- Strategies in Practice features exemplify the ways teachers can convert research into practical applications for their daily instructional practice with ELL students.
- Each chapter begins with an outline of major concepts and pedagogy from the viewpoint of ‘best practice’ for monolingual English students.
- New MyEducationLab created specifically to accompany Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: Differentiated Literaciesprovides lesson video clips that illustrate content concepts and provide examples of strategies in practice.
- Student Samples from multiple grade levels and language backgrounds have been included to illustrate the applications of strategies in practice.
- Teacher Voices are included to highlight teacher insights associated with the accommodation of literacy instruction for ELLs.
- Includes a brief overview of the approaches to reading instruction for alphabetic languages, and a review of the research findings from two major syntheses of research on literacy–teaching and learning.
Outstanding Endorsements for Teaching Reading to English Language Learners:
“I think this book is superb. The concepts are appropriately balanced between language acquisition and reading development in the capacity of best practice. The Critical Considerations before the content of the chapters is excellent and develops logically. I like that focus. The classroom scenarios presented throughout the book create an authentic picture of what it is like to have an EL in your classroom.” – Cheryl A. Slattery, Shippensburg University
“Strategies in action and samples of student work are very positive features of this text — the kinds of features that will make the text accessible to pre- and in-service teachers Games and activities throughout are excellent. Scenarios, Key Theories and Concepts, end-of-chapter questions and other tools are very helpful.” – Kimberley Kreicker, Emporia State University” –This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Book Details
- Paperback: 289 pages
- Publisher: Allyn & Bacon (January 19, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0137147708
- ISBN-13: 978-0137147700
- Price: $47.24
ELTWeekly Issue#18, Research paper: The Ecology of Communicative Language Teaching: Reflecting on the Singapore Experience
By Tarun Patel
The Ecology of Communicative Language Teaching: Reflecting on the Singapore Experience
Source: Online Submission, Paper presented at the Annual CELEA International Conference (Guangzhou, China, Nov 11-13, 2006)
Publication Date: 2006-11-11
Pages: 14
Abstract
This paper addresses the ecology of communicative language teaching (CLT) by reflecting on the Singapore experience. It reviews how CLT was conceptualized, advocated and implemented in stages/phases as reflected in the different syllabuses by the Ministry of Education, Singapore.
In anchoring the discussion against a historical backdrop and examining the ecology and evolution of English language teaching in Singapore, it focuses on two English Language syllabuses published in 1991 and 2001 respectively.
It illustrates the operational issues in reference to the two syllabuses, with a focus on the ecology of such pedagogical innovations and how the ecological nature of CLT is mirrored in the syllabuses.
Highlighting issues such as mismatches between what the syllabus documents stipulate and what practitioners bring into English language classrooms and how success in implementation can be achieved when training is provided timely, it also discusses theory-practice connection and the integration issue that is most often debated in the teacher-education literature.
It concludes with a discussion of possible implications of the Singapore CLT experience for ELT in China. (Contains 1 table, 2 figures, and 1 footnote.)
To access the full paper, please visit: http://www.eric.ed.gov
ELTWeekly Issue#18, Video of the week: Anecdotes in the ELT classroom: Sue Kay & Vaughan Jones
By Tarun Patel
The authors of the Inside Out coursebooks talk about the use of Anecdotes for speaking practice in the ELT classroom.
For more information see www.insideout.net or www.macmillanenglish.com.
ELTWeekly Issue#18, Article: Word Structure By Dr.Pushpa Nagini Sripada
By Tarun Patel
WORD STRUCTURE
By Dr.Pushpa Nagini Sripada
Assistant Professor of English
Sathyabama University
Chennai
pushpanagini AT yahoo DOT com
Abstract: An explanation of how words are formed based on various theories is explained in this article. A clear understanding of the structure of the word would help a teacher of English in focusing on teaching words in the classroom especially in L2 teaching contexts.
1. Word families
Words can be grouped together based on their structure. The following is an example of the word ‘happy’ and other associate word forms of it.
Happy happily happiness unhappy unhappily
Unhappier Unhappiest happier happiest
2. Inflection and Derivation
A word can be divided into minimal meaningful units called morphemes. For example the word ‘unfriendliness’, consists of four morphemes -un +friend +li +ness. In this word ‘friend’ is the ‘root’ because it cannot be divided further. The grammatical form of it is changed when ‘ly’ is added to ‘friend’. Further, ‘friendly’ is the stem to which -‘ness’ (suffix) is added to change into noun.
3. Affixes
Derivational affixes add meaning to the word derived. For example, if – ‘er’ is added to ‘sing’, it is changed into a noun ie ‘singer’ (one who can sing). Various affixes – prefix and suffixes change the meaning and forms of the words. In English, the spelling of the base word is changed in order to accommodate the ending- e.g ‘y’ is replaced with an ‘i’ in ‘happy’ to ‘happiness’.
Prefixes are ‘fix’ed at the beginning (’pre’) of the word. All prefixes change the meaning of the base word. The word ‘happy’ can be changed into its opposite by adding – ‘un’ happy.
4. Blends
Some words are formed by combining two well- established words
e.g. brunch = a meal that is a combination of breakfast and lunch.
Heliport: a place where helicopters can land and take off (helicopter + airport)
Smog: polluted fog (smoke + fog)
5. Phrasal Combinations with Verbs
Phrasal verbs are compound verbs consisting of a verb, like come or take and a particle (i.e. an adverb or a preposition), like off or up. They are a common or an important part of English, especially in speaking and in informal writing. Often they have an equivalent formal word, for example, make up (phrasal verb) and made up.
6. Lexical Phrases
Skehan (1992) sees lexical phrases as ‘ready made elements and chunks’, items that ‘can be deployed without the need to construct each chunk independently’. Sinclair (1988) talks of ‘semi’ pre-constructed phrases that constitute a single choice, even though they might appear to be analysed into segments. Some examples are ‘as a matter of fact’, ‘at least from a point of view’. Much of the English language consists of lexical phrases. For example the phrases ‘as a matter of fact’, ‘as a matter of frequency’ come as single units in discourse. Some phrases do not follow grammatical example, like ‘it’s a matter of opinion’ is not used ‘as a matter of opinion’ like the other phrases ‘as a matter of course’, ‘as a matter of fact’. Some phrases like ‘by and large’, ‘spick and span’ are used in fixed pattern. But ‘as a matter of fact’ allows ‘as a matter of urgency’, ‘as a matter of opinion’. Some phrases ‘would you mind?’ and ‘have you ever….?’ Allow a range of completions. The following are different types of lexical phrases.
6.1 Poly Words
Some phrases like ‘according to’ and ‘in my view’ are regarded as poly words. These phrases are made up of more than a single word, but they can be taught as single items since same string of words reoccur without variation.
6.2 Frames
According to Sinclair (1990) frames have productive features that would help in making individual choices to construct new sentences.
For example, from+ a+ adjective+ point of view. This frame can be used to limit or focus a statement.
e.g. Everything looks good from financial point of view.
That would be a risky decision from a political point of view.
‘Whatever …are necessary’ and ‘are not… but’ have a frame that allows completion in any number of ways. Phrases and frames are very much like vocabulary items. They are used as units and are slotted into the message like single items.
6.3 Sentence Stems
Some lexical phrases constitute full sentences like ‘How do you do?’ or ‘How are you?’
Some enquiries, ‘Do you think…I…?’ for introducing a request are sometimes referred to as form / function composites since the form strongly signals the function it fulfills. Some introductory stems or cleft and pseudo-cleft sentences are introduced by phrases such as ‘It was …who’ and ‘X was the one who…’ ‘what I want /think do is…’ other phrases which highlight the use of the sentence or the other way it is to be interpreted ‘It is true that…’ ‘It is likely that…’,’ that’s why…’ .There are also predictable ways of introducing a research topic like ‘The aim / purpose / object of this study is to analyse/ investigate / establish…’etc.
6.4 Patterns
Wills (1990) explanation of patterns is worth mentioning here. He explains patterns as sub-class of lexical phrases. In his opinion they are like frames in that they are discontinuous and need to be completed, but, unlike frames, patterns are systematically related to identifiable sets of words as one looks at the pattern using ‘about’.
1. Concerning a particular subject: Think about it. I read a book about that recently.
2. Approximately: It takes about two hours to drive to Chennai. It will cost about a couple of hundreds.
3. To indicate general spatial orientation: It is late. There is nobody about. We spent the morning just walking about town.
Each of these meanings is likely to be found in association with predictable sets of words. With the first type (no. 1), one is likely to find verbs, such as ‘think, forget, talk and read’, nouns denoting items such as ‘a book’, ‘programme’, ’story’ and an article’, as well as nouns denoting acts of communication such as ‘advice’, ‘agreement’ and ‘opinion’. Adjectives that denote attitudes towards information, states or events, such as ‘happy’, ‘pleased’ and ‘sorry’. With no.2 the numbers are found such as ‘a hundred’, ‘a thousand’ or a dozen’ measurements, such as ‘kilometer’, an ‘hour’ and a ‘half’ and a ton’. In no.3 one finds phrases like ‘hanging about’, ‘lying about’, ‘waiting about’. Computerised corpus available today on the net allows one to see all the words that collocate with ‘about’. Most patterns involve the use highly frequent words in the language like ‘about’ and their relationship with identifiable sets of words. Many patterns with nouns, verbs or adjectives followed by clauses are introduced by ‘that’ and by ‘wh’-words.
6.5 Collocations
The structure of some words allows them to go together even if it may not be possible to predict this association from the general meaning of the words. For example ‘strong tea’, ‘weak tea’, ‘sour milk’, ‘drink lemonade/water’ go together but not ‘weak cheese’ but ‘mild cheese’ and ‘strong cheese’.
6.6 Types of Idioms
A. Verb- plus – Object
Table 1 : Idioms
IdiomMeaningExample
Ram something down’ someone’s throatImpose one’s ideas / views on someoneJust because you are a Marxist you don’t have to ram it down someone’s throat.
‘Draw the line at something’Refuse to behave in a certain way because you think it is wrongI do use some strong language, but I draw the line at using offensive words.
‘Have second thoughts’Change your opinion or begin to have doubts about itI am having second thoughts about accepting that job offer.
B. Prepositional Phrases (preposition plus noun phrase)
Our boss always keeps us in the dark about changes until the last minute. (uniformed)
Over hundred villagers were killed in cold blood by the soldiers. (deliberately, without emotion)
It just happened out of blue. (completely unexpected)
C. Compounds
Table 2 : Idioms
IdiomMeaningExample
‘A kick in the teeth’An insult or an unfair actNot giving the job is a real a kick in the teeth for her.
‘A stumbling block’An obstacleThe terrorists are a stumbling block to progress.
‘Open-ended’Having no planned ending, can be developed in many waysI have no idea to give open-ended commitment. I prefer to have an agreement in writing,
‘State-of-the-art’Most modern, most technically advancedHe has a state of the art computer.
Source: McCarthy and Felicity O’Dell (2002:194)
WORD CLASSES
It is often suggested that words are of two basic types ‘content words’ and ‘function words’, content words are words with meaning, while function words have a syntactic rather than semantic function. Nouns, verbs, adjectives and ad words are content words; prepositions, conjunctions and determiners are classified as function words. The distinction between content words and function words relates to how specific the word sense is – the more specific, the more ‘contentful’ the word is. This conclusion is more appropriate in explaining pronouns, which were held to be function words, but now they are included in the class of ‘noun’.
References:
Aitchison, J. (1994). ‘Words in the Mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon, second edition, Oxford, Blackwell.
Carter, R & Michael McCarthy. (1988). ‘Vocabulary and Language Teaching’: USA, Longman INC.
McCarthy, M. & Felicity O’ Dell. (1994). ‘English Vocabulary in Use’. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Nation, I.S.P. (1990). ‘Teaching and Learning Vocabulary’. New York, Newburry House.
O’Dell, F. (1997). ‘Incorporating Vocabulary into the Syllabus’. In Schmitt and MacCarthy eds. (1997). pp. 258-278.
Willis, Dave. (2002). ‘Rules, Patterns and Words. Grammar and lexis in English Language Teaching’. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
ELTWeekly Issue#18, Article: Learning-to-Learn: Vocabulary Mapping By Karenne Sylvester
By Tarun Patel
Learning-to-Learn: Vocabulary Mapping
By Karenne Sylvester
This article first appeared on Kalinago English (http://how2learnenglish.blogspot.com/)
How do you keep note of the new words you learn in your lessons, that you come across in newspapers and magazines, that you learn on this blog?
Are you making lists, doing this?
You are not alone.
So was my student, Gerhard. The truth is that I see many, many students who write out lists and lists and lists of vocabulary.
Some of them do it in little notebooks, some make flashcards and some people write these out on A4 sheets which they store in a file.
This is not a wrong thing to do.
These are, in fact, great things to do – if you follow up on them.
I guess the question is, do you go back and review your new words and how often do you do this?
Once a week? More? Less?
Regularly reviewing new vocabulary is the most important thing you can do to learn new words. Remember that your brain has a lot to do, there is a lot of other stuff going on in your life, right?
So, if the brain thinks a word isn’t important because you didn’t go back to it and say “hello again,” it trashes the new vocabulary and doesn’t store it in the long-term memory.
You know what I’m talking about.
On the other hand some people do go back to their word-lists and they still don’t remember the words when they have to use them. This is very frustrating.
Quite often lists just don’t help because they don’t connect with anything else, they are just random words on a piece of paper with some translations next to them.
Your brain needs bridges. See more on this subject here.
Also, not everyone learns by making lists! As I mentioned in one of my earlier entries, different people learn in different ways.
Cosmic Fairy (the teacher with the ‘magic tricks’) has a couple of effective strategies for you to think about.
People who are visual learners will very much benefit from her advice.
Here’s what some of my students are doing:
Volker creates a mind map with the new words he learns and he connects them to phrases he would like to say.
He thinks about the context they will be used in and adds more words. He doesn’t translate.
Mirko doesn’t like his handwriting so he makes his word-maps using powerpoint.
If you have the time and tools, this is a really great option.
Nowadays, even Gerhard has a new trick!
Every morning he goes on to flickr and picks a picture that matches one of the new words he wants to learn.
They don’t have to be a literal representation – sometimes they are simply a bridge which will help him remember a particular word.
He then stores each new word on to his computer and using the preview option, matches the words to the pictures and regularly reviews his new lexis.
Can you guess what word this picture makes a bridge to in Gerhard’s mind?
Have a look at his list above if you can’t guess immediately.
Still not sure? ‘Hover’ your mouse over the picture, the answer’s there!
What do you do to learn new words?
Do you have another suggestion?
Don’t hesitate to let us know what it is by clicking on the comments. If you’d like to ask a question, go ahead!
My blogging colleague, Nik Peachey, has also written a lot about tools that can help you learn vocabulary. One of his posts is about a very interesting mind-mapping software, you can read that posting here.
Descriptions of more software tools which do this here.
For more useful tips, tricks and learning strategies from the Cosmic Fairy, here.
Best,
Karenne
Karenne Sylvester is a certified TESOL trainer, working as a freelancer in Stuttgart, Germany and she specialize in teaching adult learners in the financial/ banking, energy, engineering and IT sectors.
She has lived and worked all over the world: from the Caribbean to the US, UK, Australia, Hong Kong and Ecuador.
She is the sole proprietor and webmaster of Kalinago English and author of SimplyConversationsTM, a pedagogically sound speaking skills system, designed to activate language learners’ fluency.
**Reprinted with kind permission, Karenne Sylvester of Kalinago English (http://kalinago.blogspot.com/).
*** ELTWeekly would like to thank Karenne Sylvester for contributing this article.